Hello! I’m Verity Holloway, a writer and editor in East Anglia.
I’m launching CloisterFox, a bi-annual zine of British strange fiction. Every six months, I aim to release a zine of six captivating, genre-bending short stories in an A5 perfect bound volume, richly illustrated, ideal for throwing in your bag.
Zines are once again having a moment. The pleasure of having a beautiful book to hold and admire is something every reader can relate to. It's long been a dream of mine to host excellent speculative fiction in a beautiful setting. CloisterFox is a wry creature strolling somewhere he shouldn't, lending vivid colour to dreary train journeys and bus stop ennui.
I want to publish stories that creep uninvited along quiet corridors. Stories missed by shoppers hurrying by. Secrets, miracles, universes behind locked tenement doors. Ghosts and gallows. The dress in the attic as seen through a haze of neon. Tell me things I don’t know. Tell me the dreams you can’t forget. Tell me strange things.
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Who is on board?
For graphic design, we have James Powell of Grey Bear Communications. For editing, we have myself. As for the stories, CloisterFox will be hosting these six superb writers in the first issue:
Dan Carpenter (Year's Best Weird Fiction, Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror)
Ally Wilkes (All The White Spaces)
Natasha Kindred (How The Email Found Me)
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ (Dazzling)
David Hartley (Fauna, Incorcisms)
Robert Shearman (We All Hear Stories in the Dark)
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What We Need & What You Get
I have the contacts, I have the experience, and I have the time. But CloisterFox can’t get off the ground without money. High quality colour printing is expensive, and I intend to pay all contributors and produce a zine to be proud of, to keep, and to return to. I've costed everything: your support means I can confidently launch the first issue and hopefully also the second, which will be considerably cheaper to make as all the initial branding and templates will be done. I also intend to offer an ebook to maximise accessibility.
By backing this campaign you will be helping to pay:
- The six writers in each issue
- The graphic designer
- Printing
- Digitisation
- A guest illustrator
- My fee as editor
- Misc fees like website costs, packaging, online vendor charges etc
If we make more than our target:
- All funds that go over target will be ploughed into the next issues of CloisterFox
- If we do well, I’ll look at the possibility of paid advertising or the services of a publicist for a day.
- Raising a good sum opens up the possibility of little niceties like decorated envelopes, free bookmarks etc in the future.
What do you get? Perks include:
- Zines! Both paper and ebook
- Beautiful enamel pins featuring the words of the CloisterFox patron saint, Montague Summers: “Tell me strange things.”
- Professional story critiques at a bargain price
- Your name enshrined in the back of the first issue
- A character named after you in Verity Holloway's next novel (no-one too evil)
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Risks & Challenges
What if we don’t raise enough money in this campaign?
I've chosen a flexible Indiegogo campaign because even if we don't hit our target, we'll still get to keep the money we've raised, meaning the zine will still happen in some form or another. I’ve costed everything carefully and have backup options to be sure that if this happens, we can still release Issue 1 as a standalone zine. This way, all our backers receive their pre-orders. Ideally, this campaign will raise enough money to cover the second issue, which will be considerably cheaper than the first (which includes branding and template design). It’s just a case of getting over this first hill.
What if a contributor drops out?
Things happen. If any of our contributors drop out, we have backup options. The worst that can happen in that eventuality is a small delay in publication, but by backing the campaign you'll be kept in the loop with regular updates.
Other Ways You Can Help
Zines live or die on word of mouth. The free way to help CloisterFox is to spread the word on social media. Tag us on Instagram and Twitter.
Want to contribute financially but don’t want to receive a perk? Just click the pink ‘back it’ button and choose a sum. If you prefer that 100% of your donation goes to me, no fees, toss me a tip here and it will go towards the CloisterFox campaign.
Don’t forget to use the Indiegogo share function and tell others about it!
Thank you for your consideration! If you have any questions that aren't answered here or in the FAQ, tweet me.