Zindies Editorial Meeting Vol.0 Was Fun

Zindies Editorial Meeting Vol.0 has ended. Thank you to everyone who joined! It turned out to be about 90% casual chat, but the remaining 10% went like this: (1) Topics around the ZINE scene are interesting from any angle, so we'd definitely like to stream them next time. (2) A sibling service of Zindies called refeel.day (@refeel.day), which turns diary entries directly into ZINEs, has produced a real-life ZINE test copy, so we showed it off. There was also a sample of a book with an ISBN made with the same system, and just having a cover design plus an obi (paper band) gave it an overwhelming "book" feel — that was an eye-opener. (3) We're making a "WHOLE ZINE CATALOG (aiming to be one) ZINE" that lists authors and works featured on Zindies, and people from the team have been taking copies to bookstores to promote them. Production costs are so high that after showing them off they had to take them back, but an idea came up: instead of bookstores, let customers see them there and order ZINEs from that display. One of the pieces inside, "Souda, Yokado ni Ikou." by Umi Amamiya, really resonated with a staff member from Hokkaido, and later we received a message saying "I bought it—", which was moving. (4) Even among the Alpha generation there are people who don't know about ZINEs, but once explained they understand. (5) Someone from the Alpha generation complimented our design! (So happy) (6) Regardless of author or reader, a ZINE show-and-tell would be fun. Since it was Vol.0 we started relaxed, but it looks like we can gradually show more personality, so I'm looking forward to next week. 😊