Hi Dearest Reader,

Let’s chat about the mail that members of the Dearest Reader Club are getting this month and what the process was like to put them together. :)

This club all started with a need for a more grounded life. And so a year ago I began developing the Dearest Reader Club. I didn’t know that’s what the name would be called back then, all I knew is I wanted to craft zines and write letters like I used to when I was in my early twenties. I spent months testing and designing zines for the club until landing on these beauties, reminiscent of a book review magazine (for funsies):

Now that I’m in my early thirties, I’m looking for ways to create a more meaningful life for myself and other people. After some thought I realized I needed to reduce my usage of ad-based social media like Instagram, and create a space for more paper-based social media. And voila, a mail club naturally unfolded, especially due to my history as a letter-writing fanatic with my sister.

I wrote about my mission with the Dearest Reader Club and how it works when I announced it on my Substack here: "I Made a Snail Mail Club for Book Lovers"

Process, baby!

I have an obsessive attention to detail, and it makes me happy to be that way, the scale of process that went into April’s batch of mail will take much longer than a single newsletter to describe—not to mention the months of reading, writing, and planning ahead which books to recommend this month!—so I hope it’ll be fun to do a post about crafting this mail with each new batch.

The process of creating, crafting and reading for this mail club has been exactly what I hoped for and more. There’s knowledge, there’s inspiration, and there’s delight in these envelopes. My goal feels like it’s coming true; the club connects a subculture of readers together and none of it has us glued to a screen. The mail club has tangible keepsakes—it’s my dream come true. Okay, so hopefully this describes how I felt while I was folding the zines for April’s mail 😄!!! It felt amazing!!! Although, there was plenty of trial and error.

It’s been awhile since I made zines, and I’m not as dexterous as I was a decade ago. I learned more about how to fold a mini-zine from a single sheet of paper, and quickly I realized in order for the edges to line up properly I would need an origami level of precision. Meaning, I realized, oh shit, folding paper is a whole skill, it’s a legitimate artform. I needed to learn folding techniques and I needed to learn them FAST!

You should see my graveyard of zines that didn’t quite work out. Zines don’t have to be perfect. In fact they should have a handmade edge to them, they should have a variance that shows they were made by a human, because that’s the whole point! But if I consider myself an artisan, I think my crafts should be the best I can possibly make them. (And I feel the same about my writing too.)

Well, I must say, the white bone tool you can see in my hand above is a must for folding zines, it helps flatten the edges in a way fingers simply can’t.

For April’s batch of mail, I was folding zines all month in March. Folding zines in the morning and in the evening, listening to an audiobook, drinking tea. And I accomplished exactly what I set out to do to improve my life; I replaced scrolling on Instagram with folding zines. Woohoo!

After filling all the envelopes with the tangible ephemera and collectible keepsakes, I got to do the finishing touches, the most satisfying part of sending any letter: stamping the wax seal!

At midnight I stamped the envelopes with gold wax seals by melting the wax and pressing a brass stamp with the image of stars into the wax, and I left them out to dry and harden.

I chose stars as the stamp because reading a book gives me the same twinkling feeling I get from gazing at the stars, and I get the same feeling when I receive a letter from a friend. ✨

Now headed to members of the Dearest Reader Club is a mandarin envelope with a zine, a letter, and a bookmark inside. Hope you love it.

Join the mail club here.

Coming up in May!

I have fun stuff planned for next month that I’m working on now. May’s mail is also colorful (of course!) and I’m extra excited about the letter which is way longer and more detailed. The writer is writing. We’re proper penpals now.

See you soon with more updates turtledoves!

Love,

Amani

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