Interest Check: SHMUP 'Zine?

[Pyongyang]

Hi all,

I figured here would be the best place for a bit of market research in to this project so I hope the powers that be don't mind me posting this here!

I'm currently in the process of putting together a 'Zine version of my blog. Now, to establish a fundamental first, there is a difference between a 'Zine and a magazine. 'Zines are put together by fanatics, hobbyists and those with far too much time on their hands (which must be a lot because so far I'm about a third of the way through and its taken me a couple of weeks and long hours to even get to this stage).

The format will be a small, 20-25 page A5 colour and black and white product printed on the best quality paper I can source.

Features would run along the writing style and content of my blog and YouTube videos etc. Nice, high quality art, some hand drawn and some of my own photography. I'm no Monet or David Bailey when I issue that statement, I'm simply saying you will be getting 1200dpi here, not a bunch of pixelated 5dpi snaps robbed from Facebook and websites.

I mainly want to check interest for now in a limited run of 25-100 copies. Maybe 100 is wishful thinking but hence the interest check (even 25 is probably pushing my luck!). The big issue at hand is the expense of getting this thing printed and how to go about it.

I have two options, one pay the outlay myself and hope every copy sells. Two, crowd fund it via Indiegogo or Kick starter et all. This option I feel would be best as it ensures all copies are sold, you've paid for your copy and postage and it saves me many sleepless nights!

As for the cost, I'm only looking to recoup printing and shipping costs with maybe a beer on top. Its not for profit, just for the love of doing something ridiculously niche that probably very few people would be in to.

Let me know what you think!



Note: I've replicated this post to other forums as well.

[rancor]

Definitely interested! Put me down for a personal copy - perhaps a few if I can make sales from my website with other orders!

[Raytrace]

Hi all,

I figured here would be the best place for a bit of market research in to this project so I hope the powers that be don't mind me posting this here!

I'm currently in the process of putting together a 'Zine version of my blog. Now, to establish a fundamental first, there is a difference between a 'Zine and a magazine. 'Zines are put together by fanatics, hobbyists and those with far too much time on their hands (which must be a lot because so far I'm about a third of the way through and its taken me a couple of weeks and long hours to even get to this stage).

The format will be a small, 20-25 page A5 colour and black and white product printed on the best quality paper I can source.

Features would run along the writing style and content of my blog and YouTube videos etc. Nice, high quality art, some hand drawn and some of my own photography. I'm no Monet or David Bailey when I issue that statement, I'm simply saying you will be getting 1200dpi here, not a bunch of pixelated 5dpi snaps robbed from Facebook and websites.

I mainly want to check interest for now in a limited run of 25-100 copies. Maybe 100 is wishful thinking but hence the interest check (even 25 is probably pushing my luck!). The big issue at hand is the expense of getting this thing printed and how to go about it.

I have two options, one pay the outlay myself and hope every copy sells. Two, crowd fund it via Indiegogo or Kick starter et all. This option I feel would be best as it ensures all copies are sold, you've paid for your copy and postage and it saves me many sleepless nights!

As for the cost, I'm only looking to recoup printing and shipping costs with maybe a beer on top. Its not for profit, just for the love of doing something ridiculously niche that probably very few people would be in to.

Let me know what you think!



Note: I've replicated this post to other forums as well.

definitely interested - gan dabht

[Pyongyang]

Definitely interested! Put me down for a personal copy - perhaps a few if I can make sales from my website with other orders!

Thanks Mr. Jeffticles!

It would definitely be short run although I guess the length could also be determined by crowd funding interest? To reiterate, I'm not out to scam or make a sum, the goal cash would be to pay for printing and shipping, that's it. Donations would be based on a per copy inc shipping basis (with a side fee if you live somewhere miles away like Zaire or Swaziland or Kettering).

[Raytrace]

Definitely interested! Put me down for a personal copy - perhaps a few if I can make sales from my website with other orders!

Thanks Mr. Jeffticles!

It would definitely be short run although I guess the length could also be determined by crowd funding interest? To reiterate, I'm not out to scam or make a sum, the goal cash would be to pay for printing and shipping, that's it. Donations would be based on a per copy inc shipping basis (with a side fee if you live somewhere miles away like Zaire or Swaziland or Kettering).

Could I get one in person?

[Pyongyang]

Sure. So long as its not all creepy and weird.

Publishing would be some time in January if this is to happen by the way. I've to take a hiatus soon for Christmas and NYE I am best man at a wedding so lots of real life stuff going on. But that's cool, I'm a third of the way there already!

I will put it out there as a PDF if there is no interest and also as a PDF after the print run, but onlyafterfolk who paid for a printed copy have received and read theirs. Keeps a degree of exclusivity that way but also means everyone can read my stupid fucking drivel.

[Raytrace]

Sure. So long as its not all creepy and weird.

Publishing would be some time in January if this is to happen by the way. I've to take a hiatus soon for Christmas and NYE I am best man at a wedding so lots of real life stuff going on. But that's cool, I'm a third of the way there already!

I will put it out there as a PDF if there is no interest and also as a PDF after the print run, but onlyafterfolk who paid for a printed copy have received and read theirs. Keeps a degree of exclusivity that way but also means everyone can read my stupid fucking drivel.

hahaha - I'll be wearing a Sailor Moon cosplay and holding a waifu pillow on Georges St. at 11:30 pm

nah that would be cool man

[Pyongyang]

Just a little update on this project. I can confirm there will be an exclusive feature in this little 'Zine. More to follow, but after months of planning I finally got the sign off on it this morning.

I hope that little tidbit of info has nuzzled at your frontal lobes!

[rancor]

JUST TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY!!!

[safetyboy]

Interested pyongers.

[brokenhalo]

something shmup related, and in english? sign me up for a copy.

[mice]

Yes.

[majik989s]

Sounds awesome! I can never get enough quality reading material. Sign me up for sure.

[CoolgyFurlough]

I'd absolutely love to buy a Shmup related 'zine. Especially as I cannot read Shooting Gameside.

[Pyongyang]

Thanks everyone. Nice to see folks embracing the printed word!

I will begin putting together a Kickstarter project for this tonight and aim to announce something soon. So to reiterate, the idea is that by donating to the Kickstarter fund, what your donation is doing is paying for your copy to be printed and shipped (although a very small extra charge might apply to people who live in Australia, or other places like that which are 3/4 of a mile away from the Sun).

I'll work to include some sample imagery too so you can at least get an idea of what you are buying. Again, it's not for profit, I'm not out to make a few quid. Let's just see where this escapade goes. If the goal is reached on Kickstarter, brilliant. If it isn't, well, at least I tried...

[Eaglet]

Would be awesome if you could somehow get some exclusives.
Interviews with the old Garegga/Batrider team would be...

[Pyongyang]

Just a little update on this project. I can confirm there will be an exclusive feature in this little 'Zine. More to follow, but after months of planning I finally got the sign off on it this morning.

I hope that little tidbit of info has nuzzled at your frontal lobes!

Not the kind of exclusive you might have in mind, but something fun anyway. Those kind of exclusives though are few and far between. Its only a hobby publication after all. Alas I am not in the same league, vicinity, ball park, planet or solar system as EDGE, Wired, Retro Gamer et al.

[DrSquidopolis]

Long time lurker, just made an account on here to say that I'm interested!

[xavierjesus]

Hey Pyongyang - great sounding project! Glad you're getting this off the ground. I'd always had this kind of concept floating around in my mind, but then real life shit got in the way...

Anyway, where are you in Ireland? I'm up in Belfast, and could print this for you if needed. I edit images for a publishing company here, and have access to a real nice digital print suite.

I would love to get involved in something like this. But no hassles.

Check here: http://ebshooting.wordpress.com/store/

That shows the quality of print - check out especially the Ibara etc. Black Label posters.

A5 magazine, 100X copies, stitched, full colour at 600dpi (24x pages on magazine/150gm paper) would be no problem. Plus you could maybe pick some cool extras (eg. waxed board cover, fold out poster pages etc... Even fridge magnets/stickers...). Collection from Belfast would be necessary though, and I must stress, I would be interested in getting involved for beer money, NOT PROFIT - my man that runs the print suite would be doing this "cash in hand" If you get my drift...

So, just thinking out loud here hombre. Feel free to ignore this post, or indeed move this conversation to PM. Cheers.

(One last thing, not sure of your timescale, but I'm in Asia from NYE to start of Feb'13. Just a heads up.)

Ciao.

[KAI]

Ahh the smell of fanzines, it's been awhile.

[Jeneki]

Shmups seem like the perfect subject for a fanzine. They have a lot of subtle things going on in the gameplay that are not entirely obvious until someone points them out. Of course, anyone who's in-the-know enough to buy a fanzine is likely in-the-know enough to find specific information, but still shmups have such a diverse history that there's always something new to learn. This would include articles on lesser known older games and some indie/doujin stuff as well, I'm assuming?

[MommysBestGames]

I'm interested, sounds like it'd be pretty.

[Mortificator]

Not interested. I like shmups, but now... it's about justice.

We've had a couple of previous threads on the topic that might be worth looking over. My frank opinion is that it's not possible for a publication to succeed in the current climate and that all you'd get out of it is the minor novelty working in the print medium. I'd be happy if you ended up rubbing egg in my face, I just see very little possibility of return for what would have to be a substantial investment of time.

[t0yrobo]

I'd be interested. And if there's a need for design work or illustrations I could throw some time towards it.

[Spyke]

I'd like a paper copy as well so put me down for one please.
Very cool project

Ant

[Pyongyang]

My frank opinion is that it's not possible for a publication to succeed in the current climate and that all you'd get out of it is the minor novelty working in the print medium. I'd be happy if you ended up rubbing egg in my face, I just see very little possibility of return for what would have to be a substantial investment of time.

While I agree with most of what you are saying, you are interpreting the ideaology behind this project wrong.

I don't want to produce some all-conquering publication, retire at 40 sipping cocktails in my Ferrari only to die of a barbiturates overdose before my 50th birthday. I'm 32 years old (33 in 2 weeks eek!) and have a full-time career, this is purely a one-off project fuelled by my passion for SHMUPS and writing.

There is a substantial amount of time required to put something like this together. One of the features I am including in this book took 7 months to come together. But fuck it, I'm committed because at the end of the day, all I want to do is put something out there and say "I did that". And why shouldn't I? If nobody is interested, so be it. But at least instead of sitting in front of the TV, beating myself off drinking Mountain Dew and watching endless re-runs of Cheers and American Pickers, I got up off my arse and saw the project through. That's how a community thrives in my opinion.

I'm not slagging you, so don't take any of the above as a personal attack. I'm just saying that the interpretation of this project and its goal is a bit clouded. I just hope folk enjoy something a little bit different, even if its not to every ones taste.

[Raytrace]

to show how long it's been since I been into 'town' - does that R.A.G.E. place still exist?

You could probably sell a few of the zines there, and actually Tower Records too.

[Pyongyang]

Yep, RAGE is still around, never go in there though.

Nice idea about distribution but we're talking 10's of copies being published, geared toward a limited print run and a small community. Before it goes to print (if it ever does) it needs to be bought and paid for, guaranteed copies sold. If not then it's not happening.

By the way, thanks to the comments above from folks offering design and printing services, much appreciated. I'm all set for now but maybe another day...

[Casey120]

Put me down for " Shmup Passion - Volume 1 " please !

[Jelly]

I would definitely be interested aswell, as long as the price and shipping is somewhat reasonable.