winchester

Another month late, but I’ve just finished sending out the responses to all of our applicants for the first issue of the zine. If you applied and haven’t received an email from us ([email protected]), then check your junk folder- if that doesn’t work, send us an email and we’ll get it all sorted out.

It was really hard to narrow down the applications we had, especially for some of the more popular positions and with the smaller scale of this first issue in mind. For anybody who didn’t make it this time around, I really do encourage you to keep an eye out for the next time we open up for another issue- it’ll probably be bigger, which means we’ll have more room for more content and more contributors. In any case, thank you to everybody who applied! We really appreciate all the interest in this project.

Right now, we’re waiting to hear back from the people who’ve been accepted for the project. After that’s all sorted out, we’ll start handing out assignments and getting everybody working so we can start to put this thing together.

Okay, so here’s the situation.

Right around when applications were closing in April, I got swept up in a bunch of stuff in my personal life (convention, convention-related illness, final exams, moving back home, getting settled back home, and then starting my spring/summer job), and as a result, this project accidentally got shoved to the back-burner. There was also a factor where I honestly just wasn’t happy with where we stood in terms of applications (we’re still short on a few positions, and I was hoping a few more might roll in if I let it sit for a little while), and I’ve been struggling a lot with the fact that I think I’ve set my expectations too high for the whole thing. Over the past few days, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about this project, and whether or not to continue with it, and I think I’ve finally come up with a workable solution. 

For the first issue of the zine, I think we’re going to scale it back a fair bit from what I was initially planning. Instead of going for a final product of more than 100 pages with a fairly large team of contributors, I believe it makes more sense to treat it like a beta run and make it a much smaller issue; I’m thinking something around maybe 60 pages with a smaller team than I had in mind going in. I think it’s more reasonable to do this smaller version for the first issue just to get a sense of how it runs and how all the different pieces come together before diving in too deep and tackling something that might very well be out of reach for the moment. 

So yes, this project is still going, and as of today, I’m getting back on it and kicking everything into gear. I’m sorry for the radio silence; I got overwhelmed in a lot of ways and wasn’t sure how to come back to this, but I think this is the best way forward, and if all goes well, I think we’ll be able to work up to a bigger final product in future issues.

That being said, here’s what’s going to be happening over the next few days:

I’ll finish going over the applications we currently have. I’ve looked through most of them, but I’m going to do another pass with the smaller scale of this project in mind and try to pick out the best people for the job. 

There are still a couple positions where I’d really like to get another couple people involved. We’ve got an overabundance of writers, but some other positions are definitely lacking (namely, people interested in working on layout for the zine). I’ll be seeing what can be done about that in terms of applications and stuff.

As soon as that’s all sorted out, I’ll send out emails to everybody who applied to let them know where they stand. I’ll make a post once I’ve sent out those emails to make sure everybody is on the same page.

From there, we’ll get to work. Should be just in time to be after the season finale, which works out nicely.

To cover the prize of the physical copy, sell digital versions for people who can't afford the printed one, and use that money to five back to contributors. Adding goods like keychains, stickers and posters can increase the prize of your zine and you can make bundles so people purchase the one that interests them enough and you make enough profit from all of them. If you have never pringed a zine I would recomend you talk to someone who has so you avoid common printing and shipping mistakes.

Hi! I have actually run a project like this before (over at @spnshortstories), so I’ve got some experience in regards to what you’ve mentioned here. 

As a content creator myself, I’m well-aware that it’s important to treat them with respect, and I have every intention to do so. I’m just trying to be transparent and realistic; there’s only so much prediction I’ll be able to do in terms of projected sales, and that’ll be the only factor I can rely on to set a price for the zine. In theory, if we sell more copies, the added profit margin can be lower, but if it doesn’t seem like we’ll sell as many, that profit margin will have to be set higher to get the same amount of total profit at the end of the day. If the prediction about how many copies will sell ends up being wrong, then that’ll affect how much profit we have to split between our contributors. Offering everybody a free copy of the zine makes that profit margin even more vital; at this point, I’m estimating that it’ll be somewhere in the ballpark of $20-$25 USD to print per copy, and since I’m looking at taking roughly 40 people on-board to create content, that’s already at least $800 of profit to cover (without even getting into shipping costs). And if, as you mention, there are options like getting stickers or buttons, those are even more costs to cover (commissions, printing, shipping). 

Like I said in my previous answer, I just don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep if it turns out we only sell a small handful of copies. Especially with this being the very first issue of a pretty ambitious project, there are a lot of unknowns right now and it’s way too early for me to be able to say for certain whether we’ll make enough of a profit to be able to offer everything you mentioned.

I’ll be starting to look over applications ASAP so we can move forward with getting started on actual content- I’m hoping to be finished combing through them all by sometime next week, but I’m just starting my finals and I’ve also managed to contract a nasty case of con plague, so if it takes longer than that, I’ll keep you all updated. At present, we’ve got about 76 applicants, and the most popular position was fic writer. It’s hard to tell based on just numbers whether or not we’ll be able to fill all of our positions with the applications we’ve received so far, but I’ll be able to tell you more about that once I’m done looking over them.

With all that in mind, I’m not going to close the application form just yet. Since it’ll take me a few days to go through them anyways, I’m going to give a few extra days for any stragglers to apply if they want to. 

Hi! I totally get what you mean. Honestly, it first and foremost depends on whether or not the project is successful. I’d like to be able to pay all the contributors, but to that, we have to sell enough copies to have an actual decent profit margin. Assuming we do (which I’m really, really hoping for), then yes, everybody who contributes will be paid for their contribution.

As for receiving a copy of the zine, it again depends on how successful we are. If absolutely nothing else, contributors will get a discounted price to purchase the zine, and if we end up offering a digital version, then they’ll get a copy of that for free.

Basically: I want to pay everybody, and it’ll be great if we can also get everyone involved a copy of the zine for free, but I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep if we end up not being able to afford it. All of it depends on how many copies we sell at the end of the day- it just wouldn’t make a lot of sense to me if we, say, only make enough for everybody to get $0.50 for their contribution, and still try to stick to that, since things like PayPal transaction fees would just render that share pretty much moot.

I hope that answered your question, and if you’d like any more clarification or have any other questions, feel free to ask!

There’s just one week left for people to join on for the first issue of Winchester: a Sam & Dean Fanzine! We’re looking for writers (of fic, poetry, meta, and other stuff), artists, graphic designers, and more to contribute to what we hope can become a recurring fanzine with a wide variety of content, all focused on Sam, Dean, and their relationship (brotherly or otherwise).

If you’re interested in participating, you can apply by filling out this form. Applications are open until April 10th (unless otherwise stated). If you want to know more or have any questions, here are some links you can check out:

About // FAQ // Themes // Original post // Find us on LiveJournal // Timeline info

Signal-boosting is a huge help right now so we can get as many people involved as possible, and make this project a success, so please reblog this post to spread the word, and make sure to follow the blog for more info and updates!

If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message here or an email at [email protected]. Thank you, and have a fantastic day!

Hi! The zine will cost money, yes- first and foremost to cover printing and shipping costs. If it gets enough traction and enough people are interested, then I would like to be able to pay all of the contributors, as well- I just don’t want to go down that road if they would only end up getting $0.50 each or something silly like that. So basically, if we pass a threshold of interest/potential sales (which I’ve yet to determine; it’ll have to wait until I know exactly how many people are involved), then I’ll add a profit margin to the cost of the zine. If not, it’ll strictly cover the cost of printing and shipping.

We’re still looking for all kinds of fans to be a part of the first issue of our zine, including writers, artists, graphic designers, and more! Here’s a quick run-down on the project:

focused on Sam, Dean, and their relationship (with a small side of J2 news and con coverage)

both gen and Wincest content are welcome (but everything will be rated T or lower)

containing a wide variety of content from several different creators (including fic, art, edits, meta, other articles, con stuff, episode coverage, and more)

all issues will be based on a flower theme

first issue’s theme is the daffodil

will be put together into a full-colour, physical fanzine that people will be able to buy (probably around 100-150 pages)

if all goes well, more issues will follow!

If you’re interested in participating, you can apply by filling out this form. Applications are open until April 10th (unless otherwise stated). If you want to know more, here are some links you can check out:

About // FAQ // Themes // Original post // Find us on LiveJournal // Timeline info

Signal-boosting is much appreciated so we can get as many people involved as possible, and make this project a success!

Yes, all meta (as well as fic and art) should take some inspiration from the current theme. We won’t be taking any previously-published fic, but if you’ve got an unpublished one that fits with the theme, then it shouldn’t be a problem.

I applied to participate 3 weeks ago! Hope to hear from you!