Stapling zines sideways changed my whole folding process

I've been making little poetry zines for about 6 months now and always struggled with pages not lining up right after folding. Last week I tried something dumb - I stapled the sheets together sideways before cutting them down to size. I used a long-arm stapler I got for $8 at a garage sale and just ran a line of staples across the top edge of like 10 sheets at once. Then I folded the whole stack in half and trimmed the open edges with a paper cutter. The pages actually matched up perfect for once. No more fighting with individual signatures or trying to align everything by hand. Has anyone else tried weird assembly orders like this or am I just late to the party?

2 comments

2 Comments

carter.jennifer20d ago

Right there with you, stapling first changed everything for my monthly poetry swap too.

eric_carr20d ago

Oh man, @carter.jennifer you hit the nail on the head. I remember my first poetry swap where I tried using those little glue sticks and half the pages fell out before anyone even read them. Staplers are the unsung heroes of the DIY publishing world. I always keep a heavy duty one loaded with the long staples for thicker zines. Nothing worse than a staple that won't bend right and pokes someone in the thumb.