Two Fisted Librarians #3

Yes! It's finally here!

Featuring work by Colleen Frakes, Adena Brons, Robert Perret, and Annie Gaines!

Two Fisted Librarians #3 will be available later this week at the Zine Pavilion at the ALA Conference in San Francisco, and other places soon after that.

We're always accepting submissions, so email me if you want something in issue #4!

Two Fisted Librarians #3

Two Fisted Librarians #3! Out soon! (Hopefully...)

Original cover art by Nick Cardy from "From Beyond the Unknown #23".

Zine launch photos!

On Friday we had the launch party for Two Fisted Librarians at Lucky's Comics! It was a successful event and lots of people came (thank you!). Also, much to my amusement, it turned out that the employee working there that evening is getting their MLIS from SLAIS. I had no idea!

People crowded into the shop!

 

Ean Henninger drove up from Washington state to read an excerpt from his piece from issue two!

Anna Ferri read an excerpt from her story in issue one!

 

Adena Brons read an excerpt from her story in issue one! (Though she also has a story in the second issue.)

And if you look in the background of the photos of people reading you can see two comic pages in the window. These are a submission for the third issue of Two Fisted Librarians! If you want to be included you should start writing now!

Two Fisted Librarians Launch Party! Friday, August 22nd, 6-8pm

What: A launch party for the second issue of Two Fisted Librarians, your favourite zine featuring weird fiction about libraries and librarians! (Facebook event page.)

Where: Lucky's Comics, 3972 Main Street, Vancouver

When: Friday, August 22nd, 6-8pm

Genres featured include: Steampunk! Dystopian post-apocalyptic! Horror! Crime! Mystery! Superhero! And more!

Come and pick up a copy of Issue #2 (and/or issue #1), meet the creators, hang out with cool librarians, see a preview of art from issue #3, find out how you can contribute to future issues, and more!

Check out the Facebook event!

Find out more about Two Fisted Librarians!

See you there!

Two Fisted Librarians #2 on Etsy

You can now order Two Fisted Librarians issue #2 (and issue #1) on Etsy!

We'll have updated info on physical locations where you can buy TFL soon!

Plus, we're hard at work on issue 3 (we already have an awesome submission from Colleen Frakes! If you want to submit something please email us.

We were at the Portland Zine Symposium and had an awesome time!

Issue #2 is available now!

Two Fisted Librarians issue 2 is out now! Copies were going like hot cakes at least week's CLA conference, and it'll be available around Vancouver (just email me), at the ALA conference in Las Vegas later this month, and more places soon!

Stories include:
Reports from the South Bay Post by Adena Brons
The Informinatrix vs. The Book Thief by Irina Jevlakova
Submersion By Ean Henninger
How to Steal a Book in 1930s Chicago by Matthew Murray

We're on Issuu!

In anticipation of our second issue coming out, I decided to put the first one up on Issuu! You can now read the entire thing if you haven't had a chance to before!

There are still copies of issue one available to buy if you want a print version! Send us an email, or wait until I put them up on Etsy again.

So why did we put it on Issuu? Well Ben Blacker, co-writer for the Thrilling Adventure Hour, Wolverine: Season One, Thunderbolts, and more, told me that I needed to put it online because that is "where people live".

So check it out!

Still time to submit to issue #2!

The deadline for submissions for issue #2 of Two Fisted Librarians is DECEMBER 31ST! You've still got lots of time to write about a shark who is also a librarian, draw a picture of the library that time forgot, or create a cataloguing method that drives people mad!

Send your submissions, questions, and awesome links to twofistedlibrarians@gmail.com.

Sell Outs and Deadline Updates

We've sold out! Or rather, Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago has sold out of their copies of Two Fisted Librarians #1! However, they've asked for some more (double their initial order!), and they'll soon be arriving on store shelves.

In other news we've been so incredibly overwhelmed with school that even if we got everyone's submissions by Halloween, there is no possible way we'd be able to put the zine together any time soon. So the deadline for submissions has now been extended to DECEMBER 31ST! Yes! You get two additional months to get your contributions in, and we'll hopefully have a launch party at some point in January.

Send your submissions, questions, and awesome links to twofistedlibrarians@gmail.com.

Trading Cards! #003

To thank our super awesome contributors to issue one we made them super sweet trading cards based on their bios. (And just so you're aware, the contributors got actually physical trading cards, not just digital images.)

Of course, nobody actually submitted a bio, so we used theyfightcrime.org, which apparently has gone down since the zine was originally made. Here's an archive.org mirror, it won't generate anything new, but you'll see what it was like.

Anyway, here's the third (and final for now)! Irina Jevlakova wrote Victoria Dexter and the Mechanical Library.

What will we do for future contributors? Who knows! But you should make sure to submit something before the October 31st deadline if you want to find out!

Trading Cards! #002

To thank our super awesome contributors to issue one we made them super sweet trading cards based on their bios. (And just so you're aware, the contributors got actually physical trading cards, not just digital images.)

Of course, nobody actually submitted a bio, so we used theyfightcrime.org, which apparently has gone down since the zine was originally made. Here's an archive.org mirror, it won't generate anything new, but you'll see what it was like.

Anyway, here's the second! Anna Ferri wrote Shelf Harm.

What will we do for future contributors? Who knows! But you should make sure to submit something before the October 31st deadline if you want to find out!

TFL at Gallery Crawl, Pittsburgh

Two Fisted Librarians is available at events where the  Small Press Pittsburgh pop up zine stall  appears. Here's a photo of TFL at the Pittsburgh Zine Fair on Sept 22, 2013. Photo by Larry Rippel.

The Small Press Pittsburgh pop up zine stall will next be at The Gallery Crawl in downtown Pittsburgh.

Where: Courtyard at the ToonSeum (945 Liberty Avenue)

When: September 27th, 2013, 6-10pm

They also have a thing called Smallpress Roulette, which you can find on their etsy.

Flyer art by Paola Spina.

Trading Cards! #001

To thank our super awesome contributors to issue one we made them super sweet trading cards based on their bios. (And just so you're aware, the contributors got actually physical trading cards, not just digital images.)

Of course, nobody actually submitted a bio, so we used theyfightcrime.org, which apparently has gone down since the zine was originally made. Here's an archive.org mirror, it won't generate anything new, but you'll see what it was like.

Anyway, here's the first! Adena Brons wrote Meta Danger.

What will we do for future contributors? Who knows! But you should make sure to submit something to issue two of Two Fisted Librarians before the October 31st Deadline if you want to find out!

Where can I find Two Fisted Librarians issue #1?

When last we checked Two Fisted Librarians #1 was available in the following locations.

Chicago, Il.
Quimby's Bookstore: 1854 West North Avenue

The Boring Store: 1331 North Milwaukee Avenue

Portland, Or
Portland Button Works: 1322 North Killingsworth Street


Pittsburgh, Pa
Small Press Pittsburgh: Pop up zine stall at various events

Vancouver, BC
Send me an email and we'll work something out.

Everywhere Else
You can now buy Two Fisted Librarians on Etsy.

Two Fisted Librarians at SLAIS!

It's the start of the school year, and recently Two Fisted Librarians was invited to participate in the LASSA (The Library and Archival Studies Student Association) orientation for new students at SLAIS (School of Library, Archival and Information Studies) at the University of British Columbia. Let's hope some of them want to contribute to the second issue!

Call for Submissions: Two Fisted Librarians #2!

Now that we've had our official zine launch in Vancouver (photos soon to come!), it's time to open up submissions for the second issue of Two Fisted Librarians!

Issue 2 Deadline: October December 31st! 

Yes, the deadline for the second issue of Two Fisted Librarians is one of my favourite days of the year, Halloween! That means you've got almost two months to create something for the next issue of Two Fisted Librarians! (So get started now!)

Not sure what to create? Well, here's some helpful information!

What is Two Fisted Librarians?
A collection of pulp-inspired fiction, comics, and art created by you (hopefully!) concerning libraries and librarians.

What is pulp fiction?
Stories that fondly recall the pulp magazines of the '20s, '30s, and '40s, and comics of the '40s and '50s. Mad science, weird fantasy, occult horror, spicy mysteries, noirish romances, thrilling adventures, and whatever else. Want to write about a library that uses steampunk technology, a cataloguing system so obtuse that it drives those that try to use it insane, or a librarian who has to track down a Nazi zeppelin in order to get an overdue book? Go for it!

Still looking for ideas? The Thrilling Adventure Hour or the TV Tropes page for Two Fisted Tales  might be of help.

What is a zine?
A self published, usually photocopied magazine that contains everything from recipes, to travelogues, to thrilling adventure fiction. 

What can I submit to Two Fisted Librarians?
Fiction, comics, illustrations, fake journalistic articles, whatever you want really! Just don't make it too long, and remember that this will be published in a half sized zine, so please format your artwork for 5.5" x 8.5" paper (ie. half a standard North American sheet).

How do I submit? 
Send your submissions, questions, and awesome links to twofistedlibrarians@gmail.com.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Zine Launch Party!

When: Friday, September 6th, 6pm
Where: SLAIS Lounge, Irving K Barber Learning Centre, UBC
What: Finally! The Vancouver launch of Two Fisted Librarians!

Yes, finally people in the city where this zine was born can get their hands on copies of Two Fisted Librarians. We're crashing the LASSA potluck to bring you all the best in steampunk, crime noir, and horror stories about librarians.

PLUS! You'll be able to get your very own Two Fisted Librarian button. How awesome!

Here's the Facebook event.

Two Fisted Librarian Buttons

Check out these rad Two Fisted Librarian buttons that I got made at Portland Button Works! They'll be available at the launch party in September. Wait, launch party? Yep, stay tuned for more information!

Two Fisted Librarians at the Pittsburgh pop up zine stall

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Two Fisted Librarians would be available at the The Small Press Pittsburgh pop up zine stall. Well now I have proof!

Top left hand corner underneath Bad Habits!

Left hand side, around the middle.

Small Press Pittsburgh is also offering a kind of cool thing on their etsy. It's called Small Press Roulette, and you choose a genre and price point, and then you get a mystery zine sent to you! If you look at the photos for some of the prices you might be able to catch a glimpse of Two Fisted Librarians!

Two Fisted Librarians at the Portland Zine Symposium!

I'll be tabling (and helping to run a discussion about zine libraries) this weekend (August 10th and 11th) at the Portland Zine Symposium! I can't wait. I'll see you there!