Niche In A Nutshell

MOST ZINES STINK, but you find that golden 10 percent, and you're hooked for life," says Chip Rowe, the editor of a new book about zines-- both print zines and their electronic counterparts, e-zines--and its companion Web site (www.zinebook.com). He claims it's the most comprehensive site online dedicated to the best of these paragons of serf-obsessed self-publishing that The New York Times once dubbed "the magazines of 'me'." To make sure the site wasn't just a promo for the book, Rowe posted full-length interviews with all 62 featured zine editors -including himself. The site also contains links to seminal articles on the history of zincs, reviews, copyright issues and valuable ad-vice on how to start publishing your very own ode to you. "It's brilliant," Rowe says of his book in full self-promotion mode. That's a bit much, but we like it, too.