7.3.26 CORY

HAPPY FRIDAY

It’s sweltering hot in NYC in that very specific steaming garbage and dog piss kinduv way.

Going outside is like stepping into an oven.

Which makes me all the happier that I’m holed up in the dark AC working on the cut of HEADLOCK with a fridge stocked with all variations of Liquid Death.

.

So I got my application in for the NY Queer Zine Fair.

.

I have no idea if I’m enough of a ‘Zine-Maker’ to snag a spot.

I don’t do any collages or cutting and pasting.

I don’t print my zines on a photocopier.

I do appreciate the handmade process and rough-around-the-edges aesthetic of traditional zines.

.

And I plan to try my hand at copying, cutting, and folding my own eventually.

.

But for now I’m getting my ALL THE DEAD BOYS zines printed.

After oh so many rounds of test prints, I’ve landed on the paper weight and finish that I love most.

.

I’ve worked on editing images and tweaking layouts for hours and hours.

The series of BACKWOODS BOYS zines is what I started with.

.

Five zines, each one devoted to one specific guy in all his dirty, sticky glory.

.

Eric. Dan. Raury. Kodiak. Joe.

.

Eric, Dan, and Raury are printed and ready to go.

I’m still working on the Kodiak and Joe editions.

.

The zines are each 80 pages, and feel soooo good in the palm of your hand.

.

My plan has always been to get all five printed, then offer them as a boxed set (with some special edition prints or maybe a poster)

.

The company I was getting the custom printed boxes from emailed me last night to let me know they were cancelling my order because of the XXX image I wanted printed on it. Ugh.

.

But knowing that not everyone will be able (or want) to get a boxed set like that, I plan to offer them individually as well.

.

So I began setting them up on my print-on-demand ALL THE DEAD BOYS page.

Only to discover that the online printers could only do a 64-page zine.

.

This goes back to my obsessive search for the perfect paper for the zines. I chose a 70 LB uncoated paper as my ideal stock. It gave me the tactile feel of the porn mags from the 70s and 80s I was going for.

.

But it turns out the online printer only offers 80 LB paper.

It’s the same company I got the printed zines from, and I assumed they would offer the same specs… but no.

.

Okay, I thought. I can live with that.

.

BUT you can’t do 80 pages stapled using that 80 LB paper (too thick to staple), so the total page count has to be dropped to 64.

This switch also fucked with the pricing I’d planned. These 80 LB zines ended up costing nearly double what I’d wanted them to.

Also, a 64-page zine means I’d have to go back in and redo all the BACKWOODS BOYS layouts I’ve spent so long working on.

And I already got three of them printed at 80 pages.

.

Long boring story, I know.

But lots of you seem to like this behind-the-scenes making-of stuff, so I’m letting it all spill out :)

.

I’m still figuring out the logistics of the BACKWOODS BOYS zines. I guess the boxed sets will include the longer versions of the zines now?

I’ve also been working on a whole other series called MOTELZINES. They were meant to come out as the second series of zines.

.

.

MOTELZINES are the same idea.

One guy per zine.

Each takes place in a different sleazy motel room.

The guys I have slated for the MOTELZINES are Ben (a favorite of sooo many of you I know), Raury, Nicholas, Channing, and Tucker.

.

I already had a layout ready to go for the MOTELZINE of Nicholas Ryder, so I’m scrapping my plan to do the BACKWOODS BOYS zines first and running with it.

.

You can get your Nicholas MOTELZINE here!

.

It’s 64 pages of hot, sticky Nicholas Ryder holed up in a roadside motor lodge in the backwoods of Maine.

.

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, so I’m just embracing the unexpected and letting go of the whole (very specific) idea I had of how all of this was going to roll out.

.

If you decide to get your hands on one, please let me know what you think.

.

The plan is to release these zines regularly.

Ideally, one a month.

Ambitious, I know.

But do-able.

Stay tuned.

.

.

As usual. Thanks for being here. I really do appreciate it.

.

Until next week.

.

Carter

.

.

.

P.S.

Here’s another shot from the Nicholas MOTELZINE so you have an idea what to expect ;)

.

.

.

.

P.S.S.

Is there a guy you wanna see get his own zine?

Hit REPLY and let me know.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.