VoidHerald
patreon
New Year Wishes and plans for 2022
🕑 Added 2021-12-31 16:22:19 +0000 UTCHi guys,
First of all, as 2021 comes to an end, I want to say thanks to all of you who supported me that year.
When I started writing my first RR work Magik Online in 2018/2019, the thought of living from writing was only a dream. The early days were so difficult, both in my personal and professional life, that I burned out on my very first web serial.
Two years later, I’ve landed multiple publishing deals, have a webtoon on the way, I can afford to focus on writing full-time, and most importantly… I’m happy.
This wouldn’t have been possible without you.
I will always remember the early days when I only had ten patrons and made unique Magik Online character sheets for each new supporter. Some of you have been with me since the very beginning. I know that for all the new opportunities that I enjoy now, it all started with you; and I won’t forget it.
As such, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for supporting my stories and helping me live the dream.
2022 is going to change many things on my end (and the Patreon), so I wanted to share with you some news.
- Time-Lockdown until March-April
My plan for the winter holidays was to get some rest, think about my 2022 strategy, see family and friends, try to organize some roleplay sessions on Discord, and build a larger Patreon backlog.
Unfortunately, building up the chapter backlog has proven difficult. Family life during the holidays doesn’t help get alone time to write, and I still had to work on other contractual obligations like the webtoon scripting.
I feel like I’m in something of a ‘time-lockdown;’ with two web serials to work on plus the Vainqueur comic scripting & other stuff piling up (with the occasional RL unforeseen hiccup), I have too many obligations, contractual or otherwise, to develop the Patreon the way I want… which doesn’t sit well with me. I made the mistake of committing to too many projects at once, and for that I apologize.
I believe the current update schedule (two chapters of Underland and Kairos a week) and Patreon structure will remain in place until March/April 2022, where some of my current contractual obligations will end and let me finally break the ‘time-lockdown.’
Why March/April? For the following reasons:
- Vainqueur Webtoon & Other Surprise coming out in March
The Vainqueur the Dragon webtoon should be released on Tapas in mid-March 2022 according to my editor’s estimations; I still don’t have the exact release date, but I’ll post it as soon as I get it. Maybe I’ll be authorized to give you a preview. We’ll see how that goes. In any case, with the scripting work done, I should have more time to write web serials.
As part of the release, I’ve also been approached for a secret Vainqueur project that I think you’ll enjoy quite a lot; confidentiality prevents me from giving more details yet and I don’t want to announce anything until I have something solid to show.
All I can show you is this sneak peek ;)
- Kairos going to KU in April and concluding at the same time
As I warned before, I signed a publishing deal with Aethon to release Kairos on Kindle Unlimited as a test run. The third volume of the trilogy, starting on January 4th, will conclude Kairos’ epic journey across post-apocalyptic Ancient Greece.
The series will start going up on Kindle Unlimited on April 12th 2022; which should be around the date where I finish the third volume of the series. As a result, Kairos will be taken off Royal Road around that time (and probably Patreon too), so don’t forget to download the free Patron ebooks beforehand.
- Underland ending around April too
As you know, Underland has had a strange release on Royal Road. Due to how the trending algo works, I had to release multiple chapters early to get on RR’s Rising Stars, changing the number of advanced chapters from 12 to 8. Due to the time-lockdown described above, I never managed to find the time to rebuild the backlog.
While I understood a lovecraftian horror story was a lot more niche than my older works, I hoped that bringing in new readers would compensate for people jumping ship after the Perfect Run’s conclusion.
It didn't.
The truth is, instead of picking up more steam, the Patreon has actually been losing people over the last months. Most of the exit surveys’ reasons boil down to two very simple messages: not interested in the current stories & not enough advanced chapters.
I blame the shift away from comedy and Underland’s brand of horror being a bit too ‘niche’ for Royal Road, which is my main source of web serial readers and new patrons. While Underland does have a solid readership on RR and good reviews, I feel it doesn’t emotionally connect as well with people like the Perfect Run or other series; and after releasing more advanced chapters to get on Rising Stars, I simply don’t have a large enough backlog to make Patreon subscription enticing. I could probably build a larger backlog if I only had one story to focus on, but due to my current contractual obligations, I’m full.
When I outlined Underland, I designed it as a single volume book with the door left open for expanding the universe into a longer series afterward. However, considering the Patreon trend, I’ve decided to keep it as a single novel and focus on a new series after finishing it.
As such, I’ve decided to end Underland around the same time as Kairos. There should be 30/40 chapters or so to go before the volume’s conclusion.
- Story Poll for new Series
Once both Underland and Kairos are finished, I intend to start a new series and fully focus on it; meaning produce three/four chapters a week with a large backlog.
As usual, you’ll get to choose what next story I’ll be working on through a poll. With the various changes I detailed above, I think I’ll publish it in late January/February to better build a chapter backlog, order covers, etc…
I’m 90 percent sure that the next story choice will be between a Perfect Run spinoff (a superhero western following Leaf & Seed) and a new LitRPG series (I’m currently hesitating between a humorous take on the ‘System Apocalypse’ genre or a Vainqueur the Dragon spinoff to celebrate the webtoon’s release; I need to refine the concepts a bit).
Nothing confirmed yet on the story choices, but I'll keep you informed soon.
- Long-term publishing plans
As you probably know, I’ve been suffering from piracy problems making publishing on Amazon after a series is concluded/advanced quite difficult (and costly in time and money). The possibility of getting stories out on Amazon after they concluded was a major reason why I could afford to end them on a satisfying note without stretching them out endlessly; as I could still earn money from them even after people unsubscribed from the Patreon and the story was freely available on the web.
However, hardly two weeks pass without some website copying my works without authorization. Some I’ve been able to take down, others not. Hunting down pirates is a full-time job, and like a hydra, cutting one head means two others appear elsewhere. Time sending notices and filing copyright claims is time I could spend writing or developing adaptations.
For now, the best option I’ve found is to write most of a volume, release a backlog on Patreon, and only bring it to RR when I can safely send a manuscript to Amazon. That way the book will be validated on Amazon before pirates can copy it and make the publishing process exponentially harder. It’s not ideal, but that’s the easiest counter I’ve found yet. Making a new website or app is costly and doesn't stop scrapers; and having seen how difficult it is to bring viewers to a blog/website, staying on RR/Amazon is simply a must.
We'll see how that goes.
- Final words for 2021
2021 was a chaotic year. I've seen family and friends launch new projects and others fight cancers, states closing and opening with Covid. In a way, it was a prolongation of the 2020 year and the new worldwide status quo we now live in.
But I’ve got a good feeling for 2022. Maybe I'm tempting fate, but I hope we're finally reaching the end of the tunnel and that our future will be brighter than the past.
I pray this year will be good to you, dear patrons, and that my writings will give you some joy in these troubled times.
Thanks for supporting me in 2021, and see you in 2022.
Best regards, and Happy New Year,
Voidy.
Comments
Nicholas Guyett
I'm specifically here for underland because I find it absolutely delightful. Sorry to hear you won't be able to continue it after the first novel, but capitalism makes fools of us all, and bills still gotta get paid. Looking forward to riding out the story and to what else you have coming in on the horizon.
Oliver Wikström
Underland, and to lesser degree Kairos, I think are your best stories. They are wonderfully plotted, the pacing is good throughout and the characters and worldbuilding I feel are fleshed out. They will be missed, but so long as the endings are well executed that's better than a never ending story. Indeed, Underland is the reason I subbed to you, and with it and Kairos gone I'll eagerly await the next time you write a more serious (non-comedy, more "grounded") story 😊
Ashlee Jacobsen
Sometimes ideas don't pan out or aren't as accepted by others, I know I personally didn't enjoy undertale, but I do hope you get the chance to run it to completion one day
Von Ridel
Underland is by far your best work. Not that your other stuff is bad, but people not liking it is mainly because the average royal road reader is a moron. Its the reason I became a patron and im sure thats the same for plenty of other people.
Soren
Damn, I was really hoping for more Underland. Eldrich horror is the best. Oh well, I will certainly be staying on for whatever you do next. My hopes are for the system Apocolypse one, two spin offs would be a bit boring for me I think.
Wanderingforworks
Damn Underland is my favorite story on patreon and royal road. It’s extremely hard to find a lovecraftian horror novel that’s is really good. Now that you are ending it, it saddens me greatly. But maybe it is for the best, who knows maybe I might try my hand at it.
Khanalas
What a shame. Vainqueur was great, but Underland is sublime. I love how you handled the world and the magic system, very 8nteresting ideas. Edit: And regarding Lovecraftian horror, Lord of Mysteries is one of most popular novels, so your analysis is a bit off
Thrackie Gregory
While Im happy for you. It does sadden me a bit youll be ending under land. I take it youll be ending the story conclusively but it has been my favorite as of yet. Do try to present popularity with a grain of salt, we tend to have no idea what we want until its finished.
lenkite
I recommended Underland to a few friends but they dropped it because it was too confusing. Underland already starts bang in the middle with an established history, cast, different world and very unique different flavor of magic and the reader is expected to know everything out of the bat. Usually authors address this through the viewpoint of a character who is experiencing new stuff or changed circumstances for the first time - but in Underland, all the characters already know the world and the reader is expected to 'catch up'. Not many readers are that persistent - if they don't stan the novel within the first 5/6 chapters, they will leave. It's a pity because I think it's a terrific story but it requires patience to get into the groove.
Iwritestrangethings
Happy new year voidy! No worries we got ya back. XD
Imran
Happy New Year!
Jonas
Happy new year
Ervin Ughy
Regarding Underland, one other reason it might seem less popular, besides it being a niche setting, is because it's filled with mysteries. Such stories don't do well with slow chapter by chapter updates, because the setups and revelations feel drawn out. This is no fault of your own, mind you, and it's kinda genius how well you handled it by splitting the story up into mini stories. Still, the best way I could enjoy it is by waiting a few months, then binge reading multiple chapters. Others might do the same, or maybe waiting until the whole story is finished. This could influence the stats.
Dax
Thanks for the updates! I'm here for whatever you write, and proud to have been one of those early supporters with a character sheet to call my own :D Happy New Year, Max.
Void Herald
That would be the case... if I relied entirely on Patreon. My strategy has always been to get stuff on Amazon/Audible/Tapas after finishing series so that steady royalties offset my reliance on a 'chapter by chapter' audience, letting me finish stories and develop multimedia projects. I've been making huge progress on that end, as stated when I skipped a month on Patreon for Underland. Eventually, I might reach a point where I can make my works entirely free. The reason why I'm mad at pirates, besides them being thieves and parasites, is that they're slowing down that process. I still intend to pursue more 'niche' works like Underland (even the Perfect Run started out as a major experiment) in the future; but it will be on my own time and without contractual obligations. I've no intention of being "typecast" as a writer, and you'll get other atypical work in the future ;) And well, it's not like I don't want to write LitRPGs. I only write stuff I like; or want to satirize ;)
Tate Browder
Underland is something that I really love, so it’s sad to see that it’ll only be one book. Hopefully it’ll be the same situation as NDT with one book that wraps perfectly and is amazingly contained. Have a great new year, Void.
I remember your first work as being fairly stilted but you’ve evolved tremendously as a writer and immensely enjoy your new work. Alas it seems like you’ve hit the wall of online serialized work. Being beholdened to your audience so regularly means you can never fully pursue what you’re interested in with out shooting your wallet. With the audience of RR being mainly younger guys who want overpowered self inserts, you inevitably will never be forced to branch out. That’s why so many mediocre works have such large followings, the authors will churn out these 700 chapter monstrosities but the dopamine of numbers growing up and face slapping keep them in business.
Deinos
First of all Well Done with everything! Must be extremely annoying dealing with asshole leeches. I can kind of understand why Underland wasn’t as successful. Simply put it was not as self-insertable and very different in genre (high fantasy/cthulu) as Perfect Run was, in that order. Kairos was/is also interesting but I might've not become a patron because of it, like all your stories it's very well-written and entertaining but I found it not as self-identifiable as PR. Most people (I think) who read stories on RR want to insert themselves to some extend in the stories... well I guess most readers anywhere do but I think most on RR like litrpg/hero/sci-fi stories or any combination thereof. What was gripping about PR was the wit, the references and the possibility of redos and abilities ofc., but most of all that I could think of myself as being in his shoes, having a very relatable modern background. I liked Kairos a lot. I liked Underland very much too because I love Cthulu, although it was more of a slow burn and it was splintered with the other POV. I liked the other POV and there are other stories where I wouldn't miss the other POV for the world, but here it meant I didn’t fully commit to one character since it feels also slow building. It took me also quite a while to start reading Underland. I think I read 1 or 2 chapters and it simply didn’t grip me, so I kept reading Kairos and then when you were at I think 20 chapters + I started reading. And I must say for a reading experience it wasn’t bad that way for me because the developments seemed slower. Since it's also fairly different you'd also need people with different expectations, hence the people who left because it didn’t fill in their modern times hero/litrpg view. Vainqueur I read a couple of chapters on RR a long time ago but it very much wasn’t for me, I don’t like stupid characters in the lead(the dragon), especially those with too much power. So idk what you will be writing next but I'm very much looking forward to it.
Jake V
I think he's trying to say that he doesn't have enough time to get everything he wants done due to commitments, but that after some "contractual obligations" end in March/April he will be able to get it straightened out.
Matthew Lewis Worthington
Sucak that underland didn't receive the support it should cause its ana amazing novel dang it if only I had a million dollars to give where mr beast at
Disclancer
Sorry I'm abit confused as to what a "time-lockdown" is?
Jake V
I feel like I must be an outlier or something, never really could get into Kairos, Left after Vainqueur and Perfect Run ended, but rejoined for Underland... Oh well, will be interesting to see what the new novel is I guess. Happy New Year!
JJ
Happy New Year Voidy!!! Stay safe and healthy brotha!!!
Drew Lim
Happy new year Voidy
