The new issue of punk zine Razorcake (#40) has some advice for aspiring zinesters: Think before you write. In her inaugural column for Razorcake, Maddy “Tight Pants” offers five compelling reasons to walk away from the typewriter–i.e., “Don’t write a zine to ‘set the record straight’ about your break-up”–that ought to be included in the indie-culture starter kit (is somebody working on one of those?). I most appreciate Maddy’s second point, “Don’t write a zine because you think it will convince people to become vegan straightedge militants,” though I also applaud #5, “Don’t write a zine about bike riding.” Maddy suggests abandoning these familiar subjects in favor of more “ridiculous concepts” like, say, cougar attacks (as in Jacob Stoltz’s informative Should You Encounter a Cougar). Other off-the-wall zines can be found among the nominees for this year’s Utne Independent Press Awards. —Danielle Maestretti
