Come to STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo in Austin, TX, on March 7, 2009

[Paul Czege]

Half Meme Press will have a table at STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo, on Saturday March 7th, at the Monarch Event Center in Austin, Texas. I'll be sharing a table with my wife Danielle's Cream Alien Games (site under construction). Her game, Kagematsu, is currently soliciting playtesting and feedback as an ashcan.

Come and see us at the show.

Will Terrell, who did My Life with Master's gorgeous cover illustration is a Texan, and he will have his own table at the show. If you already own My Life with Master, bring your copy for him to sign the cover art.

If you think you can come to the show, send me an email at:

paul (aatt) halfmeme.com

And if you're an indie RPG designer with a published game or an ashcan, consider doing a table. (But decide quickly. Chris Nicholas, one of the show's two coordinators, says there are fewer than a dozen tables left. And email me.)

Though STAPLE! has historically been primarily indie comics, they have also had a horror novelist, zine publishers, and always have a radical co-op bookstore. And Chris Nicholas is serious about his "independent media" tag line and about broadening the focus of the show beyond comics.

So I'm doing STAPLE! because I think the indie RPG community should be developing relationships and synergies with the indie comics guys. Have you seen my thoughts about how Gen Con could better support the creative dynamics of the indie community? The indie comics guys already know this. Tables at STAPLE! are an affordable $75 for a full 8' table or $40 for a half table (4'). Indie comics guys maintain their creative vitality by forming up into projects, splintering off into side projects, and doing special event projects. They recognize that a creative identity is about both independence *and* finding shared purposes. And their shows, and their fans support this with enthusiasm. We have a lot more in common with the indie comics guys than we do with the paradigms of freelancer-driven RPG publishing.

Paul

[Paul Czege]

If you're on the fence, and I could convince you to make the trip to STAPLE by giving you a few free passes, get in touch:

paul (aattt) halfmeme.com

Paul

[Darcy Burgess]

Hi,

I just listened to the Staple podcast with Paul, Luke & Danielle.  It's pretty good.

The interview struck a decent balance between promoting indie-rpgs-as-brand and educating about indie-rpgs-as-movement; it was primarily targeted at an audience unfamiliar with creator-owned RPGs (but very familiar with creator-owned comics.)  Luke talked about the Mouse Guard RPG, and how he came to be the guy who wrote it.  Paul talked about a lot of things, but I was most interested in his thoughts on greater synergies with the indie comics crowd (aside: I wanted more on this topic, and more probing questions on the topic from the interviewer.)  Danielle talked about the history of the indie rpgs presence at GenCon, as well as occasionally geeking out about indie comics.

Overall, this was a good listen which clocked in at about 17 minutes.  Critique?  Paul, Danielle -- promote your own stuff with more enthusiasm and pride!  You've both got great games, and it sounded like you were apologizing for talking about them.  Luke -- you need to swear more.  There was only one instance of profanity, so I wasn't sure it was you.

Cheers,
Darcy