A publishing house and a software product can share a name, but they should not share a promise. ZINEHQ publishes issues. ZINEHQ Studio, when it exists publicly, will publish tools. Keeping them separate protects both: readers do not have to wonder whether the archive is a demo, and a tool does not have to pretend to be a cultural institution.
Why a separate imprint
The first version of this project treated the two as one. It described a publishing platform with a closed beta, subscription tiers, and revenue figures. None of that was true. The archive was real; the product claims were not. That is the wrong order.
The split is simple. ZINEHQ is the house: issues, dossiers, playbooks, and the archive. ZINEHQ Studio is the workshop: editorial tooling, experiments, and technical notes. The house can exist without the workshop. The workshop should never be used to make the house look bigger than it is.
What belongs in the Studio
- Editorial tooling. Numbering, metadata validation, reading-time estimates, print stylesheets, and the boring machinery that keeps an issue consistent.
- Archive experiments. Search, citation formats, static publishing pipelines, and ways to keep a small catalogue legible without a database.
- Technical notes. What worked, what broke, and what was abandoned. Written for other people who make things on paper and on the web.
What does not belong
- A fake beta with a waitlist and no product.
- Subscription pricing for a tool that does not exist.
- Revenue, user, or growth claims that cannot be verified.
- A cross-link designed to make either project look larger.
Status
There is a working prototype of the editorial stack, but it is not linked from this site and it is not open to the public. Before any link appears, the prototype’s copy has to be cleaned of fictional metrics, invented history, and product claims that the code cannot support. Until then, this page is the only public description of the Studio.
The cross-link policy
When the Studio is public, the link will be one line in the footer: “Tools by ZINEHQ Studio.” It will not be a banner, a modal, or a growth loop. The archive will not advertise the workshop, and the workshop will not borrow the archive’s credibility. If a reader wants the tools, they can find them; if they want the issues, nothing gets in the way.
If you are building in this space
The Studio is not accepting clients, investors, or beta users. It is a working notebook, not a business. If you are building editorial tooling for small publishers and want to compare notes, use the form on the acquisition page.
What exists today
Everything below is running on this site. Nothing here is a roadmap item dressed as a feature.
| № | Component | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Catalogue index | Build-time JSON index over every issue and page; ⌘K or / to open, no backend. | In use |
| 02 | Reader papers | Eight colour themes with measured contrast; covers keep fixed ink. | In use |
| 03 | Reader typefaces | Four faces for the reading column only; metadata stays monospaced. | In use |
| 04 | Enquiry endpoint | AES-GCM field encryption, HMAC blind index, D1 storage, eight notification channels. | In use |
| 05 | Issue pipeline | Markdown to six languages, typed frontmatter, build fails on a missing field. | In use |
| 06 | Print stylesheet | Issues print without navigation, progress ruler, or key hints. | In use |
Two things are deliberately absent: a content management interface and a database for the reading text. Both would make the archive depend on a service that has to stay online.