HOW TO ORDER ZINES

A guide to zine etiquette

 The number one rule is: Be patient -- doing zines is rough, and it takes time to answer mail and fill orders. A wait of at least a month is typical, although a lot of people will write back faster! If you haven't heard anything after 6 weeks or more, send a postcard in case your order has been lost or you forgot your address the first time or something. Remember, zines are being done by girls like you, and they've got to go to school and take care of other things before they can work on their zines.

 Keep in mind that the issue you've seen reviewed may already be out of print. If you don't mind getting a different issue, saying "please send me your most recent issue" often gets your order filled a lot faster.

 "Stamp" always means a first class US stamp.

 "ppd" means "postage paid" -- in other words, "$1 ppd" means send exactly $1.

 A SASE is a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Use a legal-size envelope (the long ones), address it to yourself clearly, and put a first-class stamp on it.

 Always send cash. Never use change unless you have to -- change in envelopes tends to get caught in the post office's machines and the envelopes get ripped to shreds. DO NOT send checks or money orders, unless you write the person first and they say it's okay.

 Write your name, address, and exactly what you want on a note inside the envelope -- envelopes get thrown away.

 If you write to someone you're not ordering from (for information or with a question), send a SASE or at least a stamp. It's courteous and pretty much guarantees a quicker response. (In some ways it's the only way to get a response, especially if you're writing someone that gets a lot of mail and orders.)

 When ordering from another country, add a dollar or a couple of IRCs for the additional postage. An IRC is an "International Reply Coupon", worth a first-class stamp in any country. You can buy them from any post office.

 When you order zines, tell them where you saw it listed -- this lets them know who has reviewed them or where an ad has run; and it's especially important if there was a mistake in the listing so they know how to have it corrected.

 Zine editors love mail and personal feedback -- send a note when you place your order, and write them and tell them what you think of their zine. They may not be able to correspond with you, but they'll really appreciate it.

 Finally, addresses are very important. If you are using a school address, MAKE SURE that they will forward your mail over the summer or when you leave. (If you are away at school, I strongly recommend getting a P.O. Box -- they'll even send your mail home for the summer.) And use your real, full name to make sure you get your mail. This may sound very obvious, but I recently finally recycled a box full of mail that's been returned to me for reasons like this (and none of these people have ever written to me to find out what happened to their order, either).

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