Major Announcement 1: Double Releases

So I hate announcement posts on Patreon, which is why I normally add something after the chapter if there is anything. My experience is that they rarely add any kind of value and are often about the author cutting back on their release rate. However, this is such a major announcement it deserves its own post. It is also something I have been working really hard to reach.

You were already spoiled from the title, but The Systemic Lands is moving over to DOUBLE DAILY RELEASES based on Patron count! Yes, you will be now getting two chapters per day. Celebrate, rejoice, smile. For starting tomorrow this will begin.

There is one major caveat, this is made possible with all with you my amazing, wonderful, beautiful, genius patrons. Every patron after 250 means one more day of double release. The foundation is there, now we soar for the stars.

Q: How does the count work exactly? If we get to 267 Patrons, then go down to 266, do we only get 16 days or double releases?

A: Every day there will be one main chapter + one extra chapter + (maybe more extra chapters). My goal is to catch up with the Patron count. So, while there is a guarantee of 2x daily releases, I might release more chapters per day. The total number of extra releases are based on the patron count of that day/week. With Patron moving to any day of the month subscription rather than the start of the month, I am not going to nitpick over an extra chapter or two going out. This is meant to be long term and really push numbers up.

So, in 30 days from when this starts, my count will be at least 280 and Patreon, will hopefully be higher. If it is higher, then more extra chapters. We keep going until I catch up.

Q: What about people who were already patrons? This seems unfair.

A: All patrons are working together. That is why no extra chapter released is attributed to any one patron, but all you amazing people. The same way I am not counting chapters released previously, I am also starting at 250 Patrons. This was the last goal reached on Patreon and also gives a buffer of extra chapters at the time of this announcement.

Remember, everyone is getting extra chapters. There will still be the daily release no matter what. If extra chapters are ever unfair, well life is unfair. I hope that no one has complaints about extra chapters being released.

Q: What about the free/Patreon release?

A: The double chapter releases will happen at the same time. So, they are both getting this announcement at the same time. The primary purpose of this is both to speed up my release rate and encourage people to tell others about my story, thereby increasing its popularity, more Patrons, and then more extra chapters.

Hopefully it creates a positive feedback loop to push this story to heights of other top webnovels and beyond. I am looking at the goliaths on RR and elsewhere. This story has gone from plucky newcomer with spunk, to the seasoned story. Now we just have to become the world champion.

Q: What about if I cancel my subscription, do I still count? 

A: Yes! Many people don't like reoccurring billing, myself included. So, they cancel, then resubscribe, cancel, resubscribe. Well, you get the idea. I go by the Patron count Patreon shows both me and you. You are counted until your cancelation date, which is 1 month from the date you signed up.

Q: Why are you doing this? This seems like a money grab. Aren't you making enough?

A: It does seem like that. But it will probably surprise most people, I have actually lost money so far with my book and there are future expenses. I am going to break things down so far.

Aug: +1,200
Sept: +2,200
Oct: +2,600
Cover Art: -400x5=-2,000
Ad Art: -100x8=-800
RR Ads: -4,750
Total: -1,550

These expenses have been necessary and have had a huge impact on the success of this story. As much as I hate ads, they do work.

This also doesn't include my time, which is considerable. In addition, I would like to get professional editing done. This would cost about 3,600 per volume. Volumes are about 120,000 words, so at 0.02 per word for copy edit and 0.01 for a proof edit. This is actually on the middle to lower end of the editing cost spectrum.

I can quit my day job and survive currently, but I make a lot more in my day job than I do writing. Including benefits like health insurance, I make about 6,500/month before taxes. This also covers for my eventual retirement. Regardless, people are getting their money's worth when comparing my monthly output to Patreon cost versus stories up on Amazon. When compared to other Patreons, far more value for the amount I am releasing.

Q: What is the target goal?

A: Right now, hitting 500 amazing patrons by the end of November and 1,000 by the end of December. It is a stretch, I know. But double releases are going to send this story into overdrive. Hitting 1,000 is when I can breathe easily, focus on cranking out a lot of chapters, and go full overdrive with my writing. I am going full overdrive right now, but it would take things from warp 9.9 to warp 9.95.

Q: Why are you telling us this?

A: Two reasons. First, so people stick around as patrons or become patrons. Double releases mean about 60 chapters/month or about 120,000-140,000 words. That is the length of a paperback, which means you are getting your money's worth. Secondly, so there is motivation for my wonderful readers to encourage others on Reddit, Social Media, friends, and to say good things about this story in general.

Advertising on RR will only take this story so far. I need all my amazing readers to recommend this story if the opportunity comes up. Also, it is motivation to stick around as a Patron.

Q: Can you keep up this release rate? It seems like a lot. Other authors are slower.

A: Other authors get Martinitis when they succeed. Getting caught up in other things than writing and being like Scrooge McDuck swimming in piles of money. As many know from Discord, my hero author, who I look up to is Exlor of The Mech Touch. The guy cranks out 3 chapters/day for the last 4 years with bonus releases. Every single day, no breaks, but 50% of his writing is filler, compared to my 10-20%. This makes it harder to increase my writing speed, but I still dream to overtake him.

I have been writing my butt off in October. Call it the MisterVii Octoberthon. Right now, I am about 100 chapters ahead, 2 full volumes. I am writing Volume 6 at the moment. I can keep up with the speed, which was what the last couple of months was a test for. Also, the Antagonist Volume. I plan to keep this buffer going forward and build on it. The idea is to increase my release beyond 2 chapters/day to 3 or more.

Q: What about antagonist chapters? Will they still count as extra, or count to the full count of Patron bonus chapters?

A: I went back and forth on this a lot. The answer is that they will not count against the patron count, but on days they come out, there might not be extra main chapters. I get a free day. They are like a mulligan, not counting either way. They are harder to write, so Volumes with Antagonist chapters, I need to slow down a lot to write and work out very technical things. So, I don't want to burn up my buffer. You would still be getting 2 chapters that day.

Q: Why one extra chapter to one patron?

A: Another thing I went back and forth on. This was by far the hardest thing to decide in regard to this announcement. In the end, it is the fairest in both directions. To me begging for more patrons, while also rewarding all you amazing people. Since I am the first author to do something like this to my knowledge, I am setting the standard. The standard is one patron to one chapter after a base number of patrons.

Any other author that tries something similar, but with a worse ratio, I give you permission to point to this story as the standard. This is shameless begging and pandering at its finest. I won't pretty things up, but all you readers are getting rewarded with more chapters. You amazing patrons also have my permission to be complimented by the free release people for your amazing support to this story, which is giving them more chapters. For you free release people, encourage this story's popularity so you get extra chapters by those people becoming patrons.

Q: What should I do to help this story? Is this allowed on RR?

A: RR bans any story from tying chapter releases into metrics specifically ratings and reviews.

Offering to release chapters based on the scores of reviews and ratings is considered ranking manipulation and is prohibited.

Campaigns encouraging others to upvote or downvote reviews, whether positive or negative are forbidden.

People can leave whatever reviews or ratings they want. I actually laugh at some of the reviews, and some are quite insightful, both positive and negative. I am not tying chapter releases to anything on RR. Honestly reviews and ratings have a very limited impact on my story at this point. It is never going to ranked very highly based on popularity with its spiciness, but I still appreciate them and read them all regardless.

I did check with RR moderators and what I am doing is acceptable as long as it doesn't impact my base release rate of 1 chapter/day. I can't hold my previous schedule hostage, which is 1 chapter/day, but I can offer extra chapters as an incentive for people signing up to Patreon and promoting my story to get people signing up. So other authors, just be aware of this.

Encouraging other people in a polite way to read my story on social media is the best thing anyone can do. Like seeing a reddit post asking for recommendations, and then suggesting this story. Or a friend asking what you read and suggesting this story.

With my advertising on RR, eventually the site will be saturated, meaning that advertisements will have limited impact going forward. I am looking outside of RR to build up my reader base. Any time someone asks for a 'dark' story, this should be the first story anyone recommends. In fact, when people ask for a 'dark' story, it should eventually be on the list of stories they have already read.

Q: Why not count the base of 250 patrons?

A: You are counted. Just that bonus chapter count starts from 250 patrons. Everyone is contributing, regardless of when you became a patron. All of you got me to this point and will continue to push things forward. I am also balancing the 1 to 1 release rate for more Patrons to chapters. Instead of doing a 5 to 1 or a 2 to 1, everyone is getting a 1 to 1 ratio. To make life easier on my end and push the number of Patrons up, we are starting at 250. Remember these are extra chapters.

Q: Why not release in batches if you write so far ahead?

A: This is still a webnovel based on a subscription service. Still, I might release a bunch of chapters to try and catch up with the patron count. I am not ruling it out. Right now, the promise I am making is +1 chapter for every patron over 250 in addition to daily releases.

Also, I write in volumes for editing and story purposes. Each Volume is meant to be a mini-story and have a climax towards the end. It keeps the pacing consistent when people read, and I get to swap out covers.

I want people to be able to always know they will have chapters of this story. Consistency and daily posting are key things for a good webnovel. That is also why, I won't go beyond promising +1 chapter a day. I need to guarantee that I can keep up with what I promise.

Q: Will you adjust the advanced Patreon chapters or goals?

A: No, the Patreon goals remain the same and the advanced releases the same as well. Being 60 chapters ahead of the free release at 1,000 Patrons is still going to be the case. However, after 1,000 Patrons, there will be more goals, which I will release once we hit a 1,000 Patrons. I haven't decided yet, but my thought process is +5 chapters every 250 patrons. I am still thinking it over.

I need to maintain my buffer, the primary reason being my sanity. The +5 chapters every 50 patrons early on, nearly burnt out my backlog. It was brutal. It definitely helped my success, but it wasn't paced out. This way with extra chapters, if I get 50 people signing up for Patreon at once, I can spread those chapters out over a number of days and not be dying on the inside.

Also, it impacts my scheduling. By the Almighty System, it is a nightmare to schedule chapters, both on Patreon and RR. If I have to constantly redo it, I will become a cultivator in real life and start coughing out blood. I can't express how big a pain scheduling chapters is, and rescheduling is just wasted time.

Q: Why aren't you editing instead of writing more?

A: Well, you answered your question. To me, there is more value to write more chapters then going back and correcting minor spelling mistakes. I hope you can forgive my small errors when I am writing 2+ chapters/day. It is far more efficient for me to write more chapters than focusing on constantly editing.

I plan to do a full editing pass in the next couple of months and then hire a professional editor for copy editing and line editing. This will be to refresh myself about earlier plot points as well. But this is a very consuming process and mentally draining. Ideally, I would like to be ahead of my release pace in terms of editing, but realistically I am looking at a year for that to happen at the earliest. The faster I write, the more editing costs. With how much professional editing costs, your support makes this happen more quickly.

Q: Is this going to go on forever?

A: I would like to say yes and that is the plan. Regardless daily releases are forever until the end of the story, hard stop. Extra chapters from patron count, will go until there is a noticeable pause in growth. If there is a noticeable pause, it depends on where things currently stand. Personally, I want to keep up double daily releases for a long time and go beyond that. I personally would love to see 5,000 patrons and having to crank out chapters like a madman.

Oh, you meant how long is the story. Very long. I have some numbers in mind, but I won't spoil them. The two main things for me are no filler volumes, and a high release rate. There are filler chapters to have people discuss things and create pacing. But I want to stay at no more than 30% filler, I am at about 10-20% at the moment. Keeping up the release rate and not resorting to constant filler is tough, but doable.

Another reason why I want to go to a higher release schedule is to move through the story more quickly and keep people engaged. Once a story hits 500+ chapters, there mental fatigue that builds up if the story release is not continuous. A higher release rate offsets this issue by constantly keeping the story refreshed.

Q: Will you offer the yearly option on Patreon?

A: No. While I continue to write for a long time, I prefer the monthly model. Also, at $10/month, it is quite reasonable for my release rate and the chapters you have on Patreon.

Q: Is that it?

A: I think so, but feel free to give your opinion in the poll below and to ask any more questions or concerns you might have.