One year ago was my first ZineFest EVER. I knew a little about the world of zines back in the 90s, but didn’t know they were still a thing… but our friend, @ArtOfQuinn I’m , was participating so we wanted to support her and see what the zine life was about.

And it was amazing! Mind-blowing! Life changing!

We did the workshops, spent a ton of money, and for months after I regretted not spending more. I wanted to be part of that world but also felt so outside of it; but I started jotting down ideas and stashing away little doodles I meant to finish, just in case it ever became something real.

And then came signup day for 2019… within the first minutes I registered and got receipt number 5! The three months since then, all leading up to yesterday, have been a blur of writing, drawing, and printing/building some of the most personal, important and stupid things I’ve ever made in my life. And it’s the most creatively fulfilled and happy I’ve been with something in a long time (back to the days of my wonderfully simple webcomics).

Yesterday was the ZineFest itself, and it was nothing short of a blast… and a huge success to boot! I sold out of my “Letters To People I’ve Lost” zine an hour before the show ended and brought home less than half of my other zines. 86 copies of my work are in the hands of other people and I’m struggling to believe this is real life.

I was also sharing a table with @kpollyart, a total legend here in MKE, and managed to not just talk to, but act like a human being around him. It couldn’t have gone better for my first time.

Although I didn’t get a chance to make the rounds and spend all my money like I wanted, I did grab a few great pieces from my friends and zinesters close to our table, and copped some amazing trades with other zinesters who did make the rounds. I’ve poured through my new collection twice already and feel so energized and ready to start the next project. Sickness be damned, I wanna get rolling.

And that’s why I started my Patreon today. The day after the event. The first day my work is outside of my head and hands, and given up to the world (or at least Milwaukee).

Hopefully you check it out because you enjoyed what you read and want to see more. Hopefully you are as excited about zines and their potential as I am. Hopefully we can change the world one little piece of folded paper at a time.

Whatever your reason for your interest, thank you. I can’t wait to get more zines out into the world and sent to your mailboxes!

Originally posted on Patreon