This is taken from a book written about zines:
The Factsheet Five Zine Reader by R. Seth Friedman


Zines are looking so professional these days that sometimes it's difficult to
tell the zines from the magazines. In alternative bookstores all across the
country you'll find zines with slick covers, color printing, tight binding, and sharp
design. A quick look might lead one to think that the modern-day zine is just an
offspring of mainstream magazines like Details and Newsweek.

Nothing could be further from the truth.
The origin of the modern zine is much more humble then that. The word "zine"
evolved not from the word "magazine," but from the word "fanzine," a term that
dates back to the science fiction fanzines of the '30s and '40s.

In 1926 Hugo Gernsback launched Amazing Stories, the first magazine
devoted exclusively to publishing original stories of scientific-based fiction. This
magazine featured a special letters section where readers could discuss the
scientific basis of the published stories. Hugo made a minor decision that
changed the face of science fiction forever - he printed the full addresses of the
letter writers so they could contact each other directly.

Within a few years, associations and discussion groups formed, where readers
of science fiction could discuss their impressions of the stories they read. One
such group, the Science Correspondence Club, started up an amateur
publication allowing members to easily keep in touch with each other. When its
first issue was published in 1930, The Comet (later renamed to Cosmology)
went down in history as the world's first fanzine.

The '30s, '40s, and '50s were a golden era for the science fiction fan. Fueled by
the popularity of the mimeograph duplicating machine, hundreds (maybe
thousands) of people caught the bug and took on the call to publish their own fanzine.

The mid 1960s saw the start a revolution in alternative publishing. Fueled by the
growing political unrest, and the availability of inexpensive offset printing
thousands of people tried their hand at starting up alternative newspapers
across the country. Most notable are the papers that formed the UPS
(Underground Press Syndicate) in 1967. The founding members include the
Los Angeles Free Press, the East Village Other, the Berkeley Barb, San
Francisco's Oracle, Detroit's Fifth Estate, Chicago's Seed, and Austin's Rag,
but the UPS soon grew to include hundreds of regularly published alternative newspapers.

The late '60's saw a synergy between outspoken political commentary, literary
experimentation, and heartfelt critiques of rock and roll music. An unusual thing
happened in the mid '70s. What was once the rebellious voice of a generation,
turned into the boring ol' establishment. The excitement of rock and roll, turned
into the oppressive doldrums of overblown stadium rock extravaganzas. A new
genre of music evolved, and with it a new genre of music fanzines. Punk rock finally arrived.

In 1976, fresh out of SVA (the School of Visual Arts, where he studied
cartooning with Harvey Kurtzman and Will Eisner) John Holmstrom, along with
"Legs" McNeil and Ged Dunne, published the small-circulation magazine Punk.
This publication had the heart of a music fanzine but the character of an underground comic.

On the other side of the pond, Sniffin' Glue made its appearance as the
leading British punk music fanzine. While Holmstrom's Punk featured slick
printing and an appealing comic-book design, Sniffin' Glue featured sloppy
hand lettering, uneven typewritten interviews, and darkly reproduced pictures.
Punk has gone down in history as a chronicler of New York's CBGBs scene,
but the character and style of Sniffin' Glue still lives on in the punk rock fanzines published today.

These two were by no means the only punk rock fanzines being published in
the late '70s. There were probably untold hundreds published in the U.S. and
Great Britain, but, like the music itself, most punk fanzines rejected history and
ended up lost to time.

The first commercial Xerox machine was released in 1959, but it wasn't for
another ten or so years before they became commonplace in most large offices.
It took a few more years before the nascent fanzine publishers/office slaves
would gain access to the sacred machines. By the time the '80s rolled around
Xerox machines made their impact on American society and the zine publishers were on their way to create a revolution.

In the early '80s Mike Gunderloy spent a lot of time reading and writing for
science fiction fanzines. After a while, he started noticing quite a few other
types of zines, including punk fanzines, political newsletter, humorous
pamphlets, and fringe societies. Mike was an avid letter writer and wanted to
tell all his friends about the unusual publications he's come across. Instead of
writing the same information over and over, he tried to simplify his life by
producing a short mimeographed list which he dubbed Factsheet Five.

Unfortunately, this newsletter did anything but simplify his life. Within a few
short years, word of Factsheet Five spread far and wide. Before he knew it,
that simply mimeographed newsletter had turned into a thick 124-page
magazine which proceeded to consume his entire life.

As the '80s rolled on, Kinko's copy shops started appearing on every corner
and copies of Factsheet Five were being sold in the newsstand right next
door. Thousands of people picked up on the idea that they too could publish their own zine. Thousands did.

Computer equipment took the production of zines to a whole new level. Soon,
people were able to design their simple zines using the latest computer desktop
publishing systems. The resulting flood of zines proved to be too much for
Mike's humble little project - and in a rash decision, he decided to give it all up
after 44 issues. The magazine was quickly sold to Hundson Luce who also
found the project too massive. By the end of 1991 Factsheet Five was gone for good.

When I heard of Factsheet Five's demise I thought it was a vital resource that
was too important to lose. I poured everything I had into restarting the
magazine and by January '93, issue #46 of Factsheet Five was on the shelves
The magazine proved to be as popular as I hoped. Who knows what the future
will hold for zines? As long as people continue to make zines, Factsheet Five
will continue documenting all that's happening.

To many people, the Internet and the World Wide Web offer the same promise
as the network of zines. Through the power of the Internet, people can meet
like-minded individuals, engage in discussions on topics of similar interest, and
create virtual communities. The most surprising development has been the
growth of electronic zines or ezines. Created on computers but never quite
making it to the laser printer or Xerox machine, these ezines exist primarily on
network servers, computer disks, and on-line systems. Some of these ezines
are extensions of their paper cousins, while others exist solely in virtual space.

While paper photocopied zines are quick and easy to publish, ezines are even
easier. Costing virtually nothing to produce, an ezine can have an audience of
thousands, with a potential audience reaching into the millions. Because they're
so easy to produce and distribute, ezines are growing by astronomical
proportions, with virtually no end in sight.

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