Launching online magazine Discordia Zine
Background:
After looking around at the current women’s portals, I decided that women wanted a little more feminism than was currently on offer. From sites that were saturated in pink and shilling handbags to mummy bloggers, no one appeared to be tackling the outsider market.
I know a bunch of women who simply didn’t fit into the regular mould. From single mums to ex-riot grrls, feminists through to lesbians, there were pockets of interesting people who were finding their collective stories were not covered. So I decided to launch an online Zine.
Objective:
The aim of Discordia Zine was (and still is) to:
- Bring women who don’t fit the standard moulds together
- Create community around shared experiences of outsider culture
- Celebrate and explore the things thinking women care about such as disruption, culture, creativity and social justice
- Move women with disability out of the shadows
- Remove the segregation often found between socio-economic groups, backgrounds and sexuality in female writing
- Give women who moved outside the traditional models a place to hang and share stories
Execution:
First wave of Discordia Zine writers were recruited through direct approach and introduction. A WordPress website was set up and social media such as Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook were implemented.
Second round involved appealing for writers through online portals. This has lead to a slightly younger group of writers coming on board which in turn has added further texture to the Discordia Zine style.
Results:
Discordia Zine was born to a room full of well wishers and interested parties. It continues to produce thought provoking articles and disruptive pieces on all kinds of aspects. The community has grown through social media to 1000 people and the site receives over 2000 hits a month.
Selected articles have been syndicated in Australia and abroad.
The challenge that any volunteer outfit faces is finding time and keeping momentum. However our little group is passionate and we continue to gain comments, curiousness and favour with a growing audience. Not bad for a side project!