International Zine Month & Precarity
It's been a long time since I've made an update, but I've irritatingly got very little done. Having to pick up another job to support my study it feels like I never get anything meaningful done.
An outlet for the constant terror that I will not make enough money to pay my bills has been International Zine Month. Zines, if you don't know, are tiny little DIY books. They can be fiction or non-fiction, or a bit of both! My first zine "What Is Trans" took me way too long for a zine, but this month I've made upwards of 6 tiny zines. They'll be up on etsy.com/shop/pyritingshop hopefully shortly. I've found them a great way to express myself when I barely have time for creative activities. I've written one in 10 minutes, it is silly but I enjoy it and others have complimented me on them which is bizarre.
It has also led me to develop zine workshops which I am now ready to run for anyone interested. Happy to run for charities/community groups for expenses if I can. I'm also happy to publish zines if you need help with that. Just sling me an email on zines@pyriting.co.uk and I'll try and help.
Precarious living of this kind is something I am struggling to find understanding about from friends. Of course many people I know are struggling with money, but they have stability and a monthly budget. It is horrifying for me as an autistic person and all round anxiety bucket to not be able to make a budget. But I can't! My income is different every month. On top of that my close friends question when I spend money on things that aren't a necessity, like a cafe lunch or a book. I need to remember more often to try and connect to other early career academics, because while many of them have at least fixed term contracts they know how terrifying precarity is and what it can do to your mental and physical health. So solidarity with the precariat.
I've been thinking of using patreon properly where I'll publish short academic discussions, and maybe podcasts or zine pdfs? I don't know but it would be nice to feel more secure and have more brainspace to get actual academic work done.
As always I hate publishing places where you can support me but I should do it, and I always really appreciate people who do send me some cash or sign up to squeeze.box or anything.
send cash to paypal.me/millerjpower
end period poverty at squeezeboxuk.com
buy "what is trans" zine or any of my new zines on etsy.com/shop/pyritingshop
This post has been a bit all over the place but that probably best represents my mind right now!