Robyn Chapman, a senior editor at First Second, recently presented a super inspiring workshop about zines to Kids Comics Studio. Robyn packed her session with clear, practical tips, so I wanted to share the highlights with you!
Outside her day job, Robyn runs the micropress Paper Rocket Comics, is a longtime zinemaker and collector, and has taught at the Center for Cartoon Studies and SVA. She’s the author of Drawing Comics Lab (now out of print, but still available as an e-book).
Robyn began by defining terms. What counts as a zine or a mini-comic? From her point of view,
- A zine is a self-published, handmade booklet.
- A mini-comic is the same idea applied specifically to comics.
Crucially, Robyn says, it’s not about size—she showed mini-comics of very different sizes.
So, why make zines at all? Robyn gives three reasons:
- They’re fun!
- They’re cheap!
- They’re fast!
Compared with the long trade publishing timeline (often up to 18 months from final files to books in stores — not including the years required to actually write and draw those final files!), a zine can go from idea to printed comic in one afternoon.
You don’t need permission, and you don’t need many tools (a pen and paper are enough!). Zines are an awesome way to get your work out into the world quickly.
How to make an 8-page “one-sheet” zine (the classic)
Robyn walked us through the popular one-sheet style zine (sometimes called an “instant book”). Below are the instructions from her book, Drawing Comics Lab:
- Fold a single sheet three times to create eight folds
- Open up, then fold “hamburger style” (along the shorter middle fold) and cut a slit down the center
- Open up again, then refold “hotdog style” (along the longer middle fold) and fold together like an accordion
And… you’ve got a tiny book! No staples required.
Any paper size works. If you use a sheet of paper that’s larger than 8 1/2 x 11, you’ll get a larger zine.
You can draw the pages, unfold to photocopy, and use the back as a poster if you like.
While the easiest way to make a zine is the “1-sheet” method above, most of the zines that Robyn’ publishes via Paper Rocket Comics are saddle-stitched. This means that she nests “signatures” (folded sheets) together and staples them through the spine.
Importantly, this means that reading order isn’t the same as the printing order. Page 8 might sit beside page 1 on a print spread; page 7 beside page 2, and so on.
This is why she recommends creating a “dummy” — ie, a mock-up of the final book. Fold the mock-up as you’re planning to print, number the pages, and use that as your imposition guide (instructions for printing) when you lay out the final.
Layout, Tools, and Printing
Robyn came up in the 1990s making zines entirely on photocopiers—pasting up pages, placing them on the glass, and running the whole job by hand. She thinks everyone should try it for the DIY cred. 🙂
Given that she now runs a professional micro press, though, these days she typically lays out zines in Adobe InDesign. This allows her to get clean, predictable results.
BookletCreator
If you don’t have Adobe InDesign or are looking for a less expensive solution, she recommends the app BookletCreator. It’s a simple tool to help automate the process of re-ordering pages into signatures so you can easily stack your pages, fold them, staple in the middle, and voilà — you’ve got your comic.
In terms of design, Robyn says that you can be as simple or as fancy as you want. She mentioned popular minicomic series that are just B/W, letter-sized sheets folded in half, with a cardstock cover. That straightforward package works great.
But you can also get fancy if you’re up for it:
- Format: Portrait, landscape, odd trims, or novelty silhouettes.
- Paper: Colored, textured, patterned, or graph paper for end sheets.
- Folds: Gatefolds, accordions, French flaps, even dust jackets.
- Bindings: Beyond saddle-stitching, you could also try Japanese stab binding, side-stapling with a taped spine, or tucking a small mini inside a larger one.
- Hand finishes: Stamps (she used a halved apple as the stamp for a zine about school that she made with Tom Hart), stencils, highlighter hits, belly bands, wax seals, rounded corners.
She warns that special finishes add several minutes of prep time for every copy you’re planning to make. So the final result might look reall cool, but they could be a grind to assemble if you’re making a lot of copies.
For inspiration, Robyn mentioned a bunch of minicomic artists she admires:
- John Porcellino
- Raina Lee
- A.T. Pratt
- Beth Hetland
- John Chad
- Brian “Box” Brown
- Carey Pietsch
- James Kochalka
Supply List
Robyn shares a great list of tools for anyone who wants to get serious about their zine making! The basics that she recommends are:
- Bostitch Long Reach stapler
- Access to a printer/scanner or a decent copy machine.
- Cutting mat
- Xacto knife
And if you really catch the bug and want to get more advanced supplies for making a larger number of copies at once:
- Rayson heavy-duty saddle stapler
- HFS 12″ Guillotine paper cutter (for trimming stacks cleanly).
- Bone folder tool
- Brayer (Robyn likes brayers even more than bone folders for crisp folds)
Printers
Robyn explains that when it comes to printing, there are two broad buckets:
- Digital printing (toner): Fast, affordable, and widely available. Quality ranges from okay to excellent depending on the shop. Great for small runs and experiments. Most digital printers will accept your RGB files; they usually don’t require CMYK.
- Offset printing (ink on press): Highest quality and best per-unit price at scale, but only cost-effective for large runs. Requires more complicated proper CMYK prepress production.
Local copy counters are convenient, but self-serve machines at big chains (like FedEx Office/Staples) can get expensive fast. Robyn recommends checking with real printers before defaulting to the walk-in copy shop option.
Here’s the list of companies she works with frequently:
- Best Value Copy: Extremely inexpensive color and B/W digital printing; can print full-bleed cheaply. Quality is usually good, with occasional variance—acceptable given the price.
- Minuteman Press (nationwide chain of local printers): She likes their rich, solid blacks for B/W interiors.
- Mixam: Great if you want the printer to do everything (imposition and binding included). The trade-off is cost—roughly about a dollar more per unit in Robyn’s example—so she often sticks with DIY to keep retail prices low.
Robyn says that she’ll often print the b/w interior of a comic at one printer (like Minuteman), and the color cover at a different printer (like Best Value Copy).
Pricing and Shows
Robyn’s rule of thumb when selling yourself is to price at roughly three times your unit print cost.
On the other hand, if you plan to sell through a retailer or distributor, she said you should multiply your unit cost by around 10 to cover wholesale discounts and distributor fees. That’s why an offset-printed anthology that costs a couple of dollars per unit to print may still need a $25 cover price once it enters the retail ecosystem.
Robyn’s own preference leans toward affordability—she’d rather handle more labor herself to keep a minicomic at $5–$12.
One common question newbies have is, “how many copies of my zine should I bring to shows?”
It depends on the show, how you’re traveling, and whether the zine is a new product that you’re launching at a show, or part of your existing backlist.
- For her ongoing mini-memoir series, Robin brings about 5 copies of each to shows.
- For a $25 trade-published anthology she edited, she brings about 12 copies.
- For debut projects, she brings more (perhaps 25-30 copies or so) — it depends on the limits of what she can carry. You can ship ahead, but costs add up.
Robyn stresses that shows are as much about community and visibility as they are about sales. If you go to the same show year after year, you’ll build relationships that will result in all kinds of good things: friendships, customers, collaborations, and professional connections.
She always brings a freebie of some sort to shows: a postcard, sticker, or a very inexpensive mini that she can trade or give away.
She confirms that editors do scout for talent at small-press shows—Robyn does it herself in her First Second role. Sometimes a zine results directly into a book deal; but more often, a strong minicomic puts a creator on an editor’s radar. Many well-known graphic novelists (like Gene Luen Yang and Raina Telgemeier) began by making minicomics, and plenty continue to straddle both worlds. They publish trade books for wider reach, and continue making minicomics for experimentation and community.
Kickstarter as pre-orders
Robyn runs small, straightforward Kickstarter campaigns for nearly every project. She thinks of it as a pre-order system that reaches beyond the comics crowd—it’s a way to get support from friends, family, coworkers, etc.
Her typical campaign goals tend to be modest, ranging from a few hundred dollars to ~$1,000. The largest Kickstarter she ever did was for a larger anthology published by Silver Sprocket, which raised about $18,000.
Over to You….
Are you making minicomics? What’s the next tiny project or zine you’re excited to make? Please tell us in the comments!
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