Reading and Viewing Print Fanworks in Public Areas

Reading and viewing print fanworks in public areas can be complicated, due to the misunderstanding, stigma, and ridicule which has long surrounded fandom, fanworks and fannish creations such as fanzines. 
Fending off nosy observers, having to tote stacks of paper around, and disguising explicit zine covers are some of the challenges involved when fans read print fanworks in public. 
Some fanworks were created with decoy covers, or plain covers, in order to make it easier to read fic on the bus, train, or at family gatherings. These covers were sometimes designed to disguise the explicitness of the zine cover, a custom that is sort of a related precursor to the phrase "Not Safe for Work" (NSFW). But just as often, these decoy covers were used to simply camouflage the topics of fanfic and fanart themselves.
 
Over the decades, many fans have commented on the joys and challenges of reading print fanworks in public, and the experiences that resulted from doing so. While in the digital age there are fewer obstacles to reading fanworks publicly (thanks to smartphones, e-readers, and an increasing acceptance of fanworks into the mainstream - nowadays, some "print fanworks" are in fact published books), the practice still persists and many fans value being able to create and read through a printed copy of their (or someone else's) fanwork, in spite of the extra work involved in doing so.
 
===Fanworks in the Digital Age, and the Paradox of Privacy===
With the development of e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle, and e-book reader applications on smartphones in and after 2007, it became easier to read and view fanworks in public. 
Some archives like AO3 offered one-click downloads of fanworks in e-book compatible formats such as epub and mobi, which was a major advantage over the way old older/other archives offered fanfiction: this typically consisted of files in HTML, Microsoft Word or text document formats which weren't compatible with most mobile devices and e-book readers.
The initial digital release of Fifty Shades of Grey in 2009 (which was later followed by a mainstream print copy release) was particularly significant both as a novel based on a fanwork that achieved mainstream success, and also a work that many readers opted to read electronically, out of embarrassment at being "caught" reading an erotic BDSM romance. As a result, Fifty Shades is credited with "open[ing] up the use of Kindles and e-readers to a new audience", with its Kindle edition selling four times as many copies as the print version.How Amazon and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Created a Golden Age for Self-Published Romance Authors — and Why It May Already Be Over by Elisabeth Donnelly, February 13, 2015]
However, this newfound privacy gave rise to a new set of privacy concerns around data collection: in exchange for keeping their reading habits private from onlookers, readers were giving up all sorts of information about those habits to e-publishing giant Amazon. As Neil Richards wrote in an article for Slate magazine:
== Reading and Viewing Print Fanworks in Public Areas==
Some zines were purposely created to have covers that appealed to fans who wanted the subject of their fannishness and/or sexual explicitness kept from general public knowledge. 
The zine series titled Plain Brown Wrapper was a playful riff on sexually explicit fanworks. 
===Fig Leaves=== 
See Fig Leaves for examples of non-fans, and fans, temporarily covering up "the naughty bits" in fanworks in public spaces.
===Fake Covers===
These zines had a "read anywhere" cover that overlaid the main cover. Some of these zines were cunningly disguised as academic reading.
 Image:strangebed1top.jpg| the top sheet of Strange Bedfellows #1 (May 1993) , intended to make this zine bus-safe
 Image:strangebed1cover.jpg| the actual cover of "Strange Bedfellows" #1, a Blake's 7 illo by Suzan Lovett, the art is titled: [[One Safe Harbor (Blake's 7 art)|One Safe Harbor. 
Image:comrades2.jpg|Front cover of Comrades #2 (1990), a Man from U.N.C.L.E. zine -- "Continuing our tradition of non-incriminating covers, "Comrades 2" presents a second "doctoral thesis. 'The Principles Of Glasnost: A Study Of American-Soviet Relationships.' Tell Mum-in-Law you're doing post-grad work."
 File:Sent ThinBlueLine.jpg|Fake front cover of Jim and Blair Do the World (2000), a Sentinel zine. This issue has a cover that reads: "The Thin Blue Line: An Anthropological Study of Closed Societies within West Coast Police Organizations" The author is listed as "Blair Sandburg, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Rainier University".
 Image:jbdotheworld.jpg| The real front cover of Jim and Blair Do the World, a Sentinel zine.
Image:jimandblairdothetown.jpg|This issue of "Jim and Blair Do the Town" (2006) has a "fake" cover that reads: "Urban Sprawl and Territorial Imperatives: A Report for the City of Cascade Real Estate Board."
Image:jimandblair.jpg|Inside front cover of Jim and Blair Do the Town, a Sentinel zine.
===Explicit Cover Management===
Regarding K/S Tonight! (1985), from the editorial: 
Regarding covers for Down Under Express (1992): 
 
Regarding Strange Bedfellows #1 (May 1993): 
Regarding Evasive Maneuvers (1994): 
A fan in 2002 was enthusiastic about a fan-made product called a "zine condom" that they bought to disguise their fanworks: 
Another fan mentions camouflaging explicit zine covers (2004): 
One publisher, Blackfly said about Jim and Blair Do the Timewarp (2005): 
===Nosy People===
* From Multi-Species Medicine #9: "My friend looked over at the copies of MSM that I was reading on the bus, and commented, 'Jeez, Jess, you need a life. Most of your life is on television or on paper.' He's right, for the most part. I crave knowledge, and I worry a lot about sliding too far into fandom. I've seen cases of it, and I'm scared to death that it'll happen to me, almost like a terminal disease."
===Size and Weight of Print Fanworks===
* Regarding Panic Moon: "It is small (A6 format and 32 pages) but perfectly formed. Just right for reading on the bus." Panic Moon 
* About a massive novel and a bus mishap: "I'd finally snagged a copy of the massive Pros novel "Waiting to Fall" (AKA "Waiting to Screw"), at 600+ pages, a tome to be reckoned with. I reckoned with it my carrying 200 page sections about with me at one time. These pages were not in a binder, nay, they were kept loose in file folders preparatory to my plan to copy them at work while no one was looking. So there I was one morning, riding the bus, engrossed in the pages I was currently reading whilst a 200-page section sat in my backpack destined for the photocopier. The pages I was reading were a tad exciting. So exciting that I failed to notice how close we were coming to my stop until the bus began to make its final approach--I looked up, saw the University hospital, and thought, Oops. I leaped from my seat, grabbing up my backpack. Which was not zipped shut. The file folder inside, with the 200 pages of "Waiting to Fall", went flying down the aisle. Many people were attempting to walk down the aisle to leave the bus. The bus itself was lurching mightily to a long, drawn-out stop. As I scrambled to retrieve the mess, bumping into people as the bus lurched along, I had one clear thought in mind: the page with the sex scene is going to get stuck under the seats." quote by Alexfandra, 1994, on Virgule-L, quoted on Fanlore with permission 
*Regarding formally printed zines as opposed to printing fanfic on a home or office printer: "You have a pile of paper. There's no formatting, no artwork, no binding. These stories may not even have been spellchecked, much less edited for content and quality. You may even have to hand-number the pages, and you're certainly going to have to put 'em in a binder ... but they're single sided, so they take up twice as much space, and when you want to read on the train or bus to work, you learn a whole new respect for space and weight!" a 1999 essay: The Case for Print Media Publishing 
===Fanworks As a Place for Some Downtime===
*Regarding Labyrinth: "I have to head off to work, but I'll be taking Labyrinth with me on the bus, will see if I can get any further... *g* "comments by byslantedlight at Reading Room, posted February 26, 2009; reference link 
*Regarding Voice-over: "I started taking notes as I re-read on the bus this morning, and within the first page or so I'd already half a page of reasons why I adored it so far." 2009 comments (excerpts from the story snipped) from CI5hq; reference link
*Regarding Redemption: "Tribbing to zines has nothing to do with copyright or that sort of thing for me. It's a love of books and wanting things in print. It's the pleasure of sitting down with that book in your hand, or taking it with you on the bus or to the beach to enjoy. And when the power goes out, the book still works. It's all good." comment by sc fossil, , posted August 15, 2007 
===Exuberance and Fanfic Nearly Got This Fan Kicked Off the Bus===
*Regarding Probe "I nearly got thrown off a bus yesterday, and I believe you had some thing to do with it. I was reading "STAR TREK Is Racist Program!" in PROBE 1 when suddenly I began chortling and soon found myself, much to the distress of my fellow passengers, laughing hysterically. That story of yours is fantastic! from an LoC in Probe #4 original Not that funny. -- User:MPH 
===Fanworks as a Way of Finding Other Fans===
* "I remember a fan telling me how she felt completely isolated until she saw another fan reading a copy of Star Trek: The New Voyages on the bus and realized she wasn't the only Trek fan in the city." MPH's personal recollection, 2015 
==2009-10 Discussion: "Printing out Your Fanfiction with a Front Cover on It"==
In October 2009, a user on the FanBBS message board started a discussion regarding the idea of fans printing out their fanfiction with a front cover on to bring to offline fan meetups. Over the following nine months, the thread gained more than 800 comments from users discussing the merits of printing out one's own fanfic, as well as the idea of print fanfiction in general, particularly regarding issues of ownership and copyright.Idea: Printing out Your Fanfiction with a Front Cover on It, FanBBS. Accessed April 29, 2018. (Archived version)
Some comments from the thread:
==References==
Category:Discussion
Category:Print MediaCategory:2018 Featured Articles