StoryWorld: #swcfw: Steam Tour: An American Steampunk in London Ezine

#steampunk #kickstarter #zine

Alison Weaverdyck spoke to StoryWorld about her plans for a super steampunk project.

Tell me about your project!

I am an American who is going to be living in Eastern Europe for most of the next year, but I will get a chance to visit London in August/September when I am between destinations. My idea is to use that time to visit museums, historical sites and Steampunk and Victorian-themed pubs and tea houses in order to find out the best places in London to find Steampunk inspiration and resources. I am promising articles about H.G. Wells, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Charles Darwin, Around the World in 80 Days, Egypt and Victorian England and Victorian Ghost Stories, but I also want to hear from my backers about where they want me to go and what they want to know more about. I have a tentative itinerary but I want to keep it flexible until I hear from my backers.

In addition, there is an amazing Steampunk convention called The Weekend at the Asylum that will take place in September and I would go and report back for people who can't get there themselves. I also have some interviews with Steampunk authors lined up and I hope to meet more interesting people to talk to and promote along the way. All of this, plus an exclusive Steampunk London map, would add up to an ezine called Steam Tour: An American Steampunk in London.

How’s the campaign going?

Well, I am not there yet so I could still use support! Mostly I have gotten pledges at the higher levels where I am offering original artwork, but not nearly as many at the $15 level, which gets you the zine and a bumper sticker, as I was expecting. I was also really hoping to see a lot of $5 pledges where you get the bumper sticker as a thank you, but maybe I overestimated the appeal. I asked my readers to choose between 4 slogans and "My other car is an airship" was the hands-down favorite.

Why did you choose to use crowdfunding?

I really love the philosophy of crowdfunding. If an idea is good enough and there are enough people out there to make it happen they get a chance to do it together. I don't just want to write about the things that interest me, I want to hear from other people about the information and experiences I can bring back to them because not everyone gets the opportunity to travel the way I do. And I can't help but find new and intersting things along the way, but I can't know what I am missing until I ask! I would also be lying if I didn't say that I hope the campaign will bring attention to my blog and hopefully help me on my way to becoming a full time writer, but mostly I wanted to embrace the collaborative spirit that Steampunk seems to simply ooze with.

What is your target and deadline?

$1750 by May 11, 2014. And just so it is clear, I am not asking people to pay my transportation costs to and from London from the US. I am going to go there anyway, the campaign is just for the zine. I have someone illustrating the cover and doing professional layout and photo editing, plus I am offering an awesome bumper sticker as a thank you to backers which need to be printed and shipped, so there is a lot going on here.