History of Media Fanzines

The practice of making zines originally came into media fandom in the 1960s from science fiction fandom, where fanzines had been a popular fan activity since the 1930s. However, the content of SF zines is very different; they are usually non-fiction, consisting of a variety of articles about fannish topics,Camille Bacon-Smith, Science Fiction Culture (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000), 112. whereas media fanzines include, or consist solely of, fanfiction, art, poetry, as well as discussion.
In the absence of any other solid medium, print fanzines are a record of what everyday people around the world were thinking and discussing before the Internet, and one way to understand trends in fandom over the period from about 1970 to the mid-1990s when access to the computer and the internet became a given.
In 1999, several zine publishers participated in an online chat discussing their history with fanzines, how fanzines were made and the impact of the Internet on fanzine production. All three parts are archived here.
==Fanzines as a Genre==
From Jacqueline Lichtenberg:
==Zines, Technology, and Fans' Perception of Time and Patience==
One of the more persistent complaints about buying and selling fanzines was the difficulty in getting a response from a fanzine seller (or vice versa, a response from the buyer). Letterzines and newsletters are brimming with complaints about lost letters, lost zine orders and payments, and lost fanzines. The postal service was universally reviled by fans across the world.
With the advent of email, fans grew even less patient with delays in buying and selling fanzines. Long before email accounts were universal (in the early Internet years, most fans only had email through their workplace, making its use for personal email an iffy proposition), fans complained when their emails were not answered
In 1998, one experienced fanzine buyer tried to provide context to her impatient fellow fans: 
==Critics, Critics Everywhere==
It seems to be a constant that fans look back at the good old days, and find fault with the new. The zine world is no different.
From a fan in 1999: 
==Communal vs Professional Publication==
Fanzines have often been described as communal in nature, with an emphasis on inclusion. In sharp contrast, commercial publications focus on sales by banking that popular themes and (presumably) quality products will motivate buyers to part with their cash. In reality, fanzines straddled both worlds, performing a difficult balancing act. The higher the submission standards for stories, the fewer writers (and the fewer of their friends, and in turn readers and buyers). Lower standards could, on the other hand, drive away buyers. Word of mouth meant everything to fanzine publishers and a single bad zine review could tank zine sales. This all took place against a fandom backdrop of embracing the principles of IDIC and one can easily see why publishing fanzines could take on an almost schizophrenic quality. In most cases, the communal, inclusive side won out. This can be seen in the way fanzine publisher would 'nurture' other zines by offering other fanzine editors free ads or including their flyers . In a world were the written word was the main means of communicating fan to fan and the story-teller the 'star', more zines meant a greater fan community.
In his book Textual Poachers, Henry Jenkins explains: 
This is not to say that fanzine editors would publish any story that a fan writer submitted. Or that they would not edit the stories they did accept. It meant, however, that within fandom there was a trend towards inclusion which is reflected in the perennial and ongoing debate over the nature of reviews and the role that concrit and feedback should play in fannish culture.
==The Decline in the Number of Zines Published==
The arrival and accessibility of the internet, among other things, led to a profound and lasting decline in zine production. But this decline hit different fandoms at different speeds. Older fandoms with many years of zine production, such as K/S, The Professionals and others maintained zine production longer. Different fandoms tried different strategies throughout the late 90s and early 2000s to accommodate fans who were acting out more of their fannish life online.
And even before the world wide web, fans noticed a drop-off in number of new zines.
For more, see Why Fewer Zines?.
== Zines and the Internet==
The arrival of the Internet had a profound effect on existing print zine fandom.
As fanzines faded from fannish life, a few newer fans who had only seen fan fiction online developed a negative, almost hostile attitude towards the buying and selling of fanzines suggesting they were, among other things, elitist and illegal.
== Revival ==
In the late 2010s, zines started making something of a comeback in certain fandoms, available in both print and online formats. Social media has made organizing and contributing to zines easier; many have associated Discord servers to help the staff stay in constant communication. Editing is also much easier due to programs such as Google Docs.
=== Modern fandoms with considerable zine activity ===
* Voltron: Legendary Defender
* Fire Emblem
* Steven Universe
* Genshin Impact 2020-2023. High-quality, professional looking fanzines in particular abound, as well as a share of drama about who gets to participate in them, profit motives, and the pitfalls of fandom group projects. See List of Genshin Impact Zines
==References==
Category:Zine Fandom
Category:Media Fandom