Catching up: A lot going on, so check this out.

Art by Brian Lee, colored by Rebecca Coulthart

It's been a while since I posted about my new adventure, so let's catch up a bit.

Two years and still going strong:

Hard to believe that I've now been publishing role playing game books for two years!  It has been a LOT of work and has been possible through the support of wonderful backers on KickStarter and from the remarkable work of the freelance art team.

From the beginning, I've tried to learn from every project and worked to make every book better than the one that came before.  It can be quite tiring but I'm happy to say that I'm very pleased with each book I've released.  That is a HUGE thing to be able to say and it's only because I know that I did my very best effort with each project that I can feel that way.

There is a stack of "to do" projects sitting next to my little desk now.  Throughout this blog I have recommended that self-publishing writers / game designers take notes of every project concept that blossoms in their mind.  I've been doing that and now have a little over 100 (seriously) projects that I've noted.  Many of these ideas are getting scheduled for development while others have to wait their turn.  Some projects garner more interest than others and the momentum that builds behind them gives rise to discussions with artists, to KickStarter campaigns and the calculations of how to make them a reality.  IT. IS. AWESOME!

There are a LOT of projects I'll be releasing over the coming years, but here is where I reiterate one of my biggest points I return to on this blog:  "No one can enjoy your book until you write it".  In other words, you just need to do it.  Please remember that a bad draft is still MUCH better than no draft at all. Hit the keys, pick up a pen and paper, write down your ideas.  Even if it's vague or strange, (Example:  'book about goblins getting murdered by evil heroes').  Come back to what excites you and get to work.

Cover of Tarot Adventures, Book Two: Comet over Echo Rock
Artist: Brian Lee

Work life balance:

Writing, game design, coordinating your release schedule, dealing with printers, running crowdfunding campaigns and all the various little tasks you do when you publish your own work take up considerable amounts of time.  I recommend that you DO NOT let your writing and publishing intrude to far into your personal life. 

I'm a single father.  I work a day job, one that I actually enjoy, then pick up my child from school and we head to the park or go home and play.  I make dinner, we eat, play time gives way to getting cleaned up for bedtime, we have reading time and then it's lights out for the little human.  Even though I love writing, I love my kids far more.  Even with deadlines fast approaching I make every effort to keep my time with the kids sacred.  Don't get me wrong, there have been a few times when I've had to compromise a few hours, but it bothers me to do so.  I don't want to miss anything from their lives while they're so little. So, I work after bedtime, often until two in the morning, then I'm back up at six to get breakfast made and get our day started.  It is tiring.

Speaking of tiring, I'm normally good on four to six hours of sleep.  This is just how I'm made, and is definitely not for everyone.  Don't let my schedule intrude on yours.  The key take-away here is, don't miss out on family time to get your writing done.  Find time outside of those moments, in the quiet hours when it's 'me time' to put your ideas down. 

From "Whispers of Persephone"
Artist: Christian Martinez

Is there money in it yet?

Friends and family ask this of me sometime.  I think they assume I'm making money because I have put out several books over these two years and when you look at my KickStarter campaigns you see dollar signs.  I can tell you honestly, that after expenses I'm still just about breaking even.  Extra revenue, what would be 'profit' gets used up for art on new projects.   My list of books, posters, merchandise items and art that I own rights to, continues to grow but like so many of us I keep working the day job to pay the bills.  To my thinking, there is nothing wrong with that. 

When I started, people actually told me that I should wait until I had a few thousand followers on social media before I tried launching a KickStarter campaign. Nope, I didn't wait.  I still, to this day, don't have numbers like that.  What I can say is that I'm slowly approaching 200 followers on my personal KickStarter account and that, to me, means a lot.  It means that people who are happy to support creators have taken the time to follow so that they will get notice when I put out a campaign.  It is a great feeling.

But is there money in writing, in designing game content, in being your own boss?  Yes, I firmly believe there is.  I'm building for the long term, so I can leave my company to my kids one day, but I am optimistic for the future.  Someday, maybe when I write about being three or four years into publishing, I'll be saying 'Yes, there is money to be made"... time will tell I suppose.

D'Inn, the veteran goblin mercenary
Art by the amazing: Alexia Veldhuisen

Monthly Releases and Patreon:

I have a simple ambition that has grown from producing books.  One day I would like to release a lot of content for subscribers each month.  Sounds simple, right?

The truth of the matter is that funding art becomes pricey very quickly.  Currently, I fund it out of pocket with help from subscribers (now on Patreon).  So, I realize that seems pretty standard, but what I'm wanting to grow to isn't.  I aspire to release a monthly comic, a dystopian rpg "news sheet", a monthly pair of pin-up illustrations (one male & one female), the monthly PDF detailing a character/companion/creature/monster that I'm currently releasing, and adventures and news for a living campaign.  I want to combine this with a live stream to provide fun, good quality content that I can enjoy and be proud of.  Is that too much to ask for? (hmm... maybe, lol).

Fact is, it will take copious amounts of funding and I don't have that level of following, yet.  I say 'yet' not because I think it's inevitable (I certainly don't) but because I've watched an audience grow over the last few years.  It's a small, close knit audience certainly, but an audience I've been blessed with because they have been AMAZING!!!! So, I'm sticking to my guns on my opinion on the matter of growing your audience.  Creating the best quality content you can, being open and honest about missteps, and daring to put yourself out in front of folks to say "hey I made a thing!" is really a fantastic way to grow.  Is it slow?  Yes.  It's also what I'm comfortable with.

Now, last year I got some criticism for making comments on growing an audience when mine is so small.  There is a validity to that position in that conventional wisdom measures followers in the thousands as a minimum.  I just happen to disagree with that position.  I think an audience of five is just as important as an audience of five million (though not as financially beneficial).  Those five people following you think enough of your work to check it out so treasure them because they are important.

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Shameless self-promotion warning:  As I write this entry the Patreon page has been active for three days.  So far, three of the subscribers from the Drip page have migrated over and I have three new subscribers who have arrived.  I invite you to subscribe as well to receive the monthly PDF and to be a part of what I hope will become a growing community.  (Subscribe Here) Or use the button at the top of the page.  Thank you.
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Back to what's new:

                                                                Sinopa Omnibus

Collecting the monthly releases together into a biannual book proved to be a good idea.  From a formatting stand point, the book was simple to produce as the PDFs were already put together, so stitching them into one book was relatively easy.  This also appealed to KickStarter backers who are not fond of subscription formats and/or who prefer print over digital.  Bringing the Omnibus to KickStarter also allowed me the opportunity to release bonus content and to set up stretch goals to add even more.  The first volume funded fully and I'm cautiously optimistic about it as a recurring biannual title.  Volume Two will come to KickStarter in late September.

                                                          Break KickStarter!!!

As a subheading, 'Break KickStarter' is fun.  This a campaign theme being promoted by the folks at KickStarter as a sort of challenge to do things differently, shake up the status quo and to make things on KickStarter look different.  I'm rising to that challenge with the help of some very talented people as we work to fund Broken!

Title card designed and illustrated by: Zack ViolaClick on image to preview the KickStarter campaign

You can click on the title card image to preview the campaign page.

With this campaign we're working to create a new, never before seen role playing game.  But unlike the usual method, we're putting the choice of what is going into the game in the hands of the backers.  I've built the budget, assembled the art team and even lined up additional writers to help bring this game from nothing to play test in four months time. 

I'm very excited about creating Broken! and can't wait to see what the community chooses for it to become!

                                                        Fantasy Pin-Up Collection

Yes, you read that right.  We're putting together a fantasy pin-up collection.  These illustrations will be done in a tasteful manner reminiscent of the pin-ups of the 40s and 50s.  The pin-up girls for this first book will be from fantasy races straight out of tabletop role playing games and fantasy themed fiction.  This is going to be a beautiful little book and lots of fun to create.


                                   Tarot Adventures, Book Three: Death comes to Glenfallow

Several re-writes have gone by and now Death comes to Glenfallow is in its initial play test (the one I'm running).  After this adventure has been resolved, I'll make what corrections need be done, then send it on to the play test group for a good beating, err, I mean round of testing... yeah, that's it.  Art for this Tarot Adventure will be done by the remarkable Anthony Ojeda.  See the illustration below he did for Tarot Adventures, Book One: The Draw of Glenfallow!

Goblins ambush the group in 'The Draw of Glenfallow'
Art by Anthony Ojeda

                                                                  47 Furious Tails

With the successful funding and release of 47 Furious Tails, Issue One I am thrilled to say I have released my first comic book!  This was a labor of love, requiring two kickstarter campaigns to get it funded, and months of illustration work by Alexia Veldhuisen.  The comic is gorgeous!  I'm really excited to be working on a few re-writes for issue two before we come back to KickStarter to fund book two.

Cover by Alexia Veldhuisen

In 2019 we've released issue one of 47 Furious Tails, the first Volume of the Sinopa Omnibus and the regional map of Glenfallow (the setting of the Tarot Adventures).  As you can see, it's been a busy year indeed.


There are several books in development at this time, and the Sinopa Assemble comic anthology is currently live on KickStarter.  You can support that campaign (please do) by clicking on the link to it in the Featured Crowdfunding Campaign, link above. 

*****

There is a lot going on in my new adventure.  I've had some successes, a few setbacks, some inspired ideas and some not-so-great.  KickStarter has been particularly kind to me and I look forward to breaking it with Broken!.  I'm enjoying the thrill of writing as well as the challenges of production. I've had the opportunity to share useful information with first time KickStarter creators and I'm very happy for their success.  I think the future is bright and I am looking forward to pushing my limits with each book.

Most importantly, I hope that the people who read my work, play in my games, and pick up my comics enjoy them every bit as much as I enjoy creating them.  Maybe then I am sharing some of my own joy with the world, and that just might make the world a little better.  I can hope so anyway.

Thank you for joining me on my adventure. I hope you'll join me for the next post as 'Adventure Awaits' and it's more fun to have such adventures with good company.

~ W.S. "Sam" Quinton

D&D Facebook Subscription groups and other stuff

It's been a busy three weeks since my last post here.  Sorry for the delay, but life has been unforgiving with my time of late.  There are a few things I want to touch on today, so lets get to it!

Recently, on Facebook ~

It sounds like the continuation of a television drama, doesn't it?

A few days ago, on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition closed Facebook group, I noticed that one of the admins had posted about a closed subscription group known as the "5e Adventure Academy".   As that group allows for advertisement of crowdfunding campaigns by members, I didn't think anything of it beyond the question "Facebook has subscription groups?"   Like many of us, I quickly turned to Google to see what information was out there about this group model.  One of the articles I found (released in the summer of 2018) can be found HERE (Written by Josh Constine).

For the record, I fully support people making money from content they create. I myself have a Drip page, I know several people who have Patreon pages and I am an avid creator and consumer on KickStarter.  I don't see anything wrong with people creating new content (within licensing boundaries) and making that content available to the community in a fairly priced way.

As this is a relatively new model for Facebook, it can seem a bit alien. There have been a wide range of responses to the announcement and posts by the Admin who made the announcement.  People have condemned the idea, supported the notion, been surprised by the list of contributors, and have expressed a wide range of opinions regarding this new development.

While I am not subscribing to that group, it isn't because I don't care for the model or that I'm condemning the use of Facebook in such a way.  The reality is that I'm a single father and a creator who puts almost all the revenue generated from my own work back into new projects. To be blunt, I can't justify the additional expense at this time.  Even as I write this entry, I wrestle with this decision because the list of contributors does include people whose work I am somewhat familiar with. I am of the opinion that you can always learn from others.  I'm afraid that I may miss out on a valuable learning opportunity, at least for the next few months, by staying out.

My understanding is that new, original content is going to be generated by the contributors within that group.  Such creative energy is something the RPG community always needs.  How you and I, the audience, choose to consume such content is up to us.  I am not endorsing nor condemning this new subscription group, but I do think that all of us should be aware of it.  If you like the idea, you can always elect to join and can leave if it doesn't live up to your expectations.  If you don't like the idea, don't subscribe.  It really is just that simple.

Full disclosure: During the discussion within the Facebook thread, I expressed my opinion that people charging for original content was a good thing, which prompted a bit of blow back directed at me and my releases.  When I went back to respond to the comments that had been directed at me, I saw that my comments as well as those who were actively discussing the matter in that same conversational "comment" thread had been deleted.  I did not ask for that to occur and I'm not certain what spawned that decision.  It does seem that one of my most vocal detractors has since left the group, which is unfortunate as I believe it is important to hear all sides of a discussion.  Whether he left voluntarily or was kicked from the group, I do not know. What I do know is that I did not ask for the content to be removed, for his criticisms of my opinion and my own creations to be censored, nor for my own comments to be deleted.  I'll chalk that up to admin or moderator intervention and leave it at that.


Whispers of Persephone ~

Work on WoP has picked up and is nearing completion as I now have all of the information from the backers who pledged at the Acolyte of Death and Fallen Hero levels.  While I had originally hoped to have all of that content formatted in before the Thanksgiving holiday, that didn't happen as life intervened (details involve my children, so I'm not going into that here). 

I had believed that fulfillment would occur early, before December 1st, but now it seems it will be on time and be delivered in December.  This puts my holiday magic item book in jeopardy, but I'm working furiously to resolve the timeline.  More on that as it develops.

Christian Martinez is creating the final two art works for the book, and I believe they will be wonderful as he never fails to impress me.

To all of you who supported the campaign, pledged your support and helped make this book possible:  I thank you!

Several pieces of art for Whispers are now available on merchandise on my Society6 and RedBubble pages.  (More on that below)


Creators, Explore your options ~

Sites like Printful, Redbubble, Society6 and so many others open an opportunity for creators to expand the use and market for their art.  If you are a small publisher who commissions art for your work, be aware that before you use art you've commissioned you need to make certain you own or have license to use the art for merchandising purposes. I have written such language into the contracts I use with the artists whom I hire.  We negotiate the price for art with those rights in mind.

You're probably asking, 'But, will I make money?'.  I can't tell you that.  Personally, I've made about $18 after expenses on merchandise sales this first week.  Of that amount, about $4 is attributed to friends of mine who both liked the item(s) in question and wanted to support my efforts.  The remaining $14 were from users I do not personally know.  As I had already paid for the art in question, I'm calling that a profit.  This may not seem like much to many people, but for me I see it as a few grocery items for my kids.  Which is something I'm very appreciative of.

If you haven't explored these sites yet, take note that there is a considerable overlap in the type of goods they offer, the terms of sale, your own access to merchandise at discounted prices, and whether or not they have templates available for your use. 

As most such sites have no fees for you to pay to maintain your page (they make their money on their cut of the individual sales), it is a nice way to offer merchandise to your audience if you cannot yet afford to have items produced in bulk.  Be aware that such merchandise has a smaller profit margin that if you had items produced in bulk and the retail price is often slightly higher than what you may otherwise charge.  This is due to each item being produced to order.

Examples of my own merchandise creations are indicated below. You can click on the image to go to the site to see other stuff I put together. This will give you some idea of the kinds of things that are available to these two sites specifically.  There are several other sites where merchandise can be created and it can be fun to play around with the images as you develop what the final product will look like.  As examples I have my "Ritual of Sacrifice Cutting Board" (yes, I think that is pretty funny) and one of the phone cases I designed using art from 47 Furious Tails (art by: Alexia Veldhuisen).

Drip, Patreon, Indiegogo and KickStarter are all valuable resources for us as creators.  It can seem intimidating when you first use them and can be disappointing if you don't reach your expectations.  I encourage you to keep creating, to been open and engaged with your audience, and to never give up on your efforts.  Being able to create is a wonderful thing.  Be proud of what you create, happy with how your audience receives your work, own your mistakes and your accomplishments and you will find that whether you make a dollar or a thousand dollars, you did well.

_____________________________

Thank you for joining me once again on my continuing adventure in game design, writing and self-publishing.  I hope that you find the information here of use in your own efforts and fun to read.

I hope you'll join me next time, as the adventure continues.

Kickstarter campaign and fulfillment, then "What's Next" and other stuff

Art from Whispers of Persephone was created by Christian Martinez
Copyright (c) 2018 Sinopa Publishing
All rights reserved

The KickStarter campaign for Whispers of Persephone has been a tremendous success.  I want to thank all of you who have supported the campaign, shared the links and helped to reach all of its stretch goals.

This campaign was full of pleasant surprises.  The backers came out in force, seizing the backer reward tiers of Necromancer, Acolytes of Death and Fallen Heroes (all slots were claimed as of this writing).  As I write this, there are 37 hours left in the campaign.  I'm writing up material for the backer reward tiers, naming the Acolytes of Death and creating their character / NPC information based on the date provided. I am also formulating the obituary pages for the Fallen Hero backers, telling stories of noble effort and ignoble death.




Art is very nearly complete, and I am hoping to have the book in front of Pat for edits before the end of the week. With 24 pages of character data to complete, 12 pages of Acolyte background, 6 obituaries, and a smattering of quotes to insert, I am optimistic that I'll get this book to her shortly.

Fulfillment:

One of my favorite things about crowdfunding campaigns is sending out the material once it is completed.  Of all the material that goes out, I think the signed copies are my most favored.  With Whispers of Persephone, I will be fulfilling the PDF and PoD codes once I have the final editorial changes done and the book uploads (PDF), for the PoD codes I will fulfill those once the printer approval of the book is back (which usually doesn't take long).  Copies for signing will be ordered before the PoD code is released {this is because I'll already be in the Drivethru system, so I'll order those copies then build the PoD code}.

What's Next!?!? 

Santa Dragon Claws' 25 Holiday Magic Items 2018 (tm) ~ coming this holiday season!

Saturday I announced that I had recently had a flash of inspiration.  This inspiration gave rise to a new book, which I am working on now for release this holiday season.

That's right, I intend to release it in the next few weeks.  That is because it is a shorter book and I've already managed to create much of it.   Art is coming in starting this weekend.  The art for this project is created by none other than Zack Viola (of The Steel Road fame).

As a fun thing to do, we've created 25 new, holiday themed magic items. Zack has sketched them (in the same style as The Steel Road) and we're going to release that book this November. The really neat thing though, is HOW we're going to do that.

We're going to have a short KickStarter campaign, with a small goal.  We're setting it to fund at $600 and it will only last for a few days (seven at most).  With this campaign we're going to have only one reward tier.... $4.  That tier will get you the PDF and a print on demand code for the book in hard cover. 

Content:  6x9 hard cover, 25 magic items with each detailed on a full page, each item illustrated by Zack Viola on the adjoining page (so you don't have to page back and forth, they are right there together), Introductioni from Santa Dragon Claws and an illustration of the holiday dragon.  Due to the time constraint for people to get this book in by the holidays, we will NOT be including backer credits in the book, but we will be placing those on the product page attached to this blog.

Now this campaign happens fast, and here's why:

Drivethrurpg suggests ordering books by the 25th of November to have them in time for the Holiday season.  So we want everyone to have their PoD code well before then.  So we're ending the campaign on the night of the 21st of November at 10:45PM EST. 

But wait, there is more to this...

The campaign will end that night, while I'm live streaming.  I will then trigger the backer survey to get the email addresses for PDF fulfillment.  But I will also be sending out the Print on Demand code to all backers that night! 

You heard it, we're going to get those print on demand codes out just as soon as we can, the same night the campaign ends.

From Zack Viola and myself, we hope you will all enjoy the campaign, cherish the book, and check out the cool stuff we have coming out for 2019 as well!


This will be the final KickStarter campaign of 2018.  Death comes to Glenfallow is being moved up to 2019.

Other Stuff:

Drip ~  What is Drip?

Last week Drip announced that the platform was shutting down next year and migrating all users over to the new platform.  My hope is that this will facilitate the implementation of several new features that are curiously missing from Drip in its current form.

Keep your eyes open here for more news on this as it breaks!

My own Drip page now has six subscribers (thank you all) and we're coming up on the end of the founding period.  My drip page offers truly behind the scenes information, news and access to play test material at the $1 level!  The monthly PDF release (currently one character, companion, creature or monster) comes with full color art and pages of content (stats, narrative, story hooks, treasures, example skill results, etc.) and is available at $3 and included the lower tier material as well. The Magic in the Mail tier subscribers receive all the benefits of the $3 tier plus a full color post card of the subject that month (it is sent in an envelope so it doesn't get marked up with postmarks) signed 'thank you' from me to the backers.  The post cards have a few notes on the subject to help with game play use.  Check it out below:

Thank you for joining me on my adventure in game design, writing and self-publishing.
As always, your questions are most welcome, so feel free to post them below. I'll respond as soon as is possible.

Until next time, Adventure Awaits!

Drawing inspiration from your audience

Art by: Christiam Martinez
From: Whispers of Persephone

I enjoy interacting with my audience.  These are the people who have taken a chance on me as a new writer and who have made it possible for me to release books.  I've been fortunate in that my audience has also been vocal about what they liked in the books and what they would have liked to have seen within them.

There it is, that feedback we should all be listening to, 'what they would have liked to have seen'.  What better source of inspiration could we need when we know what our audience wants?  As examples of some of the things I've heard:  a new weapon book (like The Steel Road) that covers a particular region in great detail; random encounters in adventure modules; 'white hat' style necromancers who lay the dead to rest.  After hearing these same three things from several of the people who have been reading and using my books, it seems pretty clear that there is a demand that needs to be met.

You are NOT limited to just feedback from your own titles.  Quite often you'll hear or read something from someone that will give rise to inspiration.  During my latest KickStarter live stream event, the topic of OSR products came up. Having never produced an OSR book I asked questions, received feedback from the audience, and I confessed my own concerns and lack of knowledge in that area.  I was pleasantly surprised when members of the audience provided much of the information I would need.  Now, THAT is inspiring.

Listen to your audience, take the opportunity to learn from them.  Many would call this by market research (of the most basic type), but I like to think of it simply as 'listening'.  People will tell you what they want to see, and you can draw inspiration from that to create new books you may not have conceived of before.

Cherish your audience, listen and enjoy writing for them.

*********





Thank you for joining me on my continuing adventure in game design, writing and self-publishing. I hope my experiences and mistakes will help you in your own efforts.

You can see my latest book, Whispers of Persephone, on KickStarter at the link above.  I'm hoping to reach both stretch goals ($6500 is our highest), so please do support the campaign if you can and share it with others.

I have also launched my creator page on Drip (which is owned by KickStarter), where I'm releasing subscriber only content.  Subscribers are getting behind the scene glimpses into my creation processes, and will be getting access to play test materials and early drafts.  I am also releasing a monthly PDF containing a character, companion, creature or monster of the month which is also available for subscribers.  This monthly PDF contains all original art and more.  Check it out on my Drip page at https://d.rip/w-s-quinton

Thank you, and I hope you'll join me next time as the adventure continues.

The Drip Platform from KickStarter: Some useful information

Hello everyone!

If you read my post immediately preceding this one, you know that I was planning on launching a Patreon page, and documenting the promotion, use and results of that effort.  That plan changed when I received an unexpected invitation to become a creator on KickStarter's Drip platform.

At this time, I have halted my Patreon page development and I am focusing on the development of the Drip page. By the time this entry is public, my Drip page will be active.

As Drip is invitation only for creators at this time, I thought it would be useful for people to know how the platform works (from a new user's perspective) so you can know what to expect once it becomes available to you either by way of invitation, or once it becomes openly available.  It is my hope that you find this informative and useful, so lets get down to it.  All of the forthcoming data is from my experience with the platform to date, and links go to the Drip resource pages,  FAQ, and an article I read earlier this year. 

If you aren't familiar with Drip, don't worry not many people are aware of it yet. KickStarter's introduction post to Drip is here:  https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/introducing-the-new-drip

You can find the Drip FAQ page here: https://help.d.rip/hc/en-us

Also see an interesting article about KickStarter and Drip here:  https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/15/16652582/kickstarter-drip-creator-subscription-service-announced-perry-chen-interview


Getting Started: 
Getting logged into Drip was simple.  It appears to clone the credentials from your KickStarter account, but you can change those easily.  

Once you are logged in and ready to start work on your page, you'll find that your image and video upload points clearly indicate available file formats.  Having a recommended image file dimensions would be nice, but the lack thereof didn't cause me any real difficulty.  Choosing the image and creating the video for the page were far more time intensive.

Choosing the page image ~ I elected to use the illustration created for Tale of the Wizard's Eye by Phoenix O'Faery.  I secured permission to do so (seriously folks, make sure you have rights/permission before using someone's art), and had the image loaded in seconds. 

The Video ~ My webcam is a decade old.  No, seriously, it really is. It doesn't have great resolution, and I'm going to need to replace it soon.  This means that I didn't want to, and fortunately I didn't have to, shoot the page video on that old hardware.  I had help from my friends at Digital Eden Entertainment, and had a new video with much clearer resolution in a matter of minutes.  To develop the video content I looked at resources on Drip as well as information from articles I had read on creating Patreon pages. We did the video in two shots, as I fumbled the first attempt.

Page description ~ The Drip platform has little helpful tips that populate along the side of the page as well as links to other Drip pages in your category.  I found it particularly useful to look at the pages of the two other game developer creators I could find.  Both were receiving what I would call significant support from their subscribers and followed a similar outline for the page descriptions. I told myself not to try to reinvent the wheel, and outlined my own data in a similar fashion.  Let me be clear, I didn't copy and paste anything, I just chose to structure my description after the same fashion  (so introduction, what I do, what I'm making available, etc.).   I like the natural flow of that format and I'm planning on sticking to it.

Category ~  Your drip page is limited to one category.  My page is categorized under games.  As all of my currently published work has been role playing games, that makes sense to me.  I have a friend who has been invited, and his is in comics.  You can offer a wide variety of materials, but you'll only have the one category.  Keep this in mind as people exploring Drip for people making comics are not going to find you if you are in games and vice versa.

Subscription Tiers ~ Setting up subscription tiers is remarkably easy. If there were something I would like improved, it is the ability to feature an image with the Tier.  Presently that isn't available like it is on Patreon.   One thing you do need to differentiate in your tiers is whether it is a monthly subscription or a one time (pay this amount and get X) tier.  I've set up three different tiers of monthly subscriptions.  I won't set up one time payment tiers until I have a developed item for such a tier. Presently, I'm planning no more than a quarterly release of such material as I don't want to over burden my work load (which is already pretty heavy).

What you do with your Tiers will vary as widely as the material we all create. I think most of us will focus on digital rewards only, as it is the most cost effective and easily fulfilled.  Having said that though, I like physical rewards as a way connect with my audience in a very real and tangible way.  Consider those physical rewards carefully, do your math and check it twice, and make sure to leave yourself some room for things to go wrong and for you to pull in revenue.  Drip is intended as a way for people to support your creative endeavors, so make certain you do see some of that money in your hands to help keep the lights on.  I know that is what I'm hoping to see.

Promoting your Drip page ~ I'm not great at self-promotion but I've had some success and I've done some research on the subject. I recommend you do your own research as well.  This is a good example of the scientific method of testing theories devised by others and looking at the results to reach your own conclusions.  Pretty much every source says utilize your social media, place the links online, network with others and have them help you spread the word.  I agree with all of these. Place the link into your pages, remind people of how they can support you, and as in all things, be honest with your audience.  When people ask, "what are you doing with the money",  tell the truth. I'll be using it to commission art, help keep my lights on, to put food on the table for me and my kids, keep my car running, etc.  Whether I find $20 a month or $200 a month, every bit helps.  Be honest about that. People will relate to you and be more likely to support you.

*****

I made my Drip page live just before posting this entry.  You can find it HERE

Take a look at it, and keep it in mind for your own page (should you decide to launch one). Maybe it will be a useful example of how to set one up. Maybe it will be a cautionary tale of what not to do. Only time will prove if it was successful or not.  I hope you'll take what you like from the example and make good use of it in the future.

Oh, also please do support the page. Your subscription is very appreciated.  I will give my best effort with each release.

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Thank you for joining me today as we continue our adventure in game design, writing and self-publishing.  My book "Whispers of Persephone" is currently on KickStarter.  Please do take a look, support it if you can, and please do share the link to the campaign to help me reach my funding goals.




I will be updating information on how Drip is working for me, things I learn along the way and what I'll be offering on that page.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me through blogger, through KickStarter messenger, on Drip, or on my social media channels. This blog is a means for me to convey my experiences, help you avoid my mistakes in your own endeavors, and to chronicle the material I've been developing.

Bringing darkness to the dark arts of the 5th edition (Final round of play testing is underway).

Ild, the dark prodigy
Art from: Whispers of Persephone
Artist: Christian Martinez

Whispers of Persephone has been an adventure in research, writing, and planning.  Delving into the design of rituals and spells meant to elicit the feeling of the macabre and to push well past ambiguity into the realm of deepest, bloodiest evil has been 'interesting'.

I'm pleased to report that the second round of play tests have begun, with one of the game masters reporting that the entire party was entirely freaked out by one of the NPC's included within the book, Ild the Dark Prodigy (see creepy picture of Ild above).  Certainly there is a hope that people will find a way to bring a bit of horror to their games with the material I've included in this book. Providing ample opportunity to players and game masters alike to flex their role playing muscles as they play characters so at odds with the heroic concept.  Some times it is fun to be the bad guy!

One of the play tester game masters
printed this page from the current
play test file.  

Presently, Whispers of Persephone is in its final play test phase.  I want to say "Thank You" to Daniel, one of the play testing game masters, who printed these two pages from Whispers of Persephone and discovered that the book is going to look pretty neat.  Speaking of Daniel, he was kind enough to provide a little bit of information about his players' response to their encounters with a particular NPC:

I've finished formatting the digital version of Whispers and am now formatting the print copy file.  I'm hoping to have that complete tonight, and to be ordering proof copies by the end of the week.
My goal is to have print copies in hand by the launch of the KickStarter campaign.

Title page from play test digital file
version 3.0 which weighed
in at 99 pages in length!

Christian Martinez has created stunning work for Whispers of Persephone and will be creating all art going into this book.  Presently, the cover, page background art, and the art included in this blog entry are done (with several works of art remaining).   Stretch goals will focus on adding more art to the book.

An enchanted skull cup, used in blood drinking rituals

This book is not child appropriate.  It contains explicit details of ritual activities of the most heinous sort. Sacrificial rituals, cruel spells, poisons, alchemicals, potions, and magic items are included to paint a vivid picture of horrific evil.

Promotion image using the art from
the section of the book containing
Stygian ritual magic

Whispers of Persephone is coming to KickStarter in order to obtain funding for art.  I'm working to raise $3500 to fund more interior art. Reaching the funding goal will allow me to include more illustrations from Christian Martinez, to make this book look its absolute best.

The KickStarter will be launching on September 22nd, 2018 and I will be streaming live on launch day.  That live stream event is planned and will incorporate a number of guests, who will be joining me to talk about Whispers of Persephone and to introduce themselves to the KickStarter community.  We're going to make a show of it, to provide some entertainment, and bring some real value to the launch day activities. I'll be announcing the line up once we confirm their time slots!

As always, your comments are question are most welcome!

The Steel Road and some notes on Whispers of Persephone

Enchanted Skull Cup from "Whispers of Persephone"
Art by: Christian Martinez

The Steel Road (mistakes made and things I learned):

Fulfillment is underway of The Steel Road and I've learned a few things from some mistakes I managed to make.  So, for the benefit of all (save the laughter for later please), lets talk about how NOT to make these mistakes.

PDF fulfillment :  When executing your PDF fulfillment, it is wise to create a separate file for upload, apart from your print file.  Your print file is often at a higher resolution than that which you'll need for an electronic copy.  Keep this in mind as it can make profound differences in file size and convenience to your audience.  By way of example:  I uploaded my "electronic" file and forgot this very basic premise, exporting it in all its nearly 470 MB glory (yeah, I know).  Tonight, I'll be uploading the compressed files for The Steel Road's PDF versions. 

Other issues crept up (file corruption, and export mistake that resulted in one page document being uploaded ... yeah it was a rough couple of hours.)

Take away from this:  Create a checklist to prevent yourself from making little mistakes like this. It can help you to avoid huge inconveniences for your audience.

Scheduling:  I pride myself on scheduling for fulfillment.  That said, I had some set backs during The Steel Road final formatting.  One of the biggest set backs was that my computer suddenly, and catastrophically, died. RIP.  Fortunately I had saved copy of the InDesign files off that machine (yeah, cloud services) and was able to resume work once I get a new system.  This did, however, disrupt my time table when coupled with life rising up to eat my time up.  The final stroke was that I uploaded my print files and ended up needing to make a few last minute changes.  This is problematic when you are working on the weekend, and can't get the file rejected so as to upload the correct version.

Take away from this:  Upload your print files and electronic copy files during 'normal' business hours if at all possible.  The extra couple of days can be very important.

Now, these are things I really should have known better than to let impact my timeline.  But they happened, and it has.  The Steel Road PDF fulfillment is done (with the newly compressed file going out to make it more user friendly).  Print including the print on demand codes, are running late as I insist on having a proof copy in hand before ordering copies or triggering the codes.  This is so I can identify any printing problems before sending it on to the backers.  I recommend this, as I believe in giving people the best quality book possible.  Take that with you, and hold it close in your memory.

The net impact is that the print and print on demand copies of The Steel Road will deliver a few days outside of the estimated fulfillment period.  Originally I fully expected to fulfill this month (August 2018), but those POD codes and print copies will now be going out in early September.  I hate being late.  I have advised the backers through updates (please remember to post updates regularly, it is a great way to stay connected to your backers and to keep your project on track).

The Steel Road (great things that happened!): 

The Steel Road was a joy to develop, and despite the initial difficulties with fulfillment, has been a tremendous amount of fun to put in the hands of backers.  I've received a number of messages from backers who are very happy with the book.  I'm keeping those, as it is a wonderful thing to know that people are enjoying your work.  I also had several nice posts in comments about the book.

I can't tell you how fantastic it is to hear that people are enjoying something I created.  I hope you have the opportunity to experience this feeling.  It's joyous.

You can find these comments and more, many about the chaos around the PDF release, HERE

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Let's change gears a bit: 

Whispers of Persephone has been pushed back twice now to allow for completion of the fulfillment of The Steel Road.  That is as it should be.

I'm using this time to work on the new file for the next round of play testing, which will be occurring during the coming month, through the kickstarter campaign, and concluding prior to fulfillment.  This is the second round of play test, which is something I really recommend.  I want my material to be the best it can be.  I don't have the years of experience of the legends like Monte Cook or Steve Jackson, so I have to be careful and use the great thing that is play testing to make sure I'm not way off in my designs.  It also happens to be great fun to talk with the people who are testing your material.  Very often they have insights to offer, suggestions about things they would want in the book, that can really polish up the work.  Listen to your play testers!

Coming off fulfillment of The Steel Road, Whispers of Persephone is launching very soon.  Having been pushed back a few weeks, it is impacting my timeline for other projects I intend to release later this year as well.  That said, I thought about the KickStarter, the funding needed, and the best way to incorporate everything I want to accomplish and to give backers the best quality rewards I could.  I concluded, that going will all digital rewards (PDFs and Print on demand codes) was the best way to provide good value to backers while raising the money needed for art.

This was a tough decision for me, as I really enjoy signing physical copies and sending them on to backers.  A big part of me, still wants to offer signed copies.  I'm fighting that urge.  Fulfillment will go more swiftly, accounting will be easier, and fulfillment overall will happen more quickly with digital rewards.   I still intend to offer physical / signed copies of future books, I just want to get Whispers into the hands of backers as smoothly as possible.  As a side consequence, it also allows me to set my goal lower, as I don't have to account for physical rewards. {I may still convince myself to make signed copies available.  I'm going to ask prior backers for their input before launch.}

Crowdfunding has been a remarkable boon for me, allowing me to produce books I'm very proud of.  I look forward to future projects and campaigns.  I hope that you will create wonderful things for yourself and your audience, and know the joy of bringing that creation to other.

I will be posting more about my crowdfunding/KickStarter experiences in the near future as more projects come up for funding. Will Whispers of Persephone be well received by the ttrpg community on KickStarter?  We'll soon see.

*****

Thanks again for joining me on my adventures in game design, writing and self-publishing.  I hope this entry helps you to avoid these mistakes and to achieve your own publishing goals. 

Art from this entry is from Whispers of Persephone and was created on commission by Christian Martinez.  Copyright Sinopa Publishing LLC, all rights reserved.

Whats new with Sinopa Publishing and what is to come.

Title page from the play test edition
"Whispers of Persephone"
Art by: Christian Martinez

Updates:   

Editing for The Steel Road is proceeding at a fantastic pace.  I want to thank Pat for all her hard work in rooting out those pesky grammatical irregularities that tend to crop up.  (Thanks Pat!)  At this point, I fully expect The Steel Road to fulfill on schedule, though signed copies will likely arrive in September due to printing and shipping times.  The Steel Road will be available on Drivethrurpg.com following fulfillment.

Whispers of Persephone survived the first round of play test months ago.  Presently I am formatting a play test version that will go out to my entire play testing roster for a thorough shake down leading up to, and continuing through the KickStarter campaign.  The KickStarter campaign has been moved back to September, to all for completion of the fulfillment of The Steel Road and so I can get physical proofs in to check the art in print.  As a note to all of you who may be planning on publishing your own work in the future, if you have art on a page I recommend that you get a proof copy to see how that art fairs when it is printed.  It will always look different than it does on screen.  This is, in part, because your screen is backlit whereas the pages in your book are certainly not.  All art for Whispers of Persephone was created by Christian Martinez.


Things still to come in 2018:


Tarot Adventures, Book Three: Death comes to Glenfallow ~ Things heat up when a dreadful villain sets her eyes upon Glenfallow.  This adventure is designed to be of deadly level difficulty, incorporates a number of challenges, and brings new NPCs to the game. This book's art will be funded through KickStarter.  Watch here for more news on this title.

{For writers/game designers/self-publishers:  This project will require a substantial amount of art and I'm hoping to fully fund that from the KickStarter campaign.  There are a number of different features I hope to incorporate in this book, including two pages of comics if the KickStarter campaign can reach that stretch goal.  I'll be working on promoting this project quite a lot, posting information about the coming launch to the previous Tarot Adventure pages, and setting up podcast interviews as well as blogger interviews.  I hope to chronicle this effort in detail, so you can follow this process.  This will reveal my own errors as well as my methods (as usual) so that you have insights into what worked and what didn't.}  

47 Furious Tails, Issue One ~ The story of 47 Ronin re-told with anthropomorphic characters.  This project has been a real labor of love and is the first comic book I've written for publication.  Art coming in has been simply amazing, as Alexia Veldhuisen is showing the world that she IS the modern samurai of comic book artists.  47 Furious Tails will have a total of twelve issues and will tell the story of the Ako incident.  Beginning before lord Asano's fateful, final trip to Edo, issue one introduces principle actors of this historic act of loyalty.  


Planning for 2019:


Scheduling projects is proving to be more important as time progresses.  For 2019 I have the following projects that are planned for release as well as several other projects which may make their appearance before the end of the coming year:

'Untitled' comic book anthology ~ This title is packed with the original work of some amazing comic book artists and writers.  We'll be launching a KickStarter campaign to fund printing and will be providing signed copies, signed by all writers and artists on the project, as backer rewards. 

{For writers/game designers/self-publishers: Page count calculation, creation scheduling with the artists, and mapping the production/printing timeline is essential to this project.  To facilitate this endeavor each artist works to meet their creation deadlines, the project's print time was estimated and a generous amount of "whoops" time applied, costs were calculated for printing and shipping (both from the printer and to recipients), and the responsibilities for each party were carefully delineated. People have told me time and again that such anthologies don't get done because people can't finish their art, or because of monetary issues.  I've been working to avoid potential pitfalls and I recommend that if you ever try to create an anthology, such as this one, that you exam every detail in your planning.}

Tarot Adventures ~ The Tarot series continues as new adventures unfold in and around Glenfallow.  Will your player characters continue to earn their reputations as heroes in light of new challenges?  Fate can be fickle, and the future reveals strange twists in the life of Pieron. 

Look for several Tarot Adventures to be released in 2019!

Luther's Revenge ~ Tale of the Wizard's Eye introduced the Cavern of the Damned and the spawn of the vampire Luther.  Now he is seeking his revenge for the death of his bride.  Survive the machinations of this villain or become one of the undead. 

{For writers/game designers/self-publishers: Developing your timeline for release is an incredibly useful habit to adopt. I would like to recommend that you look to the future, plan your development thoughtfully, and build into your timeline for each project, an ample amount of time for you to make mistakes and then correct them. Creating a plan, then executing it, will make it easier for you to release multiple books each year.  Stay focused, work hard and you will prevail.}

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Thank you for joining me on my adventure in game design/writing/self-publishing.  I hope that my experiences will help you to avoid the same pitfalls I encounter, and be of use in your efforts to publish your own material.

I hope you will share this entry with others to help raise awareness of my own efforts as well as to help others to avoid my missteps.  I hope to see you here next time.

Sacrificial dagger and dire incantations: Whispers of Persephone update!

Athame from Whispers of Persephone
Art by: Christian Martinez
(No actual souls were imprisoned during the creation of this image)

As you have seen from previous entries, Whispers of Persephone is coming to Kickstarter soon.

All art for the book is being painstakingly crafted by Christian Martinez whose art has graced the Tarot Adventures books.

Now, for the news!!!!

The KickStarter campaign for Whispers of Persephone is being pushed back a couple of weeks due to a combination of scheduling difficulties and ongoing fulfillment of The Steel Road.   This should see the KickStarter campaign launching in September with fulfillment scheduled to be concluded in December or sooner.

Scheduling issues: 

Coordinating a launch event, such as the one planned for this campaign, is a bit complicated.  We'll be having guests appearing on the live stream for launch day and I intend for them to have play test copies in hand before that event.  This requires scheduling to account for delivery of copy, as well as the guests' own calendar availability.

The Steel Road

The Steel Road is actually on schedule to fulfill on time this month (August 2018) but it will be a near thing.   I am firmly committed to bringing the best books I can create to the backers who have made them possible.  Those backers come first, before other book launches (Note: Technically you're not supposed to launch another KickStarter campaign until you've fulfilled your previous one.  I'm not certain how some creators have gotten around that, and I'm not interested in doing so myself.)

The athame 

An athame is a ritual dagger.  Whispers of Persephone introduces the athame as a tool for ritual sacrifice, one used by the Stygian Necromancers as an important tool in their ritual work.  The athame is valuable to these characters beyond the damage output scale and are key to the accumulation of power and dread secrets.  I want to thank Christian Martinez for doing such a remarkable job on this and the other illustrations going into the book.

What is Whispers of Persephone?

Glad you asked!

Whispers of Persephone is a source book for the 5th edition game mechanic of the world's most popular tabletop role playing game.  It includes the new arcane tradition: Stygian Necromancy, new spells, poisons, alchemical agents, potions, magic items, rituals/rites, feats, and narrative text complete with fleshed out descriptions of these practitioners of the darkest of arts.  Whispers of Persephone is created to bring the 'DARK' back to the dark arts in your game.

The material within is designed for use by player and non-player characters alike.  Whether used by player characters or used against player characters, Whispers of Persephone brings dread evil to your game table.

Why use KickStarter?

I use KickStarter to fund the costs for art and development of my books. I'm a firm believer in paying my artists fairly for work well done.  Successful KickStarter campaigns allow me to do just that, as well as cover production costs for things like print copy.   Without KickStarter campaigns and the support of backers, I would not be able to produce books that are so heavily laden with all original art.

Who is Christian Martinez?

Christian is a very talented professional artist and graduate of the prestigious Kubert School. Christian has created fantastic art for other RPG books I've released, as well as for an uncounted number of clients. For more information you can access his biography.   He is a remarkable talent and you'll be seeing more great work from him in the months and years to come!


Notes for other writers, game designers and self-publishers  

I've been working at a furious pace, on several projects.  I wouldn't have been able to manage so many tasks if I hadn't taken the time to schedule my work and I would not have been able to adapt to unseen obstacles if I hadn't built in additional time as a buffer in my timelines.  I would like to recommend that in your own project planning you remember to give yourself time to make mistakes as well as for the curve balls life sometimes throws at as us all.

Remember to enjoy what you are doing, write to the best of your ability, check your game designs and have your play testers go over it thoroughly, and don't stop.  You can, and will, create wonders.  Give yourself the time to do so.

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Thank you for joining me once again on my adventure in game design, writing and self-publishing.  I look forward to seeing you next time as I explore my own missteps, discuss my own project development as well as other cool things I see around, and try to leave you with information that will help you avoid mistakes I make along the way.

Thanks again!

Crowdfunding: the impact beyond the money

Art by: Nick Caponi
From the coming comic book anthology (final title pending)
to be released in 2019

Today I would like to say a few things about crowdfunding and the impact it has made in my work, and the lives of contributing artists.  This entry talks about projects that were made possible by KickStarter backers, as well as some coming projects and the impact these have made in the lives of the contributors.  I hope you'll enjoy and share this around!


Cover of my first RPG release "Tale of the Wizard's Eye"
Front cover by: Phoenix O'Faery
Back cover by: Brian Lee

Its been a little over a year since I released Tale of the Wizard's Eye.  From work on that first book, I became familiar with crowdfunding, book layout (that was harder than I had expected), fulfillment, and final publication/release. I still have much to learn, but with each book I release I strive to improve.  Remember this, it is important to focus on improving your knowledge and the quality of your work.  People will see your efforts reflected in the books and games you produce. 




Cover for "Tarot Adventures, Book One:"
Artist: Rebecca Coulthart

With the development, crowdfunding and release of The Draw of Glenfallow, I began my first series. I think this book benefited from my experiences with TDoG.  The Kickstarter campaign ran smoothly and fulfillment went well, though it ran a little late due to a printing problem.


It was during the development of Tarot Adventures, Book One: The Draw of Glenfallow that I began to realize the (unexpected) impact these publications were having.  By commissioning art specifically for the books I release, those artists were reaping the benefit.  It feels great to cut the checks and pay people for such work, but it took on a whole new meaning when I heard things like "this paid my light bill" or "this paid for my kids lunches".  I think about that often. 


Crowdfunding and what it has done for me (beyond the money):


Crowdfunding (GoFundMe, Indiegogo, KickStarter, etc) is a fantastic way for people with aspirations, creativity and drive to fund their creations. It took me a while to realize that such funding really does benefit people. 


Because of the success I've enjoyed from crowdfunding my books, artists have earned revenue and had their work recognized. I've seen artists who were looking for opportunity suddenly burst forth with an eagerness to create that is simply inspiring.  This energy makes creating new books even more exciting for me. 

Cover art for by: Alexia Veldhuisen
(coming soon to Kickstarter!)

That said, not all crowdfunding campaigns are successful.  My first attempt to fund 47 Furious Tails failed.  I should have waited on the effort for more of the art to be done, and should have spent more time promoting it.  This was my fault (as it always is when you own the company and/or are self-publishing).  The key thing to remember, if and when you have a campaign that fails, is to not let that discourage you.  Learn from the experience and carry on.  I'm going to re-launch 47 Furious Tails later this year and I'm very excited to see it succeed (I hope you'll check it out and help that comic book see print).  My first comic book.  This is the realization of a dream that has lived in my heart for thirty years.

Cover for "Tarot Adventures, Book Two: Comet over Echo Rock"
Artist: Brian Lee

As the Tarot Adventures have continued (Books one and two are out, book three is in development), I find that I have the several artists who are willing to work on these books.  There is an audience for the Tarot Adventures, a small group of game masters who have found a lot of use in these pages.  I'm looking forward to launching book three, and injecting some dark horror into the story line!  No art for that project is done yet, but I'll be teasing out material once it is. 

Promotional Image from "The Steel Road"
Artist: Zachary Viola

Crowdfunding made The Steel Road possible.  That cannot be understated.  The volume of art that went into this book (one hundred pages of illustrated weapons alone!) is not something I could have funded without such a fantastic level of support from the KickStarter community.  (Thank you all!!!!)  Zack Viola worked on art for this book for over a year, sketching with meticulous detail to make each piece of art fit the theme of the book. His dedication to making The Steel Road see print has been remarkable. 


The Steel Road is a great example of how crowdfunding your projects can have far reaching benefit beyond the immediate monetary concerns.  The backers of this campaign proved (to me anyway) that Zack and I were correct in our belief that this kind of book is needed, that people would want something with this authentic look.  I'm pleased to report that formatting is nearly complete on this project and I expect to fulfill the kickstarter rewards before the end of the month!  I also made the acquaintance of several of the KickStarter backers, received some fantastic feedback as well as encouragement to continue to develop. As a new game designer/publisher/writer I can attest that having people send you messages saying "I really enjoyed *your book*" is an amazing feeling.  I hope each of you who have been following this blog have that experience with your own releases.

From: "Whispers of Persephone"
Artist: Christian Martinez

I use the money from crowdfunding to create the best books I can.  If there is any additional revenue, I use it toward future products.  Eventually I will take an income from business, but for now I'm focused on creating the best quality I can and on expanding my catalog.  This has made it possible for me to put a little bit of money into projects like 47 Furious Tails and Whispers of Persephone. 


A year ago, the idea of releasing an RPG source book was fantastic and something I longed to do.  I knew I would have to learn a lot, work hard, and I would need funding for the art and assorted publication expenses.  Now, a year later, my first source book (The Steel Road) is about to come out and I am looking forward to producing Whispers of Persephone.  Once again, crowdfunding helps me to realize a dream and makes it possible for me to pay my contributing artists (and to pay them fairly.. which is important).

From the coming comic book anthology
Art by: Brian Lee

Several months ago I was approached by artists who had worked on projects for me before. They wanted to do a comic book anthology together, showcasing their individual properties and bringing their work to print.  I am happy to help make this happen.  We're going to launch a crowdfunding campaign for this anthology in 2019.  Right now each contributor is working on the art, color, and lettering for these comics.  It will release under Sinopa Publishing LLC (my company) with proceeds going primarily to print production and to benefit the artists.  Crowdfunding this project will make it possible for this anthology to be produced in print, giving the artists copies they can take to conventions and sell at their local comic shops.  Each month, as more pages come in, the book begins to take shape before my eyes.  I want to give a heartfelt "Thank you" to Alexia Veldhuisen, who took on the job of art coordinator/editor to oversee page production.  I look forward to sharing more about this project with all of you soon!


I hope that you will benefit from crowdfunding your projects and that you will take the time to enjoy the enormity of the impact it can make in your life, the lives of those people contributing to your project, and the joy it can help bring to your audience. Your life and work touches the lives and work of so many others. Having the funding made available to complete your project can certainly provide monetary benefit but, to my thinking, the benefits of crowdfunding go well beyond your wallet.  Give each project your best effort, your audience deserves it.

Use your crowdfunding efforts to get to know your audience, connect with the community, and bring about success for the people working with you.


___________________________________


Thank you for joining me again as my adventure in writing, game design and self-publishing continues.  I hope you continue to find these entries useful to your own efforts.


As always, comments and questions are most welcome.