Does the mainstream media bore you? Do you have talent that is going to waste because publishers don't recognize your brilliance? Dissenting voices are being more marginalized by the media everyday. There is a solution: do it yourself. DIY media has always been on the cutting edge.

"Many traditional media can look stale in comparison, and one of the first changes I think is noticeable in society is how swiftly online trends are transformed and remanufactured for the mainstream," says Barbelith publisher Tom Coates.

Matt Drudge turned the journalism industry upside down with The Drudge Report and Harry Knowles has turned his self-published e-zine Ain't It Cool News into one of the most vital entertainment sites on the Web. You can do it too.

A Quick and Dirty Guide to DIY Media: Print

My interest in self-publishing began when I was about 12 and trying to publish comic books. I never actually published anything because I never created anything that was very good and being so young I didn’t have much capitol to invest. Over the years I've kept up with the self-publishing scene but I haven't had the time to publish anything. In the meantime I can offer you some advice on how to get started.

The cheapest and easiest way to start printing is with a photocopier. You can do your printing on demand (whenever someone orders or asks for one), but if you've got the money (or free access to a copier) it's better to print a bunch at once so that you have copies to give out.

Using a photocopier for print runs of more than a couple hundred copies will be tedious and usually cost more than hiring a professional to print your stuff. Call around locally and see if you can find a good deal: it's much easier to deal with problems that arise if you can visit the printer in person. But if that doesn't work out the Small Publisher's Co-Op offers cheap packages starting at one thousand 16 page magazines on newsprint for $299 and ADR Book Print specializes in small print runs of perfect bound books.

If your publication is small enough and you can afford offer it free for the first couple issues. You can leave a stack of them at coffee shops, record stores, or any place else people who might be interested in your zine would go. Get people hooked on your publication before you start charging: it works for drug dealers.

Of course you're probably going to want to be seen outside your community. See the web publishing section for more information on setting up a web page to promote you publication.

Many zine publishers tell horror stories about their experiences with distributors, but they can get your work seen by more people if they'll accept your zine. For a list of zine friendly distributors visit Sunburn. Most zines are self-distributed by trading ads with other zine publishers, sending out review copies, and getting stores to consign them. Zinebook is a huge resource with a listing of zines as well as other useful resources for self-publishers.

Book publishers should take a look at About.com's list of distributors. Most bookstores will require you to have an ISBN, which will cost you at least $205. You can skip getting an ISBN and just sell the book yourself but your potential for growth is limited without an ISBN.

Most of the creators of great zines like Boing Boing and Ben Is Dead have moved on to bigger and better things. But I for one would love to see some new zines. Boing Boing founder Mark Frauenfelder once said: "Don't start a music zine. There are already ten thousand music zines out there. Nobody cares what you think about music anyway."

There's a whole wacky world out there: tell us about your part in it.

The views expressed above represent the writer and not necessarily those of The Disinformation Company Ltd.