Welcome! This is the informational carrd for KICKBACK: An Akiyama Zine Project, organised by the Hassaku Pochette Syndicate.Preorders were open Oct 3 to Nov 7, and leftover sales are currently open!
🌎🛒: https://akiyamazine.bigcartel.com
🇯🇵🛒 (Japan only): https://hassaposyndicate.booth.pm
Latest site updates:
2023..23 site updated: leftover sales
2022.11.23 site updated: moderator roles, timeline
2022.10.20 minor updates to Finance FAQ
2022.10.06 added list of contributors under: Lineup, updated Finance section of FAQ
2022.10.05 site updated: preorders open link & faq
2022.07.04 Applicants emailed!
2022.05.09 Interest Check Started!
Contributor Lineup
| Name | Role | Social Media |
|---|---|---|
| Ami | Cover Artist | k1ryuch4n (Twitter), amyadrianna (Instagram) |
| CasualLegume | Merch Artist | CasualLegume (Twitter), CasualLegume (Instagram) |
| Han | Merch Artist | jhnfar (Twitter) |
| jamm | Merch Artist | jarofjamm (Twitter) |
| Plantsforbrains | Merch Artist | Plantsforbrains (Twitter) |
| Shiroginko | Merch Artist | Shiroginko (Twitter) |
| Amy | Page Artist | miamiero (Twitter) |
| ColonelRohjaz | Page Artist | ColonelRohjaz (Twitter), colonelrogers (Tumblr), colonelrogers.art (Instagram) |
| Dani | Page Artist | peachieflame (Twitter), peachieflame (Instagram) |
| Dry | Page Artist | 343dry (Twitter) |
| Eli | Page Artist | warmsnakeskin (Twitter) |
| Erin | Page Artist | garbage__chan (Twitter) |
| GeeFee | Page Artist | GeeFee_Art (Twitter), GeeFee_Art (Instagram) |
| Gurke | Page Artist | die_obergurke, (Twitter) die_obergurke (Instagram) |
| ハルヨシ / Haruyoshi | Page Artist | fumuke864c (Twitter) |
| Judy | Page Artist | nishikilyfe (Twitter) |
| Kaien | Page Artist | KATANAGAMI (Twitter) |
| Kayla | Page Artist | AmiePsychique (Twitter) |
| Leslie | Page Artist | _chappylips (Instagram), chappylips (Twitter) |
| Mac | Page Artist | Lil_BitofMac (Twitter) |
| Mal | Page Artist | okottakao (Twitter), okottakao (Instagram) |
| Perseus | Page Artist | dammitperseus (Tumblr), dammitperseus (Twitter) |
| Steph | Page Artist | manifestephanie (Twitter) |
| Valerian | Page Artist | Valerian_art (Twitter), valeriannnn (Tumblr) |
| zeraki | Page Artist | zr_zeraki (Twitter) |
| Fig | Writer | ficnewtons (Twitter) |
| Jox | Writer | tljoxter (Twitter) |
| Katsumeragi | Writer | katsumeragi (Twitter) |
| Monk | Writer | longlongmonk (Twitter) |
| sprint | Writer | sprintinghell (Twitter) |
Moderators
| Name | Role | Social Media |
|---|---|---|
| Adri | Head Mod, Finance & Production | machinegunkxss (Twitter) |
| Tim | General & Shipping | Nishikimbos (Twitter) |
| Clear | Formatting & Graphics | clear_as_night (Twitter) |
| Nat | Graphics | sekai_ouja (Twitter) |
| Katsumeragi | JP Translation | katsumeragi (Twitter) |
Timeline
May 9: Interest checks open
May 27: Interest checks close
May 30: Contributor Sign ups open
July 1: Contributor Sign ups close
July 2-8: Selection process, accepted applicants emailed
July 11: Work on the zine!
- July 22: Concept check:
- Aug 12: Check in #1
- Sept 2: Check in #2
- Sept 19: Final Deadline
Oct 3 - Nov 7: Zine preorder sales period
Nov 8 - Dec 31: Production period (estimate only)
Jan 15 - Jan 31: Shipping
FAQ
My question is about:
- the zine itself
- applications
- finance
- the mods
FAQ - Applications
How do I sign up?
Sign ups will start May 30th and last for about a month (closing July 1st). We will be distributing a google form for you to complete in order to submit your application. After the application period closes, we will select our contributors for the zine.Do I need past experience in zines to apply?
Not at all! This zine is open to anyone and everyone who wants to show some love for Akiyama Shun ♥. The most important part of being a contributor is being able to meet deadlines and communicating with the team. While having zine experience will certainly make things easier for you (in terms of time management, etc.) , it’ll be the job of the mod team to make sure you have everything you need to produce your best work. Previous zine experience will not be a factor in who gets selected as a contributor for the zine.How old do I have to be to apply?
Given the nature of these games and their ratings, participants must be 16 years or older to apply and participate. The content of the zine will be rated G for general audiences.What is your timeline for this zine?
For the current timeline of our zine, please click here.
FAQ - General
What’s a zine?
A zine is a collaborative publication made up of artwork, fic, and other media from several contributors. In fandom spaces, zines are often used to collect and distribute works to celebrate a certain fandom, character, ship, theme, etc. They are often unofficial works and published and distributed independently, often by a small group of fans as opposed to a large publishing house or manufacturer.Will the zine be physical or digital?
This zine will be focusing on a high quality physical book and merch.Why Akiyama? Is there a theme?
We love Akiyama for his laid back personality but adept wit and intelligence. His role as someone who’s not exactly a part of a criminal organization but would be hard pressed to be described as an upstanding citizen, especially in Japanese society, makes him a fascinating character in this franchise and lends a lot to his appeal. All of this paired with his tragic backstory but congenial relationships with so many characters makes him a wonderful character that we think is worth celebrating! Plus his supporting cast rocks!What’s the theme?
Our theme will be chosen by the contributors once the team has been assembled! While the zine will be celebrating Akiyama, a secondary theme will be chosen to appeal to contributors’ interests.Who can I contact if I have any questions? Who are the mods?
Please see our contact page for links and more information, but you can DM us at @hassaposyn with any questions, comments, or concerns!The main organisers for this zine are Adri and Tim.
FAQ - Finance
Where will my money go? / How will you be splitting the profits?
For this zine we will be going by a Pay for Production model (P4P). This allows us to focus on producing a beautiful book and merchandise and give us some flexibility to include upgrades or stretch goals. Additionally, it will allow international artists to contribute to the zine and will hopefully help us to create a truly international project that can be shared by folks all around the world.What is a P4P zine?
P4P stands for pay-for-production, where the intention is no profit is made from a zine (break even only). Money made is to cover production and shipping costs of the zine and its merchandise.For KICKBACK, we include compensation of our contributors* with a full physical bundle as part of our production cost so prices of our products are higher to raise funds. RGG is a smaller but very international fandom (less than 50% of the participants are in the US!).*Note: contributors and graphics mods. Depending on sales, the general mods may purchase their own copies of the zine at cost or be compensated for a copy.Will the zine be available in digital copy (ie. PDF) as well?
As the zine is P4P, unfortunately we will not be offering individual digital copies for sale.What happens with the profit/excess funds?
To compensate all of our contributors with a physical copy of the zine and all merch created alongside it, we've added a small profit margin to sales prices for the zine. This has been calculated based on our interest check results, number of contributors and their location. All profits will be directed to offsetting contributor international shipping first, followed by cost of the zine and merch for all contributors, then shipping for all contributors. Stretch goals have been created and are currently funded by the general moderators to encourage sales.In the rare event that there are leftover funds after compensating contributors, we will do the following:
- Any upgrades to the zine (ie. cover finishing) will be applied.
- The general mods will be reimbursed for the costs they have put toward stretch goal merchandise so the zine is entirely self-funded.
- We will fulfil the stretch goals anyway where possible if there is enough to provide to the relevant sales) or provide partial refunds to buyers.Shipping will be based in the USA and sales will be handled through Bigcartel (US/Worldwide) and Etsy (EU/UK only). These accounts are managed by our general mods with zine specific accounts. Due to geolocation restrictions, only our shipping mod has access to the PayPal account.What financial transparency is there for the zine?
Contributors get regular sales updates within the discord server, and a detailed P/L statement will be provided to them on conclusion of the project. People outside the project may reach out for a summary document.If you have any queries, please feel free to DM the zine twitter account, email/DM the HassapoSyn account or reach out to Adri or Tim directly on their socials.
FAQ - the organisers
What is the Hassaku Pochette Syndicate?
Hassaku Pochette Syndicate, or Hassaposyn for short, are just two friends who love the Yakuza and RGG games and want to organize fandom projects to celebrate this amazing franchise.Yes we love Ono Michio-kun with his charming Hassaku face and cute fish pochette.Who are Adri and Tim?
Adri: Hi there, I’m Adri! Nice to meet you! I've previously modded for the Y4 zine, RE4RESH!, along with the 2022 Fan Calendar (formatting and finance) and RGG Fashion Week (graphics). My IRL work experience is related to project and incident management and business administration. Akiyama is by far my favourite character so I'm excited to be able to work on a zine dedicated to him. Thanks for stopping by!Tim: Hi! I’m Tim! Creating fandom projects for the RGG games over the last couple years has been one of my biggest prides and joys despite the challenges of global events. Prior to this zine, I modded and organized the Yakuza 4 zine, “RE4RESH!" and the 2022 RGG Fan Calendar “These Streets.” With Adri we also organized the RGG Fashion Week that happened earlier in the year. I’m excited to put together a zine celebrating one of my favorite characters of the franchise- this zine was one of the earliest ones that Adri and I dreamed up when we first started this circle, so I’m thrilled to make this project a reality!
Contact
To reach out to the mods of this zine, please contact the Hassaku Pochette Syndicate through their email (preferred) or Twitter.Alternatively, you can reach out to them directly via their Twitter accounts.
Adri @ machinegunkxss
Tim @ nishikimbos