State of the Newsletter - The Lagrange Point Vol. I, Iss. 10

Welcome to the tenth issue of The Lagrange Point! If you aren't familiar with this budding e-newsletter, you can find out more in this post here.

In This Issue

Distant Early Warnings

• The team behind Steam Up: A Feast of Dim Sum are back!

Crafter's Corner

• Gashapon Gunpla

Rantables

• State of the Newsletter

We've got comics, we've got conventions, and we've got cool things besides! Here's what's coming up in Canada's geek scene.

First up, Edmonton Expo, a subsidiary of Fan Expo, is on from September 20 to 22 at the Edmonton Expo Centre. Unfortunately, like other Fan Expo events, they've been suffering from guest cancellations, and Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio from Daredevil, along with the legendary Danny Trejo, have cancelled. I daresay the next-biggest name on the list would be Temuera Morrison from The Book of Boba Fett, along with Frank Welker, who voiced EVERY CARTOON EVER.

Drawn & Quarterly has a new collection of comics that form a "part advice column and exhibit," called Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It. Look I'll be honest, I think the marketing person at Drawn & Quartlery needs a swift kick in the ass to cure them of their own pretentious writing aspirations, because their descriptions are utter shite that tell me nothing about their books. What I can glean is that this focuses on Tara Booth's experiences as a woman going through addiction recovery. The artwork looks cheeky and humourous, and the book is out September 16.

In the world of video games, Toronto-based Massive Damage Studios will be launching Fera: The Sundered Tribes in early access on September 17. There's a lot of gameplay elements here, promising a mix of RPG, Monster Hunting, and small-scale colony sim management in the form of managing your tribe. There'll be a lot more to come in content, I'm sure, but for right now the glider-and-grapple movement looks like a lot of fun, and the graphic-style is my personal cuppa tea.

Lastly, I'm delighted to share that Vancouver-based Hot Banana Games, who created the hit board game Steam Up: A Feast of Dim Sum, are back with a new game: Moon Bunny. Pauline and Marie, the co-founders of Hot Banana, are delving into their Asian-Canadian backgrounds yet again for the aesthetics and gameplay, with motifs inspired by the lunar festival of China. Just like with Steam Up, they're funding the game through Kickstarter, and certain rewards will be exclusive to the campaign, which closes on September 25.

Would it surprise you in the slightest to find out I took home another model kit from my visit to Fan Expo? It wouldn't? I'm glad you get me.

There was a booth advertising for Canada's first-ever gashapon store (which opened shortly after at Union Station; if you're in Toronto, go check it out!), and because I am definitely a lover of all things Japan, I had to grab something.

If you're not familiar with gashapon, they're essentially capsule toy vending machines. You might remember the American ones they used to have at supermarkets that dispensed rubber bouncing balls and such. Gashapon tend to be much more elaborate, with bigger capsules, and many will involve merchandise around licensed IPs, like Kirby, Pokemon, and so on.

Well, when I saw the booth had a Gunpla gashapon option, I had to check it out. My first try felt like a loss, as I came away with an "expansion kit" for the Immortal Justice Gundam. But as luck would have it, my second try got me that very gundam, so I ended up with the perfect set.

And I have to say, the results were surprisingly good for something that cost me about $12.

Sans expansion kit, the figure nevertheless has an impressive range of movement and points of articulation, and was capable of standing on its own. But with the expansion, it definitely looked heftier and more interesting.

The expansion also allows you to transform him, much like my earlier Wing Gundam, into "flight mode."

I was also delighted that he came with a little clear plastic stand to support him, which definitely became necessary with the expansion kit on.

For size comparison, here he is next to the HG Wing Gundam I assembled earlier. I would categorize the Gashapon Gundam in the "Super Deformed" category, which is the lowest category of Gunpla, but it was pretty darn good for the price. I think what mainly delights me is the idea of getting an actual plastic model from a capsule machine. Forget rubber balls! Give my Gunpla!

First, let me assure everyone that The Lagrange Point isn't going anywhere! I felt I should get that out of the way because I have a track record of abandoning projects, but this one is still trucking along and I'm determined to keep going.

That said, I want to offer some insight into where things are, where they're headed, and what might change in the near future.

We're now ten e-newsletters in, and I'm pleased to say the subscriber count is at a sweet little 60 folks, roughly 70% of whom are actively opening and reading. A huge thank you to everyone who has subbed, who reads, and especially to those who have shared it!

Growing the subscriber base further is the first big step. After some modest growth for issues one to seven, I stalled out at eight and nine and haven't had any new signups. Partly, this is because I've been absurdly busy and haven't had much time for promotion. It's also because, to be honest, I'm tapping out of personal friends and family who have said they're interested in getting this e-newsletter.

So now comes the hard part: getting more strangers on board.

To give you some insight into my long-term plans, this platform I use, Ghost, offered a year-long membership free of charge to journalists. There are some restrictions on subscriber numbers and e-newsletters per month you can send without a paid plan. So that's 52 weeks — or issues — to send, and to see how this goes before I have to worry about financing it.

With ten issues done and dusted, including this one, 42 remain.

By the time I reach that end point, my goal is to make it to 200 subscribers. With 60 down, it's not impossible, but as I said: I'm now reaching out to the broader internet.

There will likely be some changes in content, and considerations for how I really want to brand this e-newsletter.

I know, for instance, that the "Rantables" section is far-and-away the most popular section. It consistently gets the most clicks with every send. "Crafter's Corner" and "Distant Early Warnings" jockey for second place. "Lastly, A Word" comes and goes depending on the topic, but is usually last.

Some of you have also offered additional feedback and suggestions. Based on this, "Distant Early Warnings" may shift to a bullet-point format, with listings. This should cut down on the word count, which a few have said is a bit high right now.

"Crafter's Corner" will likely remain unchanged, but I'm going to try to get a better lens for my camera so I don't have to keep using my phone, which is very inconsistent in quality. I'll also likely try to make this a bit more visually interesting; text alongside photos as opposed to text broken up by photos.

I'm also considering making "Rantables" into a video or audio format, the better to listen to my rants as you go about your day. You could even listen to it while flipping through the remainder of the e-newsletter.

This goes back to my point about the platform cost. Currently, I can just embed files, so there's no need for a third-party platform. That's good! But in the future, if I were to lose my Ghost Premium status, I'd have to go to something like Youtube. That's bad (Youtube is bad, y'all).

That just leaves "Lastly, A Word." This section is tricky for me, because in my wildest dreams, it does become a more official "news" piece, with interviews and such. The struggle, unfortunately, is that because I make $0 off The Lagrange Point (and in fact, if I have to pay for a domain or premium service in the future, would be SPENDING money on it), I usually am publishing my "geek news" stories with professional outlets like Tor, Polygon or the CBC, because then I get paid.

So it MAY be temporarily, or even permanently, changed. "Lastly, A Word" could become the place where I start to put serialized fiction instead.

I have had an episodic Steampunk detective series in my head for a very, very long time — one that I know would struggle to find a home in a publication elsewhere, and therefore would be ideal for a self-publishing platform like this.

Which brings me to my request. I'd love to hear from you guys about what you think of all of these ideas:

• "Distant Early Warnings" - becomes more point-form
• "Crafter's Corner" - mostly unchanged, but higher-quality visuals and better-integrated with shorter text
• "Rantables" - becoming either audio or video
• "Lastly, A Word" - being temporarily, or even permanently, replaced by serialized short fiction

I'm actually going to omit "Lastly, A Word" this time, in the hopes that a briefer e-newsletter will get more feedback. Let me know what you guys think of these possible changes! The more I know, the better I can make The Lagrange Point.

If yo

That wraps up the tenth issue of The Lagrange Point! If you enjoyed this little e-newsletter, please consider subscribing, or, if you're already subscribed, sharing it with a friend or family member!

I can't grow this e-newsletter alone. I need lots of mouths spreading lots of words about why people should read The Lagrange Point.

Until next Monday, thank you for reading!

-Tim