Dan Sinker chuckles as we pass the gold plastic nameplate on the door of his antiseptic new Ravenswood office. Until last month Sinker ran Punk Planet–the fat, clean-looking bimonthly zine some punknoscenti are calling the successor to Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll–out of his apartment. Now the chintzy nameplate is all that distinguishes his work space from those of the photocopier repairperson, diet food company, and kitchen designer down the hall. The move is part of Sinker’s plan to make the five-year-old publication live up to its name, to broaden its readership and perhaps even draw an income from it. The trick will be to do this without sacrificing the integrity the zine has staked its reputation on thus far.
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Punk Planet, which covers not just music but also punk culture and politics, accepts advertising only from independent companies, most of which are record labels. When the sneaker manufacturer Vans, attracted by an issue dedicated to girls’ skateboarding, wanted to advertise, Sinker said no, because Vans makes shoes in China. “I grew up wearing them, but as much as I’d like to think that Vans is the one good shoe company, I can’t really delude myself,” he says. “I don’t have any proof that they use sweatshop labor, but I certainly don’t have any proof that they don’t. I’ve never compromised Punk Planet and I never want to.” But now that he has rent on the office and a freshly hired retail promotions rep to pay, such decisions could have serious consequences. “We’ve made little gambles before, and they’ve paid off,” Sinker says, “but we’ve always kept some chips just in case. This time I’ve pushed it all on the table.”
But Sinker could barely appreciate it. His apartment was crowded with bundles of thousands of magazines, both those that needed to be shipped and those that had been returned unsold, and he had to fight to get paid–although from the second issue on he had wisely budgeted so that ad revenues covered all production expenses. Distributors of independent music and periodicals often have trouble getting stores to pay them, and when cash-flow problems arise the best-selling magazines get paid first. Punk Planet wasn’t one of those. “All I was doing was spending my time finding distributors,” says Sinker, “and once I’d found them all I did was scream at them on the phone trying to get money.”
