Wednesday, December 14, 2011

the lonliness of an illustrated zine maker

Thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy of 'How to Draw Like a Loon' thus far. They are still available HERE, before Christmas, to those in the UK. I'll open that up to the 'rest of the world' after the holiday.

You know, I've come across many a learning curve since opening my little Etsy shop, a couple of years back, and especially since I started making and selling zines. One of those curves, that I am currently in the process of tackling, is how to keep the personal touch whilst running an efficient small business.

You see, the postage and packing of the last couple of zines was ridiculously time consuming. I didn't make things easy for myself. In fact I seemed to make them impossibly difficult. Some of you who follow my blog, and who have purchased my zines, may recall the 'Nut' envelope decorating debacle. Plus, you may remember the hand written teeny weeny pixie letters and gift tags that came with 'About A Book' zine and caused my last nervous breakdown. I totally underestimated the time all of these little touches would take.

To say those experiences were stressful is a big fat understatement and I will not be going back there. Imagine hand decorating envelopes for over 250 zines. The scene below is just a glimpse into how that felt.

That HAD to change. Since then my friend has taken over the running of my shop and the mailing of zines. While this has meant that the orders are being sent out a day or two after they come in, the personal touch has been lost along the way. So, how do you do both? Is it possible to do both? I think so. And, have a few ideas on how to redress the balance. One is little limited edition compliment slips that change every so often, drawn especially to express my gratitude to you, like the one at the top of his post.

I hope these experiences of mine may be useful to you should you be considering zine making and opening up your own little Etsy shop.

And, finally another little plug for my new zine 'How to Draw Like a Loon'. The perfect stocking filler for anyone who loves to draw. Buy it HERE now.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boy, I hear you on the personal service through Etsy. One of the things that keeps me coming back to one Etsy seller is because of her hand written thank you notes, her personalized feedback messages, and the little tea bag that comes with every order.
I don't have time to hand write messages in my Etsy orders during the holiday season, but I do that other months along with a 10% code for their next purchase.
Maybe there's a way to photocopy a written note so it still looks original? ;-)

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Hi Joni,
yeah, I've been there. It's just impossible to keep that up. That's pretty much the idea I've had with the compliment slips; I made the original drawing and am now photocopying them. Also, I think this works with the whole zine/photocopy vibe. Thanks for your comment. It's good to hear other people's experiences, and is why i felt I should make this post.

Cheers!

elena nuez said...

just amazing, I loooove your artworks!

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Jez said...

Hi, I love your artwork. it is truly inspiring. The unfortunate fact is that it's been stolen by a girl on DeviantART:
http://missashford.deviantart.com/art/Thoughts-Of-Shoes-And-Doodles-273961880

After looking at her profile I thought she looked suspicious so I checked her pictures to see if they were theived, turns out, quite abit of them are.

I don't know whether you actually care about this or not I just thought that you'd like to know.

Thanks for reading.

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Anonymous said...

Felicitaciones por este blog!!! Eres una de mis ilustradoras favoritas, Saludos desde Suramérica

Annett's Sketchbook said...

Hi... what an amazing blog you have. I love your artwork and I dedicated the first post on my sketchblog to you. Thanks for your lovely work. You really inspired me :). Keep it up. Cheers!

Edgar Cabrera said...

can i move in your living room? pleaseeeee? It looks so cozy!

Judith Logan said...

Hi Andrea, I LOVE this drawing, and done with a biro!? I love your blog and I love the patterned mount in the top post. You inspire me to keep going on the days when raising 3 kids and keeping a house clean, etc, etc. seem to always push my art to the back burner. Keep up the good work! PS, I'm not as computer literate as you, - what exactly is a zine!?

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Thank you folks.

Jez, thanks for th heads up. Somebody has added my link to her comments post. It's so annoying and I have found this stuff going on a lot. I just have to think that maybe she doesn't realise that it's actually theft?! I don't mind people posting my work, at all. I'd just like acknowledgement and an accredited link. Cheers.


Judith, I have made some posts on the subject before - you're not the only one who doesnt know! I'll try and dig out the links to the posts that'll explain it.

Thanks, Ancheska, I'll take a look....

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