Kickstarter campaign launched for new Amstrad CPC fanzine

[Skunkfish]

Update:

Issue 1 still available, get yours for £3 at http://www.cpcfanzine.com if you missed the Kickstarter.

You can also pre-order Issue 2 or get a four-issue subscription.


Original Post:

Good evening,

So, after debating it internally for well over 20 years and getting close at various points during that time I've decided to launch an Amstrad CPC fanzine.

It will be (imaginatively) titled 'Colour Personal Computing' and the first issue will be out in September (and quarterly thereafter), consisting of at the very least 32 black & white A5 pages but more likely to be 40+.

You can expect it to be packed full of CPC related content; featuring the latest news, reviews of the latest games and applications, interviews with CPC developers, hands-on reports of hardware releases, lots of humour and much, much more.

Why Kickstarter?

Well, I wasn't sure how much demand there would be and wanted to fund a decent print run if possible. The other option would have been to take pre-orders via Paypal or something similar but that didn't seem to offer the same promotional opportunities and I think people would be less likely to send money via an unknown site. The target is a meagre £200, which at £3 a copy should be around 67 copies or so... The more money that gets raised, the bigger and better the fanzine should be, a lot of the content is already written although I'll be holding some stuff back for future issues.

I hope that by raising the profile a little I can try to bring some lapsed CPC users back to the fold and also try to raise the CPC's profile as a viable Retrogaming platform.

You can find the Project's Kickstarter campaign page here: Colour Personal Computing - The Amstrad CPC Fanzine by James Ford —

Thanks for your time,

James.

[mr_lou]

Cheers for fulfilling childhood dreams! 

[||C|-|E||]

I have already backed! (of course!)  Good luck with this!!

[archcosmo]

I've backed this project too 

Do you have any plans on making a digital copy of Issue 1? Print runs can only go for so long, but a digital version can be offered for sale/download as long as you like on a website/itunes/RSS etc etc

thanks

[reidrac]

I'm in!

[Skunkfish]

Thanks for the support guys.

It will be available digitally at some point in the future, at this stage I wanted to focus fully on the printed version as I still love the feeling of having something physical to enjoy and collect.

[elanstra]

Great initiative!


I have a question; If pledging £10 or more, you get the Advertisement Reward. The instructions say You must send your advert by the end of August to meet the printing deadline. I'm currently working on releasing a game, but I don't think it will be ready for this year. Would it be possible to keep the [/size]Advertisement Reward and use it for future issues?

[mr_lou]

Great initiative!

I have a question; If pledging £10 or more, you get the Advertisement Reward. The instructions say You must send your advert by the end of August to meet the printing deadline. I'm currently working on releasing a game, but I don't think it will be ready for this year. Would it be possible to keep the

You could still use the advert to advertise for your upcoming game. 

[villain]

Is this really going to be b/w? Kind of ironic for "Colour Personal Computing"... I'll be in probably neverthless but I'd rather donate a little bit more and get something in colour. Even if b/w reminds to the good old times of the CPC-fanzines. In any case: good project and good luck!

[mr_lou]

Create it as a blu-ray diskmag-like project instead. Then we'll have colour + physical collectable. 

[villain]

Create it as a blu-ray diskmag-like project instead. Then we'll have colour + physical collectable. 

Never seen a suitable player inside of our household... :-)

[Skunkfish]

Great initiative!


I have a question; If pledging £10 or more, you get the Advertisement Reward. The instructions say You must send your advert by the end of August to meet the printing deadline. I'm currently working on releasing a game, but I don't think it will be ready for this year. Would it be possible to keep the Advertisement Reward and use it for future issues?

Hi elanstra,

Thanks for your kind words.

I'm still working out how Issues 2 and onwards will be dealt with as I'm sure people will get annoyed with me if I do a Kickstarter every time, but I'd be more than happy to run your advert in a future issue. I'm aiming to work to a 13 week publishing schedule so the second issue should be out shortly before Christmas if that suits you better?

I limited the advertisement reward to 5 for Issue 1 as I thought adverts would give it a nicer feel and give people the opportunity to promote their products but I need to save some room for some words as well

Perhaps when I get the details nailed down for the second issue I can get in touch and we can discuss further?

Thanks,

James.

[Skunkfish]

Is this really going to be b/w? Kind of ironic for "Colour Personal Computing"... I'll be in probably neverthless but I'd rather donate a little bit more and get something in colour. Even if b/w reminds to the good old times of the CPC-fanzines. In any case: good project and good luck!

Hi Villain,

Yes, that's the plan. And it took me about a week to notice the irony in my own title! 

I really want to replicate the feel of those old British fanzines from the early 90s such as Artificial Intelligence and Potential Difference, although I was considering either full or part colour at one point. The cost of colour printing seemed quite prohibitive when I was working out my costings (the print quantity is much higher to get a decent price), but perhaps it could be some sort of stretch goal?

Although I've said it will be B/W now on Kickstarter so not sure if I can back-out on that promise?

[mr_lou]

Never seen a suitable player inside of our household... :-)

VLC (and other software media players) play blu-ray ISO files for those who don't want a hardware player.
That way you get both a physical collectable + "digital version" + colours! 

[mr_lou]

Although I've said it will be B/W now on Kickstarter so not sure if I can back-out on that promise?

What about just having a few pages in colour?

[Skunkfish]

What about just having a few pages in colour?

That could definitely be an option.

[elanstra]

I'm still working out how Issues 2 and onwards will be dealt with as I'm sure people will get annoyed with me if I do a Kickstarter every time, but I'd be more than happy to run your advert in a future issue.

Thanks for your reply. I pledged already anyway. My first time using Kickstarter 


By the way, if the Kickstarter thingy doesn't work. I have heard of people using Best crowdfunding site for artists and creators | Patreon Not sure how well it works. I think people become a patron and pay you an amount per month or something like that.


[EDIT] I even found Amstrad related things there: Patreon: Search

[seanb]

We know the type of Amstrad related content Kim Justice is creating 

[Skunkfish]

Thanks elanstra. I've not heard of Patreon before but looks like it could be an option for the fanzine on an on-going basis, I'll investigate further..

[reidrac]

Btw, FREEZE64 no. 1 was launched recently:

FREEZE64 - THE ULTIMATE COMMODORE 64 GAMING AND CHEATS FANZINE

I don't know what is the quality or about the content, but just as an idea of what other people seem to be doing (£3.50 + shipping, 28 page full-color fanzine).

[Gryzor]

Yay for this, found out by chance yesterday and backed it today. Then I saw the thread Crossing fingers, would really love this to come to fruition!


Also, I do like the B&W feel. It really feels nostalgic and is different.

[Lazy Dude]

Any more nostalgic and we may have ourselves the green screen edition!
This looks interesting and I will investigate further

[Skunkfish]

I did have a (very) brief thought about green paper. That idea was best left as a thought I feel...

[Skunkfish]

Thanks for the support guys, much appreciated!

[jomicamp]

I consider it a great idea! I am in!!

My only concern is that my address was not required anywhere while registering to back the campaign ...

Do you consider to include a programming section?

Best regards