Open letter of appreciation to some very important people ~ Comments welcome

I talk a LOT about building community, treating your audience well, and give some unasked for advise on how to respect your contributors/artists/and fellow creators.  My contention has been that by helping each other, promoting KickStarters your interested in, giving out some plugs about projects you've been made aware of, etc; you can help other creators gather a larger audience.  My experience has been that this is appreciated, and often reciprocated.

This post isn't about advice, or about The Steel Road, or about any glorious mistake I've made recently.  This post is about giving some credit to some fine people, some gifted creators, who have not only been doing great things but who have also helped others or inspired others.  Some of these people you may have heard of, some you may not have.  I'm going to be linking some project data for things they've done, some social media links, or otherwise just put the spotlight on these fine folks.  If I left you out, please don't take it personally, the list is long ... message me if you feel I've forgotten or left you out.

I want to express my gratitude, and in many cases my admiration to the following creators and social media personalities:

Archania ~ archaniaworkshop.com ~ one of the first creators I made contact with, you can find some fantastic setting pieces for your minis to interact with through him.  I've never had the talent to sculpt of do 3D models but check them out.  Thanks for sharing the links, introducing me to other people on Twitter, helping to spread the word about my KickStarter campaigns, and being incredibly cool to boot.

Ryan Burke ~ @ryanburkewriter (twitter) ~ The creator of the comic book Coronary, gifted creator, and fun guy to follow on Twitter.  Ryan, thanks for sharing my links around, for producing Coronary, and for showing me that KickStarter livestream can, and should, be a fun time with your backers.

Christopher Ducharme ~ Creatore of "The Tempest Moon" ~ Really cool and ambitious
Kickstarter creator. Thank you for sharing your vision with the world.  I look forward to your book coming out! There was a reason for your KickStarter campaign being featured in the crowdfunding campaign slot on this and my fan fiction blog.  Thank you for sharing the links to my own kickStarter campaign and for introducing people to The Steel Road!

James Vail ~ a name to conjure by, creator of Strain system and Xas Irkalla, brilliant game designer, artist, and outspoken supporter of horror ~  Thanks for giving the world Xas Irkalla! Thank you for your support and for sharing my work with others.  You're every bit the genius people say you are, even though you don't make any such claim yourself.  Thanks for everything and keep creating!

Adam Watson ~ Darkslinger Comics / Ghost Assassin / Comic books/ merchandise/ long term KickStarter creator/ Podcaster and all around great guy. ~ Thanks for showing a new guy the ropes, for being a community minded contributor, for promoting your artists well and leading them to new heights of success, for being great to your backers and setting a fine example of staying in communication with them throughout the creation and fulfillment process, and for really just being a great role model for other creators.  Congrats on your upcoming (redacted for privacy concerns) and thank you for having me on your show and for sharing my own kickstarter links!

Spilled Ale Studios ~ Check them out on twitter, they're fun!  ~ Thank you for helping to promote my kickstarter campaigns by sharing the links and for being so active and involved with your followers.  I learned a lot about interacting with people on Twitter from being a follower of yours.  These guys do a lot on the DM's Guild so if you haven't seen their stuff yet, check it out!

Gotham Underground Comic Shop ~ Ramsey New Jersey ~ Great people at a great shop with a keen eye for all things comic book related.  Really cool presence on social media platforms, though I've only linked their Twitter account in the shop name.  Check them out if you're ever in or near Ramsey New Jersey, its well worth the trip!  Thanks for all you do to keep comic books alive and for promoting reading in young people through comic books.

DBJ ~ Great guy, fantastic YouTube channel, and makes some great points about narrative in role playing games.  I follow his Youtube channel and he was, in fact, the first youtube channel I actually followed.  Thanks for making Youtube cool again.


Lock3239 ~ (Twitter ~ check him out folks) ~ Locke has been a fantastic supporter.  Locke, thanks for sharing the links and for reminding me of the reason I work as hard as I can, which is to bring a great product to the world for people to enjoy.

Terminally Nerdy ~ (Twitter ~ OMG follow his feed folks he's great)  I enjoy this feed and I appreciate your sharing of my KickStarter links.  Thanks for spreading the word.

Venture Maidens ~ a great podcast! ~ You ladies have done a lot to make lady gamers feel less odd and more the 'norm.  Lady gamers have always been a part of the community but were marginalized for FAR too long.  Love your show, looking forward to many years of exciting podcast goodness from you.  Link takes you to the Twitter page, follow them there, Instagram, and Facebook.  Check out the show and you'll love it!

Venger Satanis ~ I know many of you are surprised by this ~  Venger and I have very different material, but I would like to point out that he's been around longer, works diligently to promote his work, is prolific in the amount of content he produces, and is open and honest about the content he creates. He interacts with his fans directly and doesn't sugar coat things. He creates for his fan base and has done a remarkable job of it.  His KickStarter campaigns are really pretty cool.  I don't play Alpha Blue, but a LOT of people enjoy it and I think that says a lot about the quality of Venger's work.  He has a kickstarter campaign that is currently going on and you can see that at No One Warps For Free!  If you're interests intersect with his product line, you should definitely be looking at this guy.   Venger, thanks for being you, for being a great example of craftsmanship, and for producing work tailored to your audience.  Anyone looking to get into producing role playing game material, I recommend you take a long hard ☺(Venger, see what I did there for you)  look at his history of posts and products.  You can learn a lot from this man's diligence.  Venger thanks for producing the things you do, for keeping your genre going in style, and I hope you'll accept this entry for what it is, a genuine acknowledgement of your accomplishments and contributions to the role playing game community.

Sentient Beard Black Jotaro ~ Twitter @gunswordfist ~  Great Twitter feed, regularly calls attention to social issues (such as missing persons, so keep your eyes open).  Supports artists and has been known to help me out by sharing the link to my KickStarter campaign for The Steel Road.  Follow for raw real opinion, important information on missing children, and a lot of cool anime related material.

Horgar Ironside and the Lich Zoluan ~ Twitter @dndclerichorgar and @DnD_Lich respectively ~  These two have been a great help in sharing links to my own KickStarter campaigns, as well as being remarkably entertaining in their daily arguing back and forth in character.   Follow both, not one or the other, as following one just fuels the snickering back and forth over who has more mortals in thrall (Lich) or who has guided more noble souls (Horgar).  Always a fun time with these two in your feed.

Xael ~ Twitter  @XaelSerpent ~ Xael has a great Twitter feed and I forgot to add him to this list at first because I pay more attention to other things he puts up.  Thanks for sharing the links and pointing people to my projects.  I hope more people discover you.

Vince "The Evil DM" ~ host of D&D 5E podcast / Twitter @TheEvilDM ~ Where to start...  I found a lot of cool things because Vince Tweeted about them.  Check him out.  He also has retweeted a number of the entries from this blog, the ones I assume he found interesting I think.  If you're a RPG fan he is probably on the list of people you follow on social media, and if not add him today.

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This list would get insanely long if I listed all the backers and all the folks at EnWorld , Tessera Guild, Critical Role, and Nerdarchy who have supported so many of us small press creators... but I'm going to take a moment to thank two giants:

Egg Embry and Angus Abranson ~ These two fine gentlemen do more for the indie RPG community on any given day than most people do in a month.  With their articles, link sharing, and interviews for the Tessera guild and EnWorld they are directly responsible for untold thousands of backers across (no one knows how many) cool indie RPG products.  I applaud your commitment, I'm grateful for all the backers you've introduced to my own work and I owe you both a beer (or two) if we're ever at the same convention.

I invite every KickStarter and Indiegogo creator who ever had an article or link share from these two to give them a huge round of applause whenever they go to GenCon or any other 'Con for that matter.  This would become a tradition if I had my way.

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I know this isn't a completely comprehensive list, nor is this my usual fare for posts.  I think it is important that we acknowledge the people who have supported our efforts, that we strive to build each other up in this community of creators who, though we each do our own thing(s), are acting in the same hobbies and working to present our respective visions to the world.  I suggest we lend each other a helping hand when and where we can, and that we give each other an honest critique rather than the stoop to trolling one another.  Many people have tried and failed or given up when they've gone into producing role playing games and comic books.  Both are tough fields to break into, I know I've had struggles as I work to build my own audience.  I think most of you know that I make every effort I can to support creators who are producing things I think are cool and that should get some attention (though, honestly I should support successful efforts more than I do).

Keep creating, thank you each for your support, and I wish each of you more success than you expect.

W.S. "Sam" Quinton
Founder : Sinopa Publishing LLC

P.S.:  I hope to see you all next time as we continue my adventure into writing, self-publishing, and game design.   I ask that all of you who have been following my work take a moment to appreciate the people named above.  For all of you who I didn't mention, I apologize.  The list is longer than would easily fit and contains backers like Miguel, John (all 9 of you), James (all of you), Ryan (all three of you), Daniel, Susan, Chris (all 7 of you), Josh (all 11 of you), Eskimo, LadyV, Sandra, Bill, Doc, and others... but putting names of backers here seems like a bad idea as I don't want people spamming you.  Please know that I appreciate all of you for your support and I hope I continue to earn it.