One Beat Zines is a new zine-making collective/distribution service run by Sarah Broadhurst and Julia Scheele aiming is to make cheap-and-cheerful zines that will publish regular anthology books featuring amazing artists and writers.
Their first book, the crowd funded Double Dare Ya, an anthology with a cover from Donya Todd inspired by Riot Grrrl and punk-rock feminism, has already sold out.
The team want to publish work “by us and by others with something to say, whether it’s in the form of comics, essays, photography, poetry, fiction, collage, or any other medium that comes to mind.
“We’re particularly interested in distributing zines by women with strong feminist voices, and in working with women of all ages and backgrounds who are not already established in the current comics and zine scenes.”
“We wanted to have an outlet that was fun,” Sarah recently of the project in an interview with the VICE web site. We knew, after putting together Double Dare Ya, that we wanted it to be a place where people who aren’t on the comic scene could bring work. It can be difficult to get creative things out there; we just want to be a vehicle for people to do that.”
“At zine fairs, girls would ask me how you get started making zines and comics,” added Julia. “I found myself trying to explain to them how I started, which was just to grab a pen and paper and put something shitty together.
Apart from taking their zines around Small Press fairs and conventions in the UK – including today’s Nerd Hutch in Newcastle – they are also hoping to host zine-making workshops for people of all ages interested in crafts, DIY art, and feminism.
“If you submit something we’re interested in, we will give help and guidance with layout, design, and readying your zine for print, and we’ll offer free distribution over our One Beat Online Shop and any zine fairs, festivals and conventions we attend.
“You would be covering your printing costs yourself, but we won’t take any commission for selling your zines over our site.
“…We’re looking for submissions primarily by women who are new to the scene and whose work we find interesting and/or challenging. So far we are already planning on taking on two different projects, one with a political and one with an academic theme. We are only looking for a few extra ones to take on at the moment, the exact number depending on the submissions we receive. We are a feminist zine collective, but not all submissions have to be explicitly political in nature.”
Creators already ion board include London-based Canadian illustratro Jordana Globerman, water colour illustrator Clarice Holt, Johanna Lohrengel, comic artist and illustrator Jess Milton, zine maker and comics creator Hannah Prebble, Kirsty Rolfe and London-based Brazilian visual artist and illustrator Marja de Sanctis.
The cover of One Beat Zines upcoming Sleater Kinney Fanzine
One Beat Zines’ next title for release is a Sleater-Kinney-inspired zine celebrating the release of the band’s No Cities To Love album, which will include work by Sammy Borras, Sarah Broadhurst, Hannah K. Chapman, Joe Decie, Wallis Eates, Babak Ganjei, Ramsey Hassan, Sally-Anne Hickman, Nicola Leel, Jess Milton, Neasa, Julia Scheele, Rachael Smith and Laura Snapes.
• For full submission guidelines and to find out more about One Beat Zines visit http://onebeatzines.com
• The One Beat Zines team will be making a Record Store Day appearance on 18th April at Gosh! Comics in London with Eleni Kalorkoti and Laura Callaghan, with more to be confirmed. Eleni and Laura will be painting in the windows and Sarah and Julia will be there with zines
• The One Beat Zines team will also be at the DIY Cultures Fair in London on the 24th May 2015
• Read about the One Beat Zines project on VICE
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, Features
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