Hi! 🙋‍♀️ Welcome to our campaign!  

We're Beth and Angel, and we love making stuff: games, zines, IRL experiences, weird experimental stuff... it's all fantastic! We especially enjoy sharing positivity, self-encouragement, and self-discovery things, as well as solo journaling games.

We're here on Crowdfundr as part of Tabletop Nonstop to make MORE stuff: more zines to be precise. We plan to make a total of 16 zines throughout February based on some prompts we've come up with, as well as some prompts our Enlightened Egret patrons vote for! We should each create one every four days, and then a final one each on Leap Day! And if you grab the Tier Two or Tier Three perk from the right, you'll get all 16 of them digitally after the campaign ends! None of these zines are made yet, so we'll be just as surprised as you when they're done, but we're aiming for a bunch of games, some perzines (zines about personal things), and who knows what else. 🤔 

We're running this campaign because, honestly, we want more people to discover what we make. We've released over 100 things including 47 zines, and 48 of our releases are free (or have free versions)! While we couldn't be happier to have the fans we have, we'd love to reach even more people. And, honestly, we could use the money. 2023 was a rough year for our savings account, and our home is falling apart. We have soooooooo much to repair and replace, and I'd love to be proud of the home we live in rather than dodge holes in the floor and other assorted issues...

And we'd love to include YOU on our creating journey! Throughout this campaign, we'll have numerous points where you can contribute ideas, challenge us, and help us grow as creators. We're excited to share our progress along the way, too! Whether you're our only backer or we somehow get a bunch and I cry in joy at the utter surprise of it, you matter, and you're why we create!

Zines are magical little books, basically! The zine scene is a big place, ranging from hand-made zines to actual published (generally in small quantities by local printers) booklets. 

The most basic and common zine is made from a single sheet of paper, and it's shown in that header above. Everything is on a single side of the paper and you fold it, cut once across the middle while it's folded, and then fold it back up again. This creates a little book you can flip through!

^ This video walks through making and folding a zine in about 3 minutes! 

Some people write and draw these by hand and then scan them into their computer —maybe we'll try that for the first time during this campaign, or later as a challenge?— and others do it digitally. That's what we do: we created a couple of Canva templates (one for the page layout, one for the individual pages) and then we create the pages and place them on a single printable page.

In general, our digital perzines are free on Itch and the printable sheet is $1, but that price goes up for more elaborate creations and games. We're aiming for more of the latter in this campaign, but you can check out all of our already-released zines here.

And speaking of which, all of our zines are released in two formats: the single printable page (which requires a printer or for you to turn your head or the image) and a digital version. The digital version is basically a book and can be read just like any other PDF. So if you don't have a printer, that's fine! Sometimes our games involve writing on the zine itself, but you can always use something like Paint to write on the screen or write on a piece of paper instead.

Throughout February, we're running Zineuary 2024, our very own challenge! We've got five prompts that we'll each make zines for and are free to interpret however we want, we'll use a random prompt from the Zine Idea Generator, and two more slots will be suggested by YOU and voted on by the Enlightened Egrets from our Patreon . We don't have any idea what these might be, and we won't until we go to make them! 😮 

Regardless of the prompt, each release might be anything: games, poetry, personal stuff, photography... But either way, everyone who gets TIER TWO or TIER THREE will get ALL of them!

Once Zineuary is over, we're going into EXTRA MODE! This is a set of more strenuous challenges —ALL of which are provided by YOU!— that we'll have to complete. These aren't prompts like Zineuary, they're far more specific, like:

• 😻 "Make a zine for my partner who loves cats."
• 🏳️‍⚧️ "Make a zine of egg recipes using only the colors pink, blue, and white."
• ✍️ "Make a solo journaling game about zombies."
• ❌ "Make a zine with at least 100 words without using the letter 'e'."

There will be a minimum of five Extra Mode challenges, which means a minimum of five more zines (we may codesign these or we may each make our own)! Fill in this Google form before March with any challenge ideas you might have. The five following groups will vote on the challenges submitted (we might narrow them down if we get a bunch) in the following order, with the most-voted challenge from each being something we have to complete:

1. One poll will be shared here in an update that everyone can vote in (even if you don't contribute; subscribe to be notified!).
2. One poll will be shared on our Patreon that everyone can vote in (no membership required I don't think? I've never tried it before).
3. One will be exclusive to everyone who contributes to our campaign here: we'll message you a link to a poll.
4. All of our paid patrons (from $3/month and up) will get to vote in one.
5. All of our Enlightened Egret patrons will get to vote in the final one.

How do you get more? Anyone can challenge us DIRECTLY by purchasing the "Challenge Us" add-on!

Please note: we reserve the right to request a different challenge if we're uncomfortable with it (we're wholesome, family-friendly creators) or request further information if you want a zine made as a gift or about a topic you're passionate about.

With higher rewards come higher costs: everyone who gets at least TIER THREE: "Extra Mode: Activate!" will get everything we make from the Extra Mode challenges and contribute a community copy to each of them when they are released on itch.

We'll complete these challenges in a random order (or when we're inspired to make one) and will begin after Zineuary ends. I can't guarantee when we'll complete them as we'll need a break first, and who knows how many we'll get, but we'll get to them as soon as we're able. :D

We've teamed up with Rochelle Boggs of Warped Board Games to create a collection of zines, each of which will have at least three 24-word RPGs! Each of us is creating one, and we're each contributing to one another's. Ours is called Be the Light You Want to See in the World. Changing the world starts with changing yourself, and then letting your light shine!

Getting ANY tier (including Tier One) will get you a copy of this zine. Because this is a co-designed zine, it will not be released immediately after Zineuary. It's more likely to be sent out in late March or April, and honestly, I (Beth) will probably be the one holding it up. 🤣 

To get the other zine we're contributing to, check out You Ain't Zine Nothing Yet

While we love it when people buy what we make, the reason we make stuff is for people to experience it! We found a middle ground where we add community (free) copies to everything we release, and we're constantly on the lookout for creative new ways to add them. 

When you get ANY of our tiers, you're adding community copies to a bunch of releases:

• Tiers One and Two give a community copy to each of the Zineuary zines. Not just one of the zines, all sixteen (or more if Zineuary is extended)!
• Tier Three gives a community copy to each of the Zineuary zines AND the Extra Mode zines! 

You can also contribute even more community copies to each of the Zineuary zines and Extra Mode zines by getting our ADD-ON: More Keys, Please. This add-on allows you to either get an extra key of each to give away yourself or contribute an extra community copy of each. We'll reach out to you to ask which you prefer once the campaign ends.

Designer's Notes are an awesome way to learn about your favorite zine and how it was made! 

These come in the form of a digital file (this isn't available to print in a foldable zine) that's just like the original on one side and with our notes on the other side.

^ Note: we've never created a Designer's Notes edition of anything before, I just whipped this up as an example. This is the last page of There's Always a Window.

This is a great way to see why we made the design choices we made and/or learn more about us depending on which zine gets it. And maybe they'll help you as a creator too if you make zines! Or inspire you to try making one!

The "Designer's Notes, Please" perk or add-on will allow you to choose one Zineuary or Extra Mode zine to get the Designer's Notes treatment, and then that zine will permanently have a Designer's Notes edition available for everyone to purchase! You'll get a copy of the one you choose, of course.

We've already released almost 50 zines, so we may as well offer those too, right?

We have four bundles of zines available:

• A Bit of Us is a bundle of 10 zines of all sorts for $10. This includes four game zines (Look! A Squirrel; Just Rollin' With It; Regard With Esteem; and I Went to Bourbon, IN Once), four perzines (Hello! A Little Bit of Me; Beth Can't Play Instruments, and That's Okay: A Color-Along Adventure; Memories of My Grandmas; and My Transition Armor), one poetry zine (Mason Jar Wishes), and one photography zine (unexpected guests).
• Just the Games is a bundle of all 24 of our game zines for $25.
• All About the P’s: Poetry, Photography, and Perzines is everything else (our poetry, photography, and perzine zines): 23 zines for $20.
• ALL of our Previously Released Zines is, well, a bundle of all of our 47 previously released zines. It's $40, which is $5 off from buying the two other bundles separately.

I get it: I'm a wordy gal and I make stuff way more complicated than it needs to be. I even edited this campaign a bunch of times, I tried! 😭 

So, to make things a little easier, here's an illustration of what each perk gets you. Everyone likes pictures, right? 

Plus, bonuses from unlocked goals:

• ANYONE who contributes ANY amount of money gets to vote on one of the two added prompts from the Zineuary extension.
• Anyone who gets TIER 2 or TIER 3 will also get:
  • ZINEUARY HAS BEEN EXTENDED BY 8 DAYS! That means four more zines (a total of 20 zines now)!
  • An exclusive THANK YOU zine!
  • A set of bookmark games (which we need to choose still lol)
  • The Spectacular Spectacles: An Everyday Enchanter experience
• TIER 3 also gets to vote on another EXTRA MODE zine challenge
• All paid members of our Patreon get games from TWO months before you joined rather than one after the campaign ends (you'll be given everything that released one month ago right when you join, and then the other month after the campaign ends)
• All community copy contributions are doubled!
• You have 🧡ALL of our appreciation!💜

If we've learned one thing about campaigns, it's that you  need a list of goals that you'll almost certainly never hit that have cool rewards attached to them! Look, we're just doing our part in the capitalistic machine, okay? Plus, it's fun to come up with lots of goals and rewards!

We have three sets of goals, each of which has its own set of rewards. Unless stated otherwise, all rewards will be distributed after the campaign ends.

Note: to see how we're doing for Patreon membership and earnings, visit our "About" page and scroll to the bottom. The stats that matter are the "Total members" and "Per month" numbers. We normally hide our "Per month" earnings, but I turned that off so everyone can see the progress!

Crowdfundr Goals

We're on Crowdfundr, so we should have some Crowdfundr-related goals, right? The more money we earn, the more that everyone who gets our Tier 2 or Tier 3 perks gets at the end of the campaign!

Patreon: Membership Goals

Patreon and Itch are our lifeblood as creators. We sell things on Itch, and we have patrons who subscribe monthly on Patreon for all of our creations as we release them. We also have a bunch of people who join for free so they get emails when we post things, at least one bonus free release monthly, and almost everything we post is free to everyone.  Anyone who joins as a free member gets Waffle Time (a roll-and-write game zine!).  

One of my biggest goals has always been to get more members. Whether you join for free or contribute financially, I love knowing that what I write has a better chance of being read by someone! 🥳 

These rewards benefit ALL of our patrons, even the free ones! We love our free members too, after all. 🧡💜 

As a special note, my goal for the entirety of 2024 is 200 total patrons. So hitting either of those last three goals would be mind-blowingly incredible!

Patreon: Earnings Goals

While being seen is amazing, so is surviving. And, thanks to glorious capitalism, that requires lots of money. We think it's amazing when anyone decides to part with some of their hard-earned cash in exchange for what we make each month! Gaming Geese ($5 members) get everything we released within the last month. See the Giveaways and Patreon tab for more info on our tiers and the rewards for each tier.

These rewards benefit our paid members.

Some notes:

• The $130 and $175 goal rewards —where all new paid patrons will get releases from two or three months ago— last throughout all of March.
• All paid patrons who joined before this Crowdfundr will get any bonus previously released games that they haven't already received too (from the $130 and $175 goals). I wouldn't neglect you! 🧡
• The above things happen AFTER the campaign ends as this number may increase OR decrease throughout the campaign. Anything shown unlocked is current, but lower goals can re-lock before the campaign ends. As such, all of the below rewards will be sent after the campaign ends.

If you're going to get stuff and things, you probably want to know when you'll get them, right? 

• When Zineuary ends (either on the 1st of March or later if Zineuary is extended), we'll start reaching out to contributors and sending out the Zineuary zine keys, as well as any other rewards. It may take us a few days to get this process rolling though, forgive us please? 🥺 Zineuary is going to be a VERY busy time!
• Shortly after that, we'll start working on the Extra Mode zines. Depending on how many we get, this may take a while. We'll also likely take a week off after the Zineuary zines are fulfilled before we begin the Extra Mode zines because we're going to be BUSY and need the break! 😅 
• Also sometime after Zineuary ends, we'll start making the Itch pages for the zines, and send keys to our Zebra Finch Zinesters and higher-tier patrons. While some of these may be done shortly after Zineuary ends, we plan to release one prompt (two zines) at a time and space them out a bit. This means there will be an exclusivity period where only Crowdfundr contributors have the zines we made, and also that we can hopefully capitalize on new release windows on Itch for our zines.

To paraphrase the greatest movie ever, The Princess Bride: "Life is risk. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something." 

What makes us qualified to do this? Well, we've done things like this before. A LOT, and we didn't even have people in our corner cheering us on! Plz cheer us on? 🥺 

We've done a challenge just like this before —Mini Zine July 2023 (scroll down to "Prong 3: Mini Zine July 2023" for verification that we made SEVENTEEN zines last July)— and we love it! We eat challenges and deadlines for breakfast, feast on game jams for lunch, and then enjoy a balanced dinner because those breakfasts and lunches have no calories, and we'd starve to death otherwise.

However, we may fall behind. We're only human, and there's a lot going on in our personal lives right now. We'd originally intended to do a lot more to include you like streaming on Twitch and inviting viewers to challenge us, but because of our current circumstances, we can't. But hey, if this goes well and/or we have fun, maybe we'll do another one later this year, and then we can include you even more! 🙌 

I can tell you this, though: we both have a very strong sense of "Oh crap, I said I'd do this thing and I'm behind on it, so I'm going to catch up because I hate breaking my word sooooooooooooo much!" And, should something terrible happen in our lives, we will certainly get these made and sent to you as soon as possible. I promise! Unless one of us dies or something... But that'd be super messed up and I doubt anyone expects us to make zines from beyond the grave. That'd require a WAY higher-priced perk.

Oh, and we both work for Weird Giraffe Games, a small tabletop publishing company. I do customer service and Angel does everything from promotion and newsletter writing to working on the website. We also both tackle a whole slew of other stuff. We each have experience with approximately 7 crowdfunding campaigns, so we've seen all of the stuff we're doing here inside and out. And I've even worked on fulfillment! But we're not doing that here, this is easy mode!