On Zines and Readership and Monies, Oh My!

I love me a good gaming zine. Really, I do.

Whether its The Manor, Black Pudding, The Excellent Traveling Volume, Crawl, the Undercroft, Under a Broken Moon, The Wizard's Scroll or any other one that I am quite sure I've missed going off the top of my head, they are all special to me.

Why?

Because they are labors of love and they speak with the voice of the one that publishes it. They are, in some ways, intimate and personal.

You won't make a lot of money publishing a zine (or most anything else in the RPG industry) but you have the reward of loyal and vocal readership. There is nothing quite so loud as someone advocating for a zine they love.

Also, zines tend to be published irregularly. Yep, I can buy all of the above and more and not dent my wallet.

What we need is more zines. Truly. There was a time when blogs were all the rage and The Tavern is certainly a good source of gaming news with its finger on the pulse of old school gaming, but it generally can't be read on the train, the bus, while sitting in the doctor's office or taking a bath. Zines, especially those in print, are special and should be cherished.

When Torchlight releases, I want it to be but one of many RPG periodicals from self publishers that the community supports.

I Want more Zines in my Time!  ;)