The Wandersong Zine
Wandersong created by Wishes Unlimited
Featuring over 50 artists, there is illustration, literary analysis, needle felt, crochet, written fiction and poetry, musical composition, recipes based on Wandersong, and even interviews from the game devs! Purchasable in print or digital format, we have merchandise and digital goodies too!For questions or concerns please email the Zine Director at [email protected] or send a message on our Zine Discord.
Our physical run is now over, here are pictures of the merchandise that we offered previously. Currently only the digital zine is available for download.You may still snag some leftover merch from the ko-fi store of the zine director, artsycatnip
2.5" Clear Acrylic Keychain featuring Mask from Wandersong
2.5" Clear Acrylic Keychain of Bard from Wandersong
2.5" Clear Acrylic Keychain of Miriam from Wandersong
2.5" Clear Acrylic Keychain of Miriam from Wandersong
2.5" Clear Acrylic Charm of Bard from Wandersong
2.5" Clear Acrylic Charm of Audrey from Wandersong
Proceeds will go directly to contributors. Orders ship out from New York, NY.
Zine Runner and Art Director
Elena Barbosa
I am Rae, also known as artsycatnip on twitter. I'm a graphic designer and illustrator. The zine was a passion project stewing in my head for almost an entire year, and I'm glad to finally make it a reality!
Zine moderator and advisor
James R. Berri
Also known as Tricky! I'm an jack-of-all-trades artist. Illustrator, Animator, Designer, Comic Artist-- you name it, I've dabbled in it! Originally added as a contributor; I've been a longtime fan of Wandersong and I'm absolutely cheesed to be a part of something as wonderful as this zine!
ABOUT
What is Wandersong?
Wandersong is a videogame created by Greg Lobanov in 2018 where you play as a funny little bard accompanied by their witchy best friend, Miriam! It's a wonderful game about the true meaning of identity. The purpose of this zine is to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the games release.
What is a "fanzine"?
A fanzine is a book (either physically, digitally, or both!) made by fans for the purpose of expressing their love of the media in question through art, writings, comics and other means
What is in this fanzine?
The zine features various forms of art from digital illustration to hand crafted crochet and needle felt. There is recipe creation, music making, and literary works. The zine intends to show off the love and care the fans still have for this game, as well as to be a celebration and fun collaborative project!
What if I'd like to make a fanzine?
I think if you'd like to make a zine that's a great idea! I'd like to use this space to talk a little bit about my experience as a moderator, and some of the behind the scenes of this particular zine.
The Wandersong Zine Schedule
| Date | |
|---|---|
| November 2022 | Zine introduction and planning |
| December 10, 2022 | Applications Opened |
| January 2nd, 2023 | Applications Closed |
| January 3rd-February 5th | Contributor Discussion planning |
| February 6th | Contributor Assignments sent out |
| February 20th | First Check In |
| March 17th | Second Check in |
| April 10th | Third Check in |
| May 10th | Fourth Check in |
| May 25th | Fifth Check in |
| June 25th | Sixth Check in |
| July 18th | Contributor Deadline |
| July 31st | Pre orders opened |
| August | Merch Order and Printing (projection based) |
| September 2nd | Pre Orders closed |
| September-> | Production and Packaging, place extra merch orders during this time |
| October | Shipping out pre orders and contributor bundles |
| November 12th - February 27th, 2024 | Leftover sales |
I was the main moderator for many aspects of the zine, including artistically, ordering merchandise, and shipment wise, I also contributed artwork. I was 100% ready willing and able to put this much work into the zine, but please pace yourself and be kind if you aren't at the capacity to handle that much of a workload. I would say handling this zine was very much like having a second job.
MODERATOR ADVICE
Pick your co-moderators wisely, chances are you won't be able to do everything on your own so please pick people you can trust to help you
Know exactly what everyone's roles are, who is contributing what, when, how, and be prepared to explain why
STAY ORGANIZED. Seriously, don't trust yourself to remember every little thing, even if organizing is tedious, it will help you run the whole project accordingly
Pick a realistic timeline, even our timeline/schedule was very tight, the only reason a lot of it worked out is because I spent a lot of my personal time working on this zine, as it was a passion project, but I wouldn't actually recommend people copy this behavior for their own health
Be prepared for inevitable hiccups. Mistakes happen, people drop the project or merchandise gets damaged, take it in stride and have a backup plan, or stay calm and create a back up plan for when something doesn't work out the first time
Know your stuff! People will look to you for guidance and to answer questions, be honest and trust that people just want a good product as much as you do
FINANCES
I've actually taken the liberty of making a finance sheet that's viewable (as in no personal data revealed) for the purposes of talking about the finances! I kept this up the entire time I got ANYTHING for the zine, I had all receipts accounted for and regularly checked in with the other moderator and with the contributors so that they weren't kept in the dark about what was going on behind the scenes financially. This isn't an obligation, but I liked doing it to 1. cover my own butt of any accusations of mishandling money and 2. to make the contributors feel like we were part of a team, and not just me bossing them around!
If you'd like your merchandise to be done quickly then you'll have to order projection based and make additional orders later, otherwise it will take a long time, this may not be feasible depending on the project
ALWAYS ACCOUNT FOR SHIPPING, do not sugarcoat shipping, it is going to get expensive fast, especially if you ship internationally
Always account for gross vs. actual income, gross income is taken before taxes and fees, and is NOT indicative of your real total, do not make any promises based on gross income or it will come from YOUR personal budget later
Speaking of budget, you should have one that you're willing to spend for the zine, people wanting refunds happens, shipping mistakes happen, extra orders happens, you should have some extra money set aside for these kinds of problems
I personally used Ko-fi for the storefront because it's what I know, and I have had Paypal for several years so I'd like to think I have fairly good repertoire with them. They do take a fee but not when you pay for Ko-fi Gold (However Paypal will always take a fee, as well as Stripe). I've also seen people use BigCartel for their zines, but I don't personally have experience with it.
SHIPPING
My gosh! This one was tough, I had been shipping before because I actually have my own online store, so it wasn't as difficult for me to figure out, if you've never shipped anything before I do NOT recommend learning while running a zine. Get an experienced shipping moderator or experiment prior to shipping for your zine. P.S. I used Pirateship to ship all of my zines, including internationally
Before any shipment, you have to think about PACKAGING. Think of how you'd like to receive a package, you probably wouldn't want it thrown in there with no protection. Be sure to add some kind of cushion, and if you'd like some extra flair then buy backing cards and sleeves to keep everything prim and proper in the package during shipment
Always add insurance to your orders, most of the time you won't necessarily be able to use it, but I've noticed that mail carriers treat your package with more care when you add insurance. This is ESPECIALLY important in international shipments
Account for shipping materials in your finances, they are expensive!
Weigh your items correctly, it can be pretty annoying to have a package cost adjusted for the weight later so be sure you do it as close as you can! A kitchen scale is fine, just make sure you can read the numbers!
USPS is more expensive than UPS, HOWEVER USPS offers a FREE package pickup service to most buildings, so if you have a lot of packages it might be the best option for you, if a post office or UPS drop off location isn't easily accessible
Always research your options, you should know EXACTLY what service you're using and what it does, plus what it covers. Some shipping options have included insurance! Be sure to read and research!
COMMUNICATION
This seems pretty straightforward but judging from what I've heard from my own contributors and others, this is a big hurdle! When it comes to communication, to be honest I was probably a bit too much and overstated a lot of things to contributors, but again I wanted this to be a team effort rather than me telling them what to do. You should be honest with your contributors and you shouldn't be afraid to come to them if there is a problem or something that needs to be adjusted. Be honest and open, but don't be rude and do not think that everyone in the zine has it as their priority because you'll just be bitter and disappointed of your own volition.
Stay organized here too, always keep a record of all communications, if you need templates to send out acceptance or rejection letters then get templates.
Have a reliable method of communication with your contributors. If email works best then email them, but having a group discord where we all shared critique and feedback was what helped our zine personally
Reach out, reach out, reach out! Your contributors might not have the zine as the first thing on their minds, but that doesn't mean they won't talk about it when prompted. Don't wait for them to come to you, YOU should make the effort to check in with your contributors and moderators with issues regarding the zine
PROMOTION
This one was kind of hard for me too! I mean I'm a graphic designer so making the little graphics for the socials wasn't necessarily difficult, but they were pretty low quality and they were mostly for information! I didn't personally worry about how they looked because I was more concerned with how the zine itself looked. But having a nice cohesive theme between all communication can be pretty nice, so keep that in mind! We got pretty lucky since Greg Lobanov shared the zine on the Wandersong twitter, but that's cause this is a smaller zine and he's cool, you may not get that chance!
Once again... organization! always keep a schedule for when a post needs to go up to promote your work, or when you need to nudge someone to share something or for when you have the time to make a graphic for socials!
Make your promotional cards legible, think about accessibility too!
Don't be afraid to reach out to larger creators or to your contributors for help in promoting the zine, most people will happily agree!
CONTENT
The most important part, huh? What goes into the zine! Okay I'll be honest, I barely looked at zines before I decided to make one, but that didn't stop me, and it shouldn't stop you either! I wanted something that was specifically tailored to Wandersong, that's why I had so many categories. The categories were: Page artist, Spot artist, Merchandise Artist, Craft Artist, Digital Artist, Musician, Literary Analyst, and Writer. That's quite a lot of categories! But I'll break each one down:
Page artists were in charge of a full page illustration,
Spot artists were in charge of a smaller illustration which had a small stand alone background or no background, and were added as an accompaniment to other pieces
Merchandise artists were in charge of creating artwork for our merchandise
Craft artists were artists who were in charge of non traditional art, things like our needlefelt and crochet, as well as our recipe makers, things that are very much still art but aren't illustration
Digital artists were artists who were in charge of creating digital only pieces that were also used as digital merchandise for the zine
Musicians were just what they're called! They created original compositions which were used in promotional work and available as digital merchandise
Literary Analysts were writers who didn't write fanfic, but rather chose a part of Wandersong and wrote an analytical piece, something to read that would tickle your brain while you read it, and got you thinking more deeply, these were accompanied by art from a fellow contributor
Writers were called writers but were specifically fiction writers! These writers wrote stories for the zine, accompanied by art from a fellow contributor!
Personally I wanted something that celebrated the community, it doesn't have as much art as a usual fanzine would but that's because I was thinking of the work as a whole piece rather than individual pages you look at. I wanted it to be an experience rather than just something pretty. Not to throw shade at other zines at all, I just wanted something that encompassed a lot of different little things, and that would make up one big thing!
It was definitely not easy picking contributors, and we had about 123 applications total for the zine, I gave myself a month to look through applications and decide what best fit the aesthetic of wandersong, as well as gauging on a personal standpoint who would work well together in a team. This was possible for me as a prominent fandom figure, but this might not be possible for everyone.
Broken record but ORGANIZATION, the actual application will be tailored to your specific project, so I wouldn't feel comfortable giving advice on it other than do a lot of research into questionnaires, but after you DO have an application make sure you stay organized and properly categorize each application that comes through so you can sort them later
I can't exactly tell you what to choose, art is subjective, keep in mind your theme, if you have one, and don't pick people you know you won't be able to work with, unless you can put those differences aside
Always ask for examples/portfolios, and remind people that they should be putting their best most passionate work, regardless of theme, as an example, since that is what you hope they'll bring to the zine too!
For the layout, I personally designed it at the very same time that artists were working on their pieces, using their sketches as placeholders for final artwork later. This helped me work through what information I wanted to present, and in what order. It helps tell a story because you're designing AS the content is being made.
Give your text enough breathing room on a page, and keep in mind that printers will cut off a huge portion of your bleed so ALWAYS tell your contributors to include enough bleed in their artworks
Design with a goal in mind, the layout is just as much a piece of art as the actual content in it, don't just put anything together willy nilly or it will LOOK like that. Good design isn't noticed but bad design pops out at you quickly
When in doubt, use a theme so everything looks cohesive. Using a recognizable color palette really helps with this
Try to diversify your fonts...if you use the default fonts for everything, even though it doesn't match your theming, it will look tacky, google has a lot of free fonts that work well and are available almost universally
Have fun! Design may not be for everyone, so if you're not having fun and you hate everything about it, I would urge you to consider getting a moderator who does like design and can help you bring your vision to life!
MERCHANDISE
HAH I almost forgot one of the most important parts of making the zine, we had the go ahead from Greg Lobanov to monetize the zine, and he's even in it, which is so cool! When it comes to merchandise I tried to pick artists that I felt had a style nicely suited to eye popping merch. I was also open to things shifting as time went on, two of our illustrators asked to make keychains, and then those ended up being one of the most popular products we have! We had such lovely art that I turned some of them into posters! It's an ever shifting process that only gets better when you ask your team for their feedback.
For the zine we had 11x17" posters of the cover plus chosen artworks from the zine printed, Three kiss cut 5x5cm stickers, Three 1x1.5" connected charms, Three 3x4" trading cards, Six Unique 2.5" keychains, and One A5 sticker sheet with 7 designsWe specifically went with what would be easiest to manufacture and design because we knew we were going to work with a limited budget, having such a small fanbase after all!Our manufacturers:
Books printed by Digital Imprint Academic Co. Ltd
All posters, postcards, and mini prints printed by Fireball Printing co.
Trading cards printed by 4Over4
Pastel and clear acrylic charms, clear stickers, and sticker sheets manufactured by Zap!Creatives (Compilation Ltd.)
Because everyone loves reviews I'll say my experience with these manufacturers! Digital Imprint was great, they gave me a detailed quote and sent me a proof copy before charging me, which was greatly appreciated. I did have to be a bit stern about the bleed but it was better on the final copies than the proof. As for the print quality, I thought it was great! I particularly enjoyed the quick turnaround that they had, and only a few books had some cover damage, but the interiors were mostly all excellent, and were shipped safely. As a note, I would have had less errors on the cover if I hadn't chosen foil printing haha. Digital Imprint is based in the UK so I did still have to account for that shipping cost, but I found the cost was actually cheaper to print with them and even plus shipping versus printing what I wanted at a place locally, plus Digital Imprint is known to print zines/smaller publications.Fireball Printing is also excellent, I particularly love their poster deal which is 50 posters for 15 USD, the shipping is a bit on the expensive side but the posters print great and it's a close option for me, being based in Pennsylvania, but CatPrint is also well known for printing very high quality good posters. Fireball also had a summer deal at the time of printing so we got postcards, mini prints, and backing cards from them. The colors were great and the price point too!4Over4 is actually a local printing press for me, they're based in Queens, NY. I chose them because I could go physically see proofs as well as pick these up, and I knew they wouldn't be very heavy so it was an option for me. They mostly do prints for business but I quite liked the turnaround time and price of their service!Zap!Creatives is a great manufacturer, I am Zap's biggest fan LOL. They are more on the expensive side when it comes to manufacturers but I think it is worth it, they have excellent customer service, always update you on the process of your order, and they offer courier shipping so your item gets to you quickly as well. I am always stunned by the quality of their work, personally I think it's lovely and I enjoy getting their products. My favorite is the pastel acrylic charms they offer, but their clear acrylic is also lovely. I also prefer gloss finish, their matte finish tends to wear down more quickly.Overall, you should check places local to you, but don't put yourself out of money just because you want to support local business. It's always good to support local business especially where you can and where something might be more convenient (like not having to pay for shipping when you can just go pick up an order) but you don't want to be paying too much out of pocket for your zine, that isn't fair to you! Always price check and if you ever need a list of manufacturers, consider asking other zine directors for theirs!
CONCLUSION
PHEW...if you actually read this all then...thanks!! I had a lot of fun with the zine, but it was also a lot of incredibly difficult work, each step felt more difficult than the last, the applications, sending out assignments, actually trying to wrangle artists into check ins, designing the layout, getting it printed, packaging all the items, and of course the shipping... Overall I'm extremely proud of what we all accomplished and I think each artist came out a stronger artist than before the zine. Are there things I would have done differently? Perhaps! But it was my first zine, and I wouldn't change that for anything! Thank you so much for reading, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out!
CONTRIBUTORS
Dana P.
Arc
Aimu
Andy
Del
PC
Cricket
Ratchet
Allie
Dorukcoo
Fae
Felix
Bea
Adante
Pastel
Emma
Andrew
Sheb
James Berri
Wendi
Jenny
Buster
Lunar
Ult
Savvy
Multi
Abby
Martin
DuoBon
Ria
Fleur
Fern
Samosa
QU
Blue
Iterator
Miyo
Sam
Sara Devoe
Scoliwings
Mebo
Mime
Leaf
Ratto
Angel
Jetti
Nim
Taylor R. Sebree
Brian
Hunter