🚀 How Much Did I Make Selling Zines and Prints This Year?

Since last December, I’ve created and sold 6 zines. First of all, I just want to say thank you to everyone who purchased one. Seriously, thank you so much.

Making zines can actually be quite costly. Plus, even if you produce 100 copies, there’s always the chance you’ll only sell 20. So selling zines doesn’t necessarily mean turning a profit.

But thanks to your support, I’ve been able to keep making zines consistently.

So, as the title suggests, in this newsletter, I want to share how much I managed to make from zine and print sales over the past year.

🧃 The Six Zines I Created This Past Year

Heterocera

The first zine I made last December was Heterocera, a color darkroom prints book. Every page in this zine was created entirely in the darkroom using prints I made myself. Even the cover was fully handmade—I bound the book using fabric and thick paper I purchased. It’s a truly one-of-a-kind zine, and honestly, it feels more like a book.

Each copy was made to order, with the prints developed in the darkroom before being bound into the book. It took about a week to complete each copy, so it was quite labor-intensive, but very rewarding.

Hokkaido 43°23'07"N, 145°49'03"E

In February, I released Hokkaido 43°23'07"N, 145°49'03"E, featuring photos I took over two years in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost region. The zine features unique landscapes that feel almost otherworldly, along with photos capturing the culture of the Ainu people who live there.

All the photos were shot on film, and instead of scanning the negatives, I developed the film myself, then printed each photo in the darkroom before digitizing them for the zine. While most people may not notice the difference, this hands-on process is deeply meaningful to me.

BEYOND THE PEEPHOLE

In May, I created BEYOND THE PEEPHOLE, a zine featuring photos taken using a peephole lens attached to my camera.

Peephole photography gives the images a voyeuristic quality, as if you’re sneaking a glimpse into another world. It’s one of my favorite zines.

On the Same Boat

In June, I teamed up with my friend Alex to create On the Same Boat, a zine focused on smokers.

From brainstorming to submitting it to the printer, the entire process took just about a week. We pooled together photos we’d both taken and edited them quickly—it was a fast-paced but exciting project.

Zines are like that. In our busy lives, zine-making is rarely a high priority. That’s why it’s best to jump in and make one when inspiration strikes. If you wait too long, chances are you’ll never get around to it.

404 not found Issue 02

This summer in Tokyo was unbearably hot. I often went out to shoot but ended up giving up halfway and heading back home. Instead of shooting, I spent a lot of time in my darkroom, making prints. That’s when I decided to put together 404 not found Issue 02.

This is my personal favorite among all the zines I’ve made so far. While its layout is relatively straightforward, the cover features a halftone design, and like my Hokkaido zine, all the pages were digitized from darkroom prints.

The photos are exclusively night scenes shot in Tokyo and Taipei, capturing moments I find incredibly cool and inspiring.

THE TUBE

Finally, I wanted to encourage more people to make zines, so I started telling my friends, “You should make one!” But not many actually took the leap, which made me feel restless. That’s when I decided to take a more publisher-like approach and help create a zine for a friend.

The result was THE TUBE, a zine featuring photos taken by my friend Katsumi in the UK. Although I haven’t done much to promote it yet, it’s currently available at FAR EAST DARKROOM.

🧀 How Much Did I Make Selling Zines and Prints This Year?

Let’s talk about how much I’ve made from selling zines this past year. Since I’ve participated in many zine events, for this breakdown, I’ll focus only on sales from FAR EAST DARKROOM.

As you might already know, I’ve started selling zines by other creators like YOUNG HAMA, GASO, and SORAMI at FAR EAST DARKROOM to share the beauty of zines with more people. So, the total sales also include their zines.

OK, so over the past 12 months, FAR EAST DARKROOM brought in $11,923 in sales. A huge thank you to everyone for your support—it truly means a lot!

That said, this is revenue, not profit. After deducting shipping costs, printing expenses, zine purchases for resale, Shopify fees, and packaging materials, the profit comes to $5,622.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Total Sales: $11,923

• Shipping Costs: $2,240

• Printing & Purchase Costs: $3,500

• System Fees: $278.46

• Packaging Materials: $282

And as I’ve mentioned before, most of my zines are shot on film, developed and printed in the darkroom, and digitized for the zine. This means there are additional expenses for film rolls, darkroom paper (which is quite expensive), and darkroom chemicals. After accounting for those, the actual profit is even smaller.
I can’t remember exactly how much I spent on darkroom prints, but I know I’ve made over 400 prints this year—so, yeah, it adds up. If you’re looking to maximize profits, I’d recommend shooting digitally instead. lol

Still, thanks to this income, I was able to visit Tanegashima to photograph a rocket launch and make the decision to stock zines by other creators at FAR EAST DARKROOM.
Most importantly, this has kept me motivated to continue photography and push forward. I couldn’t have done it without your support, and I’m so grateful for it.

To show my appreciation, I’m planning to send a free 5x7” darkroom print greeting card to everyone who purchased a zine. I was hoping to send them by the end of the year, but I’ve been upgrading my darkroom, so the prints aren’t ready yet. Once they’re done, I’ll ship them out—please look forward to it!

Wishing you all a wonderful end of the year. Since next week is New Year’s, I’ll be taking a break from the newsletter.
The next edition will be out on January 7. See you then!