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Monday, December 28, 2009

First ever issue of DIY Life Zine NOW AVAILABLE!!

The long wait is over: the first ever issue of DIY Life Zine is now available!!  For anyone who's just anxious to see it right away, I'll cut to the chase.  There are a couple of ways you can read it.
  1. Go here, where you can download the file off of zinelibrary.info.
  2. Send me an email at open.eyed.slave@gmail.com (with the subject "DIY Life Zine" so I can find it quickly and easily) and I'll send you the file (in PDF format).  NOTE: hotmail doesn't accept larger files, so it probably won't go through on a hotmail account.


    If you like what you read, I'd be thrilled if you shared the link on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog.  You can also print it out and photocopy it as much as you want: hand it out to your friends and family, leave it lying around in a bus stop or at the library...  Or not.  I'm just being optimistic and saying all the cool things you *can* do if you want to. ;-)

    Some random notes about the zine:

    Firstly, I want to thank everyone who contributed SO MUCH!!  You guys made this project a success.

    Secondly, I originally planned on having a cooler layout: more of a gritty, zine-y feel to the whole thing.  However, life and procrastination got in the way, so it's not quite as nice as it could have been.  Sorry about that!

    In terms of language, I received some pieces with Canadian spelling, some with American spelling, and for the most part, that's how they were left.  Also, my proofreader flaked out on me partway through, so I'm blaming her for the typos I'm sure are there! ;-P

    I'm sure there's so much more I could say about the zine, about the process, the content, the everything, but right now I'm just feeling frazzled and brain-fried, so I'm going to leave it at this!  Oh, wait, one more thing: I'd love love LOVE to get feedback, so if you read it, I'd be very happy if you left a comment or sent me an email (open.eyed.slave@gmail.com) to let me know what you think, what you liked and disliked, suggestions for ways to do things better in the future, or anything else you can think of.  Thanks a bunch!!

    EDIT: I used the wrong version of one of the poems in the original version, which is why if you click on the link now, it says "revised version". :-)

    Peace,
    Idzie
    at

    7 comments:

    1. TheyDHDDecember 29, 2009 at 5:18 AM

      Love it!

      Thanks for all your hard work putting this together, and honestly, even tough it was a bit naked (like you said), I'm going to print it out anyway, and deliver it to several of my dear zine-loving friends.

      I can only hope they enjoy it as much as I did, :)

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    2. Idzie DesmaraisDecember 29, 2009 at 1:05 PM

      Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it! :-D I feel bad about how naked it is really, because I had such ambitious ideas when I first started, but yeah, after waiting too long, then struggling with multiple programs on my computer, I ended up just being happy that I could publish it at all! :-S Ah well, there's always next issue to do a better job on. ;-)

      ReplyDelete
    3. StellaDecember 29, 2009 at 9:20 PM

      It's amazing.

      Very well put together! I must admit to never reading an online zine like this, so I'm not really sure what to compare it to, but I love it! One of the poems by Emi really struck me. I don't think it had a name, but it was the ones about the stars (the shorter one). LOVED IT.

      I cannot imagine putting this whole thing together- I think I would certainly pull my hair out and scream at anyone daring to talk to me. It would not be pretty. So kudos to you for doing it well and not losing all of your sanity!

      Any thoughts on when the next one will be out? Or the topic? I suddenly have a burning desire to write something for a zine ;)

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    4. Idzie DesmaraisDecember 30, 2009 at 1:32 PM

      Thank yo so much Stella!! :-D

      lol, I was rather grumpy during the most frustrating struggles with the computer... :-P

      I'm going to actively start looking for submissions in the Spring... March, maybe? with the plan of publishing the zine in May or June. The topic is going to be the same: DIY Life. I still feel that's one of the most inclusive topics, while still being a *theme*! And I will very happily accept any and all submissions at any point in time, not just when I'm *actively* looking for submissions! So yeah, thanks so much for wanting to write something, I'm looking forward to seeing it!! :-D

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    5. AjijaakDecember 30, 2009 at 3:13 PM

      I commented on facebook but thought I would leave a comment here. I love it!!! Nice work Idzie! :)

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    6. Rochelle BlueDecember 31, 2009 at 11:23 PM

      I loved every word of it Idzie! I printed out (all 33 pages) but before I could begin reading it, my mum got her hands on it ^^! Like me, she also loved reading it!
      I cannot wait until the next issue! maybe this time, I will be able to put something towards it ;)

      Roch

      ReplyDelete
    7. Idzie DesmaraisJanuary 3, 2010 at 4:09 PM

      @Anishinaabekwe: Thank you!! :-D

      @Rochelle: Yay, I'm so glad you and your mom liked it!! Thank you. :-)

      ReplyDelete