Best Local Self-Publishers

Working from a small Mission office space, the founding staff of Bitch magazine -- Lisa Miya-Jervis, Andi Zeisler, and Ben Shaykin -- are considered gurus in the world of independent publishing. For nearly six years, they've been writing, editing, marketing, and distributing Bitch, a magazine about feminism and pop culture. The threesome has nurtured the publication from a 36-page, stapled zine into an independent magazine with sophisticated design, intelligent articles, and a readership of 35,000. Because Bitch is explicitly about feminists' take on pop culture -- with articles about Asian female fetishes or the women of MTV, and interviews with authors like bell hooks -- it fills a void for feminists disgusted by the drivel dished out by women's consumer magazines. And though most start-up publications on shoestring budgets fail before long, Bitch is kept afloat by its risk-taking staff, who keep readers coming back for more sassy yet insightful writing.