All aboard!!

We love physical mail, even though it’s a pain in the tail. (Go off, Dr. Seuss.) Sometimes I wish we could teleport the finished zine to your mailbox, but that slowness is part of what makes getting something in the mail special. The “slow train” of print media sent with basic postage is especially acute this time of year, when mailers and printers are backed up with holiday cards and packages and whatnot. So just please keep the time of year in mind, as we expect processing and delivery to be a little longer than usual.

SHIPPING MONDAY/TUESDAY

I’m thrilled to let you know that subscribers, solo-issue purchasers, and free issues will ship either Monday or Tuesday of next week. I've sent off our spreadsheet to our mailing service — they stuff envelopes (zine + two stickers!) and handle pre-sorted bulk mail for less than a stamp. It's an amazing thing.

• If you want your zine to be in the pre-Christmas shipping batch, please order at the above links by Sunday night.

If you ordered your zine by Monday, December 22, and have not gotten it by Friday, January 9, please reach out and I’ll look into it. No zines left behind!

A LITTLE REFLECTION

I cannot emphasize enough how much easier mailing has gotten for us, thanks to your support. We used to spend almost as much (maybe even more, honestly) time prepping and mailing the zine as we did making it. Now we have a lot more time to think about making it, since we have less to think about with regards to getting it in the mail.

With the first few issues of the zine, we were:

• Printing and binding it in my apartment

• Stamping the cover art onto each zine

• Putting stamps on envelopes

• Stamping return addresses on envelopes

• Sticking address labels on envelopes

• Putting stickers in each envelope

• Delivering giant bags of envelopes to the local Post Office

Now we are:

• Printing and binding at a professional shop

• Shipping with a professional bulk mailing service

• Chilling a little more on post-zine weekends

• Already talking about the next issue

Of course we look back at the extreme-DIY of the early days fondly. Hand-stamped covers and envelopes are rad and things I’d do if I had all the time in the world and this was our full-time job.

But I am very, very, very appreciative of your financial support — as its allowed us to work the zine into our lives in a pretty reasonable way. Still nights and weekends, forsure, but it’s not overbearing and we’re not burning out.

When I started the zine, I had a muuuuuuch easier day job than I do today. I don’t think I would’ve made it through the early days of the zine — or maybe been able to start it at all — working my current schedule. So thank you for rocking with us, thank you for paying for independent writing and art, and thank you for all of the hype and excitement you share with us in person and online. It’s a joy.

Cannot wait for you to get this one in the mail, and please reach out and tell me what you think when you do. I love hearing from y’all.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and all that. Wishing you the best during what can be a highly emotional time of year in every direction. Read The Polar Express to a kid for me. This might not come as a shocker, but that was my favorite Christmas book growing up. Still read it every Christmas Eve.

Merry Printsmas,

The Conductor