Colour Personal Computing Fanzine - The difficult third issue is here!

Skunkfish · 16:00, 01 July 20

Good afternoon folks!

Roughly two years later than planned, the third issue of Colour Personal Computing fanzine is now completed and going through one final proof read before being sent to the printers at the end of the week.

The plan is to then post out to subscribers on the 14th-15th July and to those purchasing the fanzine now from the 16th.

It is the biggest issue yet, leading with a feature on Hi-Tec Software (that's been four years in the making!) and featuring reviews of titles such as The Dawn of Kernel, Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Pinball Dreams and many more. We'll also be taking a look at the USIfAC Serial Interface and 8-bit Memoirs Issue 1.

We have also revamped our website: www.cpcfanzine.com has now become www.cpcstore.co.uk (see my flashy new avatar) and we'll be selling some bits & bobs of interest to CPC users alongside issues of the fanzine.

We will only be offering single issues going forwards, due to the somewhat sporadic nature of issues being released (although we are looking to improve on this!). You can pre-order the fanzine now for dispatch on the 16th July if you're interested. If you're not sure if it's your cup of tea, you can get PDF's of the first two issues for free from our website.

If any of you have subscribed to the fanzine and are unsure if we have your correct address details on file, please contact me via PM.

I will also be contacting all subscribers over the next couple of days by e-mail.

Thanks for your time,

James.

Gryzor · 16:03, 01 July 20

Ha! I was actually wondering this last weekend!!

I don't remember if I am a subscriber or not... I think I am?

Skunkfish · 16:43, 01 July 20

Quote from: Gryzor on 16:03, 01 July 20
I don't remember if I am a subscriber or not... I think I am?

My dusty spreadsheets tell me that you backed the last Kickstarter campaign for Issue 2 with the limited edition colour Issue 1.
So no subscription I'm afraid!
Also, anyone feel free to PM me with your 'do I have a a subscription?' questions...

reidrac · 18:52, 01 July 20

Sorry to be "that guy" but I'd love to use PayPal. No offence, but I don't like entering my CC details on random online shops.

EDIT: OK, I see the shop is managed by Square.

Skunkfish · 19:17, 01 July 20

The checkout page is the only one which doesn't have the Square logo emblazoned all over it, which is annoying as that's the one page where I'd really like it to show that it's a secure payment gateway!

I'm using Square because they offer a free online store via Weebly, and their payment gateway is very reasonable at 2.5%.

I'd love to take PayPal (personally, I rarely shop on sites that don't take it!), but it means moving to Square's £19/month package and then paying Paypal's higher fees. I may do it anyway, but I'm trying to keep costs low as fanzine sales are shall we say... sporadic.

That's the main reason I'm selling some other kit on the site now. The previous site was hosted by GoDaddy and I paid £500+ over a couple of years just to keep that up!
Not a smart idea of mine for a fanzine which only releases once in a blue moon! (although, that of course was not the intention)

ComSoft6128 · 07:37, 02 July 20

Enjoyed the first two issues from beginning to end and looking forward to the third - that's it ordered

mr_lou · 07:39, 02 July 20

Great news!!!

But yes, it's been so long that I can't remember either. I think I bought a couple of future issues, but not sure. Anyway, if not, lemme know so I can order this one.

Skunkfish · 09:50, 02 July 20

Quote from: mr_lou on 07:39, 02 July 20
Great news!!!

But yes, it's been so long that I can't remember either. I think I bought a couple of future issues, but not sure. Anyway, if not, lemme know so I can order this one.

You're good until issue 6

Gryzor · 10:02, 02 July 20

Quote from: Skunkfish on 16:43, 01 July 20
My dusty spreadsheets tell me that you backed the last Kickstarter campaign for Issue 2 with the limited edition colour Issue 1.
So no subscription I'm afraid!

By this time I had even forgotten it was a KS

And I just saw I marked #2 received *exactly* one year ago!!

Ok, let's go shopping...

SharkusMaximus · 13:16, 02 July 20

Really enjoyed the first couple of issues so I'll definitely be ordering this.

Skunkfish · 11:10, 29 July 20

Just a quick update....
There was a bit of a nightmare with the printers, first a delay with a corrupted PDF file (allegedly, it was fine when I sent it and checked it with their preview tool!) and then all the fanzines came back with some pages inserted in the wrong order!
All copies went out earlier this week - I would expect subscribers/original Kickstarter backers in the UK to receive theirs today/tomorrow and single issue orders by Friday at the latest. I'm not sure how quick overseas post is at the moment, but hopefully readers outside the UK should receive theirs in the next week or so....

mr_lou · 11:51, 29 July 20

Quote from: Skunkfish on 11:10, 29 July 20
There was a bit of a nightmare with the printers, first a delay with a corrupted PDF file (allegedly, it was fine when I sent it and checked it with their preview tool!) and then all the fanzines came back with some pages inserted in the wrong order!

Ah yes.... remember in the good old days where we used to think "Why does this always happen to me?!?! Always only me!! In the whole world, only I experience bad luck like this! Why??? Everyone else never run into this shaite!"

Then we grew older and learned that it happens to everyone because no one knows what they're doing.

CrookieMonster · 15:32, 31 July 20

I received my copy of Colour Personal Computing yesterday and the verdict...?

It's absolutely superb. I love the way it concentrates on the current CPC scene and looks at how you can get the best out of your Amstrad today.

Don't leave it a few more years for the next one, James: this is a must-read fanzine!

Skunkfish · 17:57, 31 July 20

Thanks David, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
It really means a lot coming from you. I think you mentioned my original fanzine in the 'Further Reading' column in AA (created by a friend and myself back when we were 12!), but that one never saw the light of day at all

CrookieMonster · 18:50, 31 July 20

Ooh, that column makes me cringe when I read it back. I wasn't much older than you were at the time and I hope my writing has greatly improved since. 😀

Which fanzine had you worked on? There were some fab publications back then, with Artificial Intelligence being my favourite (irregular like your's - perhaps that's an solid indicator of greatness).

But yes, that difficult third issue of Colour Personal Computing is fantastic. Really enjoyed reading it and I've just ordered the serial interface too.

ComSoft6128 · 10:29, 01 August 20

Just finished reading it from cover to cover - excellent!

Especially enjoyed the Hi TEC and 8-Bit Memoirs articles.
Looking forward to the even more difficult fourth issue in six months, a year or whenever

Thanks,

Peter

mr_lou · 21:43, 06 August 20

Got my copy today.

Haven't looked through all of it yet, but wow!
Best looking cover so far. Feels very inviting, and looks like a well established mag now in my opinion.
Great choice using a bigger font too. It really is much nicer to read now.

And then I spot the 8-bit Memoirs review. What an unexpected awesome surprise! And what a review!!
You missed nothing! You captured every single thing I tried putting into the project. Seriously. It's the exact review, word for word, that I hoped someone would write some day.

Thank you so much! I can live on that for at least a month.

(Hope it'll inspire someone to write issue #2

)

Will probably return to this thread later with more feedback once I find time to read more of it.

SharkusMaximus · 13:33, 07 August 20

My copy just arrived in Canada today (much quicker than expected) and like everyone else, my first impressions are great, so I can't wait to dip into this properly.

Gryzor · 13:49, 07 August 20

Read a couple of pages this morning with my coffee; also browsed through it, looks lovely indeed and well put together!

MiguelSky · 18:52, 07 August 20

I brought mine to my holidays. Great reading!!

seanb · 13:37, 10 August 20

Brilliant.
I'm looking forward to this.

I'm sure I signed up for the subscription on Kickstarter.

Skunkfish · 14:30, 10 August 20

@seanb

If you're based in the UK I would imagine that you should have received it by now! If you can send me a PM with your details I will check for you and get another copy sent out if necessary!

zeropolis79 · 03:33, 01 September 20

Is it too late to order a copy? Think I backed the first issue...

Thanks.

Skunkfish · 09:03, 01 September 20

Quote from: zeropolis79 on 03:33, 01 September 20Is it too late to order a copy? Think I backed the first issue... Thanks.

Good morning!

No, it's not too late at all - please see the link below, I also still have a couple of copies of issue 2 if you missed that one.

https://www.cpcstore.co.uk/product/cpcfanzine-issue3/2

Thanks,

James.

zeropolis79 · 09:25, 01 September 20

Ordered both thanks! Looking forward to seeing the Hi-Tec article - Besides Codemasters, I'm also trying for a full set of them..