Hey, there!  Been awhile, i know, but while we’ve been quiet here in the news posts things have been ticking along in the background.  We’ve been working on soliciting new stock for the distro and developing a couple of projects that should publish later this year.  Fun stuff!

events

We had great fun tabling at the Portland Zine Symposium last year, which was held in a great new space.  We especially had fun being part of the inaugural Short Run, Seattle’s new small press festival.

zines in the distro

We completely sold out of “Archiving the Underground” at Short Run, but it’s back in stock now!  We should also soon be getting copies of the new Zine World, and we added some Crabby Media buttons.

forum!

We had to both take down the old forum and close sign-ups at the new forum for awhile because we were inundated with spammers, but the forum is back up and running again!  Join us, won’t you?

zine friends

Alex Wrekk has given StolenSharpieRevolution.org a big update.  And Compilation Station seems to have several open calls for submissions.

So!  What’s new with you all?

Join the Forum discussion on this post

All things Crabby Media are delayed at the moment because Chris is down with an awful head cold.¹  There’s a round of distro orders that should go out this saturday, tho’!  Shipping updates on specific orders will, as always, be posted on the forum.

Thanks for your patience!

1. Chris is about as thrilled over this as you might expect, seeing as it’s currently summer in Seattle. [↩]

Hi, all!  Chris here, with updates on where we are with some Crabby Media projects.

First of all, the website:

• We’re reorganizing our info section, so that it’s more usable and, um, informative than it has been.
• The PayPal problems that took our shop offline for awhile have been resolved and the shop is about ready to officially re-open.
• We’ve taken our old forum offline because we’re planning a switch to new forum software.  I’m not sure if this will happen before the Portland Zine Symposium or not, but we’ll make an announcement when it’s ready.

Also, Portland Zine Symposium:  I’ll be staffing our table there, as usual, the weekend of august 6th and 7th.  This year it’ll be a half table, as the new location for PZS is much smaller, so keep a sharp eye!  I’m trying to improve our tablecloth with a nice Crabby Media banner on it so it’s easier to spot.

And don’t forget:  We have a call for submissions going right now!  It’s a comp zine all about SF fandom and its possibilities and problems.  The deadline is january 1st of 2012, so there’s still time to get your ideas cooking.  If you have a submission or some questions, write to us: marginrelease@crabbymedia.org

Thanks!

xoxo,
chris.

After a too-long quiet period, 2 Crabby news items!!

Jess, johanna, and Chris are editing a comp zine all about various methods of fannish documentation (fic, vids, zines, &c.) and all the possibilities (of breaking down barriers? of inclusion? of expanding critique?) and problems (of erecting barriers? of deciding who and how things get archived/recorded?) inherent in fan modes of artistry and archiving.  We’re planning to debut “Margin Release” at next year’s Wiscon (held in Madison, Wisconsin, over Memorial Day weekend), so the deadline for submission is January 1st, 2012.  The call for submissions contains all the details and some possible subjects.

Also, yes, our shop has been woefully offline for far, far too long.  We’re currently resolving an issue with PayPal and hope to be opening again in june.  Stay tuned!

Crabby Media is going to the Portland Zine Symposium next week!  Chris will be tabling our wares and is really looking forward to it.  Stop by and visit us in the tabling room!

Unfortunately, this means we’ll be taking the shop offline for 2-3 weeks (items will still be visible, but there won’t be any buy buttons).  Chris is the only distro person and so won’t be able to fill orders until she’s back from Portland.  Also, the shop needs a few technical upgrades which will take us a couple of days to implement.  We hope to have everything up and running again on Labor Day weekend — i.e., the 1st weekend in september.

However!  Behind-the-scenes we’ve been slowly stocking up the distro with more exciting zines, so when the shop comes back online it will be a little bigger than it is now.  A preview of what we’re adding:

• “White Blackbirds”, edited by Katie Haegele
• “Let’s DIY” #s 1 & 2 and “Zine Capsule” from Grrrl Zines A Go-Go
• some Crabby Media merchandise

And maybe we’ll make some awesome finds at the Symposium, too!

We also expect to be announcing a call for submissions for our next comp zine closer to PZS.

So, in short, don’t touch that dial.

The new Zine World (#28!) just came out.  Way in the back in the free classifieds we have a tiny little ad that says:

Crabby Media is currently seeking to distro zines about any aspect of zines and zine-making — papermaking or bookbinding instructions, zine histories, how-to guides for promoting your zine or working with stores/distros, etc etc! Please get in touch with us at crabbymedia.org

We are especially looking to bulk up the zine-making resources we carry in the shop.  Do you make a zine along those lines, or know someone who does??  Please drop me a note — chris @ crabbymedia.org — or leave a comment in the forum.

Thanks!

(chris.)