Short Run is Almost Here (and so is Telegram!)

Published October 24, 2012 by craftyweetzie

It’s been a busy month over here at Mend My Dress Press! Right now, we’re gearing up for Seattle’s Short Run Small Press Fest (which is November 3rd at the Vera Project. That means we only have 11 days left to get our shit together)! We’ve basically means we’ve been taking inventory of our books, and collecting some last minute zines and artists books to bring with us. So it’s a good thing the rain has started in the Pacific Northwest, because it’s a good excuse to hide inside and do inside-y type things.

We’re also anxiously awaiting our first shipment of Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues By Maranda Elizabeth (which we’ll be bringing with us to Short Run, of course)! The pre-sale is already going on, and if you order by the 31st, we’ll throw in a special edition Telegram button, a vinyl sticker, and an 11×17 lilac “Permission to Be Weird” poster by Maranda Elizabeth. Pretty sweet deal!

We’re also busy reviewing zines and getting stock together and starting to build the base for our full distro that will be opening this winter. It’s going great so far, but we’re definitely on the look-out for more titles, so if you’re interested in distro-ing your title with us, please shoot us an email or note, as we’d love to take a look at your zine.

xo,

Colleen

Welcome!

Published October 22, 2012 by craftyweetzie

Welcome to Mend My Dress Press’ Blog! We’re a small grrrl run publishing house and zine distro based in Tacoma, WA. To get to one of our other fun online places (the store, our tumblr, peruse our released titles, and many other cool places) just click the link you want to follow. To read our blog, just scroll down a little. Thanks for visiting!

A Zine, A Book, A Distro?

Published September 23, 2012 by craftyweetzie

It started with a zine, which turned into a book, which turned into a small publishing venture, to which we’ll soon be adding a distro. A year ago, this whole thing was just a concept, and I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty damn proud of us, and I’d like to share a bit of our story with you.

Almost two years ago Neely asked me to help her with the layout and production of turning the first few years of her zine, Mend My Dress, into a book anthology. I couldn’t have been happier, and we spent the next six months casually finding old flats, scanning (on a borrowed scanner) and starting the layouts.

We took a road trip to the 11th annual Portland Zine Symposium, and on the train back from Portland, we were discussing finally finishing up the design and going to print with the Mend My Dress Anthology, and threw up our hands and decided there were just too many good zines out there that had been around for years and they should be collected in books. And so Mend My Dress Press became a concept.

Then, on February 14th, after months of research, layout, working with printers, reviewing proofs, making logos, getting our business license, creating a little blog, and making buttons, we received the first shipment of Neely’s book.

And we were over the moon! So we delivered some to Left Bank Books, packed our bags, and went off to the windy city (where neither of us had ever been) to the Chicago Zine Fest. We had a blast, met some people, like Osa Atoe of Shotgun Seamstress, Maranda of Telegram, Amber Dearest of Culture Slut, Jonas of Cheer the Eff Up, and so many more. We bought a bunch of zines, sold some books, and we totally fell head over heels in love with the city.

When we returned to the gray northwest, we debriefed and strategized. I took a class on photography books, which led to our release of The Cartography of Farmers Wives and A Traveling Song, and we started working with Alexis Wolf on An Ilse Content Anthology.

We officially released An Ilse Content Anthology at the 12th annual Portland Zine Symposium. The Symposium was 2 days of attending quite a few workshops, swapping stories, sharing evening beer with Jonas and Julia, getting a bunch of cool new zines and stealing Nathan Wade Carter’s personal fan from the table next to us because it was hot as hell. Oh, and we picked up a few zines for our upcoming distro.

The rest of August was pretty much non-stop. Alexis did a mini tour of readings in Seattle, Olympia, Portland, and Berkeley before flying across the pond to England, and Neely joined her for a few stops as well. Then we were in layout and proofing overdrive and we’re about a week away from the release of Osa Atoe’s Shotgun Seamstress Anthology (Pre-sale on now!) and the book will officially be released Monday, September 24th, at the first stop of the POC (People of Color) Zine Project Race Riot tour.

This next month we’ll be focusing on finishing up our last release for 2012, Maranda’s Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues and sending it to print. We got the proof a few days ago, and we’re pretty excited about the whole thing. It’s over 440 pages of Maranda’s inspirational writing. Plus, it’s purple!

We’re also gearing up for Seattle’s Short Run Small Press Fest, where we’ll be showcasing all the books and some of our zines. The fest is on November 3rd, so if you’re in the Seattle area, please stop by and see us!

Along with this we have managed to work on our smaller projects, including a lyric book for Neely’s band and a split fanzine about Corin Tucker.

So, what else does the future hold for us? Well, we’ve got some cool books lined up for 2013, and as if running a small publishing house wasn’t enough fun, we’re starting a distro too! Sometime around the new years we’ll be rolling out the online distro. We’ll be spending the next few months indoors, hiding from the rain and reviewing zines, collecting inventory, rebuilding the website, and partying like it’s 1999. So please, send us some samples if you’re interested in being distributed by Mend My Dress Press.

We’re both so happy and inspired we’ve been able to meet and work with some awesomely amazing people this year, and we just can’t wait for all the new faces, projects, and places that await us.

Also, we’d like to introduce you to the newest intern over at Mend My Dress Press: Bernard Pickles. His favorite activity is shredding paper, but he also excels at being totally effing adorable!

xoxox,

Colleen

Super Secret Project Announcement: Shotgun Seamstress Anthology

Published September 3, 2012 by craftyweetzie

We are so super excited to announce another book we’ve been working on for the last month! Shotgun Seamstress, a zine for & by Black punk rockers, is being made into an anthology. Shotgun Seamstress Zine Collection will include all six issues of Osa Atoe’s zine, which includes a ton of interviews, reviews, and so much more!

Layla Gibbons of Maximum Rocknroll has this to say about Shotgun Seamstress, and we couldn’t agree more.

Punk rock is a rule book. Punk rock means no rules. Punk rock is a dogma, punk rock is freedom… So many value systems working against each other, creating small pockets of possibility.  Making our own culture in the face of war, unearthing artifacts lost to time, smoothed over by a less complicated version of history that wipes out the girls, the people of color, the queers that have always been architects of punk rock. Because punk is more than three chords, it’s a DIY network of those who have chosen to resist, those who have no choice but to make their own path.

Shotgun Seamstress exists for those that realize that punk rock is an idea and a possibility that must be forced open in order to fit everybody that needs it inside. Shotgun Seamstress is for those that understand the necessity of making a refracted reality available to the kids, especially in an era where it seems possible to unearth everything, where there lies no mystery, a barrage of images and icons displayed on computer screens for five seconds until the next thing appears…This is something to hold onto and reread over and over. A six zine blast that manages to blow apart the apathy and restore faith in the idea of punk rock as a strategy for resistance! Creating a separate currency for those that are not interested in replicating boring ideals in underground existences, Shotgun Seamstress is like the best mix tape anyone has ever made, where radical politics are never sidelined for an easier ride, where good times are never in doubt and where subsumed experiences are revealed as real… The Gories and Void, Nasty Facts and X-Ray Spex, Brontez, Vaginal Davis, punk rock.  It’s an endless adventure and this is another way in.

Shotgun Seamstress Zine Anthology will be available to order later this month, and will make its debut at the POC Zine Project tour, where you can thank Osa herself for creating this amazing body of work. Check out the tour dates below, and make sure to get your butt to one of the tour stops.

9.24 New York, NY
9.25 Philadelphia, PA
9.26 Pittsburgh, PA
9.27 Athens, OH
9.28 Detroit, MI
9.29 Ann Arbor, MI
9.30 Chicago, IL
10.01 Champaign, IL
10.02 Bloomington, IN
10.03 Columbus, OH
10.04 Pittsburgh, PA
10.05 Washington, DC
10.06 Baltimore, MD
10.07 New York, NY

Wondering What Our Next Project Is?

Published August 2, 2012 by craftyweetzie

Ponder no more! Mend My Dress Press is pleased to announce we will be releasing Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues, by Maranda Elizabeth, in October 2012. So excited!

In Telegram: A Collection of Twenty-Seven Issues, Maranda tells tales of daily adventures, friendship, gender identity, falling in love with bicycles, getting tattoos, moving out, going crazy, and their experiences with inpatient hospitalizations. They also write about their relationship with their twin sister, and learning how to take care of their mental health within and without conventional institutions, identifying as genderqueer, getting sober, living a creative and meaningful daily life, and finding reasons to keep on going.

At its heart and in its guts, Telegram is about seeking magic in the smallest things, staying crazy in a world that wants us to fake sanity or die, and learning how to take good care of ourselves and each other.

Upcoming Events

Published July 22, 2012 by craftyweetzie

I hope all is well out there, whatever you may be up to. We’ve been running around like banshees trying get An Ilse Content Anthology finalized and to the printer. On that note, we all got the first proof a few days ago and are SO excited for the last round of changes to be made so we can get them in hand! Here’s a sneak peek:

Alexis thumbing through her copy of the first proof

It looks pretty awesome so far!

We’re also getting ready for some pretty cool events. The first event on the bill is the Portland Zine Symposium, August 11 and 12th and Refuge. We’ll have copies of all our current titles, including the first print run of An Ilse Content Anthology, and a pretty good collection of new zines from both Neely and me as well. It’s going to be great.

The next event is a reading in Olympia at Orca Books on August 15th at 7PM. Alexis will be reading from An Ilse Content Anthology, and Neely will be there as well, reading from Mend My Dress: Collected Zines.

We’ll be wrapping up our events in August with a reading at Left Bank Books in Seattle, on August 17th at 7PM. Please join us for a night of per-zine readings including Alexis reading from An Ilse Content Anthology, Joshua James Amberson of “Basic Paper Airplane,” and Frances Farmer of “In Tension.”

We hope to see you soon at one (or more!) of our upcoming events.

Happy International Zine Month,

xoxo, Colleen

Who’s afraid of Alexis Wolf?

Published June 22, 2012 by craftyweetzie

If you haven’t heard of Alexis Wolf, keep reading, ’cause you’re about to get schooled.

Alexis, a writer originally from Seattle, WA, has been spreading quiet contemplation to those who read her works since the inception of Ilse Content, her literary and perzine, in 2004. Razorcake Magazine wrote “Alexis has an uncanny ability to write about things like nature, relationships, family, and even spirituality, without coming across as sentimental or wholesome… It’s thoughtful, aware, and respectful of the reader… it allows for sadness and strives for small redemption.”

And if you’re the type of person who is skeptical of everything and needs to make your own decision, well, go right ahead and drink in some of Alexis’ poetry.

Grandma Ilse
(first appeared in Ilse Content #9)

Well for a while there I was
Seeing your face like some kind of screen over mine
And your hands were of course very familiar, too
Just like I was frequently twisting your hair around my pinky
For a moment there I wasn’t even just dreaming
But smelling your skin because you were holding me tightly
Wrapped in your arms in an afghan on a brown lazy boy chair
Sometimes you come around though you never can stay
This year autumn was strong in our grip
My fingers wound around yours to keep me
Any direction that I walked was closer to you
Transcending interment after all that silly time and space
I simply buried my pleasure deep in your apron pockets
And you put your story of regret back into my mouth
It was hopeful because at least you moved forward or tried
Meatloaf, marble cake, mish mash
I remembered to eat your favorite foods then
And I kept you consistently on the tip of my tongue
But all good things come to an end or something like that
I didn’t even notice you had left here again
Until I looked in the mirror one afternoon and realized
That you had been gone for quite some time

So, what’s the point of going on and on about how amazing Alexis and her writing is? Well, over here at Mend My Dress Press we’re working late nights and weekends in order to bring you An Ilse Content Anthology by the beginning of August. Many selections from issues 1-10 will be included, and we’ll be launching the book at the Portland Zine Symposium on August 10-11th.

So mark your calendars, spread the word, and get ready to soak in some zine anthology awesomesauce.

The Accidental Titles

Published May 30, 2012 by craftyweetzie

I’ve been taking a class on photo books for the last three months, and while I have been working on a hand-bound hardcover accordion book (more on that later) I became inspired and made two small paperback photo books.

The first title, The Cartography of Farmers’ Wives: Photography from 1915-1976, is a short paper-back book with sampling of photography from my great-grandmother and my grandmother. Many of the photographs are landscapes from eastern Washington, although there are a few portraits as well in this contemplative story of one families relationship with the land. I look at this book as a small meditation on a much larger project that I think will probably take me the next 2-3 years to complete. Now that I know I can complete a small project with some of the information and items I have in this collection of family history that has been handed to me, I feel ready to embark on the larger journey.


The second book, A Traveling Song is a small paper-back of Hipstamiatic images I took on my phone on the road-trip my wife and I took when we moved across the country from Washington, D.C., to Seattle, Washington, in 2009. We pretty much drove straight through, and most of the images were taken from the car window while passing through middle America.

xoxo,

Colleen

We’re Going to Europe

Published May 21, 2012 by craftyweetzie

Ok, we’re not really going to Europe (though I wish we were), but Mend My Dress is now available on Amazon UK and Amazon Europe. So now, if you live in Germany, France or anywhere else Amazon has infiltrated, you can buy the book directly from Amazon. Which means if you’re ordering something from them anyways, you should just throw the book in your cart and have some great reading headed your way.

Of course, you can always buy the book directly from us as well, we’ll still continue to ship anywhere.

In other news, Publishing Intern Jyoti at Bitch Magazine wrote about Mend My Dress in their most recent newsletter, saying “My favorite zine collections are ones that keep the original layout of the Xeroxed zine intact yet still package it within a perfect-bound book format, preserving both the DIY integrity and the shelf life of a zine. This collection offers a beautiful, well-designed, glossy cover with perfectly scanned pages from Neely Bat Chestnut’s Mend My Dress.” Thanks for the mad props, Jyoti, it means a lot to us!
More soon, as we are busily wrapping up, in the middle, and starting on projects,

Colleen