Spare parts press has launched


I'm starting a new venture called Spare Parts Press. The project aims to help independent creators get their collected comics into libraries eresources and online bookstores.

It's something that I have wanted to do for many years. At one point around 2010, I thought about starting a zine distro, but I never got past the initial idea. Later, around 2016, I wanted to launch a publishing consulting company. That idea got shelved and in some ways has now morphed into this new project called Spare Parts Press. This time the idea has become a reality.

Why?

I love print zines, and over the years I have made and collected many of them. One of the things I love about zines is that they have this indescribable essence. Any time you try to pin down or define what a zine is, you can think of three different examples of how the definition doesn't fit. For me, the definition of zines is not limited to paper. I think the paper is what we have known and loved, but I also think the definition is bigger than that. Zines are about getting your voice heard, about bypassing the existing gatekeepers to reach like-minded people and doing it in a way that is cheap and accessible. In some ways, blogs and social media have taken over this need. But at the same time, a blog doesn't have that distinct zine quality. That's why I'm serious when I say, hand-coding your own EPUBS feels a lot like the nuances of putting together a paper zine. But more on this in a future post.

You can read the FAQ on the site to get full ins and outs of the why's.

But here is my reason for this venture in the first place.

Over the years I've come to know many great artists making work, however, unless they're published it's hard to follow their work. Postage is expensive, and artists often can't afford to handle reprinting and storing of the publications. Also, working in libraries, I have seen firsthand the desire and need for libraries to get unique work into their collections. I have been part of a few attempts to purchase print zines for libraries and while they sound like a good idea they are inherently flawed.

I believe digital comics as EPUBS solve many of these issues, and despite there being a fondness for print, digital comics break down a lot of barriers that can't be ignored.

  

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