I'm Starting a Fanzine

[Steve1978]

I'm working now on reviews for Super Double Dragon (SNES) and Tex Murphy: Mean Streets (PC circa 1989), but all eras are great with me. I'm hoping to find some interested persons here who can contribute material (reviews, articles, opinion columns, etc.) or perhaps do layouts and artwork.

To create the actual fanzine I was hoping to find a Pagemaker version 3.0 or something else that's vintage, if I can run it on XP or Vista or perhaps DOSBox, but may have to settle for using MS Word and Paint to get that Xeroxed retro look. Probably the best bet is to upload issues in PDF format so people can download and staple them themselves, but I'm tempted to make it a purely physical product. It would be free, of course, or the cost of a stamp or contribution.

I was captivated by the discovery of videogame fanzines when I was around 15 and had every intention of contributing to fandom. Frankly I still have every intention, even if I'm the only one who ever sees it :D Still it would be killer to have other amateur fans to collaborate with.

I don't think I'll be happy until I've actually come out with an issue of a fanzine, even if it's 17 years late. I'm planning to call it WARP! and will send issues to Arnie Katz (of course).
As far as I'm concerned the Super NES CD is still a possibility.

[Flack]

Good luck! There are a lot more "I'm starting a zine" threads than there are zines out there. I hope yours makes it from planning to production.

If things don't work out, the Digital Press zine is always looking for a few good men!

EDIT: And women, of course.

[Steve1978]

Thank you Flak! The last time I tried to put together a fanzine was around 1999. Every time I think I'll give up I just have to remember to lower my standards. The key may be synergy. It'll probably take a while to gather together interested parties for this project but that's fine.

Where is the DP zine now? I didn't know they still made it!

[swlovinist]

I did a couple of zines called the Northest Gamer. They got posted on Speciality Gamer website. The project inspired me to write, and my last article was featured in Video Game Traders magazine.


I wish you luck, and it is totally fun to do!

[Quickclaw]

Would you do trades with other zines?

Good luck with the project. Keep us updated on your progress.

[Dire 51]

Where is the DP zine now? I didn't know they still made it!
We're currently between issues 66 and 67. Keep an eye out here for more info.

[Steve1978]

I did a couple of zines called the Northest Gamer. They got posted on Speciality Gamer website. The project inspired me to write, and my last article was featured in Video Game Traders magazine.

I wish you luck, and it is totally fun to do!

That's what I think, it'll just be fun to do. Trying to make it worthwhile for others is the only sticking point.


Would you do trades with other zines?

Good luck with the project. Keep us updated on your progress.

Yes, absolutely! New or old zines, any genre. I never had many fanzines to begin with and I've since lost them.
I've finished the meat of my Super Double Dragon review and making notes for others.


We're currently between issues 66 and 67. Keep an eye out here for more info.

That's great. Depending on the interests of contributors I wonder if we should also include fannish material on Star Trek: Next Generation, novels, comic books, movies. One idea I have is a year by year theme where one issue or series of issues covers a certain year and any tv episodes, novels and comics covered in that issue would be native to that year.

[BydoEmpire]

I kind of miss fanzines - I always liked when VG&CE (or some mag from the late 80s/early 90s) would review a few in each issue. I think getting the word out is a big thing. There probably a bunch of fanzines now, but I just never hear about them. Good luck with yours!

[slapdash]

I've stumbled across a couple "I do a fanzine..." guys recently, but have been too... distracted to order issues. But I love the idea that people are still pushing paper.

[megasdkirby]

I've stumbled across a couple "I do a fanzine..." guys recently, but have been too... distracted to order issues. But I love the idea that people are still pushing paper.

Hey Russ, do you still do yours?

Would like to read them again! :)

[Dangerboy]

I did Game-Rave as a 40-page monthly fanzine for about 3 years before heading off to Interact. Now it's an online PSX site (www.game-rave.com).

One of these days it'll be more than PSX.

I miss the paper days - it was a lot of stress and management (11 contributors) and I spent a LOT Of money on it, but goddamn the first time I finished hand assembling the newest issue, it always felt like an accomplishment.

Good luck!

[todesengel]

Best of luck to you Steve1978 sounds like an awesome and fun thing to start up.

[Steve1978]

Thanks for the support!
I'm working on a review of X-Force annual #1 now. It may be a mix of poetry and prose.
Also I think I'll try out a mascot, a sentient bunch of grapes named Jake McGrapes. Of course I have a cold and am pretty out of it so this is basically like a drunk man talking, but maybe that's the right state of mind for a fanzine. :drinking:

[slapdash]

Hey Russ, do you still do yours?

I've wanted to do a final issue of Slap-Dash, but I've been saying that for almost 10 years now.


I did Game-Rave as a 40-page monthly fanzine for about 3 years before heading off to Interact.

Hmm, I think I missed that one entirely... Got back issues? And holy cow, 40 pages every month? Contributors or not, that must have been a lot of effort.

[Dangerboy]

"Hmm, I think I missed that one entirely... Got back issues? And holy cow, 40 pages every month? Contributors or not, that must have been a lot of effort"

Hey SlapDash,

I don't know if I do or not, but I have every issue in hard copy pre-press (read, the deskjet print outs ^o^) and can always scan them in as a pdf. I'm in the middle of tearing apart my game room, so if I come across any, I'll put them in the mail for you.

And yes, it was a LOT of time and patience. There were days on the computer where I would start working on it listening to a DJ finish his radio program, and then go to bed the next day when he was just starting his program. This was all packed inside full time college and dating and working. The fact that I have no gray hairs is a nod to my gene pool.

We did fairly well; we were featured in Tips and Tricks, EGM, and even had a subscriber out of country. We were a big enough (professional enough?:) ) fanzine that Konami, Namco, and Titus sent us review copies of games. I had Soul Caliber before I had my Dreamcast. ^^;;

Hmmm....pdfs...that would make a neat DLC on game-rave.com...

[Steve1978]

"Hmm, I think I missed that one entirely... Got back issues? And holy cow, 40 pages every month? Contributors or not, that must have been a lot of effort"

Hey SlapDash,

I don't know if I do or not, but I have every issue in hard copy pre-press (read, the deskjet print outs ^o^) and can always scan them in as a pdf. I'm in the middle of tearing apart my game room, so if I come across any, I'll put them in the mail for you.

And yes, it was a LOT of time and patience. There were days on the computer where I would start working on it listening to a DJ finish his radio program, and then go to bed the next day when he was just starting his program. This was all packed inside full time college and dating and working. The fact that I have no gray hairs is a nod to my gene pool.

We did fairly well; we were featured in Tips and Tricks, EGM, and even had a subscriber out of country. We were a big enough (professional enough?:) ) fanzine that Konami, Namco, and Titus sent us review copies of games. I had Soul Caliber before I had my Dreamcast. ^^;;

Hmmm....pdfs...that would make a neat DLC on game-rave.com...

That's the most inspiring thing I have ever read. Wow!

[slapdash]

@Dangerboy: let's see, 3 years x 12 issues x 40 pages = 1440 pages = book. :-)

You know, I probably saw the review, but never got around to ordering issues? Unless it was during a period where I couldn't read my game mags much at all (like now, guh).

[BydoEmpire]

I love the idea that people are still pushing paper.Me, too. I like reading about gaming the old fashioned way.

[Flippy8490]

Sounds cool. Good luck with it!

[Steve1978]

Finished my Thunderforce IV review. I'll probably be gone for a while but just wanted to say one last time: anyone who wants to write or draw something for Warp! are welcome :)

[Quickclaw]

How many reviews are planned for the first issue?

[Steve1978]

Good question. Let's see if I can figure out an approximation here.
I don't like the idea of charging money for even a physical zine, beyond postage, but I no longer think I can do it for free because of ink and such. I think the answer might be to have each printed issue free as for anyone who writes something for it (at least 500 words?). So I would print it out and send it to them for no charge, unless they don't want me to send a physical copy.
Each issue could be available for free as an online PDF to everyone but those who prefer a physical issue sent from me would have to send a dollar to cover all expenses. Ah, but why would someone pay a dollar for something they can print out themselves with no postage charge? I think have the solution:

While anyone can read the zine for free online (and print it for themselves at leisure), what if every person who either A: contributed something or B: Paid a dollar for a physical issue were entered in a drawing?
I have tons of McFarlane figures, anime figures, anime DVDs (not in box but with the cover art and any interior materials), games I don't play anymore or just can't get into, and all sorts of things like that, mostly from a failed business venture of mine.
Then people would have some reason for a physical issue besides the nostalgia kind. People could select their prize from a list and I'll cover all the shipping and stuff (using run-over monies, if possible, from the sale of physical issues).

This is just an idea I have but I'm liken it. Also every time someone doesn't win a drawing their chances are doubled (so those who won already have less chance of winning), and every previous bought issue counts as an extra chance.

I think for a dollar I can afford to send out issues of around 40 pages (correct me if that seems wrong). Let's say at least 20 of those pages are game reviews. I'm planning on using a smallish font so that tells me there will be quite a number of reviews, even with artwork.

[Quickclaw]

For now, I'd let the writing be the most important thing. You can worry about the other details later. That advice is just as much for me as it is for you, since I'll soon be back in the world of self-publishing. Feel free to send a PM with any questions concerning WARP! or zines in general.

[slapdash]

Wait, "Warp!"? Another I seem to have missed, or didn't note properly in my "have" list... Info please!

[Steve1978]

lol oh no, Warp! is my fanzine to be. Ever since reading about zines in Electronic Games (circa 1992 I believe) I've wanted to partake in fandom but was more or less too young and completely lacking in confidence. So what I'm doing now is going back in virtual time and launching a fanzine, issue 1 being devoted mainly to games, magazines, films, etc. of '92.
I should be done with the first issue in about two month's time, sooner if I get contributors \\^_^/

[slapdash]

Sorry, when I first read that, I thought it meant Quickclaw had a zine named Warp!. Thanks for setting me straight.

[Dangerboy]

SlapDash Wrote:

@Dangerboy: let's see, 3 years x 12 issues x 40 pages = 1440 pages = book.

Heh, well, we didn't *start* at 40 pages. The whole evolution went something like this:

3 "Trial Issues" that I had at my family owned store, which were free. 12 pages each, I think done on like Pagemaker 3. Just testing the waters with a 2 buddies, and to see if customers would accept a local loonie over the real deal.

Interestingly, back when you could, I had a friend that let me place these at the EB Games (then Boutique), the first of the trials last about 2 weeks, with about 30 total copies.

By the 3rd trial, they went in two days.

So I gathered up a few good customers who wanted in, and I bumped the issues to 24 pages. It was set-up rather professional style; we had editorials, previews, reviews, rants, codes, and even got teamed up with different web-sites to use their already published codes and gameshark codes. We had a working deal with GameSages back in the day that allowed us to fill in about 4 pages for codes and tips. We did a guide section here or there (including running my then 300+ PSX games through a deck for a Monster Rancher monster making guide), and so forth.

Eventually I had a subscription base, and once we could prove we had the following (roughly 150 copies a month....in about 50 issue intervals, sometimes more) we started selling it at just the mom and pop store. Namco was the first company to give us the chance, and they sent us Treasures of the Deep as our first game. I still have the game AND the mailer. In fact, on my room of doom pics you can see it along with our first dollar made, and first subscribers.

(http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5270&g2_imageViewsIndex=1)

Eventually the magazine grew every few months, and in the 40 page final stretches, we also added in comics, retro reviews, random articles (food, places to eat, movies, oddities, etc), and bigger multi-page articles. Sadly, both time and lives were against us...school, families, jobs, and others were slowly dissecting the magazine apart, and around the same time I would have ended up closing the mag, I got my calling for GameShark, and left for Maryland after closing the issues.

I really miss those days. There's just something HTML can't do that xerox paper did.

[Steve1978]

Wow Dangerboy, that's awesome. I like the part where you were allowed to leave a stack at a game store! I read about that strategy and impressed to hear it worked.

I'm still going to go with an October target date for my first issue but here are some contents you can expect:

* Exploration of the May 92 issue of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment
* Review for Thunderforce IV for the Genesis and 1 other
* Review of Super Double Dragon and 1 other
* Review of Bee 52 and G.I.Joe Atlantis Factor for the NES
* The 10 TurboGrafx-16 Games that don't instantly fill me with blinding rage (with apologies to Turbo fans and loyalists)
* PC Game reviews of Mean Streets, and probably KGB
* Comic book discuss of X-Force Annual 1 and probably a Superman
* Movie reviews of Braindead and Evil Toons
* Discussion of the first issue of Dangerous Journeys (RPG magazine)
* Zap! Fanzine overview

and possibly some flash fiction (500 words or less each) for Halloween. If anyone wants to contribute one that'd be great! Also anything else, reviews, articles, and so on. I'm desperate :eek 2: