24 Hour Zine Thing


Wham-Bam FAQ, with more respect to Scott McCloud and the 24 Hour Comics Web site

What is a 24 Hour Zine?
The 24 Hour Zine Thing has a zinester create a 24-page zine in 24 hours straight. It counts, though, if you take longer than 24 consecutive awake hours or if you end after 24 hours with a comic shorter than 24 hours.

Do I register or something?
Yes! If you e-mail your info to me, then I'll put you on a mailing list and on a list on the Web site so that your friends can see your name on it and hold you accountable! Woohoo! Oh yah--e-mail your name, city, state, and preferred zine-size/personal challenge goal to Julie at rockscissorspaper dot org. If you've chosen a date to build your zine, you can send that along, too!

Is there an LJ community for it?
Yup! It's at www.livejournal.com/~24HZ. It's not necessary, but you can join if you like so that you can post your progress, ask questions, and keep up with updates, though I'll try my darndest to keep e-mailing updates to everyone. If you don't have an LJ account but want to set one up, just go to livejournal.com and set up a new account. =D

Is there a 24 Hour Zine Day?
No, because I wanted this to be a July project, and it's hard to organize an event like this to happen on one, single day. I figured it would be easier if individual zinesters picked a day when they could do it.

Can I think about what my zine will be about?
Nope! You can have goals--"I don't want to be political" or "I want to make a perzine," but you can't have your specific theme or have anything written or collages made for this. Spontaneity is part of the challenge. But thanks for asking. Spontaneity and the creativity that results from it will drive your project. Don't plan. You can get your materials ready--your typewriter ribbon changed, your collage magazines piled up, your scissors oiled--and have prompts or music or something around that will inspire you to come up with an idea, but the entire conception should happen inside those 24 hours.

So you mean the whole zine ... ?
Yup! From the zine's concept to a final copied, folded, bound product--24 hours. Keep that in mind if you're going to photocopy your final product! If the end of your 24-hour period is scheduled to happen in the middle of the night, make sure there's a copy machine or 24 Hour Kinkos or something nearby!

How many copies should I make?
You should make at least one (because I want one please please please), but you can make as many as you like. They don't have to be photocopied, either. You just need to have a final folded and bound product at the end of the 24 hours.

Can I work with other people on my zine?
No. I mean, you can work in a room with other people--talk about a room full of inspiration--but individuals should work on their own zines so we can all suffer together alone! ;D

But 24 pages is eeeeasy!
I'm going to leave it up to you to make it challenging. If zines are hard for you, do a 1/4 size and focus on the little spaces. If they're a piece of cake, challenge yourself to do a biggie size without leaving any white space or using simple background fillers. (Thanks to Tricia of Art by the Inch for the idea on how to keep it challenging!). Personally, I'm aiming for a 1/2-letter format.

So ... we can choose our theme now and then build our 24 Hour Zine on it on our day, right?
No. Nope. No! The point is to have a completely spontaneous zine. If you pick your theme now, you may as well be writing it in your head for the next three weeks before the day. By the time your day comes along, you've got the layout planned, half the writing done, and all your pictures and whatnot picked. Where's the challenge? Where's the fun? What's the point? This is going on the honor system, but I do know that some of the greatest things have been created on the fly, and that's what I wanna see--stuff made on the fly, whether it sucks or is amazing. When I did my 4-hour test drive, I started by choosing a picture out of a magazine and pasting it onto the cover. Then I picked a title. And I went from there. And now I wanna turn it into a regular zine. I got lucky! Try it--maybe you'll get lucky, too. =D

I'm not in the U.S. Can I still participate?
Absolutely! I'd be honored and really damned happy if this became an international event!!!

Are you forgetting something?
Possibly. Probably. I'm new at this, and I'm doing it all by my lonesome. Does anyone know how to code forms for a mailing list? Stuff like that? *shrugs* If you see anything obvious, please let me know.

What happens to the zines when they're finished?
Same thing that happens to all zines, Pinky. Sorry--I lapsed into Brain mode for a second. The same thing that happens to all zines--they'll get sold, read, traded, etc. I want a copy because I'm greedy and love zines and this is my idea, dangit. Plus, I want to showcase what you make on the Web site. Someone's volunteered to run a distro for the zines created through the challenge, and if she's willing, then that's one less thing for me to worry about. Me--I'm in the business of building and selling my own zines and not running a distro. Addendum: If you can make enough for all participants, then we can do a trade. Once we hit the deadline and I know who's completed their zines, I can send out mailing addresses so we can get our trade going. WooHoo!

Is this your bright idea?
Nope! I read about Scott McCloud's 24 Hour Comics Day and decided to run with it!

Okay--what again am I s'posed to do?
The 24 Hour Zine Challenge asks zinesters to create a 24-page zine from conception to final product in 24 hours straight.
Zines should be of suitable size and technical difficulty so that this truly is a challenge for individual zinesters.
Feeling adventurous? Make an oversized zine! With collage material, all typewritten, with a blockprinted cover! Coptic-stitch bound with silver thread!

And we can decide on a topic before our date comes along, right?
Do you wanna play or not?!

Okay, so everything we do for our zine has to be done within those 24 hours?!
Just about. I mean, if in the course of your conceptualizing during those 24 hours you think of an old photograph you want to use or a picture out of a magazine you saw awhile back, then use it. If you've got an old poem that just happens to fit ... well, I'd prefer you wrote something fresh, but I wouldn't protest too hard. If you just pull a dozen essays off your hard drive, then I'd frown, shake my head, send you your button, and tell you that I hope you come back next year. Do you want inspiration? Pick up a copy of 24 Hour Comics and see just how much one person can come up with entirely withing a 24-hour span. It's fan-friggin-tastic!

When's the deadline?
July 31, 2006!

Where do I send my finished zine?
Send one copy to me: Julie Elefante; 4707 E. McDowell Rd. Apt. 2116; Phoenix, AZ 85008.
After the deadline, I'll send out mailing addresses for all those who've completed the zine so those who wanted to do trades can trade their zines out.
I'm going to make a gallery of the finished zines, featuring at least the cover and/or whichever interior pages you'd like included. I can scan those from the copy you send me when I receive it, or you can scan it yourself and e-mail the scans to julie-at-rockscissorspaper.org. Feel free to send contact info, links, and background info on the zine, as well, and if you'd like to provide your PayPal link and have copies for sale, I can set up a PayPal button next to your zine.

Do we get any more incentive than just personal gratification?
Well, I'm having buttons made, and if you send me a zine, I'll send you a 1/2-inch button sporting the logo above, okay?


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rock scissors paper is a huge stack of zines and chapbooks I put together
with a whole lotta help from a whole bunch of very talented contributors:
poets, illustrators, photographers, writers, journalists, etc.
For more info, just ask: julie@rockscissorspaper.org