Getting into Publishing Takes Legwork. There Are No Shortcuts

I have a couple questions for you, Papabear.

For a while I have been looking for some fanzines or projects that are looking for artist submissions but have been unsuccessful in finding them. Could you tell me where a good place to look is or recommend some?

Second, I have wanted to do a zine/compilation project of my own but I'm not what people would call popular. How would I go about reaching artists to submit works to my zines? They would be pay what you want .pdf zines on gum road or something.

Zombunny

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Hi, Zombunny,

Thanks for the letter. Couple of questions: 1) which fanzines have you contacted thus far? Which publishers? I don't want to take time suggestions people you have already tried. 2) Do you have any experience in magazine publishing? If not, I would suggest you get some before diving in to launch, edit, manage, promote, and sell your own zine. It's not an easy thing to do and you just don't decide "I'm going to publishing a magazine" and voila! 

Hugs,
Papabear

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Hey Papabear,

I hadn't really contacted any publishers or anything like that to be honest and have no experience in publishing at all.

What I was looking for were projects that were openly accepting artist submissions.

I may look into publishing my own zine in the future so if you have any suggestions on publishers I would be happy to know about those too.
Just mainly looking to get my name out there and build a brand for myself.

Thanks so much for responding!

Sincerely,
Zombunny

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Hi, Zombunny,

If you are interested in publishing, I would suggest you get some experience in writing, editing, and publishing. If you are looking for publications or "projects" (whatever those are) that are accepting art submissions, I suggest you contact those publishers. I have absolutely no idea who is accepting work for hire and who is not, since I don't work for any of those companies; that is up to those who are looking for the work LOL!

Getting into this field takes work, lots of work. There are no shortcuts, hon.  I have been in publishing since 1988.  You don't just start a magazine with no experience.  You don't just get instant leads on art or writing submissions.  Research the publishers you're interested in to see if they take submissions at all and to see what sorts of things they are looking for.  You have to contact them one by one.

Good luck,
Papabear