From: seth@mivax.mc.duke.edu (Judge Not)
Newsgroups: alt.zines
Subject: Re: What is an APA
Date: 14 Dec 92 17:47:00 GMT
Organization: Duke University Medical Center
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <Bz7t8J.GxG@well.sf.ca.us>, jerod23@well.sf.ca.us (Jerod Pore) writes...

>APA's are a neat form of many-to-many communications.  Each 'member' of the
>APA contributes X number of pages and a set number of copies.  Say you have
>5 pages on the subject that is covered by the APA (not all are subject
>specific, just most of them).  The APA has 20 members and 30 subscribers.
>You would make 50 copies of your 5 pages and mail them to the coordinator.
>The coordinator collates everyones' copies, staples them together, and mails
>them out to the subscribers and members.

APA's, in a nutshell, our hardcopy versions of electronic bulletin boards.

Because issues (disty's) go out monthly or so, people tend to put more into
their zines (articles), which frequently are the caliber of full-fledged
independent zines...though shorter.  The APA as a whole is like a large,
disorganized magazine with many authors submiting articles.  People write
comments to other people's articles in the last disty, hence the similarity
to bulletin boards (and yes, apa's have assinine flame wars too).
                                        ^^^^^^^^
                                        (IMHO)
APA's do tend to cover a subject.  For example, I'm a member of FreFanZine,
"the only libertarian sci-fi apa in the entire friggin' universe!", and need-
less to say most of the members are interested in libertarian & anarchist
politics.  Some are interested in sci-fi.  We often talk about anything but
those two topics, but they are what "binds" us together (along with staples in
the margin).

It is interesting to see all the similarities between APA's and newsgroups/
zines available on the net.  We use emoticons :^), IMHO, flames, etc.
APA's existed long before Apple's first PC, and some netiquette is borrowed 
from them.  The reverse has also happened, to the point where it's hard to
tell where something originated.  I was using a "Standard Disclaimer" in
my zines for years before I ever had access to usenet and saw other people's
sig files.

APA's are great for those aspiring writers/artists (some APA zines are mostly
artwork, some mostly text, some both) who never get around to the great
American novel/painting.

Many but not all APA's require you to submit regularly and tend to frown on 
those who merely suscribe.  "Deadwood" and "Minac" fees are not uncommon.
Otherwise there are two costs: postage and copying.  Neither is insignificant.

As much as I like the Net, there is something about holding a magazine in your
hands and flipping through the pages.  No down time, file maintenance, etc.
It's easy to cut n' paste graphics, especially since it's all copied.
APA zines are of surprisingly high quality considering the amature-hobby 
nature of it's members.

APA's are an important part of the underground press.  We've even had the
Feds intercepting ours (okay, so maybe sending an anarchist publication to
a prisoner in a federal penitentary wasn't such a good idea).  Fortunately,
APA's do not have a "return path" (except for the editor) and psuedonyms are
common. 

Reply by e-mail if you're interested in FreFanZine.  Potential contributors
only; this is not a subscription or commercial venture.
(best way to reach me is to reply via news software to this posting)
Newsgroups: alt.zines