Bundles and mailings: Science fiction fandom and the amateur press association

Abstract

This article is concerned with the fanzines published within science fiction fandom from the 1930s onwards. Its focus is on the “amateur press association” (or “apa”) an organizational form for the distribution of fanzines among member-publishers. One variation of the apa is the club-based amateur press association, which emerged in the 1960s as a way of joining fanzine publishing to the in-person sociability of the science fiction club. The status of apa relative to other forms of communication within science fiction fandom is analyzed.