Kickstarter’s February initiative, Zine Quest, promises to feature a variety of RPG zines to crowdfund. Since its announcement, we’ve been gathering requirements, talking to publishers about the projects they’ve planned for February, and written the first in a series of articles to raise awareness. To that end, we spoke with the project’s originator, Luke Crane, Head of Games @Kickstarter and owner of the Burning Wheel, a tabletop gaming publisher responsible for the Mouse Guard RPG, Dungeon World, and, of course, Burning Wheel. We asked Luke a variety of questions about the initiative and what he hopes to accomplish with the project.
Egg Embry & Sean Hillman (ENW): Getting right into it, do you have a sense of the size of the publisher pool that plans to participate in Zine Quest?
Luke Crane (LC): I’ve talked to a lot of folks who are interested, but it’s hard to say who will launch projects. I have seen some very exciting previews though.
ENW: What actions do publishers need to take to drive their RPG zine's to succeed?
LC: This initiative is meant to be an easy pitch. Zines take some work, but not as much work as a full-color RPG hardback. You know? I hope to see modest goals of between $1000-$2000 with rewards set around $10. Publishers should make this one easy on themselves!
ENW: Is this part of a larger program to bring in even more RPG business to Kickstarter?
LC: I’ve been personally tracking and tagging RPGs on Kickstarter for over six years. According to my research, there have been over 1,500 RPG projects, to which backers have pledged more than $65 million. These projects have an incredible 78% funding success rate. So, it is more to acknowledge the already amazing RPG community that exists on the platform.
ENW: Are there specific types of RPG zines that you hope to see?
LC: I hope to see a good range, everything from complete games to articles, from comics about RPGs to bestiaries. I hope folks take the chance to do some weird stuff.
ENW: Is there a threshold that would mark this as a successful initiative for you?
LC: My threshold is if I get to support a few creators making weird stuff, and to add some RPG ephemera to my collection.
ENW: On our open call article, EN World forum user, callinostros, asked if this initiative would only apply to print material? Would PDF-only or PODs count for this initiative?
LC: Digital rewards count, but they still have to be in the format of a zine (no cheating with color interior art!).
ENW: Where did the inspiration come from for this initiative?
LC: I love the games community on Kickstarter. I wanted to find something that acknowledged the creative energy of the backers and creators, without asking for everyone to do too much work. Zine-format projects seemed like the sweet spot there.
ENW: Do you have a favorite fanzine either from today or from back in the 80s or 90s?
LC: It’s not quite old-school cool, but Vincent Baker’s Kill Puppies for Satan is a landmark achievement in zine-format RPGs.
ENW: Is there a specific word or phrase Zine Quest participants need to add to their project so it can be "counted"?
LC: Folks should send their project links to games@kickstarter.com. We’ll tag them with #zinequest so they’re all added to the Zine Quest page.
EN WORLD (ENW): Are there any resources for publishers that you’d like to point out?
LC: If folks are looking for a good zine printer, I’ve used SmartPress in the past. Lots of options for cover stocks and very reasonable prices.
ENW: Any chance of a Burning Wheel zine?
LC: Would that I had time.
Writer’s Note: If you plan to publish an RPG zine for Kickstarter’s Zine Quest, please contact Sean (here) or Egg (here) to share any details about your zine so we can help spread the word in February.
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps! This article was contributed by Sean Hillman (SMHWorlds) and Egg Embry as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program.
Egg Embry & Sean Hillman (ENW): Getting right into it, do you have a sense of the size of the publisher pool that plans to participate in Zine Quest?
Luke Crane (LC): I’ve talked to a lot of folks who are interested, but it’s hard to say who will launch projects. I have seen some very exciting previews though.
ENW: What actions do publishers need to take to drive their RPG zine's to succeed?
LC: This initiative is meant to be an easy pitch. Zines take some work, but not as much work as a full-color RPG hardback. You know? I hope to see modest goals of between $1000-$2000 with rewards set around $10. Publishers should make this one easy on themselves!
ENW: Is this part of a larger program to bring in even more RPG business to Kickstarter?
LC: I’ve been personally tracking and tagging RPGs on Kickstarter for over six years. According to my research, there have been over 1,500 RPG projects, to which backers have pledged more than $65 million. These projects have an incredible 78% funding success rate. So, it is more to acknowledge the already amazing RPG community that exists on the platform.
ENW: Are there specific types of RPG zines that you hope to see?
LC: I hope to see a good range, everything from complete games to articles, from comics about RPGs to bestiaries. I hope folks take the chance to do some weird stuff.
ENW: Is there a threshold that would mark this as a successful initiative for you?
LC: My threshold is if I get to support a few creators making weird stuff, and to add some RPG ephemera to my collection.
ENW: On our open call article, EN World forum user, callinostros, asked if this initiative would only apply to print material? Would PDF-only or PODs count for this initiative?
LC: Digital rewards count, but they still have to be in the format of a zine (no cheating with color interior art!).
ENW: Where did the inspiration come from for this initiative?
LC: I love the games community on Kickstarter. I wanted to find something that acknowledged the creative energy of the backers and creators, without asking for everyone to do too much work. Zine-format projects seemed like the sweet spot there.
ENW: Do you have a favorite fanzine either from today or from back in the 80s or 90s?
LC: It’s not quite old-school cool, but Vincent Baker’s Kill Puppies for Satan is a landmark achievement in zine-format RPGs.
ENW: Is there a specific word or phrase Zine Quest participants need to add to their project so it can be "counted"?
LC: Folks should send their project links to games@kickstarter.com. We’ll tag them with #zinequest so they’re all added to the Zine Quest page.
EN WORLD (ENW): Are there any resources for publishers that you’d like to point out?
LC: If folks are looking for a good zine printer, I’ve used SmartPress in the past. Lots of options for cover stocks and very reasonable prices.
ENW: Any chance of a Burning Wheel zine?
LC: Would that I had time.
Writer’s Note: If you plan to publish an RPG zine for Kickstarter’s Zine Quest, please contact Sean (here) or Egg (here) to share any details about your zine so we can help spread the word in February.
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps! This article was contributed by Sean Hillman (SMHWorlds) and Egg Embry as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program.
Kickstarter will give an additional promotional push, sites like EN World will write articles that share your work, and there will be more focus on RPG zines as a product during that time period. 
