WoW Fanzine Project Outline
What It Is and What I Intend To Do
Introduction
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times to many people over the years. World of Warcraft players are some of the most creative people I've ever encountered, and in the last six or seven years on Twitter alone, I've met hundreds of people who have continually created stuff that has blown me away.
And I'm not talking about just roleplayers, either. Look at all the Machinima videos you can find on YouTube, the countless fanfiction stories people have written about their characters and the literal mountains of fan art produced of people's OCs, characters, and more. Massive in-game events have gone on, and you can't go a holiday season without players organizing some project that brings players together to hang out and play and allows people to donate to charities.
There's just something about the game that sparks creativity within people.
That's what this Fanzine Project is all about as well: Showcasing that captured creativity in one easy-to-read outlet. There's a lot of creative potential there that people like to tap into, and while the game itself tends to get flak from time to time based on Lore Changes, Retcons, and even Gameplay changes, a lot of people still love the World of Azeroth and want to explore its many depths. Some people even want to put their own spin on the lore and change things up to tell stories that the gameworld hadn't yet explored.
In the end, that's what this Fanzine Project is going to be all about: Showing off the talent that Warcraft brings out in people and showcasing art, stories, screenshots, and more from people who want to show what they're capable of, have fun, reach an audience, or feel more confident in themselves and their art and what they're capable of while we celebrate a franchise that we all love and play on.
Now, a few things that should be explained a little bit more in-depth to clarify what this project will be like in the end. What I've already produced and showcased is more or less a "Proof of Concept" that shows what the project will eventually look like, or at least shows that it can be done even though other Fanzine projects have been created in the past.
Goals
I want to discuss several goals for this project, mostly because I feel that it can be fun to revisit several times a year perennially, depending on how much interest there is in it. Typically, Fanzines are organized, written, edited, and produced, and then nothing else comes of it for months, if not years.
Yet with something as simple as this, where it's open to people of all skill levels and is meant more to be a sort of community resource, I feel there's potential for it to be something that can be cycled in just as much as any other World of Warcraft event (Roleplaying or not).
Here are a few goals I've written down, though keep in mind that these will likely change depending on how much work goes into them or how much interest there really is.
1) 3-4 Month Submission Cycles
If the first issue sees a fair amount of positive feedback, and there's an interest in seeing a quarterly Fanzine to showcase contributors' creativity, it's entirely possible to create something that comes out on a 3-4-month cycle. Maybe even average out to 3 "issues" a year. At a minimum, I'd imagine an issue consists of 5 stories, 5-6 art pieces, and 5-6 screenshots. I say at a minimum because I'm currently in a few Discord servers that see that produced by roleplayers in a week, so it's feasible to have interested contributors hit the minimum goal quickly.
2) Showcase Many Different Artists
While it would be great to have repeat writers and artists return because they like having an audience, one of my biggest goals with this Fanzine Project is to give writers and artists a platform to showcase their work. In fact, on Twitter alone, I see players who aren't even on RP servers create art or write, and I want to make sure that this project reaches more than just the usual roleplay circles that I often see.
3) Help Artists Improve Their Craft
Unfortunately, many creatives I see feel that they can't 'compete' with other people for arbitrary reasons. So another goal of this Fanzine project is to give those people a chance to get something published - albeit freely published and given away for free - so that they can see their work alongside others to get a sense of accomplishment and confidence in themselves. This way, it creates a space for them to feel comfortable writing about a subject or world that they enjoy and realize that there's nothing to be afraid of when putting their content out there for others to see.
4) Connect Audiences With New Artists
There's an adage in publishing that says, "There's an audience for everyone," which is quite true. It doesn't matter how well you write, draw, or create. People will be drawn to artists for many reasons, and there are fans of certain artists who enjoy the stuff they make, no matter their skill level. A part of this project is to showcase not only established writers and artists to a potential new audience but also to allow new creatives to get their foot out of the door and introduce themselves to people who might like their writing/art style and want to see more from them.
5) Create Networking Opportunities
The art world is all about networking with other artists. It doesn't matter whether you draw, write, or anything else. It's just fun to be a part of a group of other creatives and even collaborate. That's a secondary goal to this Fanzine Project outside of just showing off the creative side of the Warcraft Fandom: Connecting artists with other artists and collaborating to produce something even better.
6) Be An Outlet
Often, people don't seek to improve their skills, create commissions, or publish their works. Sometimes, people want to create for the sake of creating, and there is nothing wrong with that. That's what makes art a lot of fun: Seeing what other people do when there's no monetary incentive behind it other than for the act of creation itself. A lot of amazing pieces have been done just for the love of it, and it feels good to have a place to showcase what they can do.
7) Enjoy The Warcraft Franchise
As I stated in my Roleplay Writing Guide (Which you can find HERE ), Warcraft as a franchise has been around for a very long time and doesn't seem to be slowing down. While many people take issue with some of the art, lore, or gameplay directions, many people simply just love the setting for what it is. It doesn't matter if you roleplay or not; there's something about the game, and it's a world that draws people in, and wanting to contribute to their favorite franchise in some way is enough for some people to want to get involved.
8) Always Free
I don't intend to ever charge for this at all. While I'll ask contributors to provide a link (if they want) to their social media, websites, commission sheets, or anything else, the overall project will never cost money because the entire goal is to be a collection of stories, art, and screenshots submitted by other people. While all the intellectual rights to Warcraft belong to Microsoft, Activision, and Blizzard, all of the art, stories, and more belong to the people who submitted them, and it's not right to profit off of other people's work. Plus, it's illegal and unethical.
Hence why, it's encouraged to share it far and wide. Share it on Discord, link it on social media, or if it's on Google Drive, make a personal copy. It's for whatever you want to use it for.
The To-Do List
Of course, a lot still needs to be done to get it looking at least semi-professional and make it the best Fanzine we can possibly be. A few other Fanzines that were produced before had a high level of production to the degree that they could be considered professional grade, such as Orctales and its team.
In fact, with this project, I aim to take everything I'm learning (as I'm technically still learning as I go, as some people could see with the Roleplaying Guidebook) and apply it or improve upon it, so I'm doing more than just writing. Thankfully, this Proof of Concept is a start to show that my work is in progress, but there's still a long way to go.
Currently, here's what I've got on my current To Do list outside of taking in submissions:
1) Read Other Fanzines
This makes sense. If I want this project to improve and be something people enjoy, I have to see how well others have done it and draw inspiration from them. As I mentioned, there's Orctales (which everyone should read—which I'll link HERE, as well as a few other small things I've found on Twitter and Discord that I'll add to a "Further Reading" category at the end.
2) Make the Art/Screenshot Pages More Interesting
I intend to fill in a lot of white space on those pages. Depending on how many submissions this Fanzine gets, I'm aiming for at least two pictures per page, making it look like an art gallery while properly crediting the artists. I'll experiment, play around with assets, and ask on Twitter or Discord which versions readers prefer.
I might even collect all the submitted Screenshots and Art and create an Imgur account to link them to a temporary album so readers can peruse their favorite art pieces. This has the added benefit of including expanded descriptions since Imgur allows that and even allows multiple links on the same image description. Again, this might be polled on Twitter or Discord, as there are both upsides and downsides to this.
3) Gather Better Assets
Unfortunately, since I'm doing this as cheaply as possible, all the assets I've accumulated have been free or at least premium-free. I have a trial account right now on Shutterstock (which is sadly ending soon), and every asset I've used here and in the Roleplaying Guidebook is free for commercial use.
The upside? Free! And I'm not using it commercially since these projects are free to download. The downside? They don't look very "Warcraft," even though I've tried to make them as close as possible. Some art assets look similar enough, such as Celtic knotwork being reminiscent of Dwarven art assets, but typical fantasy or ornate stuff looks more stereotypical or Victorian to use appropriately, which doesn't look very Warcraft-like. Thankfully, I've got the fonts that Warcraft uses, which I've been using liberally for that Warcraft feel.
For now, the goal is to find good assets that fit Fanzine's theme and collect other assets for future projects.
4) Possibly Organize a Discord Server
This one entirely depends on how much work goes into it and how much organization will be needed. As of now, the pipeline for putting it all up is pretty simple: Copy, paste, and format the stories and add any necessary graphics (which take around 10 minutes each at most), and then place the art and screenshots afterward since the current structure is story, 2-3 art pieces, 2-3 screenshots, repeat.
Depending on how many submissions are given and how many people say they want to be contacted through Discord, it might be best to organize a Fanzine server. This wouldn't be so bad if there's a demand for it, as it'll allow other artists to collaborate better, get feedback, and network with each other. Plus, I currently run a discord server right now related to my writing - My Writing Office, which is tied to my Patreon, Ko-fi, and Ream accounts and is meant for both fans of my writing and other artist friends I know. Having a second Discord Server meant specifically for a project I'm running would be easy, especially if it starts small initially.
If I do have to organize more than just Discord, there's also that previously mentioned Imgur Account and possibly another Twitter account specifically for the Fanzine Project. Of course, this all stipulates that it's needed, or it could just be needed only when necessary, so this will require a bit of thought about whether to organize it now or later.
I want to stress that I want to keep any potential team that wants to help small, though. While I'm currently putting this all together by myself, I wouldn't mind some additional help as long as we can organize a small team and who knows what part they're playing. Unfortunately, it'll be a free gig, but sometimes, a little bit of experience isn't bad! After all, I'm still learning as I go!
5) Improve the Work Pipeline
I mentioned above that the current workflow is pretty simple. Simply copy and paste to the manuscript, format the text, place any art assets where they need to be and place images on the manuscript as well. Rinse, repeat till the end, and update the Table of Contents if required. In fact, when putting together the current Proof of Concept book, it took me only an hour to put together Version 1 and another hour for Version 2, including the epub, lite version, and full version, and correcting the Google docs page for each.
Overall, many things still need to be done, which is why I partly intend to have these come in cycles of 3-4 months.
6) Debate Whether To Do Three Versions
This was a question I got asked about with the Roleplay Guidebook. With that, I did three versions of the book - an epub for reading devices, and a "Lite" and "Full" version. The epub was mostly just text with only the Cover being an image, and was meant for reading devices like kindle readers. The "Lite" version was the book with minimal graphics; mostly just the cover, an inside cover, and the chapter images. The "Full" version had all of the assets I accumulated and was indicative of my skill level at the time when making ebooks using artwork and some basic graphic design lessons.
Then I had the Lite and Full version available as both a PDF and a Google Doc link.
So, why did I do that? Mostly for space and access. PDFs don't show well on e-reading devices, and some people on phones and computers don't care about all the fancy graphics and just want to get to the point, while others want to feel like they're reading an actual book. The Full version took up more space, obviously (9mb vs 1mb for the lite), and the Google Doc links were mostly for convenience in getting the information to people and being able to be spread around. In fact, the Roleplay Guidebook was considered a new "essential reading" in several communities, which was pretty nice.
But really, do I need to create so many different versions for the Fanzine or even in future projects? That's a question to debate, and in the end, it might just be pared down to the epub, Full-Version PDF, and a Google Doc link. especially since a difference of 10 MB isn't that major in the grand scheme of things, and having more choices might not make things better.
What Kind of Submissions Needed
With that said, what sort of commissions am I looking for with this Fanzine Project exactly? Is there anything specific that will fit in?
Well, yes and no.
For the yes part, the only thing I'm really looking for is something that will fit in with the theme. This theme is "Season of Changes, " but that can mean anything. It can be a character witnessing the passage of the seasons, it can be a character going through some hardship and learning something, it can even be a character thinking about the past and what's in store for the future, or it can be a battle that they come out of. As long as the theme of "change" is tangentially connected through the narrative, art, or screenshot, then it fits in.
So, what quality am I asking for? With literary, written works, I need it to be between 500 - 2,500 words and it being proofread and organized. When it comes to artwork, as long as it's a decent size so it can be refitted without major compression and with screenshots, I'm looking for screenshots that don't have UI elements or are just screenshots of gameplay.
Does it matter how old the art, manuscript, or screenshot is? Nope. I don't care if it was created ten years ago, five years ago, a few minutes ago, or you make it tomorrow, as long as it fits in with the theme. If you've got a project or screenshot you want to dust off and think it'll fit in with the Fanzine, send it in.
What about quality? Is there anything specific when it comes to quality? Nope, not really. I'm a big believer in the "there's an audience for everyone" adage I mentioned above. I believe that art should be enjoyed and shared regardless of your skill level or whether you're a professional or hobbyist. As long as it's crafted with the intention for others to enjoy - or even for yourself at first - then it's good enough for me. All artists have to start somewhere; the best way to improve is to work at it continually, and everyone deserves to be celebrated for creating something that took effort.
Plus, we're all Warcraft fans as well.
What about AI? Do you allow AI? No. That's the one line I won't allow to be crossed. I believe that people should support artists, especially those who enjoy their work. I don't think AI is true art, no matter what people say, and while I don't mind if people play around with it for a laugh or treat it as a toy, I would much prefer to give a platform to people who actually spend the time to hone their craft. So, I don't want to accept any AI artwork, stories, or anything artificially generated.
Overall, the purpose of this Fanzine isn't to attract "the best of the best" but rather to showcase the community's creativity.
If that sounds good to you and makes you as eager to get involved as I'm hoping it does, please check out the submission form below! I intend for it to run from August 12th to October 22nd and have it available for everyone to read on November 1st!
World of Warcraft Fanzine Issue #1 Submission Form Here
With that said, I hope I've outlined not only what the Goals of this Fanzine are but also what I intend to be working on in the next 3-4 months during submissions, as well as what I'm looking for in terms of content from those who are interested in submitting. While there's no singular community server right now other than contacting me directly to ask, and I'm the only one working on putting it together with a few helpful people, that is liable to change depending on who is interested in helping or wanting to have a place to discuss this and see its progress.
Ultimately, I hope you're interested, and I can't wait to see what people submit! I'm excited about the future, especially as we start the next expansion and experience "The War Within." For now, if you want to subscribe to my Newsletter, I do intend to keep you and everyone else updated on the progress of this project. I always like keeping interested parties in the loop.
See you in Azeroth, my friends!