This month’s snail mail society envelopes are on their way to mailboxes all over the world! As I checked off each address from my snail mail planning spreadsheet, I noticed that this month’s newsletter is the twelfth I’ve sent since starting this project… the snail mail society is almost a year old, y’all! To paraphrase Shania Twain, “looks like we’ve made it, look how far we’ve come now zinesters” (I rewatched I🖤 Huckabees for this month’s star-exclusive mini, so Shania has been top-of-mind.) I can’t believe almost a year has flown by since I started this series of newsletter zines. I’ve gotta plan something cool for May because a year is a milestone worth celebrating!

Anyways, here’s what y'all can expect in the mail this month:

⋆｡°✩ April’s newsletter is collaged on top of scanned pages from my bullet journal and it’s easily one of my top 3 favorites that I’ve put together, looks-wise. I printed it on some salmon paper that I found at Magpie Collective, our local craft supply thrift store (ahem, “creative reuse center”) and I hope I can track down more of this stock because it is such a lovely spring color. The contents of this month’s zine are a buncha life updates — glasses, and bikes, and workshop reflections — plus the usual section of current reads/watches/plays. Which, PS: the 3 books that I mention are all so good, so def. check those out if you need a reading rec.

⋆｡°✩ Everyone is getting a sticker this month! I made these snail mail society membership stickers to giveaway to folks new to the club as part of their first mailing. Aren’t they cute? I’m putting one on my water bottle.

⋆｡°✩ And Snail Stars are getting an extra “send more snail mail” mini-bumper sticker! I’ll also be adding these to the shop as soon as I have a moment to photo them and and type up a description. I wanna make a few more stickers in this size with some other slogans… they’re the perfect size for a bike frame, and I like the idea of only having bike-sized bumper stickers in my shop, since I don’t drive and have no use for a larger bumper stickers meant for a car.

⋆｡°✩ And, of course, Sustainers and Stars are getting the password for this month’s playlist! I’m realizing now that I totally missed an opportunity to put some Shania on it… damn! While she doesn’t make an appearance, a lot of other great artists do, including some of my perennial faves (Gladie, My Chem). If you liked March’s playlist, you’re gonna love this one.

⋆｡°✩ Finally, Stars are getting the aforementioned I 🖤 Huckabees review zine. I think when this project is over, I’m going to collect all these reviews into one big ol’ compendium zine. Is that something folks would be interested in?

And that’s it for April! To paraphrase Shania one more time, “the best part of being a zinester is the prerogative to have a little fun” — I always have a great time putting together each month’s mailing, and collaging the newsletters gets me inspired and really flexes my zine-making muscles, letting me try new techniques to keep things fresh and fun. Thanks for coming along the ride with me!

Howdy snails! And an extra big "welcome" to all the folks who are new to the snail mail society. If you are new, on/around the 15th of each month, I share what'll be hitting your mailboxes later this month. This is what I've got in store for y'all in March:

⋆｡°✩ This month's chronicle is a chatty, "what's going on in my life" letter. February is always a busy month for me, and that's spilled on over into March. But, as I say at the end of the newsletter, I'm "glad that much of what I'm doing is building up my community and making art with cool people".

⋆｡°✩ For sustainers and stars, this month's playlist is called "Give the Anarchist a Cigarette" after the Chumbawamba song of the same name. I've been on a big Chumba kick lately. As uzhe, if you're in the those tiers and wanna listen now, head to the playlist portal page and tune in!

⋆｡°✩ My catmothcrow revisits movie review series carries on with a review of The Last Unicorn. These mini zines are just for y'all in the star tier. The centerfold of this zine is a very silly poster of a surfing unicorn that you can hang on your wall!

⋆｡°✩ Stars are also getting a shiny foiled greeting card! If you watched the latest chatty vlog, then you already know that I got to play around with a risograph machine, and had plans to laser print ontop my riso'd art in an attempt to add some foiling... and it mostly worked! I probably won't do it again (it was imperfect, messy, used more toner than expected), but it was a fun experiment and the cards look pretty spiffy if I do say so myself:

And that's all for now! I'll be dropping all these snail mail goodies off at the post office tomorrow, so keep an eye on your mailboxes. 

⋆｡°✩ I think this month’s issue of the catmothcrow chronicle looks especially lovely, as the collages have a sort of grunge-y fairytale feel to them. The newsletter features my picks for the Oscars, a spotlight on one of my favorite artists — you’ll have to read the zine to know just who it is that I’m spotlighting, but I’ll give you a hint: I think of them as my witchy zinester fairy godmother, as they were self-publishing “tiny magazines” all the way back in 1903! — and my monthly recommendation list of books, zines, bites, shows, and movies that I’m reading/eating/watching.

⋆｡°✩ Snail Stars are also getting the second issue of my catmothcrow revisits movie zine. This zine is an exclusive just for folks in the Snail Star tier! I’ve given myself a mission this year to re-watch one movie a month that I used to love but haven’t watched in at least 10 years (extra points if it’s one that I already have on dvd!) Then, I’m writing a movie review mini zine about the flick… does it hold up? Or did youth give me rose-colored glasses? This month’s feature is (spoiler alert) a bit of the latter!

⋆｡°✩ I’m also sending Snail Stars a copy of my “melt the ICE” protest zine. This zine is FREE, so if you’ve got a print hook-up, please print off as many as you can and distribute widely.

⋆｡°✩ Finally, Snail Stars and Sustainers are getting a playlist that I made to listen to on the full moon. If you’ve been a member of one of those tiers, you already know the password to the playlist portal page and can give it a listen now.

Howdy friends! 🐌 Last night, I dropped January's newsletter off at the post office, so here's a little preview as to what's inside the envelopes. I also added a bunch of Snail Mail Society digital perks that I've begun rolling out! More on those later, but first... coming via snail mail:

• All Snail Mail Society members are getting this month's catmothcrow chronicle, of course. In January's newsletter, I chat about my goals/resolutions/wishes for 2026, and share my ideas for Kansas City transit mascots.
• Snail Sustainers and Stars are also getting access to a playlist I put together called "The Tay-Tay Gateway". Don't wanna wait for the snail mail to arrive? If you've been a member of one of those tiers for a few months, you already know the password to the playlist portal page and can listen to it now! 
• Snail Stars are also getting the first issue of my catmothcrow revists minizine. Each month this year, I'll be revisting a movie I used to love but that I haven't watched in at least 10 years and writing a review zine about my thoughts on that flick now. Do they hold up? Have my tastes in movies evolved? Is nostalgia a trap? 
  Issue one is about the 2003 Club Kid biopic Party Monster. In classic Dayna fashion, the review sorta ends up being like a mini perzine. Make sure to fold it open and flat after you read  — there's more inside!

NEW! Digital Perks

• I've begun recording behind-the-scenes videos and chatty vlogs for SMS members! All tiers can now access a video tour of my home studio and I'll be uploading chatty vlogs for SMS Sustainer and Star members from time-to-time (and the first chats already been posted.)
• Snail Stars will also soon have access to the catmothcrow archives: once or twice a month, I'll be uploading scans of my out-of-print zines. For January, I'll be sharing Subtweets and Affirmations (a zine I published ten years ago!) and Friendship Bracelets for the End Times (an unpublished minizine I made at Zine Club last year.)

On Monday, the catmothcrow shop will reopen (and don't forget - Sustainer and Stars, y'all always get 20% off shop orders!) and I'll be drawing one Snail Mail Society member's name and sending them a free snail hat! Here's a pick of me wearing mine (buttons not included, but I highly recommend putting buttons on your snail cap!)

All of this is to say, that if you've been "on the fence" about becoming a Snail Mail Society member, now's a great time to join. (And if you join before 1/19/26 at, let's say, 12pm CST you'll have your name entered to win the hat!)

And if you're already a member: THANK YOU! Starting the Snail Mail Society has given me the motivation to write more zines and the confidence to really put myself out there and share more of my art and words with the world. Y'all's support means the world to me. 💗

The worlds a fucking mess and talking about my art and zines can feel really fucking frivolous. Like, fascist goons are literally kidnapping folks outta their homes and shooting anyone who stands in their way... and I'm over here doodling snails. It can feel really pointless. But then I remind myself that we all need moments of levity so we don't fall into dispair. Making zines and drawing and writing are those moments for me, and having y'all as an audience gives me the motivation to do and make more.

And sometimes making zines gives me hope, too, even if I haven't figured out yet how to keep pace with how quick shit shifts and changes. I made a zine last year documenting first-hand accounts from the folks emprisoned in the South Florida Detention Facility, and I'm hoping to make more zines like this, zines that spotlight some of the shit that's been happening that either isn't making headlines or that the general public might have already "moved on" from as other atrocities are spotlit by the media. I think its important to document what is going on now, so there's a written record of what happened, to disrupt the lies and whatever narratives the fasc want to craft.

Okay, I have gotten way off topic and super rambly (wouldn't be me if I wasn't rambling!) but yea, that's that. Hopefully this month's catmothcrow chronicle finds its way to you soon if you're in the SMS, and thank you, all of you, for your support and eyeballs!

Oh! And PS: got a suggestion as to what you'd like to see from the Snail Mail Society? Lemme know about it! The idea to share a tour of my home studio came from SMS member Charlie, and I'd love to give y'all more of what you want outta your memberships.

Hey snails! Greetings, as usual, from my desktop. I'm dropping this month's mail off at the blue box tonight, so here's a little preview of what you can expect in your mailbox:

• This month's newsletter features some 2025 favs, how I spent my birthday, and a Christmas cookie recipe.
• This month's playlist has one song I enjoyed each month this past year (oh my god how is it almost 2026?!)
• This month's Star Exclusive mini is about tech-y things I miss from the early aughts.
• And Stars will also get a new mini zine, Mail Snails, that I made for Roll for Zine (episode coming soon to Youtube!) 

And that's not all! This month, I also plan on recording a behind-the-scenes "studio" tour just for y'all. And last, but not least, in celebration of a merch drop that'll be coming the week after Christmas, there's gonna be a raffle, with a chance to win some snail merch.

I'll have more to say on that later, but for now, thank you SO much for your support.

This month's snail mail is currently (hopefully!) sprinting through the USPS system and headed your way! In addition to this month's newsletter, Sustainers and Stars are getting a Halloween mix to listen to, and Stars are also getting 3 new zines: their exclusive mini about my favorite horror movies, the newest issue of catmothcrow (my perzine), and a web design how-to mini I created with my friend Nash for KC Zine Con #10 (we taught a workshop about HTML and CSS basics.)

In other news, I was hoping to have the shop back open now, and stocked with copies of catmothcrow three, but KC Zine Con #10 sold me out! I made so many trades and so many folks picked up my zines that I'm outta almost everything! So it's gonna stay closed for a while longer while I print/fold/staple a buncha titles.

I hope October is treating y'all well! Stay spooky, Snails!

Howdy snails (and the snail-curious!) 💌🐌 I can't believe August is almost half-way over. It feels like it just began.

Yesterday, I dropped this month's snail mail off at the post office. Here's what you can expect in your mailbox:

• This month's chronicle talks about both summertime magic and summertime SADness, as well as the dissonance of feeling joy amongst all the ongoing horrors.
• Sustainers and Stars will get a playlist (scan the QR code on the tv) entitled "Tom Radio" that is accompanied by a nifty visualizer I cut together. (It'll drop here, in the SMS Virtual Void, tomorrow if you wanna listen in early!)
• Stars will also get a sticker featuring Ruby or Snoopy collaged into wild situations, as well the DESTROYA mini zine I created in Roll for Zine ep2, and a mini zine that documents the lived experiences of folks currently being caged in Trump's concentration camp "Alligator Alcatraz". I want that zine to be read/spread widely, and will be posting a PDF of it to my blog in a day or two. Please print, copy, distribute it. I feel it is the responsibility of zinesters to document and shine a light on the horific things that those with power are doing, to make sure that they cannot be brushed underneath the rug and forgotten. It's one of the many ways we can push back.

Ruby must've realized I was using her likeness on this month' stickers, because she hung out on my desk while I got everything packed up. Consider her the Snail Mail Society's quality control inspector. 😉

See y'all here, in the Void!