Instigatorzine is a literary/art zine based in New Jersey started by Keith Chiappone and Narciso Espiritu Jr. in February of 2010. The purpose of the zine is to promote activity for writers of all genres and styles who would otherwise have no outlet to put their material. As of late, print has gone out of fashion for more technology free e-publications such as ebooks and e-zines. There is something very special and important, however, about being able to hold a physical copy of literature in one’s hands, turning the pages, folding the corners, and interacting with the material as opposed to reading words on a screen and watching an animation of a page turning. Despite the importance of physical literature, we are not cavemen. We do adjust with the times. Therefore, the zine is offered here on our website for sale as a PDF for $1.

Another purpose of the zine is, of course, to promote the continuation and recognition of local artists. In our zine, artists have stand-alone pieces as well as pieces that are complementary to the literature. Each cover is drawn by a different artist.

Instigatorzine is published with a DIY point of view. DIY refers to the construction, production and distribution of a product without the aid of professionals. We print on our own printers and staple with our own staplers. Each month we print about 200 copies and distribute them, for the most part, by hand. The DIY attitude is just as important as the survival of printed literature. We want to prove that this is something that anyone can do. And we invite it! If you start your own DIY publication, we will aid in the distribution of that publication…as long as you aid us as well. The Instigatorzine team not only strives to inspire writers and artists, but other people as well who think they have something to offer.

Unfortunately, because this is an independent project (not run by a company), we are unable to pay our contributors. All the money we make from selling the zine goes toward paper, ink, staples, promotions (events, readings) and marketing services (such as our webhost, E-junkie, and E-sign).

For information on how we construct our zine, and how you could construct your zine, view this wikibook.