Don’t be scared zinesters, this is not Muchmusic’s next gelled-up Queen St disaster–this is good for you–a non-threatening, corporate-free digital realm for “independent publishing, creative resources and distribution” has finally arrived. Fall of Autumn’s very existence on the net holds promise for a zine-friendly future online. The site encourages burgeoning and experienced zinesters to get involved and submit articles, fiction and other indie lit work. Autumn’s breakdown includes an updated blog / news section, forum, resources, reviews, writings and, of course, podcasts.
The simplicity behind the site makes it frighteningly easy to get involved and get your beautiful indie self out there and noticed. Autumn even ventures to explain the oft-asked question “what’s a zine?” to get you going–and then runs with that initial question to explain how to find zines, make them, and ultimately distribute them. Distribution being the bane of most zines existence, Autumn makes the process painless. Zines, books, buttons and crafts finally have an outlet to reach those outside their local zine shows. Submit a sample, and if the collective behind fallofautumn.com decides that it’d be good to distribute–you’re up. Simple.
While the reviews section is still rather modest, the site holds great potential for the D.I.Y. scene. My only complaint is the goddamned zinester hangman. This is a game cleverly slipped into the sidebar. Users are allotted six typos in discovering the hidden zinester word–and I screw it up every time. Maybe you’ll do better. Maybe I’ll just log into the podcast and deliver the most potent, angry, drunk rant I can think of about zinester hangman (don’t worry, this is encouraged in indie culture). See, even if you fail, this site’ll pull the creativity out of ya! (James King).
www.fallofautumn.com