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An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group.
The first APAs were formed by groups of amateur printers. The earliest to become more than a small informal group of friends was the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) founded February 19, 1876, by Evan Reed Riale and nine other members in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] It is still running as of 2018.
The first British APA was the British Amateur Press Association founded in 1890. This is a different organisation from that launched by comics fans in 1978 (see below).
The second United States APA was the United Amateur Press Association (UAPA) founded in 1895 by a group of teenagers including William H. Greenfield (aged 14) and Charles W. Heins (aged 17). [2] A notable contributor to its The United Amateur was H. P. Lovecraft. This became a confederation of small amateur publishers which split into two organisations known interchangeably as UAP and UAAPA. The American Amateur Press Association (AAPA) was formed in 1936 by a secession from what was then called UAPAA.
The Brooklynite, published in Plainfield, New Jersey was an amateur press publication edited by Hazel Pratt Adams (1888-1927), a member of the Blue Pencil Club of Brooklyn, and distributed through the United Amateur Press Association. [3]
The first science fiction APA was the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA) formed by a group of science fiction fans in 1937. It continues to be active in 2020. SAPS, the Spectator Amateur Press Society, started in 1947 and is still active in 2012. VAPA, The Vanguard Amateur Press Association, formed in 1945 and lasted until 1950.
The first comics APA was started by Jerry Bails in 1964 in the United States. Called CAPA-alpha (sometimes abbreviated to K-a) it grew to its present limit of 40 members. It has become the archetype for most subsequent comics APAs. Its members have included Dwight Decker, Mark Evanier, Carl Gafford, Fred Patten, Richard and Wendy Pini, Roy Thomas, Dan Alderson, Rick Norwood, Don Markstein, Don and Maggie Thompson and Jeffrey H. Wasserman. Michael Barrier's animation fanzine Funnyworld began as a CAPA-alpha contribution.
Decker and Gafford were also founding members of the minicomics co-op the United Fanzine Organization. The difference in a co-op and an APA is that an APA is helmed by a central mailer, to whom the members send copies of their publications. The central mailer then compiles all the books into one large volume, which is then mailed out to the membership in "mailings" (called "bundles" by a few APAs). In a co-op, however, there is no central mailer; the members distribute their own works, and are linked by a group newsletter, a group symbol that appears on each member work, and a group checklist in every "member zine."
The first European comics APA was called PAPA and launched by a group of comics fans in January 1978. Soon renamed BAPA (for "British APA"), it celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2003, but folded the following summer.
The APA model was picked up by artists in the 1980s. Groups of artists contributed elements of combined duplicated artworks that omitted the conversational elements of the fandom-based APAs (these pieces are sometimes called "assembly art"). During this same period, a group of British science fiction and comics fans also set up a short-lived "tape APA", contributing music and spoken word to a central anthology.
The latest innovation is a digital distribution, e-APA. Copies of past "mailings" are archived at the online resource eFanzines.
APAs were a way for widely distributed groups of people to discuss a common interest together in a single forum before the advent of electronic bulletin boards or the Internet. Many were founded in the 1930s and later by fans of science fiction, comics, [4] music, cinema and other topics as a way to develop writing, design and illustration skills. Many professional journalists, creative writers and artists practised in APA groups and email mailing lists.
A Central Mailer (CM) (sometimes called a Distribution Manager or Official Editor) is the coordinator of an APA. The heart of the role is the distribution of the association's publication to its members. The CM manages the subscription lists and the deadlines to which the association works. The CM is usually responsible for chasing members to ensure maximum participation although some APAs simply accumulate contributions between deadlines and mail out whatever is available at the mailing deadline.
Where the APA requires the submission of multiple copies by contributors, the CM merely collates the contributions. Some APAs involve the submission of camera ready copy; in such cases the CM arranges the reproduction of the material. Most APAs require the members to submit a minimum amount of material in a specified format to a specified number of mailings. This minimum activity (abbreviated to "minac") is usually specified as something in the form of (for example): "at least two A4 pages to at least two out of every three mailings". Most APAs also require each member to maintain a credit balance in a central funds account to cover common reproduction costs and postage.
In most APAs the CM provides an administrative report listing the contents of each mailing and any business information associated with the association. This can include financial accounts, membership information and some news items. Although most APAs have predetermined deadlines at regular intervals it is normal practice for the CM to specify the next mailing deadlines explicitly in each mailing.
Although some APAs are autocratic, most run on a democratic basis and the CM usually chairs any discussions and arranges any management meetings.
APAs that require members to submit multiple copies of their contribution (commonly called "apazines") usually set a limit to the number of members and run a waiting list if this becomes necessary. In many cases people on the waiting list are permitted to contribute to mailings and may receive excess apazines provided by the members.
Unless otherwise stated, these APAs are based in the United States.
A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, and from there the term was adopted by other communities.
A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation. A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and popularized within science fiction fandom, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 1949.
A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "fanzine" was coined, and at one time constituted the primary type of science-fictional fannish activity ("fanac").
A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 or less.
British small press comics, once known as stripzines, are comic books self-published by amateur cartoonists and comic book creators, usually in short print runs, in the UK. They're comparable to similar movements internationally, such as American minicomics and Japanese doujinshi. A "small press comic" is essentially a zine composed predominantly of comic strips. The term emerged in the early 1980s to distinguish them from zines about comics. Notable artists who have had their start in British small press comics include Eddie Campbell, Paul Grist, Rian Hughes, Jamie Hewlett, Alan Martin, Philip Bond and Andi Watson.
Carl Gafford is a colorist who has worked for several decades in the comics industry. His career has spanned several publishers, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Topps Comics.
Howard DeVore was an American archivist, science fiction collector, dealer, expert on pulp magazines, APA and fanzine writer, con-runner and active volunteer in science fiction fandom.
The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful to the comic book reader, comic collector, fan, and scholar. The GCD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Arkansas.
Minicomics Co-ops are entities for trading and promoting small press comics and fanzines. The most well-known of these co-ops is the United Fanzine Organization, or UFO, a co-operative of minicomic creators that has existed since about 1968, when it was called Blue Plaque Publications (BPP). Carl Gafford, at that point the publisher of a comics fanzine called Minotaur, created the BPP; among its earliest members were Chuck Robinson II (publisher of Comique), Dwight Decker (True Fan Adventure Theatre), Ed Romero (Realm), and Gordon Matthews (Coffinworm).
Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.
Cliff Biggers is an American comic book writer and journalist. His first published writing appeared in fanzines in the mid-1960s. He was a founding member of the amateur press alliance (APA) Myriad and was active in the Southern Fandom Press Alliance, a southeastern-based science fiction amateur press association. He was also involved in Galaxy, CAPA-Alpha, Apa-5, and other amateur press alliances.
The Fantasy Amateur Press Association or FAPA ("FAP-uh") is science fiction fandom's longest-established amateur press association ("apa"). It was founded in 1937 by Donald A. Wollheim and John B. Michel. They were inspired to create FAPA by their memberships in some of the non-science fiction amateur press associations, which they learned about from H. P. Lovecraft.
Bruce Edward Pelz was a US science fiction fan. He was highly active in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) and a major SMOF, co-chairing the 30th World Science Fiction Convention. He also wrote filksongs and was a master costumer.
John Bristol Speer was an attorney, practicing law for over 60 years; a judge; and a Washington House of Representatives member.
Interlac is a bimonthly amateur press association devoted to the DC Comics science fiction superhero team the Legion of Super-Heroes. It was the first APA devoted to the Legion and, despite the decline of APAs due to Internet forums, continues to operate to this day. June 2023 marked the 47th anniversary. The site is named after the fictional language of the same name, which is the primary language used in the comic's setting.
CAPA-alpha was the first amateur press association (APA) devoted to comic books, started by Jerry Bails in the United States in 1964.
The British Amateur Press Association was an amateur press association created by comics fans in late 1977, following a proposal from Phil Greenaway in the letter pages of the comics fanzine BEM; the first mailing was circulated in January 1978. Greenaway was the first Central Mailer and his successors included Maureen "Mo" James, Howard Stangroom, Les Chester, and Steve Green. For most of its existence, up to thirty members of BAPA submitted multiple copies of at least two A4 pages to the central mailer every two months. BAPA was disbanded on 17 August 2004, with a final mailing distributed early in 2005. A one-off publication was also distributed under the name B-APA (sic) in 2005, in memory of Andy Roberts; a similar publication was announced in 2008, in memory of Steve Whitaker.
Jeanne Gomoll is an American artist, writer, editor, and science fiction fan, who was recognized as one of the guests of honor at the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, having been a guest of honor at numerous previous science fiction conventions. She has been nominated multiple times for awards in artist and fanzine categories, and for service to the genre of science fiction, particularly feminist science fiction.
The Comic and Fantasy Art Amateur Press Association (CFA-APA) was founded in 1985 by Roger Hill. Its membership consists of knowledgeable fans, creators, and collectors of comic and fantasy art who write about various subjects related to those genres. The group self-publishes approximately three times a year and each issue has a theme relating to a specific creator or subject. Currently, membership is limited to 40 persons at any one time and circulation is limited to 55 issues, making the publication itself highly collectible.
the history and culture of zines, independent media and the small press.