Question 1

Can Aquatic Panda Distro carry and distribute my zines?

Accepted Answer

Aquatic Panda Distro is looking for artists of color who make comic and/or art zines. We are specifically looking to carry zines by a single artist (not collaborative works). We currently have two levels for zine artists: Newcomer (for artists new to zinemaking) and Consignor (for more experienced zine makers looking to sell larger runs of zines on consignment).

Aquatic Panda is a woman of color run distro. It was created with uplifting the voices of underserved communities in mind. Aquatic Panda is meant to be a safe space in the zine community and will not tolerate hate of any kind.

Aquatic Panda Distro reserves the right to refuse to carry a particular zine for any reason.

Question 2

What kinds of zines do you carry?

Accepted Answer

Aquatic Panda Distro is a purveyor of comic and art zines.

Comic Zines: Aquatic Panda is looking for a single issue of a comic zine. This can be a first issue of an ongoing comic series, a single stand alone comic story or an anthology of short comics. We love personal autobiographical stories, slice of life, comedy or sci-fi and fantasy stories. Aquatic Panda carries zines in all different age ranges. While we may carry zines that have some violence or nudity, we will not carry any zines with explicit sexual violence.

Art Zines: Aquatic Panda would love to carry your art zine. This can be a sketchbook of loose drawings, tight portfolio level illustrations or anything in between. Drawings based on a theme or life drawings. Let your creativity shine. Aquatic Panda is mainly interested in illustrative drawn art and collage. We are currently not taking photo zine submissions.

Question 3

How does the “Newcomer” level work?

Accepted Answer

At the “Newcomer” level Aquatic Panda will take up to 3 copies of your zine. You may set the price of your zine as you see fit. Aquatic Panda will pay you 60% of the retail price for your zines up front. If you live in the Chicagoland area, we can arrange a date, time and place to pick up the zines. If you do not live in the Chicagoland area, you can ship your zines at your own cost. Aquatic Panda will pay the wholesale cost (60%) of the retail price of the zine at the time that they receive the zines in hand.

Question 4

How does the “Consignor” level work?

Accepted Answer

At the “Consignor” level Aquatic Panda will take up to 15 copies of your zine. You may set the price of your zine as you see fit. Aquatic Panda will pay you 65% of the retail price for your zines on a quarterly basis based on sales that quarter. If you live in the Chicagoland area, we can arrange a date, time and place to pick up the zines. If you do not live in the Chicagoland area, you can ship your zines to Aquatic Panda Distro at your own cost. Consignors will sign a basic contract for Aquatic Panda to carry their zine for one year from the date the zines are received. Copies not sold within one year of receipt will be returned to the artist or renew their contract.

Question 5

How many different zines can I submit?

Accepted Answer

Please only submit one zine title at a time. If a submission is rejected, you may submit a different zine title. Aquatic Panda will accept ONE zine title per artist in a six month period. Six months after a zine title is accepted you may submit a second zine title. If a zine is rejected please do not resubmit that zine. Aquatic Panda is currently run by a single person and appreciates you not spamming our submissions.

Question 6

Am I a person of color?

Accepted Answer

Part of the mission of Aquatic Panda Distro is to highlight artists from historically underserved and marginalized communities in the US. We are not meant to be gatekeepers or arbiters of who is and who is not considered a person of color. We understand that this is a nuanced and difficult question for some people to answer. We ask that artists applying to consign with Aquatic Panda Distro be mindful and truthful about their own life and experiences. We hope to act as a stepping stone for artists of color who are looking for a place to start distributing their comics. If you self identify as a poc this is a safe space for you.

Question 7

I used Canva, ChatGPT (or other generative AI tool) to create my zine. Can I submit it?

Accepted Answer

Please do not submit zines for which you utilized generative AI tools for ideas, images or text.

Aquatic Panda Distro is against the use of generative AI to create any part of the zines we carry. Our mission to spotlight art made by artists. These zines should be an expression of who you are as an artist at whatever skill level you are at on your own. We do not gatekeep or judge what is art, good or bad. What we want is art made by artists, not generative AI programs.

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