Start Select Reset Zine – What!? SSR Is Evolving?

Issue #006 of Start Select Reset Zine went out yesterday via sail mail to supporters subscribed at £5 a Month or above!

If you would like join the mailing list and receive an issue 4 times a year subscribe directly via stripe below!

Issue #006 is the first issue in the new format – reasons for this format shift are inside.

The zine features 5 handmade/cut linocut stamps of lighthouses made one a week over the last month or so. They were a lot of fun to make and I’m really pleased with how they turned out.

SSR #006

First some observations:

• Making a zine in 2023 for paid subscribers instead of putting ‘content’ behind a paywall is exactly what I want to be doing, and think others should be doing too.
• This is the second zine of the year, and the first since the UK’s inflation kicked into high gear. Printing costs are up (and tbh quality of customer service way down – but this is a separate rant). Postage costs are up. Even the price of envelopes have gone up. But it doesn’t matter as I still think sending real things to real people Is a worth while endeavour.
  • Further to this, future issues won’t be photocopied – laser printing only from now on. The cost saving doesn’t offset the loss in print accuracy.
• Subscriber base is growing, if it continues, I’m going to figure out how to print shipping labels. Writing addresses on envelopes is a time sink!
• One person is going to get two zines (bonus!) instead of one. After stuffing the envelopes one has gone AWOL! lol

I don’t want to repeat myself from the newsletter – but I will say: I’m really happy with the new format. I’ve found a nice balance between magazine and newsletter. I’m already thinking about the next issue (which is good as maybe it will come out on time lol).

Lots of lessons learned with this issue, workflow, printing etc. Design and layout tweaks need for the next one!

There is something incredibly final about getting something printed and putting it in an envelope. The ‘work’ is basically final (tho the labour far from done) the moment the PDF is dragged on the the USB stick. ‘This is it’. It’s a completely different feeling from posting a blog post of a podcast. Anything glaringly wrong can be replaced, any spelling mistakes corrected. But when its being printed?? No going back.

This feeling/metaphor is extended with each of the 5 stamps. Put it in the ink, stamp it on the page, keep going. Each one come out different, with its own character. A one shot