This publication was prompted by an invitation from Mariame Kaba to join her in a discussion titled: Why Make Zines in 2025: Information Control Under Fascism, which is being held at the space Walls Turned Sideways on 2717 W. Madison street in Chicago on May 22, 2025. Also in conversation are K Reynolds and Lewis Wallace. 

The booklet includes a 4-page list of answers to the cover question. Some examples:

To write words and print images and make creative decisions that a corporate newspaper or publishing imprint would never allow to see the light of day under fascism. 

Because we know that people have always created, and written, and made art, and even self-published during wars, in prisons, and in concentration camps.  

Self-publish to produce something in a way that lets you direct its distribution through whatever channels you prefer.

To make something that can’t be easily wiped off the web, like a website, blog, or social media account when the web host caves to fascism or obeys in advance.

To reconnect with the spirit of samizdat, where Eastern Bloc dissidents reproduced censored materials—sometimes by hand—to evade censors.

To attack and humiliate Neo-Nazis and use publications to grow an atmosphere of hostility to their bullshit.

Because writing and editing and designing and self-publishing are all life-affirming things. We need you alive, not them.

From the back cover:

There are an incredible number of young people that are making zines right now, alongside older people like myself that never stopped self-publishing. For some people, this will likely be a phase and something they age out of when it stops fulfilling whatever it is doing for them now. Others will keep going, as I have, and change their approaches to publishing, or the themes of their work, as their lives change and as our world is transformed by dramatic ecological, political, and social shifts. 

As the US becomes increasingly repressive, and as libraries, universities, and schools suffer constant threats and attacks, our freedom of the press cannot be taken for granted. Self-publishing has long thrived in the margins. In our current climate it’s more important than ever that people consider owning the tools and developing the skills to spread information, messages, stories, documentation, ideas, and art in tactile ways that they can produce in multiple. 

I hope this collection of reasons to self-publish under fascism motivates others to be bold and continue making things in a public way, no matter how bad it gets. I hope that self-publishing helps others find a strong supportive community. My personal and group work in publishing has helped me connect with countless people everywhere who have chosen this creative path, as well as generous readers who offer help, kindness, and encouragement in their own ways. Self-publishing is life-sustaining.

— Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

Public Collectors is a project of Marc Fischer, based in Chicago, IL. This was printed on salvaged paper from the deceased. May their memory be a blessing and a booklet.