"Unofficial OSR" Envelopes the "Copper Droppings" Zine

Here's today's second announcement:

I'm going with the title "Unofficial OSR" for the fanzine under The Grumpy Dwarf as the publisher, as feedback that I've gotten indicates that many folks would prefer a zine that covers the whole of the OSR.

So, with a spread starting with ACKS and Ambition & Avarice and running through Raggi's Weird Fantasy and everything in between, there is a lot of ground to cover.

That doesn't mean the end of Copper Droppings before it even starts. Copper Droppings will be it's own section, edited by +Michael Garcia and will be exclusively Swords & Wizardry - so yes, a zine within a zine. Think of the old Dragon issues with the Ares section.

I'll be aiming for Sept 1, 2013 for release - if we can hit earlier, great, but this timeline gives me 2 weeks of vacation a and 2 1/2 months to get things up and running.

Same payment plan for submissions - beer money and you keep the rights to your work ;)

submissions for Unofficial OSR should be sent to tenkarsDOTtavernATgmailDOTcom

submissions for Copper Droppings should be sent to socialATdeadratpublishingDOTcom

Cut off for Issue 1 submissions is August 3, 2013

(if time and ability permits, there may be a "Zero Issue" release -

Wherein I Become an Emotional Sap ;)

I am overwhelmed by the offers of support, both public and private, for the Copper Droppings fanzine. I really don't know what to say but "thank you!" and "I'll get right on it".

As I stated in the last post on the topic, I see this as an ongoing community project that belongs to everyone is this niche of ours. I'm thrilled to see so many others view it the same way. Any success it has will be because of y'all.

Seriously, y'all rock.

Much appreciated.

Now I'm getting all teary-eyed ;)

My Thoughts About the Upcoming Copper Droppings S&W Fanzine

Why Copper Droppings?

Why indeed?

Sometimes things play out on their own, in ways no one involved expects. You either embrace it and ride the wave or try to avoid it and hope to not get rolled over in the process.

I never expected the amazing response to the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Blogfest that manifested. It was glorious and amazing and dumbfounding. Most of all, for me at least, it was inspiring. There was so much love, so much excitement and so much “stuff”. It appears there are a lot of creative folks that are fans of Swords & Wizardry. There is also a lack of opportunities for them to share their work.

One of the great results of the S&W App Day was the announcement of the return of Knockspell. I loved it and missed it and I’m thrilled it’s returning. I expect to submit an article or two when Matt announces his call for submissions.

Still, I think there is room for a (mostly) monthly fanzine that targets the Swords & Wizardry Community. The first issue will be mostly content written by me, but I want to make it a community project. While we can’t pay much, I’d like to think we can pay something for the rights to publish work that you, a member of the S&W Community, submit to Copper Droppings (you keep all copyright to your work). I’ll be referring to this as “paying with beer money”- 5 bucks for your accepted article or artwork. Just about enough cash to buy yourself a decent pint of tap beer at your local pub - or a really crappy six-pack of beer at your local grocery. It aint much, but as the line most folks us in this corner of creative activity often say: “I work for beer money!” we want to be honest - you will be basically working for beer money (or a weird sounding Starbuck’s coffee if that’s how you swing).

It’s your community. It’s your fanzine. We thank your for joining us on this ride :)

P.S.

Will Copper Droppings be 100% Swords & Wizardry all of the time?

Probably not - the OSR is large and my interest spans many systems, but the focus will certainly be S&W. That being said, if someone submits an awesome OSRIC article or some such, they'll probably get their beer money ;)

Do Dead Rats Leave Copper Droppings?

Artwork by Gary Dupuis

Dead Rats tell no tales. Or is it that they tell tales, but their tails may fall off?

I'm working out the details of a Swords & Wizardry flavored ezine to be published under the Dead Rat Banner. Tentative name is "Copper Droppings". Hey, sounded good to me as I was falling asleep last night ;)

With the return of Knockspell we don't need another full pledge magazine but a fairly regular ezine for Swords & Wizardry just might work. This is where I'll work on some alterative class ideas, spells, encounters, monsters, Tenkar's Landing setting stuff and whatever else strikes my fancy. Or your fancy. I'm thinking of "buying a beer" for those that contribute to the ezine - 5 bucks for those that contribute an article or artwork. Pretty much like Knockspell - you own it but Dead Rat / Copper Droppings has the right to publish it in the ezine or print on demand compilations (if those ever happen). Heck, maybe Copper Droppings has the beta version and Knockspell has the perfected one ;)

In either case, I see Copper Droppings more as a supplement to Knockspell than a replacement. I plan on submitting an article or two to Knockspell myself, as I see it's return as something that will only add to the already strong Swords & Wizardry Community. That and I'm just excited as all hell to see it's return :)

How soon can you expect the the first issue of Copper Droppings? No date yet. I still need to finish Volumes II & III of Minor Magiks & Miscellaneous Arcana. Hopefully I can finish Volume II early this week. Sooner rather than later is my guess, and fairly regular after the first issue drops, or at least that's the plan.

In any case, that's my current plate. I'm almost done reading the 140 some odd posts from the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day, so hopefully we can get some prizes out to folks during the upcoming week.