ZineQuest Followup Interview: Spooky Bell Games

The final interview in this follow-up series is with a dual interview with Chris and Wes of Spooky Bell Games. They raised funds for their project Beyond Deep, a horror-tinged adventure for Mork Borg.

Question. Did your project fund?

Answer.

Chris: Yes! We are very thankful to all our backers, and we ended up funding at a little over 850% of our goal of $1000.

Wes: Couldn't be happier with our outcome and a big thanks to all of our backers for helping us fund.

Q. Tell us one thing you learned while doing the project.

Answer. Chris: Great question. Honestly, one of the things I learned is that we can really do this and be successful. We went into it all the way, and came out the other side, which was very encouraging. Now that we are deep into finishing up Beyond Deep, going ahead on current and future projects, I will move up my timelines to start everything earlier, and try to get the most accurate idea of the scale of every project going in. Wes: First major thing I learned is that it is possible to just do the thing. I had always been worried and intimidated by the task of producing a project like this but it has turned out to be a relatively pleasant process. On the flip side I also found out that it is incredibly important to set expectations and make them clear. We didn't experience many hiccups in that regard but we absolutely saw what could happen if we didn't.

Q. Will you be planning on doing another ZineQuest project?

Answer. Chris: Yes. I have two projects in the works right now, one OSE and one CY_BORG. One of them is definitely going to be part of ZineQuest, but I am pondering being really crazy and launching them both in ZineQuest, one after the other. Wes: I've been deep in layout mode for a book that is quite frankly nearly three times as big as I had planned! however I absolutely plan to help Chris out with his projects and continue to foster our great teamwork.

Q. After this experience, what is something that the ttrpg community can do to encourage and help promote your products?

Answer.

Chris: There are a ton a fantastic resources out there, and I am always discovering more. I ended up in a discord server that is all zine creators, and people constantly support each others projects with advice, information, shared experience, and more. One of the things that has been very helpful is seeing people’s timelines and planning around projects, and also networking with amazing media channels like yourself.

Wes: Doing podcasts really helped me understand the scope of not only our project but others as well. It can be a bit tiring to have to put on a face and talk about your project for 15-45 minutes several times, but I found the interactions and future relationships with fellow indy creators to be invaluable.