Anyone interested in publishing, writing & the creative arts would be wise to head down to ‘The Atrium’ at UCLAN this Fri and Sat for the 2010 Lancs Zine Fair. With over 30 stalls run by publishers, artists & makers there should be something for everyone. We asked local zine publishers Preston is My Paris for their three top tips for starting a ‘zine.

We originally started our project Preston is my Paris in June 2009 as a way of encouraging the exploration of Preston as a subject for creative practice.  Although neither of us was actually born in the city we have lived here for 13 years between us and have developed a strong passion for the place.

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The project has now developed into a monthly zine that we distribute for free in the city, two exhibitions and a blog.

We are also about to launch Preston is my Paris Publishing and a temporary gallery space in the Guildhall Arcade.

Here’s our 3 tips for starting a zine:

Find something you’re into
We’ve found that it can take quite a lot of time and some of your own money to get things up and running so you’ve got to be proper into doing it.  Find a subject that’s going to make you want to work on it all the time!

Explore
Once you’ve picked what you’re going to focus on, really explore the subject.  Just in the 6 months we’ve been doing this we’ve found a number of things that we would not have thought of including in a project about Preston.  See starting it as an excuse spend all your time looking at the subject you feel so passionate about.

Just do it
Stop reading this and get on with doing your project, it’s the only way something is going to start!  In the 6 months since starting our zine we’ve been on the Today programme on Radio 4, zine of the month in Dazed and Confused, set up Preston’s newest gallery space and generally proper enjoyed doing it.

Preston is My Paris launch their gallery at Unit 15, Guildhall Arcade, Preston. 6th – 28th Feb 2010.