New ‘zine – Issue 1

On By Mick CanningIn Echoes and Imaginings, Folk traditions, psychogeography, Zines

I’ve completed my first new year’s project.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to present Echoes and Imaginings, issue one.

Quite pleased with the title, actually. My aim is to produce at least four issues, although whether I do or not depends largely on how quickly I can put each issue together. I want them to roughly reflect the seasons of the year, without being too dogmatic about it. There is a slant towards folklore, psychogeography and a bit of speculation, as well as photography and poetry. Future issues may well have some of my artwork included.

I’m already writing articles for issue 2…

In this issue you can find Hoodening, Wassailing, a meditation on time, photographs, poetry, and more. There are lots of trees. Some of the articles have appeared here as posts, although there is some re-writing, but most of the poetry and the pictures are new. It is available through my Etsy shop, or just message me directly (I use PayPal).

Personally, I reckon it’s a thing of beauty.

And as well as these four issues, I have ideas for some others, which I expect to bring out at random times.

At the moment, I feel this is the way for me to go. I don’t see myself finishing a novel any time soon, although I do have an almost finished one sitting there. I don’t currently feel inclined to get it published, though. And equally, I don’t feel inclined to go through all the hassle of submitting poems or short stories to different publications or into competitions.

And on another note, you have probably seen on other blogs the ongoing issues of pirated e-books (especially on Amazon, I hear). I think we have AI to thank for a lot of this, and it seems so many authors are having their books ripped or plagiarised it’s becoming ridiculous. For that reason, I have simply decided my books will no longer be available as e-books, and have deleted them.

58 thoughts on “New ‘zine – Issue 1”

  8. I love what I see of your new ‘zine! I shall see if I can find it on Etsy and if I can’t, I’ll let you know and pay you via PayPal. I’ve only just heard of the pirating of ebooks on Amazon from Andrea … I agree with you that AI has much to do with it. Isn’t it a damn shame that we cannot trust at all these days? Sigh.

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    1. I read Andrea’s post, too, and then did a bit of Googling and it does seem very prevalent.

      Unless I’ve set it up wrong, you won’t be able to buy it through Etsy – I’ve priced it to cover postage within UK, but it seemed very complicated to work out the prices for other places. I may be able to sort that later, but for now I’ll find out the postage rates individually for anyone who asks, so I can incorporate them into the Etsy listings in future.

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      1. Thanks, Mick. I went to Etsy, typed “Mick Canning” into the search box, and all I got were a variety of t-shirts, cups, and other paraphernalia about canning fruits and veggies! I don’t use Etsy, so I’m not familiar with it … am I doing something wrong?

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  10. Michael Graeme's avatar Michael Graeme

    Ah, the scourge of pirating. I’ve had some of mine stolen in the past, and it does hurt. There’s still one on Amazon, masquerading under a ghastly cover with my name on it. Self-publishing online held such a lot of promise at one time, but we reckoned without the trolls who can take anything and find a way to corrupt it. Control the files, print hard copy, self distribute. You’re right, could be the way to go. Back to basics but with a modern spin. Good luck with the Zine.

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      1. Michael Graeme's avatar Michael Graeme

        Hello there. No, I don’t know Gumroad. I’ve been taking a look, and it seems to offer an interesting spin. I use Smashwords exclusively for my ebooks these days, and so far nothing I’ve published on there has been lifted by pirates.

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        1. Interesting. I’ve used Smashwords in the past and three individuals complained about the complicated buying process… But that was a few years ago. Perhaps I will take another look. Thank you for mentioning it.

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    2. Thanks, Michael. I first took my e-books off Amazon a few years ago when I found several pirate sites selling them. That seemed to work, and I eventually put them back up on other sites. I’m not sure there’s specifically a problem with them at the moment, but I don’t really like e-books, so I just thought ‘well, what the ****. Delete them all.’

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  16. Congratulations on the new ‘zine, Mick, but ‘my books will no longer be available as e-books, and have deleted them.’? That is more sad than I can say. I understand your concerns, I share them, but print is such a hard path to follow.
    That said, I wish you the very best in this new venture. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Randall. Just seen this – been away for a few days. Opened the shop again! It’s definitely an experiment and I’m sure it will develop in unexpected directions over the next issues.

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