The Paperbook Zine.

Hello Paperbook People!!!

I’ve missed you.

Have I finally got Internet?

NO. 

There are no words. I will not dwell.

Instead, I will tell you about something fabulous that I did today.

I distributed the first ever hard copies of

The Paperbook Collective!!!

I attended the first Bunbury Zine Fair, filled with trepidation. What if no one came? What if everyone else’s was way better than mine? What if people just didn’t get it? In short, I was like a little kid before the first day of school. Which is ironic, because I have felt just like a kid preparing the magazine over the past week. I dug out the scissors, the glue stick, the stapler and the pens, I remembered how to use a photocopier and how to cover things with contact paper. Despite my worrying, it was amazing. People held it in their hands, flicked through the pages, chuckled to themselves in places and asked loads of questions. It was incredible!

How did I make it?

Each issue was printed out, cut down, recompiled and reformatted into A5 size. Each page was stuck back to back, then taken to Office Works to be photocopied. Each cover page was glued to a piece of card, then covered in clear contact paper. Each individual page was hand-folded, organised into the right order, then stapled inside the cover. Each page number was then handwritten on.

So, yeah, nothing to it…

It. Was. Awesome.

The result is the cutest little zine version of The Paperbook Collective, which I am very proud to hold in my hands. Sure, it took me fricken days, and I was almost cross-eyed by the end of it, but it was totally worth it. Don’t you agree?

I made nine versions of each issue, and sold them all! Sure, eighteen magazines doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, when you have to photocopy, cut, cover and staple each one individually, it feels like a thousand.

Sadly, due to the nature of the magazine I couldn’t quite fit everything in each issue. I also couldn’t include any colour photography or colour artwork, simply because I couldn’t afford coloured photocopying. 75c a side? Are you kidding me?

Still, I am attending the Perth Zine Fair, Let Them Eat Zines, on the 3rd of November, and I will be redoing the magazines to include every submission. And hopefully, fingers crossed, Issue Three will be joining his brothers at the stall!

Which brings me to a more sombre announcement. I promised that Issue Three would be out on the 7th of October. Westnet promised me an Internet connection by the 1st of October. We received a charming text message last night, from Westnet, which said the following:

Congratulations! Your Internet will be connected within 48 hours from the 8th of October.

ARE. YOU. FRICKEN. KIDDING. ME.

In a country such as Australia, are you honestly telling me that it takes over a month to connect the Internet to someone’s house? A house that has had an Internet connection for every previous tenant?

I won’t go on, because it stresses me out too much. I, very optimistically, moved my computer back to our apartment on the 28th, imagining that we would soon have that elusive thing, the Internet. No such luck.

So, what I am trying to say, is that Issue Three WON’T be coming out on the 7th. I am going to have to push it back until next Sunday, which is the 13th. I am so incredibly sorry about this, no one is more disappointed or let down than me.

Please forgive me. It is coming.

In the meantime, if you would like to own your very own hard copy of Issue One and Two, please email me to order one! I will have to figure out how to set up PayPal and an order sheet on my blog, but in the meantime, please email me your order to:

jayde.ashe@hotmail.com

I will send them to anywhere in the world, I will just have to work out postage accordingly.

Price:

1 x magazine: AU$8.00 (+p&h)

2 x magazine: AU$14.00 (+p&h) 

3 x magazine: AU$20.00 (+p&h)

And so on, so forth.

It might take a few days processing time, but I will get them to you as quickly as possible.

I would like nothing more than to distribute these babies for free, but the cost of materials is simply too high. And that doesn’t include the man hours it takes me to make them! However, I can say with all certainty that it is worth it. It is so amazing to hold something in your hand that was nothing more than an idea just a few short months ago. Especially something that so many people, from all over the world, have contributed to.

Put them on your coffee table, send them to your family, give them to a friend. It’s bound to be a talking point, and a great way to promote your own work!

Also, you get a free matching bookmark with each issue. That’s right, I hand made bookmarks. Please, no one state the obvious about too much time on my hands…

So that’s where I am at. I will keep you updated about Issue Three, as well as my progress making Zines for the November fair.

To finish, I would like to tell you all about one of the greatest moments of today. I was sitting at the stall, chatting away, when a young guy came up and picked up a magazine.

Oh, The Paperbook Collective. he said. Yeah, I’ve heard of you guys. 

Greatest moment ever. Someone I had never met, who didn’t know about The Paperbook Blog, had heard of The Paperbook Collective. Folks, we are slightly famous. Let’s make ourselves more famous.

Spread the word.