Interest Check: SHMUP 'Zine?

[MintyTheCat]

That's a really nice Idea to have it in-print.

Could you give us a break-down of what the Costs would be for the various Paper-Qualities at all?

It would be a good Idea to have Rancor offer it on his Site. In fact it would be really cool if Japanese Shmuppers could get to read a Fanzine in English - they'd appreciate more fully that Westerners do take Shmups seriously still

You can put me down for a Copy and I don't mind putting my Money up front for two Copies

[Alfred]

I will try your first issue and if i like i will continue with it. It must be cheap. I will give it a go i have no idea what your doing, Lets do it.

[Pyongyang]

Thanks all. @Alfred: I'll keep costs to a minimum. @MintyTheCat: Basically the idea is to give the end user, e.g. you, the best possible product. I've found a printer who I hope can come through with the goods. The range of inks, paper and various binding options, laminates etc are quite impressive given the prices offered.

Put it this way, the total price is going to secure you a copy of the 'zine and shipping to your door. I've to take in to account printing costs, shipping charges (some of the interested folks here live aeons away!) and mailing bags for every single order. My time I don't care for, that's free, I'm doing this in my spare time as a hobby.

If I can get you all of the above for under £4/€5/$6 as a one man operation, I will be doing cartwheels. At that price it's still a LOT cheaper than the benchmark £6/€7.50/$10 that a lot of high quality self-published 'zines go for. It could be made cheaper if a) there is higher demand and a higher print run is required and/or b) I sacrifice print and paper quality for utter crap. Why do that though? This thing needs to be the best it can be, if not, why bother?

If the price point I'm aiming for doesn't sit well with a lot of folks then this thing is a non-starter before I even send it off to print. Regarding payment, I'm likely not going to use Kickstarter. This isn't a high volume print run and Kickstarter takes a 5% cut of the goal fee meaning it's going to cost you more which is not what is wanted here. I'm looking at setting up a simple PayPal integrated page on my blog where you can make your payment (effectively 'pre-ordering') to secure your copy. Once all copies of the run have sold, the print order will go ahead. If it doesn't, you'll be automatically refunded. It's a bit more work, but because of the low numbers involved it shouldn't be too much of a headache.

One thing I can add as of this morning, another cool exclusive has been bagged for this little project. So that's two nice things to look forward to. Possibly a third, we shall see...

Thanks again for the interest everyone. Hopefully it will all come together once I have the printer selected. The content is coming along nicely, almost halfway there now.

[Acid_Rain]

I'm interested, the pricetag will decide for me.

And I could help on design or layout, too.

[MintyTheCat]

Pyongyang,

My Sentiments entirely! We have Shmup Literature but it's often in Japanese or French.

I am from the UK myself and we usually spend between GBP 4-8 per Magasine. In Germany Magasines are very expensive and so are Books.

I think what's more is that a Fanzine about Shmups can really go into Detail about what's not a 'general' Subject. Most Magasines have to cater to all Tastes so you rarely get a Magasine dedicated to Shmups. You have much Potential here and in fact you could even run a Vote on what sort of Article to write and have it published. I think that the Shmups-Forum has many long-term Shmuppers so we could perhaps find a lot of Insight and Knowledge to provide accurate Content.

I personally have Interest in this and I have no Problem buying a few Copies at the Range you've quoted.

I know what you mean about Money - I don't expect to reap any 'Salary' from my Shmup-Project either - I do it merely for the Fun of it

Please keep us all posted, my Man

[Raytrace]

One thing I can add as of this morning, another cool exclusive has been bagged for this little project. So that's two nice things to look forward to. Possibly a third, we shall see...

a history of shmups in the arcades of Bray? :p

[xavierjesus]

No worries Pyongyang, re the print situ.

Put me down for a copy then.

One thing I can add as of this morning, another cool exclusive has been bagged for this little project. So that's two nice things to look forward to. Possibly a third, we shall see...

a history of shmups in the arcades of Bray? :p

This

[trap15]

Put me down for one, prices sound quite fair too Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this

[Drachenherz]

Oh what the heck, count me in for a copy!

[Spyke]

I'd be happy paying up to a tenner including postage and autograph! Why? Because it's a one-off done for the love of the thing. I could buy another game instead with the money, but hey - there'll ALWAYS be more games to buy!

Ant

[Casey120]

One thing I can add as of this morning, another cool exclusive has been bagged for this little project. So that's two nice things to look forward to. Possibly a third, we shall see...

An interview with that famous Irish Shmup PCB collector ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJAssX40xCY

[Raytrace]

No worries Pyongyang, re the print situ.

Put me down for a copy then.

One thing I can add as of this morning, another cool exclusive has been bagged for this little project. So that's two nice things to look forward to. Possibly a third, we shall see...

a history of shmups in the arcades of Bray? :p

This

It would be fairly short,
I might be wrong but all that I can remember ever seeing when I was young were:

1942

R-Type

Gradius

Defender

I don't know what Dr. Quirky's had though in fairness, or if The Hideout or Jason's ever got decent shmups...

[Pyongyang]

An interview with that famous Irish Shmup PCB collector ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJAssX40xCY

Can I just stress that's NOT me! Haha! You can take the boy out of Holland...

Further news, the web store has been set up and is running in test mode. Transactions will be completed via PayPal and the site hosted by a third party cloud based product. All looks good so far, this company specializes in Zine web shops among other arty farty stuff so I'm in safe hands.

As it stands now, when the shop goes live, just remember your card or PayPal balance WILL be debited, but of course, if I don't meet the sales it's a straight refund via PayPal. None of this gift nonsense, the fee will be included in the cover price (I'm hoping not to stray from my price point but it's non profit, breaking even, that's all. If enough for a self-congratulatory beer is earned then hurrah for that I guess).

If anyone is worried though, I have feedback in several places and have met a handful of folk at Play Expo and other places over the years so I'm hoping a vouch or two would be given should anyone be concerned.

There will be a cut off date, probably by end of January, at that point the web shop will show the product as out of stock so nobody else can order copies. If the target is reached, we go to press. If not it's a mass refund for all. Hopefully everyone is happy with that, it's the best way I can think of doing this to keep prices to something sane. One person doesn't have the buying power of Future Publishing and their rivals unfortunately.

Let's do it for the community!

@Spyke: Thanks for the vote of confidence! I really will do my best to get this out there. At the end of the day though I can only do so much, if the community really wants to see something actually done about this after so many topics of discussion and no fruit born from it, well now is the time to actually do it.

Give my blog a read and if you like anything there or enjoy the writing style, you know what to expect. It's a bit thin on updates as I've been doing YouTube videos more recently. Plus the content I'm working on now will ONLY appear after everyone has received their physical copy.

@The suggestion of Bray SHMUPS, no idea lads I'm from the UK originally I'm not Irish alas! All I heard is Bray is a kip full of skangers! (No offence to anyone from Bray haha).

Thanks again everyone, I hope I've pleaded my case reasonably well enough!

[xavierjesus]

Sounds fair enough Pyongyang. Will get on that when shop is live, cheers.

One thing I can add as of this morning, another cool exclusive has been bagged for this little project. So that's two nice things to look forward to. Possibly a third, we shall see...

An interview with that famous Irish Shmup PCB collector ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJAssX40xCY

'the fuck is that?!

[opt2not]

I'm totally in!
Thanks for doing this Pyongyang-a-tanger!

[Pyongyang]

Thanks opt2not.

If anyone wants to see the tiniest of teaser images, take a look at my Twitter home page where you will see a glimpse of the cover art as my header image.

http://www.twitter.com/stuffiwrote

That's all for now!

[Super Laydock]

why not?
Just browsed you blog and I like your style.
I'll have one too please.

[Pyongyang]

why not?
Just browsed you blog and I like your style.
I'll have one too please.

Thanks a lot. I hope those that purchase a copy enjoy this small little shmup nibble.

That's it from me for a while anyway, the project will very likely go on hold next week as real life takes over for the festive season, and then it's on to the final push in the New Year when the 'zine will be finished and pre-ordering will open. Short and snappy, get it done. Get it printed. Get it shipped. Bob's yer uncle, Fanny's yer aunt!

[valium]

interested!!

[xavierjesus]

Fanny's yer aunt

Or uncle. In Bray...

Sayonara!

[Raytrace]

no worries - I'll buy one of these no doubt - I might be able to convince another lad I know too

yeah I was knda joking about Bray, but having said that, I'm pretty sure it was certainly the largest gathering of arcades and machines in the Dublin area at one time, it's glory years I think were before my time though, I think it was first wave/late 70s when it was at its biggest.

[Bee Cool]

I'd love to own an english magazine that has cave and other shmup stuff in it.

Count me in.

[Raytrace]

out of interest, what will you use to create it? - InDesign, Quark, or just making pages individually in Illustrator or something?

[Pyongyang]

out of interest, what will you use to create it?

I'm using Scribus. However I'll likely then export the finished project to a trial version of InDesign in order to prepare it for the print company. Needs to be CMYK, 3mm bleeds and so on.

Final exclusive item is in progress now (ties in with the 2nd item I mentioned the other day). So that's 3 nice little items for a stupid, poxy 25 page book written by some dickfart with too much time on his hands!

Thank you again everyone for your kind comments and interest in this project.

[Raytrace]

out of interest, what will you use to create it?

I'm using Scribus. However I'll likely then export the finished project to a trial version of InDesign in order to prepare it for the print company. Needs to be CMYK, 3mm bleeds and so on.

Final exclusive item is in progress now (ties in with the 2nd item I mentioned the other day). So that's 3 nice little items for a stupid, poxy 25 page book written by some dickfart with too much time on his hands!

Thank you again everyone for your kind comments and interest in this project.

i never saw this Scribus - v interesting - imma check - tbh I dont know my way around InDesign or Quark so I should definitely have a look

support for OS/2 Warp - better get those 40 floppies out! :p

[usagi76]

Sign me up for a copy aswell please!

Although if Raiden doesn't get a proper mention it'll be turfed in the bin. Joking of course.

[Hexxellor]

You can put me down for one too. As long as you keep that baby reasonably priced (on par with the quality of it) you'd have yourself a repeat buyer.

One thing though, I understand why you would want to go the route of something like Kickstarter, but consider a way of paying ahead, because if I have to find it on Kickstarter each time and go through that whole route each issue, I'd be less likely to keep buying than if I could just pay ahead a few issues or something. Maybe make that one of the "levels" on Kickstarter? I dunno... Just an idea.

[Pyongyang]

Thanks for the kind comments usagi76 and Hexxellor.

Kickstarter is out of the window now. They take a 5% chunk of the goal which defeats the purpose of what I am trying to achieve. This is strictly a one-off (and if it were to prove itself successful, a quarterly publication at most). Given the incredibly small print-run, the small audience appeal etc, all those factors need to be taken in to consideration before you even begin to look at putting in a print run order.

Mentioned this before but just to reiterate:

I've decided to go the PayPal route via a shopping cart linked from my blog. The pre-order date will be announced in January, with a cut off date. Your card or PayPal account will be debited at the time of pre-order (this secures your copy and shipping). When the cut-off date passes, pre-orders will no longer be available. If I reach my goal of (right now going on the interest shown) 50-100 orders, I will put the order in and your copy will land on your doormat in the days to follow. If the target number of sales isn't reached, you'll be instantly refunded.

There is obviously a huge element of trust with this method of course, but I'm looking at it from two points:

a) I don't have the capital required to risk on this in the hopes all the interested parties follow through and place an order. If my calculations are correct the final price will get you a fanzine produced to the best of my ability, made from quality paper and print, buy mailing bags and stamps for each order. That's it, no profit margin, nada. I'm not in it to retire at 40, I'm being realistic.

b)If a second issue were to be produced, it would follow the same method of pre-ordering before placing the print run order. Until such time it would be deemed feasible to stake my own capital in the project or some sort of subscription method were introduced that would cover the cost of future publications, but this would be looking a LONG way in to the future. Right now it's a one-off experiment and that's it. A 'zine has been the subject of much discussion over the years and I want to take up the challenge and do it, both from a personal and community perspective.

[sven666]

I love this kind of stuff and I think its about damn time something like this came out of the forum, there is a wealth of knowledge, talent and information (and just plain fun!) on here to fill a hundred magazines.
Mad props to pyongyang for stepping up and taking charge!

will buy a few issues for sure, and my personal preference is quality over price.
Im happy to pay £10-15 easily if that means i get a physically high quality product. (fyi retrogamer is £10 in swedish shops)

[Pyongyang]

fyi retrogamer is £10 in swedish shops

Thanks sven666.

Don't forget though, this is not a magazine, it's a 25 page fanzine. Just want to state that again in case folks are getting their hopes up thinking they are receiving a new contender to Retro Gamer or Games TM etc.

It's design and purpose is to be more of a commentary piece, more about design and high quality materials but of course with content worth reading. It's also still going to be a one-off publication for now. We'll see what happens once/if it goes to print and what the reaction is once the critics (e.g. you guys) get your paws on it!