I have been asked "what should my zine look like?" and "what should it contain?"
The short answer is "it's your zine... make it what you want it to be!"
Still, some people can be a little intimidated at the prospect of sharing their work with others, and they stress about these things. If you've seen a lot of zines, you'll notice that a kind of "common format" has evolved over the decades. So I will present that format here, but before I do, let me reiterate this:
Just because this is a common format, that doesn't make it "right." There is no wrong answer here. It's your zine! It should reflect your personality—or at least the personality you want to present to the other members of the APA!
With that out of the way, here are some common elements that I've noticed in many zines:
It's very, very traditional that your zine have a title. Some memorable titles I have seen in past APAs:
Babalú: The author was named Ricky, and he was born and raised on a Spanish-speaking Caribbean island. He viewed I Love Lucy's Ricky Ricardo as a positive role model, and used his zine's title to pay homage.
Barad Silme : The author was a self-proclaimed Tolkien geek and crafted this phrase from two different Tolkien elfven languages.
Extreme Yarak: The author was a falconer who identified his mental state with the hawk's state of "yarak"—an intense, almost serene concentration and eagerness to act.
Scratchings from the Closet: The author was referencing her childhood habit of hiding in the bedroom closet to read when she was supposed to be in bed.
The title is usually on the very top of the page. Some authors will put the zine's issue number next to it ("Barad Silme #8") and some authors leave it off ("Barad Silme").
Usually right below the title, often in boxed text, the colophon contains the "publishing information" for that issue. Traditionally it includes:
The author's name. Remember your zine is being combined with everyone else's, and it's nice to know who we're reading.
Your postal address. An APA is a community. Sometime people want to contact you outside of the APA about something you wrote, or maybe just to send you a birthday card. APAs originated in the 19th Century, long before electronic communication, so it is traditional to include you actual address. However, this being the day of e-mail and social media, a simple e-mail address might do instead. Entirely up to you.
Phone Number: It became traditional in the 20th Century to add your phone number. I never had anyone use it. I never used anyone's. Up to you if you include it or not.
Zine name and issue number. Some people leave this off if it's in the title.
The APA that it's intended for. In the days of old you would see statements like "Intended for the pages of The Anchorite APA." Sometimes this was a bragging point, I guess, as people would put multiple APAs down. I never saw the point.
The date of the publication. Another thing that's optional, as the APA will have a cover date. Maybe you want it in case your zine gets separated from the rest?
People often try to incorporate all this into a witty little paragraph, like this: Nowhere Fan #7 is written exclusively for the pages of The Anchorite APA by Jeremy Hill. He sits in his nowhere land at 123 Main Street, Anytown ST 56789 where he makes all his nowhere plans for nobody. He doesn’t have a point of view, and he’ll tell you that if you call (123) 456-7890.
Other people just list the information suscintly and move on to the...
Most people open their zine with something akin to an open letter, updating everyone about what's been happening in their life since the last issue. This is your space to share as much or as little of yourself as you're comfortable with.
People often also use this section to review books, movies, or games that they consumed recently.
We're creators. That's why we write for an APA! Members love to share original stories, poems, RPG rules, artwork, etc.
Mailing comments are the heart of the community. This is the section where you tell everyone how happy their last zine made you. What parts you agreed with. What parts inspired you. What things you empathize or sympathize with.
A typical format is that you start a new paragraph with the person's name (more rarely the zine name, and rarer still, both) in bold, underlined, or emphasized in same other way. After that you comment on what you read, usually adding enough context so the reader know subsection of their zine you're referring to.
A common abbreviation is "yct," which means "your comment to." This is when you're telling Dave what his comment to Sandy made you think about. Example: "Dave: re yct Sandy: I agree that Discovery was the worst incarnation of Trek, but not for the reasons you said..."
It's okay to politely disagree with someone. It's not ok to be a jerk.
Some people put this before their creative works, some people put it after.
This is your closing section, where you wrap up the issue. Elements that I've seen the most are:
Reflection: A bit of reflection on your zine's contents, or the process of creating it. This could be a place to share any final thoughts or feelings.
Preview of the Next Issue: If you know what you’ll be working on for your next zine, give your readers a little sneak peek to give them something to look forward to.
Gratitude/well wishes: It's common to thank people for listening and wish them well until the next issue.
I hope this was useful for you. Here's a random zine from 1967 that I found online. Even though it's so old, you can see that it follows the same pattern that I described here.
I'll just end with this final note: NOTHING HERE IS A "RULE"--YOUR ZINE IS YOUR ZINE!