One of the things I loved about small cons in the 80s (and really, those were the only ones I went too then) was the little indie Zines. Small, cheap (a bonus for a broke high school student) and packed with all sorts of strangeness, they had all sorts of appeal to me.
Granted they were not all good, but they had a sense of, I don't know, love about them. This was before Desk Top Publishing was even taking off yet so often these were Xeroxed, hand stapled affairs.
While it might be easier to get Zines out to the masses, the sense of love is still there.
This is why Zine Quest was made and now we are at the beginning of Zine Quest #3 over on Kickstarter and the choices are overwhelming.
There are plenty of OSR and D&D 5 choices as well as plenty of other indie games in the truest sense.
Trying to track them all is a bit more than I want to take on by myself. Thankfully there are good resources to help us all.
Hero Press / I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters
If you come here then you know "the other Tim" from across the pond. Hero Press is my go-to entertainment blog for all things RPG, Superhero, and more. Go there. No qualifiers, just go there. But he is also covering the Zine Quest projects he likes. You can also follow his Zine Quest tags.
Over on the Facebook side of things his group, I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters will be featuring even more Zines and project owners are encouraged to post links to theirs.
Gothridge Manor / RPG Zines
Tim Shorts (yes another Tim!) is also keeping everyone posted on Zines. He has been talking about them on his blog Gothridge Manor (also a great blog!) and his Facebook group RPG Zines. This is pretty much Zine central and worth your time to check out. Like Tim, Tim has a Zine tag for his blog as well.
But where Tim Shorts rises above the other Tims is his own contribution to the Zine project.
Be sure to back The Many Crypts of Lady Ingrade on Kickstarter.
Tenkar's Tavern
If you have been in the OSR any amount of time you likely know about Tenkar's Tavern blog/podcast/Facebook group. Tenkar is also covering Zine Quest with a lean to the OSR zines coming out.
You can also follow the #Zinequest3 hashtag on Twitter.
There are more launching every day in February, in fact, one launched while I was writing this post that I want to back. So expect a Part 2 next week!
1 comment:
Excellent post, Tim. Thanks for the kind words about HeroPress (and I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters).
Zine Quest seems to be going gangbusters again this year, although I am concerned what effect skyrocketing international shipping costs, Brexit etc will have on the global trade in printed zines this year, and going forward?
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