Snack Time on The Stack
Snack Time is back, and this time on The Stack
The Beginning…
In 2005, Matt Cavotta wrote Snack Time with Vorthos, and defined an entire type of Magic player for the very first time. I remember reading it, all those years ago.
Then in 2014, the first episode of Snack Time with Mike and Ant previewed on GatheringMagic, and changed the way the community looked at Magic art and flavor. It’s how I immersed myself in this new world I’ve come to love so much.
And now in 2024, ten years later, Snack Time will live on.
Good morning folks, and welcome to Snack Time on The Stack!
For those who don’t know me, or if it’s your first time reading my work, my name is Donny Caltrider, and for the last five and a half years, I wrote the art beat at a website called Hipsters of the Coast. During that time I wrote primarily about newly released artwork for the game of Magic: The Gathering, as well as original artwork for Marvel trading cards and some of the celebrated pieces in the larger genres of Imaginative Realism. My column was a love letter to what it means to live and write the ‘Art Life.’
I wrote nearly 450 articles for the site (and those are all still viewable here), but unfortunately in mid-December, and on the heels of what I consider one of my best articles, the site had to temporarily suspend paid content publishing. It was abrupt, and sad, and in an afternoon, my entire writing career as I knew it was changed. While I’m sticking around with the Chief Hipster to find the path forward over there, I want to keep my writing muscle exercised. Not spinning a couple thousand words every few weeks has left a weird void, not just as a writer, but as a person. I never missed by bi-weekly Thursday deadline in all that time, but in an instant, there was no deadline at all.
I’ve wrestled with what’s next for the better part of two months now. Do I wait for Hipsters to fully restructure? Look for another Magic site to write for in the meantime? Seek a bigger publication, and try to bring Magic art to a more mainstream audience? Or maybe my run as a writer is done; do I hang it up?
Once again, as he’s unknowingly done several times before, Sam from Rhystic Studies saved me. When the Hipsters announcement came out, he told me he was starting a Substack, a site I’d only barely heard of. And in a recent podcast episode (the Patreon is worth it just for the podcast, by the way), he talks more about it, and how things like this may be a hedge against the ever-changing landscape of niche content.
Donny on The Stack
After nearly 90 days of tormenting myself on what to do and where to go, It’s time to get the wheel moving again. This will become a place where I can still do what I love, and where the people who enjoy it can find it. Substack will drop my articles directly into your inbox, which should make it easier than ever to keep up with what’s going on.
My intention is to write about many of the same things I did before, and a couple of new things along the way. Reviews of new Magic artwork will still be a cornerstone, and there will still be collaboration announcements of exciting new art-related things coming to the community. I'll mix in a bit of Marvel trading card art, even beyond Marvel Masterpieces, and happenings from around the multiverse of the bigger art world too. I may even experiment with some special artist proof opportunities from artists I work with, in addition to keeping my AP101 series going.
I guess what I’m trying to say is if you enjoyed the free-wheeling, conversational nature of my column before, this should be even better once I get going.
To do that, I’m going to try and stick to two things, to keep myself accountable and to keep you all, my readers, engaged.
Two Articles a Month- Every other week has been my usual cadence since I started writing, with bonus stuff tossed in between. But now I’ve got a four month old at home, and he and my wife will always be my priority. So It might not always happen, but it’s the goal.
1000 Words (or close)- My writing can get fairly long winded. But this is Snack Time now, so I’m going to do my best to distill what I’m trying to say to a manageable, bite-size pieces for all of us
This little experiment is going to launch completely free to read, but with the option of monthly and yearly subscriptions. My writing has never been behind a paywall, and I intend to keep it that way as much as I can. That said of course, if you like what I do and you’re able to support it in a regular way or with a yearly subscription, I’ll be more than grateful. And the more subscribers that gather here, the more time I’ll be able to carve out for this space, and the more interesting things I’ll be able to do with it. I need an audience to write, and some modest means to keep it going; hopefully we can find that balance together.
More soon my friends. Stay tuned.