How to Publicize
Your E-Zine
By Chip Rowe Once you've created an e-zine,
how do you get the word out? This guide
offers some strategies to let the world
of readers know about your work. Also,
check out these eight great
tips from
Christopher Pirillo, editor of the e-zine
Lockergnome and author of the book Poor Richard's E-mail Publishing.
Announce
Your E-Zine
Announce the contents
of your new issue on alt.zines. If it's
an ASCII text zine, you can also post it
on alt.ezines or alt.etext. If it's a
binary, or executable file, post on
alt.binaries.zines. Finally, announce new
Webzines on comp.infosystems.www.announce
(first visit the group's charter at http://boutell.com/~grant/charter.html) and Net Announce at http://www.erspros.com/cgi-bin/neta/na-artweb.pl.
Make
Sure You're Listed
John Labovitz's
e-zine-list
Main: http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list
Submit: http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/submit.html
eZines Database
Main: http://www.dominis.com/Zines
Submit: http://www.dominis.com/Zines/add-howto.shtml
Yahoo!: Magazines
Main: http://www.yahoo.com/News/Magazines
Submit: http://www.yahoo.com/docs/info/include.html
DIY Search
Main: http://www.diysearch.com
Submit: http://www.diysearch.com/addurl.cfm
e.zine movement
Main: http://www.asphyxia.com/asphyxia/ezm
Submit: http://www.asphyxia.com/ezm/AddURL.htm
EZ Connect
Main: http://www.ezconnect.com
Submit: http://www.ezconnect.com/submit.htm
Flying Inkpot's Zine
Scene
Main: http://inkpot.com/zines
Submit: http://inkpot.com/submit
Nerdworld
Main: http://www.nerdworld.com/users/dstein/nw30.html
Submit: http://search.nerdworld.com/nwadd.html
New Journal Digest
Main: http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour
Submit: http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/submit.html
Ultimate Zine List
(print and online)
Main: http://www.sleazefest.com/sleaze/AddressBook/new/zines.html
Submit: http://www.sleazefest.com/sleaze/forms/newzine.html
Virtual Libraries:
E-Journals
Main: http://www.edoc.com/ejournal
Submit: http://www.edoc.com/jrl-bin/wilma
Wraithspace Zines and
Things!
Main: http://www.wraithspace.com/zines.html
Submit: http://www.wraithspace.com/feedback.html
'ZineW0rld
Main: http://www.oblivion.net/zineworld
Submit: http://www.oblivion.net/zineworld/faq.html
Directory of Electronic
Journals and Newsletters
Main: http://arl.cni.org/scomm/edir
Submit: http://arl.cni.org/scomm/template.html
Best E-Zines @ InfoTrek
Main: http://infotrek.simplenet.com/zines.html
Submit: send e-mail to http://infotrek.simplenet.com/yellowpages.hts?getentry
Handilinks: Magazines
Main: http://www.ahandyguide.com
Submit: http://www.ahandyguide.com/addedit.htm
Linkfinder: E-Zines
Main: http://www.linkfinder.com/e-zines.html
Submit: http://www.linkfinder.com/submit.html
The Dive: Magazines
Main: http://www.streetside.com/pat/html/wrate/index.html
Submit: http://www.streetside.com/pat/html/DIVE/add.html
E-Mail
Zines Only
Todd Kuipers' E-Mail
Zine List
Main: http://propagandist.com/tkemzl
Submit: http://propagandist.com/tkemzl/howto.htm
E3: Email Ezine
Emporium
Main: http://www.apex.net/users/jyoung/e3
Submit: http://www.apex.net/users/jyoung/e3/addzine.htm
Weekly Bookmark:
E-Zines
Main: http://www.weeklyb.com
Submit: No longer accepting listings.
(Archives available)
Specialty
E-Zines Only
The Electric Pen
(literary e-zines)
Main: http://www.execpc.com/~catrina/pen/ezine.html
Submit: http://catrina.cgi.execpc.com/links.html
Fanfic Resources (fan
fiction) (currently offline)
Main: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bentley/fanfic/fanz/fanz.html
Submit: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bentley/fanfic/info/guidelines.html
Fandom Net (fan zines)
Main: http://www.fandom.net/Genres
Submit: send e-mail to webmaster@fandom.net
Kathode Ray: Zines
(indie music)
Main: http://www.kathoderay.org/music/zines.html
Submit: http://www.kathoderay.org/music/add.html
Monosyllabic Zines
(one-word titles)
Main: http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~meburns/UNK/zine.html
Submit: send e-mail to burns.cii@mail.utexas.edu
Outer Sound Press
Finder (music zine database)
Main: http://www.outersound.com/zine/search.htm
Submit: send e-mail to info@outersound.com
Rock Fetish
(music-related)
Main: http://www.rockfetish.com/search
Submit: http://www.rockfetish.com/search/searchzine
Ska FAQ: Zines
Main: http://twillis.com/ska/faq/Zines.html
Submit: send e-mail to skafaq@twillis.com
Ultimate Band List:
E-Zines (music) (currently offline)
Main: http://www.ubl.com
Submit: http://www.ubl.com/cgi/add.cgi?type=magazine&do=add
World Wide Punk: Zines
Main: http://www.worldchat.com/vic/wwp/zines.html
Submit: http://www.worldchat.com/vic/wwp/addlink.html
General
Databases
Search
Engines
You should submit the
URL of your Webzine to as many search
engines as you can. Before you do, add
META tags to at least your main page, as
some search engines use those to index
your site (see Virtual Promote at http://www.virtualpromote.com for more information on META
tags). For a primer on the various search
engines and how they index sites, visit
Search Engine Watch at http://searchenginewatch.com
To tackle many search
engines at once, try a service such as
Submit It! at http://www.submit-it.com. You fill out one form and then
it provides links to each search engine.
This can save a lot of time, although
it's not bug-proof. Before you begin,
prepare an enticing 25-word, 50-word and
100-word description of your site. For
more tips, check out the tutorial at http://www.virtualpromote.com/promotea.html
Awards
Most awards on the Web
are bogus, but they do provide another
way to get links back to your site. For
an overview of other Web site awards,
visit VirtualPromote at http://www.virtualpromote.com/hotsites.html or Award-It! at http://www.award-it.com. If you'd rather not go to all
the trouble, you can also pick up some
nice awards at The Corporation at http://www.thecorporation.com/icon/icon.html.
Getting
Return Visitors
Some zine editors
include a sign-up form on their page
where visitors can leave their e-mail
addresses. This allows the editor to
compile a mailing list of people who are
interested in the content of the zine,
and he or she can send notice when the
Webzine has been updated. However,
sending your ASCII text zine unsolicited
via e-mail to a whole bunch of people is
a bad idea. You can join a service that
will automatically notify visitors who
sign up when you update your page.
There's more information at URL-Minder at
http://www.netmind.com/html/url-minder.html.
Sharing
the Wealth
Some e-zines carry
advertisements, usually in the form of
banner exchanges. You can arrange local
banner exchanges with like-minded zine
editors, or join a service such as
LinkExchange. Usually for every banner ad
you display for another site, you get 1/2
credit with the service. Each credit
means your banner ad is displayed on
another site. The services offering
banner ad exchanges are getting more
sophisticated with targeting where your
ads are placed. For more information, see
Web Site Banner Advertising at http://www.markwelch.com/bannerad/
You might also consider
joining a Web Ring. For more information,
visit the Webring home page at http://www.webring.org.
More
Guidance
Other
helpful sites
VirtualPromote (http://www.virtualpromote.com)
This is an excellent, free site and
newsletter that includes tips on
promoting your e-zine on the Web and also
discusses new search engines and
directories. The main site includes a
guide to 500 index sites and also advice
about how to get the word out, including
submitting to search engines for maximum
effect and which Web awards to shoot for.
The E-Zine and Zine
Resource Guide
(http://thetransom.com/chip/zines/resource.html)
I created this site to provide links to
e-zine resources. "Link
Libraries" and "Reviews"
includes sites of interest in publicizing
your e-zine.
Places
to Send Your Print Zine
Factsheet Five (http://www.factsheet5.com/sendzine.html)
Small Press Review
Zines
(http://www.cyberspc.mb.ca/~mosfog/breview.htm)
[ED. NOTE: We updated
all links as of Apr 8, 1998. Check out
these places too.]
Links to 'Zine Sites
Main: http://www.mgal.com/links/zines.html
Submit: kaye@mgal.com
E-Zine Review
Main: http://sunsite.unc.edu/faint/eziner/index.html
Submit: http://sunsite.unc.edu/faint/eziner/zz_submit.html
(Instructions on how to submit a review
and a template)]
Brought
to you by: World Wide Information Outlet
- http://certificate.net/wwio/, your
source of FREEWare Content online.
Compiled
by Chip Rowe. Last updated September 8,
1999. An HTML version of this document,
including links, is available at http://www.zinebook.com/publicz.html
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