The American Amateur Press Association is a nation-wide non-profit organization of amateur journalists founded in 1936. The purpose of the association is the promotion of amateur journalism and fellowship of amateur writers, editors, printers, and publishers; and the circulation of their work among the membership.

The roots of amateur journalism go back into the nineteenth century, when several models of tabletop printing presses became available. Teenagers were encouraged to make money in their spare time by purchasing the equipment and supplies to set up a small shop. In addition to completing small printing jobs, some of the printers found time to publish papers. They began exchanging journals with one another, then formed regional and national organizations to provide a framework for activity.

Although AAPA papers are published using many different methods, a good number of current AAPA members have hobby print shops that use hand-set type and hand- or foot- operated presses.

Computer-generated amateur journals began appearing in the early 1980s, and an increasing number of members use home computers to produce their papers. Some publishers combine the old and the new; for example, using letterpress equipment to add color headings to an offset-printed journal that was laid out with a desktop publishing program.