When I first got into zines, they were hard to come by.  My local record store (Discovery Records in Tonawanda, NY) had a handful of music and local zines, but not much else.  When I discovered zine distros it definitely helped my zine addiction, but I dreamed of a store filled with zines.  The first time I visited Chicago, I went to Quimby’s and it was awesome.  They had tons of zines, but I still longed for having a zine friendly store where I lived.

It wasn’t until I moved to Portland, OR last year that my dream finally came true.  Reading Frenzy was one of the first places I went to once my train rolled into Union Station.  I was not disappointed when I first walked into 921 SW Oak St.  There were so many zines, it was overwhelming.  Most places I have been that sold zines didn’t bother to display them nicely, but at Reading Frenzy everything was organized and easily accessible.  I definitely fell in love with the little store at first sight.

A few months after arriving in Portland, I released All Things Ordinary #1.  The first place I went after I finished assembling them was Reading Frenzy to drop some off on consignment.  Chloe (the owner of Reading Frenzy) was really nice and  helpful since I was new to the process.  Despite the fact that she has probably dealt with 1000′s of people consigning zines before me, she seemed genuinely happy that I was dropping my zines off.  A few months passed and all 5 copies I consigned were sold, and I was paid in cash right away.  I have sold a total of 12 copies of ATO #1 so far at Reading Frenzy and I couldn’t be happier.

So what I’m trying to get at is Reading Frenzy is an awesome store that supports zines and the Portland community.  Like many small businesses, they are going through hard times right now and are reaching out for help via Kickstarter.  They have set up many different pledge levels, with lots of exclusive incentives.  If you have the means, I urge you to please help Reading Frenzy out!

Nora Robertson also wrote about this fundraiser, as well as posted a video of my friend Christopher Peralta talking about why he thinks Reading Frenzy is important.

*Photo by christinalikesbirds