✹OK KO ZINE UPDATE✹
Hello everyone! Apologies for the radio silence here. I just wanted to provide a quick update on the project for everyone and let you all know where the project will be going moving forward! I would like to be as transparent as possible, and I appreciate your patience as we proceed with the project!
✹Postponement✹
Due to Covid-19, the OK KO Zine was postponed indefinitely in late 2020.
As I’m sure you are all aware, the pandemic has been the primary obstacle for this project. During preorder fulfillment, zines would be shipping from the United States. The change in USPS leadership in 2020 caused the intentional delay, misplacement, and stall on packages across the country...this being on top of Covid-19. Customers saw shipping delays for packages traveling even domestically, let alone to international locations.
We would need to stock an even greater amount of each piece of merchandise in case of scenarios where packages are lost in transit, items are damaged via transport, etc. There is only but so much that can be controlled, and unfortunately things like this just happen regardless! In addition, a good number of artists involved in the zine are located internationally. It normally takes longer periods of time for packages to reach these locations due to customs, and that is also something that has been influenced by these circumstances. Not to mention a few of the intended suppliers for merchandise are overseas. At the time, there were too many factors which could have had a negative impact on the preorder process. The primary concern was international artists and customers who would be affected the most by shipping issues. Secondary concerns were overseas manufacturers (for similar reasoning, as previously stated) as well as packaging orders, which was planned to be a collaborative effort. Quarantine and social distancing made it impossible to do these otherwise simple tasks.
I understand that there is no guarantee the situation will be improved anytime soon, but there was no way to proceed with the zine as originally planned. Again, there is no way I could have ever anticipated something like this happening, and I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused!
✹SUMMER 2021✹
From the beginning, the OK KO Zine was planned to be a Summer zine, and I would like to keep within these parameters moving forward. Although shipping has improved slightly, Covid-19 is still a major concern. Ideally, I would like to jump back into preorder preparations sometime this Summer, and I am hoping the situation will be better by this time. I understand this is quite a delay, but I want the preorders to be 150% accessible to everyone and ensure everyone has a positive experience with the shipping process!
For now, I will continue to monitor the situation and provide an update for everyone as soon I can. Please continue to be safe, and feel free to send along any questions you may have! Thanks for reading!! 👊💥✨
