published in VenusZine.com on 04/28/08
Where did you get the idea for Xploited?
When I was in college, I was in the video production program, specializing in wakeboarding videos. I had a class where my assignment was to come up with my own video production company. One day, I found myself stuck in traffic, driving behind some dirty-ass truck. On the back, someone had drawn an anarchy sign with their finger in the dirt and wrote, "exploited.” I was really drawn to it for some reason, so I decided that I would use it to name my video production company. I took the "E" off and called it "Xploited.” A couple years later, in February 2007, when I decided to start my own zine, I kept the name.
You fell into debt with the release of your first zine. What sorts of complications did you incur starting a zine?
I had no idea how expensive printing a zine could be. I knew I needed to establish a readership, so I started researching and contacting other zines to do trades. Between having 600 copies of the zine printed and mailing issues out to hundreds of other zines, the printing and postage nearly killed me. When I first started the zine, I already had plenty of debt. Producing the zine put me further in the hole, but I have no regrets. Xploited is a labor of love for me.
What are your plans for your forthcoming zine?
Issue 003 is the Homeless issue. It's going to be all about anything and everything homeless. I have had all kinds of interesting submissions for this issue. San Francisco has a homeless epidemic, and I figured since I run a San Francisco-based zine, it would be a fitting topic. Issue 003 will be out for public consumption in the beginning of June.
Read the article here.