PCE the book

[benlefou]

 Hello. I just wanted to gain a bit of insight as to what you guys think about the idea of self publishing a physical book all about the PCE. I have seen that the '30 years' book was abandoned and I am aware of the French 'la bilbe' but I feel the urge to just start a pce based project, it may ultimately be doomed to fail but I would love to try. I have a background in graphic design and was thinking of starting work on a book, it would likely feature sections on card games, CD-ROM and super. Maybe some history, a collector's list? I would love some input on what the community would like to see in it. I am very open to collaborating. The idea is to work on the book and then once I have something maybe try to crowd fund the printing of it via kick-starter. Even if the project fails I would release it as a PDF.

What do you guys think? Is it a worthwhile venture? What would you want to feature inside?

Thanks.

[esteban]

Good luck, I like the idea. Even though I will be Mr. Negative below, I really do wish you the best of luck. Anything you work on, IMHO, can be a fun/meaningful experience, even if you abort it

The journey is the key. The destination is incidental



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The problem is.....


Content.





Even if you acquired fantastic scans for a lot of stuff.... What will you say about It? What can you say that *isn't* banal and trite? What can you say that *is* refreshing and new?

Collectors can suck my left one: there are websites to use to track games.

Then again, an illustrated collector's guide might be the best idea (since collecting has a lot of appeal these days)!

I'm not trolling... The scope and purpose of the book depends on who your audience is (and that is a conscious decision).

For example, one infamous collector actually documented all the random ephemera (stickers/posters/suppositories) that came with TG-16 games. I thought that was pretty darn neat and I loved the level of detail. I'm not a collector, but I absolutely love knowing all those details/trivia. So, a "checklist" will be nice for some folks, but an "illustrated" checklist would be more broadly appealing (IMHO). Websites are a better medium, though, for this sort of project, since they can be updated and revised instantly....

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The problem with folks volunteering content (reviews/blurbs/etc.) is that it will be of varying quality/accuracy/perspective.

Of course, that is assuming folks actually follow-through with pledges to create something.

[Otaking]

This is something I've considered doing myself in one form or another since 1993, back then being inspired by the Richard Gibbs PC Engine Guide Book.
I love printed fanzines and fan made books so yeah I'd definitely back your book on a kick starter.

Regards content, just a big collection of reviews would be great. I good reference would be Sunteam Paul's fanzine he did, I think he did it perfectly, a nice balance of facts, opinion, memories and humour.
http://www.pcengine.co.uk/gamer/

[benlefou]

Thanks for the responses, the idea of doing it is just for the love of it and to see a project through, it's always nice to have a hard copy to read and admire, the thought of a zine is also interesting to me. Like I said, I will start the project and see where it goes, there's nothing to lose, if something comes of it and it gets enough backers to print then that would be great, if not the work can be published digitally and some people may get enjoyment from it.

[esteban]

Thanks for the responses, the idea of doing it is just for the love of it and to see a project through, it's always nice to have a hard copy to read and admire, the thought of a zine is also interesting to me. Like I said, I will start the project and see where it goes, there's nothing to lose, if something comes of it and it gets enough backers to print then that would be great, if not the work can be published digitally and some people may get enjoyment from it.

Absolutely

I think that you might have fun if you work on individual "pieces" of the book... perhaps posting content here (or on a blog) and see if the resulting comments/feedback help fuel you for the next "piece"...

You will feel a sense of accomplishment/progress...

Of course, don't do this if you are afraid that it will ruin the "surprise" ...

Perhaps a mixture of keeping some stuff private and sharing other stuff to keep the momentum going

[benlefou]

Yes definitely, this will be the way I go on this project.

Would a zine be better than a book? Or maybe focusing a book on a specific genre within the pce library, eg. STG's.

[Otaking]

Would a zine be better than a booK?

A new printed PC Engine fanzine would be absolutely awesome.
Hyper Play the printed RPG fanzine in my signature has done really well, and has a real solid following now.

You could do a printed fanzine that was say 40 pages each issue (common fanzine size)  and then after a while compile all the reviews into a guide book, this is what I always thought I would do if I'd done it.

[benlefou]

Would a zine be better than a booK?

A new printed PC Engine fanzine would be absolutely awesome.
Hyper Play the printed RPG fanzine in my signature has done really well, and has a real solid following now.

You could do a printed fanzine that was say 40 pages each issue (common fanzine size)  and then after a while compile all the reviews into a guide book, this is what I always thought I would do if I'd done it.

Awesome, congratulations. How do you fund the zine? Do you pay the initial costs then just recoup via the sales? I remember a 'Shmup' zine a few years back that one guy managed to get printed using a preorder system via PayPal.

The idea of compiling a book from the zines is great! Then at least people know the quality and what content they will be getting.i think this may be the route to take, how did you get your zine out there?

[exodus]

Esteban, to answer your content question, I think if kevin gifford had kept going with his I <3 the PC Engine series, that would've made an amazing book. still would! http://magweasel.com/category/i-love-the-pc-engine/

[benlefou]

Esteban, to answer your content question, I think if kevin gifford had kept going with his I <3 the PC Engine series, that would've made an amazing book. still would! http://magweasel.com/category/i-love-the-pc-engine/

Cool read, thanks!

[esteban]

Esteban, to answer your content question, I think if kevin gifford had kept going with his I <3 the PC Engine series, that would've made an amazing book. still would! http://magweasel.com/category/i-love-the-pc-engine/

Agreed X11,000

I am so bummed that he stopped cold... No hint that he was going to just drop it. I had naively assumed he would revisit it at a least a few times a year

I saved all those posts years ago... They are too valuable to discard. Hopefully my hard drive doesn't fail...

[exodus]

yeah, I've talked to him and he just ran out of time. I want to persuade him to continue!

[benlefou]

I've been thinking about making the first issue a PCE STG zine, then if it pans out do the second one about platformers, ect.. I've done a mock up of a contents page with some ideas on what I want to feature. What do you guys think?

[Otaking]

Looking good, I like the sound of those articles.

Awesome, congratulations.

Apologies I should've said Hyper Play is not my zine. I've always been a fan of printed fanzines and from ever since when I first saw that Hyper Play was coming out I just wanted to show my support. Plus it's inspired from from my all time favourite magazine, the legendary Super play.

How do you fund the zine? Do you pay the initial costs then just recoup via the sales?

The way Hyper Play did it was for their first pilot issue for a certain period at the start they offered it for a a price of "pay what you like". They did this through eBay, there was a suggested price and buyers had to pay the postage but could pay whatever amount they liked for the zine. I was very skeptical of this idea when I first heard about it, but actually it turned out to work very well for them (Link), I think it got the zine out to a lot more people and helped towards gaining it a good following at the start. This idea I think would only work though with a simple black and white on printer paper zine. If it was full colour it would be too expensive to not charge fully for it.

With Hyper Play right at the start they were printing it themselves and then quickly as demand grew they got them printed at a printers. With the Pink Bullets Fanzine he took preorder payments then he went and got it printed after.
I personally would go with the Hyper Play method, it all depends on whether you're going black and white or printed full colour.

Two key points I personally would make would be.

1. IMO make it print only and stick with it. I noticed with Hyper Play lots of people were asking him to sell a PDF of the zine and he stuck to his guns and said it was strictly available in print form only. I think something in print holds much more value, in this day of disposable media people just lightly digest digital media and move on and half forget about it. If the zine is available to download as PDF what separates it from the millions of online blogs and articles. Print gives it a USP and dedicated readership.

2. Network like crazy. I think one of the main factors of Hyper Play's success was that he networked loads on Social Media. It get's it out there targets directly your desired readership.

I realise I mentioned Hyper Play a lot there but that's because they along with Pink Bullets are the only recent print fanzines I'm aware of. I am hoping they're the start of a massive resurgence of printed zines.

[benlefou]

Thanks for the information Otaking.

The Hyper Play approach sounds like a good one. I shall take onboard all your advice and start to put together a few aritcles, build up a network and see if I can push this zine out there!