Contextualising \u2018Marketing\u2019 for Indie Gamedevs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, indie devs have vastly different marketing goals to bigger teams. It\u2019s likely that indie developers are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Looking for means to connect with other game devs\/collaborators or players<\/li>
- Wanting to get feedback on their games <\/li>
- Have little to no budget for marketing their games outside of their existing social circles<\/li>
- Struggling to manage social media effectively (Thanks Elon)<\/li>
- Have a game whose contents are too wild\/weird\/intimate: Eg. Their games involve a very personal story etc.<\/li>
- Plenty of other reasons!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Tumblr's](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/FhOlcFEUcAASv8d-1024x1024.jpg\")
Tumblr\u2019s recent move to dunk on Twitter\u2019s quickly shifting algorithm is a sign that social media is becoming tougher than ever for creatives to use and find their audiences! It\u2019s a prevalent problem across all social media platforms.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Our discussions define marketing for indie games as attempting to resolve the above goals. Profit is not the main motive, although we acknowledge that any sort of awareness activity could lead to trickling down the marketing funnel\/potential sales. This however, is not the spirit of zines. Nor is it the main goal for weird, creative, and expressive indie game development. So, any indie devs intending to make zines should go into it with the perspective of wanting to build authentic relationships, all revolving around a love for creative expression!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are Zines?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Zines are little self-published booklets (usually) that are cheap to produce. Because they can be so easily made, with little to no restriction on their contents, zines are a highly accessible means of sharing information and for self expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Brief History about Zines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Zines have always had a political history, as an accessible means of disseminating information. The first ever zine (supposedly) was called\u00a0Common Sense by Thomas Paine<\/a>, written in 1776. This zine contained many radical ideas and political arguments, contributing to the American War for Independence. Later in the 20th century, zines were a popular means for underrepresented communities to share their work and ideas. Everything from then\u00a0unpopular feminist ideas, to underground punk music and sci-fi fancontent.<\/a>\u00a0Zines were, and still are, a great medium for creative expression and community connection!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Common](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Commonsense.jpg\")
Common Sense by Thomas Paine<\/a>, written in 1776, said to be the first ever zine.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n How to use zines as an indie game dev<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Within the workshop, we showed several examples of digital and traditional zines being used in different ways for indie games\u2019 marketing efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Various](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SaraTeh_Zines-4-1024x617.jpg\")
Sara\u2019s zines, \u201cThe Art of Children of the Flower\u201d, \u201cDear Flora\u201d and \u201cBebberly\u2019s Horoscopes\u201d. All zines were based off her existing and upcoming games!
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nara shared her printed zines, which were used to introduce people to her game\u2019s characters, share the art and behind the scenes of her past games, as well as test out game concepts prior to development. In addition, she spoke about\u00a0Indiepocalypse\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0douZINE<\/a>, two online digital zines that actively featured a variety of indie game devs. We think it\u2019s a wonderful way to celebrate the creativity that goes into making heartful indie games!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"douZINE's](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/douZINE_1-1-1024x774.jpg\")
douZINE, a digital zine showcasing doujin and indie games from Japan, by npckc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Besides this, Ann showed a variety of traditional print zines, providing suggestions for how indie devs could create c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides this, Ann showed a variety of traditional print zines, providing suggestions for how indie devs could create cheap merchandise or marketing collateral for their games. These included some concertina folded zines, poster zines, and some other zines that defied the usual \u201cflat\u201d booklet format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_20230413_1402dd03-scaled.jpg\")
A bunch of zines from Aussie creators! Credits in the appendix!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n In summary, indie game devs can use zines as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Promotional collateral (during events or meetups)<\/li>
- Merchandise or gifts<\/li>
- A testing ground for early concepts and ideas, of which you can get valuable feedback from others<\/li>
- As a substitute for business cards (Greater engagement, more control over quantity printed, more bang for buck prior to being thrown away, if ever!)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
How to maximise your zine\u2019s impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We also provided more suggestions and ideas on how indie developers could maximise their zine\u2019s impact, either by joining local zine fair or stocking their game zines at local zine distros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zine fairs are small festivals, where participants booth to share their zines for free. Selling or giving away your zines at these close-knit and creative communities are a wonderful way to reach new folks, and tell them about your games. Some notable local Aussie zine fairs we shared were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Festival of the Photocopier<\/a><\/li>
- Hallozeen<\/a><\/li>
- Halfway Print and Zine fest<\/a><\/li>
- Zine volcano<\/a><\/li>
- There is also a culture of swapping zines at festivals, so that\u2019s more connections made!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/zine-pano-1000.jpg\")
Photo by Doug Spowart. Sticky Institute\u2019s Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Zine distros on the other hand, are usually stockists who stock zines for sale and distribution. In Melbourne, the most notable distro is\u00a0Sticky institute<\/a>, also organisers of the annual Festival of the Photocopier. Indie game devs should absolutely share their zines here, as well as check out others in the community! Who knows, you might find the next artist, writer or musician you collaborate with in the future!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/noblesteed.games\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/FuSz3nsaMAM2P9A-1.jpg\")
Sticky Institute, located on the 8th floor of the Nicholas Building, Melbourne.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow to make a zine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
During the workshop, we gave a live demo of how to make a simple 8 page zine. The following video covers the contents of this segment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Hallozeen<\/a><\/li>
- Festival of the Photocopier<\/a><\/li>