I recently received a distressing postcard. Jeff Somers, proprietor of The Inner Swine, the longtime zine devoted to alcohol abuse, cats, pantlessness, rants, and well-written fiction has now gone online only. It will be available as an ebook and archived as a pdf.
Somers cites costs for abandoning print, but I wonder if his growing audience among prisoners also had something to do with it (the audience for print zines these days seems down to hardcore longtime zinesters and convicts without access to the Internet). I still traded zines (a serialized print zine version of Blog Love Omega Glee--it's hush hush) with Somers, so perhaps it's my fault. He might have been sick of waiting for years to finish reading a novel that's available complete online instantly.
Somers, I'm sorry!
Seriously though, I'm sorry to see the print zine go. I enjoyed reading it when it popped up in my mailbox twice a year. The good news is that given Somers's increasing success in mainstream publishing (check out the Avery Cates novels for some sci-fi fun) that he has time to still do a zine at all. He's a fine writer, so let's be grateful that we still have the Swine at all.
Keep on oinking!
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Hey man - the prisoners had nothing to do with it. in fact, I feel bad that they won't have access any more! It was just energy, money, and time. I'm an old man, after all.
ReplyDeleteYou're an old man who still has more energy than a barrel full of kittens! I don't know any other zinester who kept to such a brisk publishing schedule as you did for 17 years straight (and now will continue online).
ReplyDeleteMr. Somers is going with the flow, Wred. I'm thankful that he wasn't pulled under. I continue to look forward to his scrapings from the bottom of the existential barrel that no one else has the talent to do and that Somers does so well, only now appearing in shiny and futuristic digital form. (Like a real whiz-bang!) The Swine had a great run, but like the man says, you get old -- you don't want to schlep down to the PO with 100 lbs of print. I can't speak for the folks behind bars (yet), but I know that the Swine brightened things for me in the dank prison cell of my own devise whenever it landed with a mighty SPLAT in my mailbox.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you, J.D.! I'm glad the Swine's still with us as well.
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks guys. I feel the love. And the next issue is done, just waitin' on a cover and it'll be beamed out to the dozens of folks who actually still give a damn!
ReplyDelete