Five on Friday • 07.10.26
Ideas, stories, and inspiration to discover, explore, and make.
One small note: Some email providers may clip this issue because it’s packed full. Click the subject line anytime to read the full version on the Substack website or app.
Scissors, glue sticks, and everything in between
Sticky fingers, paper clippings and ink smears are the fundamentals of zines. While this may sound juvenile, this accessible entrance to a nuanced community is a huge part of the appeal. Anyone can do it, any time.
Read how zines have evolved (and stayed the same) →
Draw something. Fold some paper. Make a zine.
Print your hard drive, it’s a treasure trove of ideas and wonder.
Frankly, I don’t like how things live on a hard drive, and once I move on to something else, circling back to enjoy a project isn’t likely to happen. So making a zine or putting a book together of a body of work is a step in the direction I want to be going. – Doc Reed
Check out the tutorial (and maybe make your first zine!) →
Snail mail is making a comeback
(and paying the bills)
What starts as letters, prints, and tiny zines at a kitchen table is turning into real income—and a different kind of creative business.
Read how Gen Z is building subscription mail clubs →
Bangkok’s 5 best zines, studios and print spaces
What qualified anything for this list was simple: does it matter to Bangkok’s independent print world? Is it made with intention? Is someone’s creative vision driving it? If the answer to all three was yes, it’s here.
Check out the list →
Contribute to the 40th Anniversary Edition of Exploitation Retrospect: The Journal of Junk Culture and Fringe Media
Deadline: September 1, 2026
We’re looking for:
Genre Film Reviews (250-1000 words)
Articles (1000-2500 words)
Zine, Book and Film-Related Audio Reviews
Writeups of your Favorite/Least Favorite/Most Memorable Film of the ER Era (1986-2026)
Comics, Artwork, Photography
Learn More →
COMING NEXT WEEK:
Zinestack Memberships
I’ve been building the next chapter of Zinestack around one simple idea:
Discover in pixels. Collect on paper.
Zine Mall and Five on Friday will continue to be free. That part isn’t changing.
What’s new is a way to support Zinestack’s work more directly: helping me buy zines from the people who make them, introduce those makers to new readers, and send more good things on paper into the world.
Every paid member will receive the Zinestack Welcome Pack, a small mailing with a Welcome zine, bookmark, and a few fun printed surprises tucked inside.