Gunderloy says he began F5 in 1982 as a two-page, typed letter to friends. In it, he offered reviews of the sci-fi publications he read. By the late 1980s, F5 was appearing bimonthly with nearly 140 pages of tightly written reviews. Its circulation had grown to 10,000, but Gunderloy gave away as many as half in trades. Many readers were critical of this method, saying it encouraged shoddy, slapped-together efforts just to get a free copy of Gunderloy's magazine.
Critics say the policy flooded the market with lackluster material and lowered standards.
While Gunderloy's decision may have contributed to slipshod efforts, F5 and its large and diverse readership also guaranteed customers for nearly every type of publication. Many zines are published by hobbyists who use their publications to network. Another zine, SOS, is the organ of the Secular Organization for Sobriety, which offers alternatives to religion-based recovery programs. Sometimes even editors are surprised by the number of orders they receive for their ultra-specialized and often very personal works. Among them is a man in Austin, Texas, who published Raised By Wolves, in which he anonymously told his tale of childhood sexual abuse.