foxsaliant

Extra Large Weekly Update! (2020/03/02)

Added 2020-03-02 21:15:30 +0000 UTC

2020/03/02

Hey there, everyone!

It’s now March, and this is going to be a big month for me, and likewise, for all of us in our little community here!

Let me just say first, holy crap! You guys are really generous! @.@ I really want to welcome all the new patrons as well as our old ones who have stuck with us for so long (including the ones that have had to bow out because of finances or whatever reason, but are still hanging around and offering moral support).

I honestly never thought I’d get this far, and I’m just so grateful to all of you. ;o;

February was the biggest month of growth in like… the entire last year and a half and it makes me so nervous and excited!

So! There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get to it without further delay!

Community Management and Site Updates!

So starting this month, I’m going to be paying my community administrator, Winter, a little bit to look over the site for me and help making updating it easier. She knows more about this than I do, and hopefully together we can improve the site (and make it so that it doesn’t randomly break 30% of the time!)

Hopefully this will help the end user experience on http://foxsaliant.com/ as well as http://varioushappenings.com/ and help my ability to expand things in the future as needed.

I’m also hoping to do some things with the VH site at a later date which would require more knowledge than I have currently, so as the Patreon grows, I’m hoping to be able to afford more and more funds to her (and whoever else she thinks would be able to help) towards this end.

I’m going to be slowly delegating stuff out to others in the hopes of being able to get things done that I simply have no talent or skill in doing and being able to focus full time on projects like Various Happenings and the like.

Speaking of!

Various Happenings returns (for real this time)!

As I’ve said for many months, Various Happenings is returning on the 14th of March, to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the first page’s release.

It’s been a long road, and while we haven’t gotten that far, I feel like this is a good place to dig in our heels and start really digging into the story. I’m currently finishing up our flashback for our little mega update and the end of Chapter 5 will soon follow.

The comic itself is going to be shifting format a little bit from the page by page format to a more freeform/experimental format. There’s going to be more weird panels, single panels, animations, some text, and a refining of the visual style. I might even be able to commission some music from my friend, Mbulsht, in the future!

There are so many things I’ve wanted to try, but felt constrained by the ‘page by page’ format that I’ve done for so long to just… get by. I’d gotten burnt out, but for the first time in a long time, I feel excited!

I want to do weird stuff, and I hope you all enjoy the journey with me, because this means more VH, more frequently!

To that end, I’m also eschewing the weekly update schedule for an “as it’s done” update schedule. This means that things might update REALLY fast sometimes… or it might be a little bit between updates.

I will TRY to maintain the once a week update on Fridays at the very least, but I’m hoping the freedom will result in a net positive for the sheer amount of content! We will see, and as always, it’s going to be a learning experience.

But this story has languished for too long, and everyone wants to see what’s going to happen. Hell, I want to see what’s going to happen! So let’s get to the happenings!

To this end, I’m going to make a concerted effort towards turning my attention towards the comic and the various projects associated (like merchandise! I’ve got some t-shirt design ideas and posters and such I really want to do that I haven’t had time to yet!)

The overall increase in membership to my Patreon and my commission prices should give me more money and leeway to work on personal projects going forward!

Speaking of…

Commission Prices, Types and Sketch on the Spot

After this long slog through the backlog, I feel that this month I will finally be able to finish up my obligations, clear my backlog for both my commissions gathered in the wake of our instability back between March and September of last year as well as the backlog of Patreon rewards that built up during that time.

I’m going to be working hard to complete all of these and clean them out, but we’re almost there. We’re down to the last dozen or so in the commission queue and the Patreon backlog should not take that long comparatively.

Going forward, commissions will reopen soon, if not this month then most likely in April, but not without a few restrictions and changes.

The most prominent change is, of course, the price. I’m going to be changing the way I calculate prices, which will result in an increase in overall prices of about 25% overall.

My major reasons for this are to keep up with expenses as general prices rise, and to reduce the overall need for and flow of commissions.

That said, I will be offering different types of commissions to suit different people’s needs, dividing things into three overall categories:

Black and White Doodles, Colored Sketches, and Standard Pieces.

I do not yet have the details on what the pricing on these will be until I do a bit of legwork and figure out how long each type will take and such, but I’ll be doing that this month.

Standard Pieces will be available via a limited number of slots that I’ll open as needed, but the Doodles and Sketches, however, will be available in that manner, as well as through Sketch on the Spot, which will be making its return!

Once I’ve figured out the pricing on things, I’ll make an announcement regarding SotS, including the prices, restrictions, and schedule!

Comic Pages and Portraits may still be available as well, but after a lot of mulling, I’ve decided that I am removing the Conscript Stream option going forward.

It was a fun experiment, but I always felt like I was pressured to do a large amount of work in a small amount of time. Rather than a bunch of disparate sketches, I would always be commissioned for these large sequences and the result was either unsatisfactory in my eyes, or took a lot longer than expected and had to pull more time out of my commissioner, which made me feel like I was strongarming them for money in order to finish the work that they wanted to see.

Overall it was neat to try, but not something I’m really suited to, and not something I want to continue to offer.

Now, over to Patreon...

Tier Changes and Other Patreon Stuff

So, there are a few things that are going to be changing about the Patreon.

I cannot stress how much you all have helped me out over the last year. I wouldn’t be here without you guys, gals, and peeps, and I appreciate having the opportunity to work on my personal projects for a living.

That said, I am an inexperienced creator when it comes to managing crowdfunding. I’ve said as much before, and there have been a few large shake-ups to the Patreon as a result, simply because this is a difficult thing to do and there aren’t really any good templates for any project.

To that end, I’ve worked up a large backlog of pieces to do for my patrons, and while I don’t mind this, I’ve realized that if this happens everytime I get behind, I’m going to end up just doing a bunch of commissions for Patreon and I’ll be back at square one, rather than being able to accomplish what I was trying to do with Patreon in the first place, that is, move away from a commission-based income.

So, here’s how things are going to go down.

The $3 Friendly Fox tier is going to be removed, as it is rarely if ever used
Voting on pin-ups, community works, and other things will be extended to all patrons of the minimum of $1 (Little Foxes) or more.
Previews, in progress works, sillies and the like will be available first in the VIP Room on the discord for the $5 Fun Foxes. These will not be posted on Patreon for the sake of convenience, everything will be available in the Discord.
Monthly/Yearly Collections, the Secret Gallery (when I update it), and other such packages will be available on Patreon to $1 patrons and up.
The $10 Cool Foxes tier will remain unchanged. Wobbles will still be available.
The $25 Fanclub Foxes tier will be lowered to $20; they will receive the “Special Thanks” benefit that was previously given to the $50 Super Fox tier but the bi-monthly sketches will no longer be rewarded.
The $50 Super Fox tier will be removed; conscript streams will no longer be rewarded.

This is a big change, for sure! So what and why, I’m sure you all have a few questions...

Why did you remove the art rewards from the higher tiers?

Simply the explanation I gave above. I want to move away from commissions as my main source of income and focus on creating my own stuff that people enjoy.

I don’t mind giving back to the community (which is why I still want to do the wobbles, because I feel like that’s a fun community thing we can all enjoy), but if I’m going to pay out sketches and pieces for support, I might as well just be taking commissions.

It’s not a healthy model and ultimately, not sustainable.

This is probably going to make a lot of people reduce their pledges, are you okay with that?

Yes! I am! I’ve been assured by my roommates that we’re currently financially stable enough for me to take the inevitable cut in income that will come with this decision.

I want to build a community here with my fans and friends, who enjoy what I make and who will be able to expand and build off that in the future, and feel like they’ve pitched in on something really cool.

I would rather have a lot of little pledges, than a few big benefactors who could pull out at any time for whatever reason.

Not to knock the very generous people that have helped me so far, of course, but it just makes things easier for everyone involved!

I also don’t want to feel like I’m bribing people to support me. I want them to do it because they want to see me succeed, not because I’m begging them and will give them art in exchange. That would basically just mean that I’ve traded one commission system for another, which is against the point. I also don’t want to make it so that only people who pledge to the patreon will be able to commission me.

People shouldn’t feel like they HAVE to give a lot to be a valuable part of my community.

So yes, I am expecting a drop in pledge amounts, and that’s okay!

What about the art rewards you owe already?

I fully intend to honor all art rewards. The wobbles will be done in large batches in streams that I will schedule for the purpose, the first one probably being later this month.

As for the other rewards, I have basically three options for my patrons.

I will honor the rewards as is.
That means if I owe you Conscript Stream time or SotS-Style Sketches, I will honor them in total regardless of the changes to my commission options in the future.

If you have half a SotS-Style sketch left over at the end, I will honor it regardless and treat it as a full sketch (this is to honor those of you who just joined within the last month, or people who have left previously and had half a sketch lying around.)
I will allow credit on future commissions.
Credit on future commissions will be offered at $20 per hour of Conscript Stream time and $15 per half-sketch $30 for whole) of the SotS-Style sketches.

These were their going rates under my previous pricing structure. If you have enough for a whole piece under those rates, I can invoice you for it this month.

However, if you wait until the new pricing structure is in place, I will not be able to use the old pricing structure and you will have to use your credit with the new prices.
I can buy back the benefits for the above prices. This will take some time, however, and I cannot give a date on it, since I will need to wait for future Patreon pay-outs and commissions to acquire the funds to do so.

I was hesitant to allow this initially, because I felt like it would basically make my Patreon pledges like small “loans”. But since I’ve changed my mind about this and we’re not offering compensatory rewards (save the wobbles, which aren’t able to be cashed out)

I will also allow any combination of the three.

As for the community voted pieces, a lot of those time has passed as far as my excitement for them (it has been well over a year on some of them) but I will be happy to let the community decide for themselves as to what they want to do with them.

If the community wants to see these things, then I will do them. If they don’t mind me moving on to new stuff, then we’ll do that, and who knows? They might come up again in the rotation when the time is right. I do intend to do the wallpaper that I owe, however, as that was a community reward and I would be remiss if I didn’t fulfill it. I will also be putting up a vote for a pin-up this month as we’ve broken that community goal!

So that should be fun!

As you can see, this is a big month for me. A lot going on, with a lot of work to do and a lot of stuff to sort out. But when we come out the other side, things will be a lot better!

Obligations will be fulfilled, comics will be made, and things will bea lot better going forward!

There's a lot of math to do this week, so Sali's taking a break from all that mining. uvu

I know a lot of this is Patreon stuff, and that, so if you're curious and want to join and become a part of the community, feel free to click on the link and check us out!

Every little bit helps! n.n!

Remember, you can also donate over at my Ko-Fi or even directly through Paypal, if you don't care for Patreon.

Once again, if you need to talk to me about business, scheduling streams, refunds, or payment options, feel free to contact me via e-mail at sali[at]foxsaliant.com, note me at any of the sites this appears on as a journal, or you can join our community discord to chit chat with other friends and fans of mine.

Anyway, onto the lists! Here’s the short list.

Current Commissions:

#418 (Goldenheart) - Partially Paid
#421 (Kithpine) - Not Started
#432 (Artemis) - In Progress (Lineart)
#435 (ADayMoth) - Complete!
#437 (LiquidPotato) - Not Started
#438 (Curious Garchomp) - Not Started
#441 + 452 (Orreso) - Not Started
#444 (Spooder) - In Progress! (Preliminary)
#445 (Goldenheart) - In Progress! (Preliminary)
#446 (Floofbutt) - In Progress! (Preliminary)
#449 (Latios) - Complete!

If you want more details on what's going on, you can head over and look on the Schedule Page.

Rather gray day today, but that's alright. The wind feels good and I like sitting here with the window open as I work. I hope it feels as nice out where all of you are!

See you all next week! n.n!

~Spooky

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A Special Thanks goes out to this month's Super Foxes, MechaGhost2003, CuriousGarchomp, and chacumera for their support! Thanks so much, everyone! n.n!
We really couldn't do this without you, along with the rest of our fantastic fans and supporters.

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