fuggmann
patreon
Regarding the next few chapters of BoC
🕑 Added 2024-10-16 18:46:09 +0000 UTCHeya. Sorry for the rapidfire posts.
So life has been kicking me in the ass recently and slowed my writing pace to a crawl. The biggest one being trying to get a house and move. That obstacle is now nearly out of the way, so I can get back to writing. That being said, independent creators like me live and die on momentum, and the last 3 or so months has seen the patreon take a hit. Obviously, no one is obligated to sub or stay subbed to me, especially when I've been so slow, but it does leave me a little worried, especially now that I'll soon have a house to take care off.
To try and help that out, I wanted to let you know that we'll be using the old patron system (one or two days of early access before going live. No withheld chapters) for the next one-two chapters of BoC. A few quick(er) releases should hopefully boost the patron count some, then we go back to withholding for patrons. I want to finish off Act 2 then put BoC on a short break as I work on other things for a month or two, then I'll be fresh and ready for Act 3.
I also wanted to let you know that I'll be revamping how things are marked and categorized in Patreon so everyone can more easily find stuff. Going forward, things withheld for patrons with be tagged "withheld", and when they go live, the tag will be changed to "released". I know it hasn't always been clear what was actually early access and what wasn't before, so this should fix that.
As my way of saying sorry about all the delays and stuff, here is a small bit from the (nearly done!) new chapter.
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“Ready for your first solo flight, kiddo?” A grinning Zinnia asks Brendan as she helps him saddle-up Latias.
“I’ve been flying, I took my flying license test on Corviknight a week ago,” Brendan grumbles, already looking a bit green around the gills.
“Flying on a bird is a way different from flying on a Dragon!” Zinnia exclaims, gesturing to Latias, who watches the goings-on’s with nervous yellow eyes. “A big metal bird may as well be an airplane!”
Off to the side, Lee sits on Corvi’s back, already mounted up and ready to go. The giant crow clicks his tongue as he listens to Zinnia.
“Don’t listen to the adrenaline junkie, Corvi,” Lee pats his mount’s wing, watching as Brendan unsurely climbs onto Latias’ back, making the hovering dragon dip a few inches. “She has no idea what she’s talking about.”
Despite knowing that the saddle on Latias was hand-made by a tribe of dragon tamers and should theoretically stand up to just about anything, Lee can't help but be a little anxious on Brendan’s behalf.
Latias is fast.
Brendan’s newest pokemon is a proper and powerful legendary, and that was made extremely apparent to everyone once they did some inter-team sparring. Latias eclipses damn near every other pokemon when it comes to raw power, and the only thing holding her back is her lack of combat experience. Of Lee’s pokemon, only Ninetales and Sylveon are able to properly stand up to Latias.
‘Latias has to be propelling herself with a positively ridiculous amount of Psychic TE, possibly with Flying TE mixed in. I really hope Brendan doesn’t get sick or get blown off of Latias’ back. The second one will be really hard to explain to Nigel…’
‘If Latias has any sense, she’s holding onto Brendan with telekinesis,’ Ninetales chimes in, watching through Lee’s eyes.
‘We can only hope.’
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Thankee much, everyone.
Fuggmann.
Comments
Diana
There's another author I follow and sub to "CoeurAlAran" man is a professional writer though and has the most sizeable and consistent output I've ever seen. Consistency is key to keep up patreon sub count and growing it. You might want to try to force yourself to write everyday. Even if you aren't inspired. It doesn't mean you have to publish it immediately if you aren't satisfied. But making it a habit might help. You might hit a stride midway through typing something you'd consider mediocre and type out some real great stuff unexpectedly to what you'd expect in that moment.
Swinter
Hahaha. Damn, if it's that much of a ride, I should charge for it! Yeah, can't do more than give my own thoughts on it. People are free to agree, or disagree. In part or in full. But that's the problem with wanting to make something your primary income. You need to be willing to put in the work. If that causes you burnout? Well you'll either have to starve or find work more suitable for you. I would love if we could all get some UBI so people could feel more secure, but as it is, personal responsibility is needed. As for subtle manipulation attempt... Don't think "subtle" is the right word here. More like "Blatant". Not going to hide that my view is that Fugg needs to get his ass in gear and treat this seriously if he wants to keep it as his primary method of income. Sorry Fugg, Don't mean to be rude, but just because I love your writing doesn't mean I'm going to be a yes man and only sing your praises.
WhatAFungi
I’m staying subbed. I understand the grind, just hang in
mac joseph
I agree to some extent with what he is saying but there needs to be balance. I love BOC and have stayed subbed for that reason even though I do enjoy some of his other works.
Andres
It’s good advice for some people but I personally prefer quality over quantity and that system is definitely more for quantity.
Soah1086
You started off good, then you introduced a direct path to burn out and then ended with a subtle manipulation attempt. Wew, that was a wild ride. 😮💨
Swinter
Consider breaking your chapters in half. We're patreon members, we're used to bite sized releases. They don't have to end in a perfect place. A lot of authors release chapter 4.X where the X is just how many chapters an Actual chapter has been split in. I checked a bunch of patrons I'm following and the word-count has been: ~1000 words ~2500 ~2500 ~2500 ~1000 ~2000 ~2500 So yours, at about ~5000 words, are longer than normal. That said, the patrons I follow tend to average out ~5 000 -> 10 000 words *per week*. Most of these have quite a large following, but output and regularity in posting is definitively part of how they got that. To play the devils advocate here: No matter how busy you are, if you want this to be your job you'll have to treat it like it. Or you're just burning your bridges. Got a busy month? Doesn't matter. Your work comes first. Would a regular employer let you just take... 2 months off and let the business burn? No? Then why do you? It just shows that you don't respect the people who're your actual patrons. Vacations? Of course you can take that. Just make sure to either save some of your income, or better yet, make sure you have a secret stash of chapters written but not released so you can keep things moving. Get a time tracking software. Something like Toggl perhaps. Make sure you're getting the time to sit down and write for 40 hours per week, come hell and high water. Got your 5-10K words finished early? Awesome. Work on getting a backlog, or just enjoy life being self employed and not needing to work as much. I will admit that, much as I do love your writing, I have considered abandoning the Patreon multiple times. I havent, yet, because your writing is amazing. But you are making it really hard to justify supporting you when you always seem to be your own worst enemy.
K
I'm still here. You'd have to go truly radio silent and never release anything but empty promises for me to give up. Hang in there! People will resub when you start posting again.
OpN
I have less altruistic patreon goals. I use it to receive a service or reward. An April chapter for boc followed by a June, then July and finally September chapter is a pretty slow update schedule for the one story I'm following. I know Fugg writes other works, and this slows the rate of boc chapters, but its been a pretty slow yearly rate so far.
Hezekiah Smigin
I agree with C&C. I'll keep subbed.
C&C
I've read many stories i've absolutely loved, and it truly stings to follow something for a long time and just see it die one day without a word Despite all the troubles in your life, you've kept communicating, and above and that, kept writing As long as this keeps being the case i don't mind it all personally. No need for apologies
