and was entitled "The APA That Dare Not Speak It's Name" or simply, ATDNSIN (pronounced "attitude & sin").. later on, some political correctness mavens changed the word "Not" to "Now" in the name. -- I was a member of ATDNSIN for several years, and submitted a zine called Bi-Lines to it, as well as several non-related "experimental" zines. By 1992, my move to Cleveland, and subsequent separation and divorce, I chose to drop my membership in the APA. It was just one too many things to deal with.
I valued the experience. I got to meet a lot of cool people, and had a creative outlet. Well-known cartoonists Howard Cruse, Roberta Gregory, John Dennis, and Howard Stangroom were all members of ADTNSIN at the same time as me.
This is how an APA works. Each member creates a zine, basically a small photocopied magazine concerning whatever, and makes a set number of copies which they collate, and (usually) staple. The number of copies is determined by the active size of the APA. For most of the time I was with ATDNSIN, the copy count was 30-50 copies. The size of the zine usually varies, but is determined by a minimum activity ratio (or MINAC). the MINAC for ATDNSIN was 2 pages every other issue, though some APAs have much stricter or laxer requirements.
Each zine is different. Typically my zines were 4-10 pages in length (2-5 pages, copied both sides), and consisted of a front & back cover (usually on colored bond), with interior pages of white or a lighter tone of the cover color. There would be some kind of article, or illustrations, or a story, or comic strips, etc. followed by a section known as mailing comments, or MCs. MCs are where each person expresses their thoughts on other people's zines, and there is a lot of back and forth dialogue going on in MCs, usually.
After completing his/her zine, each member packs em up and mails all of the copies to a person known as the CM, or Central Mailer. This means that the CM has a very full living room whenever this happens :) The CM takes all of the zines from all of the members, collates them all together into one big chunk, or several smaller chunks, binds them together (with big-ass staples, usually), packs each one into an envelope and mails each member a copy of all of the zines. Usually one of the members will make some kind of cover (front and back) for each issue, and sometimes covers for the various separate sections. At its height, ATDNSIN had as many as 5 sections, each about 1/3" thick. I have seen copies of other APAe that approach phone book dimensions. (and some of these are MONTHLY!)
To pay for all of this (you think mailing a phone book is cheap?) each member has an account set up, which they periodically replenish with funds. These funds basically just pay for the postage. APAe are not typically money-making, nor are they intended to be. I have heard of some APAe that collect extra zines, collate them and sell them for really cheap prices to people who inquire about joining the APA. This is a good idea, as it shows potential members what to expect, and also gets rid of excess zines laying around the house.
And that's basically it.
No, screw that! Take me to the main page!