Stores & Distros

Chances are, you’re not going to be able to walk into your local bookstore and find zines for sale. So where does one go to buy zines?

We at Zine World recommend whenever possible you buy directly from the zine publisher — part of the fun of being into zines is the connection you make with other zine publishers. We all love to get mail. And, besides, when you order directly from the publisher, he/she gets 100% of the purchase price, instead of 40-75%. On our resources page, we give you links to places where you can read about, and find ordering info for zines.

But maybe you’re looking for new zines. Or maybe you’re looking to buy several zines at once. Or maybe you just want to browse. If that’s the case, you’re looking for a zine distro.

Distros are zine distributors. They’re often run by one person or a small group of people. They sell zines by mail order and/or online. Distros let you find a bunch of zines all in one place, maybe all on a specific topic. Distros sometimes fill orders more quickly than ordering directly from a zinester. Some zinesters prefer to sell their zines through distros because they want to protect their identity or don’t want to release their mailing address. Distros are also a good way to get your zine out to more people, especially since most bookstores don’t sell zines. (A few do, and you can find those listed at the bottom of this page.)

On this page, you’ll find contact information for some zine distros and zine-selling stores, including comments from our readers (in quotes).

Distros marked with [Recommended] are recommended by Zine World readers.

Distros marked with [Sells Zine World] are places that sell Zine World.

ZINE DISTROS

C/S Distro
www.csdistro.com
Noemi Martinez, PO Box 621, Edinburg TX 78540
Stocks zines by people of color, examining racism, feminism, gender, sexism, classism, culture, and more.

Edmonton Small Press Association [Sells Zine World]
www.edmontonsmallpress.org
PO Box 75086 RPO, Edmonton AB T6E 6K1, Canada
A non-profit arts society committed to fostering the awareness and development of independent small press ventures in Canada and beyond.

Fall of Autumn [Recommended]
www.fallofautumn.com
Alan Lastufka, PO Box 254, Manhattan IL 60442
Carries a variety of zines; numerous zine-related resources on their website.

Gigglebot Distro
www.gigglebot.net
Jessaruh, 1990 Rocksram Dr., Buford GA 30519
Specializes in zines (ranging from personal to political, literary to artistic), independently published books, and crafts.

Great Worm Express Distro
greatworm.ca
PO Box 19013, 360A Bloor St. W., Toronto ON M5S 3C9, Canada
Carries zines from Canada and the U.S. on a wide variety of topics.

Learning to Leave a Paper Trail
www.papertraildistro.com
Ciara Xyerra, 29 Evergreen St. #1, Jamaica Plain MA 02130
Carries innovative personal zines plus zines on health, mental health, cooking, crafts, radical / anti-authoritarian attitudes, and other topics outside of mainstream culture.

Loop Distro
www.loopdistro.com
PO Box 470507, Chicago IL 60647-0507
Primarily carries Chicago-based zines.

Microcosm Publishing [Sells Zine World] [Recommended]
www.microcosmpublishing.com
222 S. Rogers St., Bloomington IN 47404
Independent publisher and distributor of zines, books, pamphlets, stickers, buttons, patches, t-shirts, posters, films, and more.
"I like Microcosm for its vast stock. Just about any zine I’ve heard of, they have, so I feel like I can rely on them."

My My
http://mymy.girlswirl.net/store/
15 Byberry Rd., Hatboro PA 19040
Sells indie arts & crafts items as well as zines. Recently opened a store in Hatboro.

North West Zine Works
www.northwestzineworks.com
Caroline Tigeress, PO Box 2267, Longview WA 98632

Parcell Press [Sells Zine World] [Recommended]
www.parcellpress.com
Taylor Ball, PO Box 14647, Richmond VA 23221
Sells zines on several topics, plus books.
"Taylor is almost startlingly professional — he peddles his inventory at many zine-related events and, perhaps more importantly, pays promptly. I can’t lavish enough good will on him, really."

Ricochet! Ricochet!
3 Hayes Court, Camberwell New Rd., London SE5 0TQ, UK

South Chicago ABC Zine Distro
anthonyrayson@hotmail.com
Anthony Rayson, PO Box 721, Homewood IL 60430
Offers hundreds of educational and radical zines to prisoners and others for free or a donation.

Starfiend Distro
starfiend.com
Jenn, 904-939 Homer St., Vancouver BC, V6B 2W9, Canada

Sweet Candy Distro [Recommended]
www.eyecandyzine.com
Sage Adderley, PO Box 302, Acworth GA 30101
Sells personal, craft, and other zines, plus clothing, books, washable menstrual products, and music.
"I’ve had good experiences being distroed by Sweet Candy."

Attention zine publishers and readers: We would love to hear your comments about these, or other distros. Please send your feedback to wordofmouth@undergroundpress.org. (All comments will be considered for publication in our zine and/or on our website.)

STORES THAT SELL ZINES

Arise Bookstore [Recommended]
www.arisebookstore.org
2441 Lyndale Ave., Minneapolis MN 55404

Atomic Books [Sells Zine World] [Recommended]
www.atomicbooks.com
1100 W. 36th St., Baltimore MD 21211

Bluestockings Bookstore
www.bluestockings.com/
172 Allen St., New York NY 10002

Bound Together [Sells Zine World]
1369 Haight St., San Francisco CA 94117

Boxcar Books
www.boxcarbooks.org
310A S. Washington St., Bloomington IN 47401

City Lights Bookstore [Recommended]
www.citylights.com
261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco CA 94133
"A great place to buy and sell zines. They also carry a lot of small press chapbooks."

Comic Relief
comicrelief.net
2026 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley CA 94704

Feed Your Head Books
www.feedyourheadbooks.com
272 Essex St., Salem MA 01970

Left Bank Books [Sells Zine World]
www.leftbankbooks.com
92 Pike St., Seattle WA 98101

Needles & Pens [Recommended]
www.needles-pens.com
3253 16th St., San Francisco CA 94103

Polyester Books [Sells Zine World]
www.ployester.com.au
330 Brunswick St., Fitzroy Victoria 3065, Australia

Powell’s Books [Sells Zine World]
www.powells.com
1005 W. Burnside, Portland OR 97209

Quimby’s [Sells Zine World] [Recommended]
www.quimbys.com
1854 West North Ave., Chicago IL 60622
"A great place to distro; very zine friendly."

Reading Frenzy [Recommended]
www.readingfrenzy.com
921 SW Oak St., Portland OR 97205

Spartacus Books
www.spartacusbooks.org
319 W. Hastings, Vancouver BC V6B 1H6, Canada

other places to find Zine World:

Grand Palace Records (grandpalace.us/), 128 1/2 N. Church St., Murfreesboro TN

Please note: New distros open and old distros close all the time. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. You can find information about other distros by visiting ZineWiki (www.zinewiki.com), by reading Stolen Sharpie Revolution (Small World Buttons, Alex Wrekk, 809 N. Shaver St., Portland OR 97227, http://www.smallworldbuttons.com or the Whizzbanger Guide to Zine Distribution (Shannon, PO Box 5591, Portland OR 97228, $4), or by searching for distros on the Internet.

Do you distro?

If you have a distro and you’d like to be listed on this page, please email wordofmouth@undergroundpress.org with your distro’s name, website, mailing address, and a one-sentence description.

Interested in carrying Zine World in your store or distro? Visit our distribution page.