Another Zine Thing!
It’s time for another zine and I’ve been drawing, so here it is: another zine collecting of some of my daily emotional self-portraits with a couple of surprises (doodles that aren’t self-portraits).
Don’t expect anything that looks like skill in these eight pages! My drawings are sincerely the best I can do—it’s just that when it comes to drawing, my best is kind of bad.
I’ve also collected some links for anyone who’s making zines and wants to distribute them more widely. If you know of a place to submit zines for sale or circulation that I haven’t included here, please email me at ann@anncooperwrites.com (or use the linked contact form) and I’ll update this post.
It’s Five and I Haven’t Showered Yet: Emotional Self-Portraits & Surprises © 2026 by Ann Cooper
How I Make A Zine
I draw in a small, spiral-bound Resketch notebook. Resketch is a cool company that sells reused and reclaimed paper: that means we get more use out of paper before breaking it down to recycle it. (More on that here.) The paper itself can be any color, any texture, and might have lines or printing on it. I love this and find it fun to incorporate whatever is printed on the page into my drawings.
I scan the images I want to use on my home scanner/printer, then crop them and straighten them with Photoshop (you could use Gimp or other programs, too). I use InDesign to lay out the mini-zine, but you could use Canva, Adobe Express, Gimp, or checkout the resources linked in my first zine blog post or in the “Making a Digital Zine” section of this libguide from Cornell.
Finally, I export the minizine (which is just one 8.5 X 11 page) to pdf, and that’s my entire process.
By the way: None of my links are affiliate links! I have no sponsorship. I link to things I like and use.
Publish or Distribute Your Zine
Zine Machine is open for submissions four times a year, and their submissions calendar is on the linked submissions page.
From Booklyn’s submissions page: “We are specifically interested in zines with the following themes: feminisms & gender, racial justice, queer liberation, health & wellness, police & prisons, climate justice, and social movement history.”
From Brown Recluse’s about page: “Brown Recluse was established in 2013 as a direct response to the lack of support in the zine community for non-white creators.” Brown Recluse only distributes zines created by QTBIPOC. Please read their submissions guidelines for their topics of interest.
Printed Matter welcomes submissions of artist’s books of all sorts: “At the heart of Printed Matter’s non-profit distribution services is a longstanding open submission policy which welcomes artists and publishers worldwide to submit their publications to be considered for sale by Printed Matter.” The submission form states that “Printed Matter will only consider for review books that have already been published or self-published. At the time of submission, a minimum of 50 copies of the title must have already been produced.”
Zine Events & Distribution Resources
Check out Printed Matter’s state-by-state listing of book and zine fairs.
ZineMap is a user-updated database of zine events, shops that sell zines, and libraries with zine collections all over the world.
Submit Your Zine to a Library Collection
Below are a few libraries accepting submissions for their zine collections, but also look up libraries in your area to see if they have zine collections you can submit to.
The Etling Memorial Library has a circulating zine collection
Jacksonville, Florida Public Library zine collection
Oakland Public Library zine collection
Especially interested in zines from local creators
Lawrence, Kansas zine collection
Looking for creators in northeast Kansas
Zine One: “Worried About Accidental Rudeness”
Check out my blog post “Zine Thing” for a free download of my first zine and a collection of zine inspiration and zine-making resources!
Get a Copy of Zine Two
If you’re a newsletter subscriber, I’ll be including a link to download the pdf with the February newsletter. If you aren’t a subscriber yet, sign up below and you’ll get the download link in your welcome email.
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