If you should have any questions, you can contact me, Jack or Linn.

It has been a honor to publish fantastic work and to bring you one of the first, viral distributed zines.  I wish everyone all the success in the future.

Sincerely,
Mary Lewys

Don’t Look, Issue #14 – January 1, 2009
US Version – 8.5″ x 11″

Don’t Look, Issue #14 – January 1, 2008
EU Version – A4

In this issue:

• “Doctor” by Chris Lewis (Art)
• “Inside Out” by Mary Lewys (Story, Part 2)
• “Little Molly Stonewell” by Elisha Lynn Robinson (Poetry)
• “Promiscuities” by Gerry Sarnat

If the folding confuses you, you can either download the instructions or watch the video on how to fold. If you find a better way, be sure to drop us a line.

Please keep passing the issues around! Please stop by the site and leave us feedback

Don’t Look, Issue #13 – November 1, 2008
US Version – 8.5″ x 11

“Don’t Look, Issue #13 – November 1, 2008
EU Version – A4

Download Acrobat Reader

In this issue:

• “Metamorphosis” by Linn Næss (Cover)
• “This Is Not A Poem” by Joseph Goosey (Poetry)
• “Inside Out” by Mary Lewys (Story, Part 1)
• “Haiku (Bless you…)” by Chris Lewis
• “The Wind Carries Memory” by David Kowalczyk

If the folding confuses you, you can either download the instructions or watch the video on how to fold. If you find a better way, be sure to drop us a line.

Please keep passing the issues around! Please stop by the site and leave us feedback.

Don’t Look has many fine features (and contributors), but being easily transportable makes it easy to share.  Share the joy!

Don’t Look, Issue #12 – September 1, 2008
US Version – 8.5” x 11”

Don’t Look, Issue #12 – September 1, 2008
EU Version – A4

Download Acrobat Reader

In this issue:

• Cover by Chris Lewis
• “Moondust” by Mary Lewys
• “Eden in a Jersey Kitchen” by Fiona Kyle
• “Everything Is Difficult” by Joseph Goosey
• “House In The Sky” by Steve Cartwright

If the folding confuses you, you can either download the instructions or watch the video on how to fold. If you find a better way, be sure to drop us a line.

Please keep passing the issues around! Please stop by the site and leave us feedback.

Don’t Look, Issue #11 – July 1, 2008
US Version – 8.5” x 11”

Don’t Look, Issue #11 – July 1, 2008
EU Version – A4

Download Acrobat Reader

In this issue:

• Cover by Duane Locke
• “Editing Passion” by R. B. Yeazell
• “Spilled Ketchup” by Heidi Carpenter
• “Mime” by Jack Lee
• “Where I Stand” by Andrew Rihn
• “Round Midnight” by Jeff Crouch

If the folding confuses you, you can either download the instructions or watch the video on how to fold. If you find a better way, be sure to drop us a line.

Please keep passing the issues around!

Don’t Look, Issue #10 – May 1, 2008
US Version – 8.5” x 11”

Don’t Look, Issue #10 – May 1, 2008
EU Version – A4

Download Acrobat Reader

In this issue:

• “The Body’s Voice” by Donna Taylor Burgess
• “Distance” by Andrew Rihn
• “Don’t Look” by Lee Barnett
• “Storefront” by Christopher Woods
• “Her Gloves Don’t Match” by Linn Næss

If the folding confuses you, you can either download the instructions or watch the video on how to fold. If you find a better way, be sure to drop us a line.

Happy May Day! Please keep passing the issues on!

Yes, along with a brand new issue, Don’t Look has a new site design. Stop by, check it out, sign up and say “Hi.”

Don’t Look, Issue 9 – US Version for 8.5-11” paper
Don’t Look, Issue 9 – EU Version for A4 paper

“Safety On Board” by Lars Riisnæs
“Angel Of Cities” by Elizabeth Barrette
“Figure Study” by Elle Perez
“The Body’s Voice” by Donna Taylor Burgess
“Untitled” by by Henrik and Linn Næss
Cover by Laura Austin and Jack Lee

Folding instructions are available in download form and in video how-to form. If you enjoy our zine, be sure to pass it along. We rely on viral distribution – that means we rely on you to share the goodness.

Please keep distributing the issues.

There is such a thing as too much sparkling white wine. I didn’t believe it last night. But this morning, I firmly believe that you can have too much sparkling white wine.

Happy New Year! I raise a toast to you with a new issue of Don’t Look – something that won’t give you a hang-over.

Don’t Look, Issue 8 – EU Version for A4 paper

“Defense Mechanisms” by Linn Næss
“A Song of Waiting” by Lars Riisnaes
“After the Apocalypse” by Mary Lewys
“Beaturtle” by Chris Lewis

“Silent Night” by Laura Austin (cover)

Folding instructions are available in download form and in video how-to form. If you enjoy our zine, be sure to pass it along. We rely on viral distribution – that means we rely on you to share the goodness.

Please keep distributing the issues.

Can you believe it? I certainly can’t. This year has flown by — and I’ve had a ball. I hope you, dear reader, have enjoyed each issue as much as we here at Don’t Look have had making them. Keep passing the issues on so we can bring new readers, writers, artists, photographers, poets, and fans to our viral publication. Thank you to everyone that contributed. Don’t Look would not have made it this far if not for the dedicated, talented people who work on each issue and who contribute to the minizine. To all those who folded, delivered, placed or left issues for others, I sincerely thank you too.
I bring you, Issue 7, Volume 2:

Don’t Look, Issue 7 – US Version for 8.5-11″ paper
Don’t Look, Issue 7 – EU Version for A4 paper

Folding instructions
Folding instructional video

By popular demand (mine), Christine Stoddard contributed the beautiful cover. Jack Lee, fellow editor and crazy, pitched in portentous tale to tickle your gray matter. Paul Storrie, Christine Stoddard and Wren Griffin contributed to our Six Word Stories — something that’s way too much fun. Linn Næss closes the issue with one of her beautiful pieces.

Photo Contest Winner

Don’t Look, Issue 6 – US Version for 8.5-11” paper
Don’t Look, Issue 6 – EU Version for A4 paper

Folding instructions
Folding instructional video

Wren Griffin contributes another stunning, short story we are pleased to present. Full-time English student/dock worker, Todd Larkin, contributed a brilliant, engaging story. Photographer Lee “Gray” Vincent makes his debut with us, and I hope we can see more of his breath-taking pictures. Also new to us, Christine Stoddard is a full-time student and a paid intern at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Her passions are art and writing, which you can see for yourself. Once again, Tobias McVey displays his cunning talent in his latest poem.

The cover is done by a dear friend of mine, a rising artist in his own right, Michael Murray.

Thank you for downloading and reading. Please keep passing the issues on!

See you at Year One.

Friends of Don’t Look:
| | |

Don’t Look, Issue 5 – US Version for 8.5×11 paper

Don’t Look, Issue 5 – EU Version for A4 paper

Tobias McVey brings us new work that we’re very honored to give a home. New-comers C. L. Lewis and A. Rhea Gray complete the pages with art and a wonderful short story. Luckily, we round out the issue with a comic from Randall Munroe’s xkcd.

We still only have one entry for the Don’t Look Photo Contest. Hurry and enter – submission deadline is August 31, 2007. Winner will be announced on our first anniversary, November 1, 2007.

Thank you for downloading, printing and reading – the experiment goes wonderfully. Let’s see if we can keep the virus growing.

Brought to you courtesy of Linn Næss, in hopes of clearing up especially that tricky final fold. Hopefully it’s clear enough to manage without informational subtitles.

P.S. I always do each fold twice and use a ruler to make them sharp. I just cheated and did all that before I started filming, to save some time.

I love this issue. We have some familiar faces and new ones. I’m very pleased.

Elizabeth Kate Switaj teaches English at ShengDa College in China’s Henan Province. Her writing reflects her travels and the things her students have taught her using the language she teaches them, and it has appeared in numerous small press publications. Her chapbook, The Broken Sanctuary: Nature Poems, is published by Ypolita Press.

Lauren K. didn’t say were she was from or where she was headed, but we were sure glad to have her stop by and contribute. Hopefully, she’ll swing back some day and give us more.

Tobias McVey came to us via our own Linn Næss, but I sure hope he sticks around. He’s one to watch, that’s for sure.

Linn Næss has created another stunning cover.

Wren Griffin returns with a new, surprising story. She saved the day, as she is inclined to do. Damn her heroic hide.

Una gifted us with a delightful poem. It couldn’t have been any better if she put a bow upon it.

I am pleased to announce we have had one entry in the Don’t Look Photo Contest. Once we receive a few more, we’ll post the contestants. Entry has been extended until August 31, 2007. All photographs need to be submitted before then to be considered. The winner will be announced on our first anniversary, November 1, 2007.

Now, without further ado, allow me to present Issue 4 of Don’t Look:

Don’t Look, Issue 4 – US Version for 8.5×11 paper

Don’t Look, Issue 4 – EU Version for A4 paper

Enjoy! As always, feedback, comments and insights welcome. Submissions too! You know where to find us.

Don’t Look minzine – http://www.dontlookzine.com

Linn Næss has rapidly become one of my favorite artists. Her delicate, black ink dancing in white space bedevils my imagination in every cover done for Don’t Look (which would be every one to date, save #2). The way her figures’ hair flows not only defies gravity but drags you along its dreamy path. There are whole stories in that hair.

I was lucky enough to see pictures of her graduating art show (I hope I got that right). With the same anticipation as a sugar-whacked kid hearing Santa’s boots scrape down the chimney, I cannot wait to see what new snares she’ll create.

On top of all that budding talent, as if that wasn’t reason enough to despise her, she’s a terribly wonderful and giving person. Who else would ship pictures from a photography class to use in our website’s header free of charge? It’s her comic shop that carries free copies of Don’t Look because she runs by and restocks regularly (though I’m starting to suspect it’s an excuse to read comics). She digs up and beats wonderful writers to contribute.

Is there anything she can’t do?

I wonder if she can cook a three minute egg without making it too runny…

When I decided to do this little experiment entitled Don’t Look minizine, I worried I would be all alone. Time is limited for everyone. I knew if this was going to go anywhere but into my regret file, I would have to find exceptionally demented masochists willing to work for no money. Who knew you could find them on the Scandinavian Peninsula?

Not only has she improved the quality of the zine and the content of the website, Linn Næss made Don’t Look international – something I definitely envisioned. If it wasn’t for her, Don’t Look wouldn’t be as successful as it is.

For that, I shall forever be in her debt. Now, where’s that egg?

All Issues of Don’t Look

Also, I’m proud to say that Don’t Look has its own domain: http://www.dontlookzine.com. Huzzah!

New issue in two days.

A comic book shop in Norway stocks Don’t Look.

Aliblabla allows a box of our minizine by the cash register, so customers can pick up a copy on the way out. The very nice owner keeps trying to pay us, but our agent, our poster child, Linn Næss, repeats over and over that Don’t Look is free. So, the next time you’re in Norway, be sure to stop by Aliblabla. Since they’ve been so nice to us, we’ve placed our first “ad” on the front page.

With less than a month away, I need submissions for the next issue of Don’t Look. If you’ve been holding out, wondering if now is the time to submit, now is the time to submit. We still have room and look forward to seeing new, unique and exciting art and writing. Check out our submission guidelines and rules for details.

We also have a submission for our Photo Contest! Woo Hoo! After receiving these photos, I’ve decided to open the contest up. Send me anything with Don’t Look in the picture. Go, create, have fun! Run wild and free! I’ll stop here before I break into song, “Born Free.”

You’re welcome.

If you still haven’t had a chance to see the new issue, download and enjoy. We have two versions to match your needs: Letter (US) and A4 (EU).

Don’t Look, Issue #3 – the US version (8.5×11 paper)

Don’t Look, Issue #3 – the EU version (A4 paper)

Don’t Look, Issue #3 – the US version (8.5×11 paper)

Don’t Look, Issue #3 – the EU version (A4 paper)

Welcome to the beginning of viral distribution global domination! Print out copies and leave them where ever you travel – a paper trail to find your way back home!

Folding instructions no longer come with the issue. You can download and print them separately here.

If you like what you read, do think about submitting some of your own work. We’re always looking for fresh, new artists, writers, poets and photographers. Don’t be shy.

Plus, we still don’t have a winner for our photo contest. Keep in mind, folks, we don’t know what it’s like where you live. What you may find mundane, we would find exotic! Give us something unique, different and fun and we’ll reward the best with something very special.

Enjoy! Feedback always welcome.

Edited to add: We were so excited about today’s release that we were horribly remiss in our loving and adoring duties. So let the worshipping start now. First, there’s the incomparable Linn Næss, who is responsible for the absolutely stunning cover art on this month’s issue. It’s really not an easy thing to find a black and white illustration that looks good in such a small space. Linn never lets us down and we would be lost without her.

Gina Abelkop is the wonderful mind behind “The Higher The Hair”. Here’s the thing – I’m not a big fan of poetry (this is Jack, by the way, not Mary) but I loved this poem. She’s wonderfully talented and we are honored to have her poetry in this month’s issue.

Scratch Comics is witty and fun and just a joy to read. Go read more. Right now.

Sheena Larson contributed “Balloon Girl” to March’s issue – an amazing, airy sort of drawing that just makes me smile everytime I see it.

We don’t have a website for Una, but I have to mention her here, too. Her sweet, biting poem is quite possibly one of my favorite things about this issue.

We here at Don’t Look thank you all for making this issue such a success!

Jack Lee has taught me much about the importance of words. My natural inclination tends towards wordiness. More words don’t equal better conveyance of story; more words mean more words. Jack’s stories reach down your throat and yank on your heart and/or stomach, usually in two hundred words or less. In my book, that’s art.

When looking for publishers, Jack had a problem. Not many venues welcome short short fiction. Most publications never mention how low a word count can go. It’s a hard road to walk when all the signs read “No Vacancy.”

This issue’s blame goes to Jack Lee. For years now, Jack has been blaming me for everything. Payback’s a bitch, especially when truth has its back.

I hope this makes the road a little softer.

I wrote to you to ask you to forgive me, but you never wrote back. I wrote to you again, and you still haven’t written back. I’m sure it’s not me. If you’d gotten the letters, you’d have forgiven me. You’d have to. You still love me. Instead, you’ve probably been kidnapped or killed. Maybe you had an evil clone that’s getting your mail instead of you. I’ve heard those clones can be a real pain in the ass. Still, if you ever find a box of old letters on your doorstep, I want you know that I wrote to you. Lots. I hope the planet you’re on hasn’t blown up.

When are you coming back
to get your stuff?
I packed it all in a plastic bag.
Actually, there’s five of them,
and you can take them all.
I don’t want them anyway!
Though, if you would be so kind,
leave the one with my heart.

A Top Five List.
by Marissa Landragin
His

1. As a Christmas present, you took me for one night to a rustic cabin at Elkhorn Hot Springs (which has since been shut down for fire code violations). We soaked in the outdoor pool and used the indoor sauna made of slick wood; we played trivial pursuit in our cabin which was sagging under the weight of so much snow. The wood stove kept filling the room up with smoke. We made mac and cheese and vegetarian hot dogs. You were sick in the middle of the cold night; we still don’t know if it was the smoke or the hot dogs but you haven’t eaten them since.

1. You came to Montana to see me for spring break, when we were still new. I had been in school there for two months; I had been waiting to see you stand by the mountains. We walked to the Co-op in the snowy streets to buy premade take-out. In my dorm room we spread the comforter on the tile floor and watched “Wonder Boys” while we ate broccoli cheddar soup and couscous salad, then made love there on the floor.

1. I had only been to Lava Lake in the winter, when it was an ice sheet I could walk right onto, so I took you back in the summer. We hiked through a meadow and over a wooden bridge where we felt the spray. When we got there, I raced ahead with the camera, to take a picture of your face the first time you saw it. But I was awestruck and forgot. We sat for hours on the rock and wet our feet; when I saw a chipmunk, I turned too quickly and dropped my lens cap into the rocks, so a part of that day remains.

1. See #3, hers.

1. You were taking a nap when I asked if I could join you. You said my eyes looked like sunflowers and it gave me the courage to kiss you, for the first time.

Hers

1. I drove from NH to NY to see you on New Year’s Eve, the first one we would spend together, in the middle of a year during which we barely saw each other at all. I was dressed up for you and you took me to the Autumn Cafe where we shared carrot ginger soup and enchiladas. Full of cooks with dreadlocks and patched pants, I felt so warm and at home.

1. See #2, his.

1. We had weeks of winter break together and spent it all in upstate NY, finally ending up in Ithaca, in my third floor apartment. We went to Moosewood, and you were embarrassed because I buttoned one you missed in your fly in public. After we saw “A Very Long Engagement” with subtitles, at the independent movie theatre, we walked home. There was snow on the ground and it started snowing again, and the Christmas lights were still up all over town.

1. In the middle of a sticky July, when we lived together in Montana even though it had been less than a year, you came home from chemistry lab and pulled me out the door and drove me around Ted Turner’s ranch to the crumbling wooden building we call the shack. And we just stood beneath it, pretending it could be our house, and saw the buffalo in the distance.

1. We had been lying on my bed for hours and you said “I don’t know what to do. Because I like you but I’m leaving. And I don’t know whether I should kiss you or run out that door.” But then you did kiss me, for the very first time.

A Drawing.
by Morgan

Click the link.

A Drawing.
by DJ Happy Heather

Click on the link.

A Story.
by Mary Lewys

A little stone angel stands in the grass. The name carved into the base is covered due to the wet winter and lack of local lawn care. That’s all right. Her name is like a secret this way, only she and I know.I place a Valentine’s Day card on the feet of the angel. It’s the kind kids pass to each other. Why should she not have one just because she’s here? Sitting in the grass, I sigh and swallow the lump. I manage to talk and not cry this time, telling her things of importance and how much I miss her. My mouth runs dry. My tears will not fall. I cover my mouth to keep my burden.Touching the angel’s head, I say her name out loud. It’s an echo and a prayer for forgiveness that never comes.