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Physical: Antiquated Future PO Box 42081 Portland, Oregon 97242 USA

Contact form: www.antiquatedfuture.com/contact

Email: antiquatedfuture(at)gmail(dot)com

Who is Antiquated Future?

Antiquated Future is an online store, zine distro, pop-up shop, and tape label that began in 2008 out of Olympia, Washington and currently operates out of Portland, Oregon. Over the past decade, we've distributed a couple thousand zines, books, tapes, records, and handmade odds and ends by independent artists. Though we've grown over the years—and even gone through a name change (originally we were the Ms. Valerie Park Distro)—we've been essentially the same since the beginning: We spread print and physical mediums through digital avenues; employing the future to preserve the past.

We're largely ran by Joshua James Amberson. Chask’e Lindgren once co-ran it and continues to be a supporter of what we do. Evan Hashi does our website design. Rachel Lee-Carman does illustration work for the site and our fliers. Katie Savastano is the artist behind our header lettering. And a lot of other friends (Gina Sarti, Annah Jefferson, Ariel Birks, Alexis Wolf, to name a few) help table at events. We carry close to 500 items at any given time, and work to help bring artists and art we love to a larger audience. 

In terms of zines, we try to carry a wide range of zines, while still maintaining a curated selection. Personal, historical, humor, personal-as-political, literary, how-to, and music are all zine genres we find ourselves especially drawn to. We also try to carry a range of zines in terms of cost and production quality—both simply designed, affordable zines (that nod to the '90s zine heyday we came up in) and high-production value art-focused zines and workbook zines that reflect where people have taken the zine format in recent years.

Being one of the largest zine distros in the country, we try to recognize that responsibility by not specializing too much. Many of our customers have never bought, or even heard of, a zine before and we hope to offer a lot of entry points into falling in love with zines.

How do I place an order?

Click on the Add to Cart button next to each item you want to order, then click on your shopping cart (which is located in the top right hand corner), and select where you want the order shipped to. Our cart goes through Paypal, which accepts debit card, credit card, and Paypal credit. Questions about other forms of payment can be found in the Mailorder section below.

When can I expect my order?

We get all orders out within 1-5 days. Most weeks, we do daily shipments Monday through Friday. Depending on the order, our shipping costs cover standard First Class, Priority, and Media Mail shipping within the U.S. All orders outside the U.S. ship standard International First Class.

Shipping times will vary, depending on your distance from Portland, Oregon. Orders within the U.S. typically take between 2-10 days after being shipped. International orders typically take between 1-4 weeks for delivery. If you're looking for U.S. Priority Shipping options, please email us first.

What is a zine?

A zine (pron.: /ˈziːn/ Zeen; an abbreviation of fanzine, or magazine) is a self-published, small circulation booklet or magazine, usually produced by one person or a few individuals. Zines come in all shapes, sizes, topics, and formats. They can include personal essays, political discussions, fiction, craft, or do-it-yourself advice. Articles or reviews about music, movies, comics, poetry, are also a common trait. In short: they can be anything! 

Do you accept distro submissions?

Vaguely, yes. If you're very familiar with our selection and feel fairly positive your work would be a good fit, you're welcome to send a sample copy to the PO box above. Please note: Due to our busy schedule and the sheer volume of submissions we receive, we will only respond if we decide to pick your submission up. We consider zines, chapbooks, micro-press books, literary journals, cassette tapes, LPs, and handmade paper goods.

Do you accept submissions for your record label?

Though we have releases planned into the foreseeable future, we're always willing to take a listen. Some things to take note of before emailing us, though: Like many small labels, we don't make money. At best, we break even. So, we're really looking for a relationship more than a business transaction. Given that, please include with your submission: how you found our label, which of our releases you're excited about, and how you see your music being in conversation with the music we release.

How do shipping costs work?

Shipping is a tricky one. With so many items, there are thousands of possible shipping-price combinations. Sometimes we lose money on shipping and sometimes we make money, and we hope it evens out. That said, we don't try to make money on shipping or rip anyone off. We just try to cover our bases. One important aspect of our shipping costs to note: Like many online stores that use a third-party payment system, we try to account for Paypal fees in the shipping charges. It's easier for us than adding twenty cents to each item's retail price.

Also, it should be noted that international costs were raised considerably by USPS in recent years, which is largely why our international shipping prices are so expensive. We don't want it to be that way! But that's truly how much it costs these days.

What if my order doesn't arrive within the quoted time frame?

Send us an email with your order info and we can try and troubleshoot. If it just doesn't seem like it's going to arrive, we're happy to discuss resending or refunding your order.

Do you do wholesale store orders?

Yes! Just message us with a list of what you're interested in and in what quantities, and we'll let you know what we can fulfill and their wholesale prices. Easy!

Library orders?

We love them. We're big library supporters. If you contact us ahead of time, we're happy to waive shipping costs on any domestic library order.

Mailorder, Can I?

We know some of us still yearn for the era of distro catalogs that you send away for in the mail. Sadly, these days it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to solely do it that way, but it doesn't mean we don't do it! Within the U.S. you can send well-concealed cash or check (payable to Antiquated Future) to PO Box 42081 Portland, Or. 97242 with a list of what you want and money for shipping (which you can calculate using the shopping cart on the site) and those things will be on their way as soon as we get your letter and your check clears.

Do you ever make it to events, zine fest, or the like?

Yes! Several times a year we make our way to an event and set-up shop. There's two annual events we never miss: the Portland Zine Symposium in summer and the Olympia Zine Fest in October. We also often table at Portland's Publication Fair in December, the L.A. Zine Fest in late winter/early spring, and the Seattle Vera Project/Hollow Earth Radio DIY Holiday Sale in December. And you might also find us at the Chicago Zine Fest and the Euzine Comics & Zine Fest in Eugene. Contact us if you're curious where we'll be next, or have an event you'd like us to come to or think we'd be interested in.


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