[crossposted from my Patreon Activity Stream]
I just received my first Patreon payment:
Apr 1, 2014 at 2:00 am
+$1,046.52 processed to your account from your patrons.
$1,167.30 Pledged / $62.40 CC Fees / $58.38 Patreon
…and I just wanted to share some updates about what’s going on with my Patreon and the various rewards I’m currently working on.
3 COMICS A WEEK:
So far I’ve been pretty awful at this. So far in March we’ve had a hail storm that damaged both our cars, and our roof. We spent a night huddled in the closet due to tornado warnings, and a few days dealing with insurance, roofers, etc. Then I finsihed a comic and my laptop died before I could upload it. THEN my wife’s hard drive died the next day. I spent several days scrambling to fix these issues. Bottom line is I am almost caught up on last week’s comics and I will have 3 more for this week before the weekend is over (barring an act of universal chaos). Excuses, excuses, blah, blah, blah I need to work harder.
eBooks:
I just uploaded the first 2 eBooks for $5+ Patrons to download. Check the activity stream to get the links. There will be a new eBook before April is over and one new one a month until I run out of material (which should be at least a year or more).
Video Blogs:
Working on having at least 2 this month, if not the full 3. Post your questions in the comments concerning “Comic Conventions,” “The Hardware/tech I use to make comics” and any suggestions for a quick and dirty cover song. You can also post these to #HEVB on twitter.
Patron Only Hangout:
How about Wednesday night 4/16 for about an hour? I will post the link here in the activity feed.
HijiNKS HANGOUT:
I have two planned for this month. One with David Willis (www.dumbingofage.com) and Angela Melick (www.wastedtalent.ca) and another one with guest(s) TBD. Post questions for the guests, or future guest suggestions in the comments here or on twitter with #HijiNKSHangout
That’s a lot for the next 2.5 weeks (until I have to do it all over again for May), but you Fancy Patrons have been more than generous and I aim to keep up with my side of the bargain.
It’s just like the monthly donation subscriptions I’ve always done with Paypal, but now you don’t HAVE to use Paypal, and I have a cool backend for managing rewards and such. It’s also got a bit of Kickstarter peppered in for good measure, in that there are rewards tiers for donations and milestone goals that unlock more comics, more content and more awesome along the way.
Don’t have time to read all of this? Watch the video I made explaining everything. It’s only 3.5 minutes and my adorable Kiddo steals the show.
Pledge at $3, $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 a month and you will be supporting me being able to do what I love for a living: Making comics.
Some of the rewards are:
- New Sketch eBooks every month
- A premium RSS feed with full sized comics
- A Patron-only Google Hangout with me each month
- A Patron-only activity feed with behind the scenes art and news, mobile wallpapers and more
- Getting your name on a banner under the comics on the home page of the site
The Milestone Goals will unlock:
- More comics each week (3, 4 or 5 new comics a week ON A REGULAR UPDATE SCHEDULE!!!)
- A “HijiNKS HANGOUT” with me, you and some of my most awesome content creator friends
- More video blogs
- …A RETURN OF THE HIJINKS ENSUE PODCAST WHATWHATWHAT?!?!?!?!?
On the first day we blew past the $250 Milestone Goal, which unlocked new Sketch eBooks every month for a year. Then we went past $350, so I uploaded this video of me and my daughter covering Adventure Time Songs as a thank you.
If you are currently a Paypal monthly subscriber and would like to switch over to Patreon (which is probably a good idea since that’s where my attention will be focused), I only ask that you pledge to Patreon BEFORE canceling your Paypal subscription so I don’t panic.
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It also contains my method for dealing with a scratch on your Wacom Cintiq or other expensive, draw-right-on-me tablet PC type device. It also works for regular, non-monitor digital drawing tablets.
You can also watch the full stream of the Google Hangout I did with Jack Conte Of Pomplamoose and Patreon (a neat new way for content creators to get paid just to create content by the people that enjoy it) for Global Geekend/The Daily Elixir.
It was a great conversation about making it as a digital artist, and I’m a HUGE fan of Jack’s so I highly recommend listening to what he (and sometimes I) have to say. Pomplamoose had a huge effect on my original plan for The Experiment and I owe Jack a great deal for the inspiration that he provided when I was trying to figure out how to be professionally unemployed giving comics away for free.
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I started The Experiment with the goal of being extremely transparent about the successes and failures of trying to turn my passion into my job in the hopes that someone else would read about my experiences, be inspired to do their own thing and hopefully not have to make all of the same mistakes I’ve made. Over the last 5 years I’ve heard from at least a dozen people that started “experimenting” for themselves after following along with my adventure in self employment/ dream fulfillment. Other than being a father, I think that is probably the most important thing I will ever do. If even one person allows themselves to lead a full life of risk and passion and reward and danger and all of the things that are the antithesis of punching the clock, being miserable and constantly waiting for things to get better because of something I wrote or said or did, then I’ve left the world a little bit better than I found it.
If you are a fan of The Experiment and would like to see it continue, please consider making a donation, buying something from the HE Store or Sharksplode or checking out my Amazon Wishlist. I am quite literally 100% dependent on the kindness of strangers. It’s a weird job, I know.
If you want a ZERO DOLLAR way to support HijiNKS ENSUE, please post a few of your favorite HE comics to your site, blog or social media outlet of choice with a few words as to why you think your friends might enjoy reading HE as well.
Hearing from other “experimenters” is certainly one of the most positive outcomes of this whole ordeal. But transparency isn’t just about sharing the positivity. It’s also about sharing the hardships, and the uncertainty. Partly so other experimenters know they aren’t alone if they are having similar feelings and partly just to get it off my chest. When I wrote about the 4 year Experimentiversary a year ago, I also wrote about how I was feeling creatively stifled and that I had done all I felt I could with one-off pop culture references as my only subject matter. I expressed my desire to grow as a writer and take the comic in a different direction utilizing more continuity and story lines and character development. I thought it would be fair to share my feelings on that aspect of The Experiment one year later.
Sometimes I feel like I’m getting a better handle on what I want to do with this comic. The writing is certainly easier whenI get to dance around the same topic for 4 or 5 consecutive strips. Other times I feel like I really have no idea what I’m doing and HE is just too unfocused and the subject matter is too specific to really reach a wider audience. I wrestle with the desire to get more into my characters’ heads and develop their personalities versus my total lack of desire to write anything about jobs or relationships. I’ve always been the kind of artist that second guesses my every decision. I often spend more time worrying about what kind of comics I should be making than I do actually making comics. Of course this is a terrible plan of (in)action, because the types of comics I REALLY need to be making is MORE comics.
It’s hard to gauge the reaction (or lack their of) to changes in the comic’s direction or art style since I rarely get any kind of feedback. My audience (if statistics are to be trusted) plateaued a few years ago and has declined slowly ever since. It’s holding steady at roughly 2/3 to 1/2 of what it was at its peak. It’s still a sizable group (nothing to scoff at), but it’s difficult not to get disheartened when you feel like the quality of your art and writing is improving steadily, yet your reach isn’t. I’ve been more excited about making comics over the last couple of weeks (with this HBO story line) than I have in at least a year. I feel like my art has leveled up since I changed up the panel layout, and my writing has improved along with it. I think an art career isn’t measured in minute improvement over time, but rather a series of unexpected jumps in output, talent or some combination of the two. I honestly feel like the comics I’ve been making recently will count as one of those jumps when I look back on this period of my career. The most complicated part of this feeling of accomplishment is the idea that I’m totally alone in feeling this way. It’s hard not to take pride in your work when you enjoy the entire process of creating and smile at it when it’s finished. But, as with any art that is intended to be appreciated by others, there is a fear in releasing it into the world and finding out that it’s nowhere near as good as you thought.
I’m not fishing for compliments and I’m certainly not depressed or upset about the state of my art or my career. I guess I’m sharing these feelings because I know there are some of you that wish you were doing what I was doing. I know there are some of you that are actively working towards having exactly what I have. And I KNOW there are those of you who already feel these same insecurities about your art, your audience and your place in your perceived community of peers. I suppose my point, or my message (if there is one) is if the demons and fears and insecurities don’t just magically go away after 5 years (or 10 or 20) of putting your all into your work… they probably never will. So fuck ’em. Just don’t worry about it. Just keep making/doing/sharing/going/going/going. Fear will keep you in the job you hate and fear will make you hate doing the thing you love the most. Fear is a thief. It steals time and happiness and almost everyone doesn’t have enough of either to spare.
I often worry about whether or not I am making the right choices. And I am always concerned about where the money for next month’s mortgage is going to come from. I even spend a fair amount of time wondering what I’m going to do if the way I make my living (online ads, t-shirts and comic conventions) just isn’t a thing any more in a few years. Despite those nagging concerns and insecurities, after 5 years of living this impossible dream I can honestly say I am not afraid. Cautious? Sure. Trepidatious? Probably. Uncertain about… almost every aspect of this job? Almost definitely. But, afraid? No. Not any more. Five years of making the best thing I know how to make and sharing it with kind and generous people has taught me the worthlessness of fear. Five years of traveling around America (and beyond) with my chosen family of artists, writers, actors, comedians and other talented, compassionate weirdos has taught me the pointlessness of fear. Thirteen years with my wife and 6 years with our daughter has taught me the complete and total irrelevance of fear. My readers, my friends and my family have been my safety net, my support group, and my reason to not give up more times than I can recall since this experiment started.
I don’t regret a single moment, mistake or hard lesson learned of the last five years, I do not fear the next five and neither should you. Whatever your thing is; that thing that you love doing that you wish was your job, MAKE THAT THING YOUR JOB. Stop whatever you’re doing and go figure out what the very next step is that you need to take in order to make your thing your job, then TAKE THAT STEP. When that step is complete, do the next one and keep taking steps and making progress every single day until your passion, your art, your whatever is your job. You don’t need permission (if you feel like you do, then I’m giving it to you), you don’t have much time and every day that you aren’t totally happy is a wasted one. Chase happiness, forget the fear and DO YOUR THING.
Unless your thing is murder, or genocide or destroying the legacy of a beloved sci-fi franchise. Then, maybe find a different thing.
Godspeed, You Fancy Bastards!
~Joel
Quick Links:
The Experiment Overview | The Whole HE Story | The “Digital Age” Artist’s Manifesto |
4 Year Experimentiversary, 5 Year Anniversary And More Experimenting
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That said, so far 2012 and has been far more difficult financially than 2011 was. My readership is actually way down from the end of the last year. This directly affects every way that I make an income. Ad sales are down, merch sales are down, and donations are WAY down while expenses due to conventions and travel just keep going up and up. It’s been a tough few months and I’ve been constantly thinking about what I can do to turn things around. All of the way in which I can make money come down to simple numbers. The more people looking at my comics every day the less I will have to struggle to make a living. With that in mind I started evaluating why someone might enjoy my comic initially then stop reading it, or read it irregularly and eventually forget about it. I listened to what readers said at conventions, I talked with some of my peers and I studied what it was about comics in general that made people come back day after day.
At first, I thought the answer was “story.” Readers get hooked by story and can’t miss an update or they won’t know what’s happening. Well, HE doesn’t have a story, and I really never had any intention of working one in. The purpose of HE is to provide commentary on geek pop culture through the eyes of its characters… DING DING DING! Characters. That was the answer. The most popular story comics on the internet aren’t breaking any new ground. They primarily deal with relationships, jobs, emotional issues – sitcom stuff. These scenarios are NOT hard to come up with, and writing them has never held any real interest for me. So if it isn’t the amazing originality of the situations, it must be the characters and how they deal with the situations they are put into that people gravitate to so much. Now look, I KNOW this is common knowledge and had you asked me in ANY OTHER context than that of my own creative output, I would have been able to rattle off the answer instantly. I’d just never seen my comics that way.
Now here’s the rub. HE used to have a very strong character element along with the humor. I started looking back at old comics and thinking back to the comments I used to get an conventions and the emails I would receive and the number one positive remark I would get is that the “characters are just like me and my friends,” or “I love Josh because he reminds me of my friend,” etc. Then all of a sudden these comments stopped. What changed? I reread my old comics again and realized that as I started traveling more and my daughter got older (requiring more and more time for her extracurricular activities), I started seeing the real life Josh and Eli less and less. In fact, I probably haven’t seen either of them more than once or twice in 2012. Our social realities just don’t align that well any more. It’s a fact of life and a byproduct of having children. I don’t love them any less, and I don’t believe we have grown apart as friends. The time to just fuck around and be silly with each other just isn’t there nearly as often as it used to be.
The result of this decreased exposure to the inspiration for my characters was that I lost my crutch. I had never been forced to create personalities for the characters since I would just observe the real people behind them and exaggerate their actions and reactions. Sometime around the middle to end of 2011 I really started writing in a singular voice. Every character was interchangeable and while I think the joke writing got MUCH tighter as time went by, the character development essentially vanished. This was never more evident than in the fact that NO ONE ever seemed to know the names of the characters. As one of my peers, who I respect greatly, told me, “Your characters are interchangeable. People love our characters and that’s why they love the comic.” I used to say, “The characters in HE are just there to service the joke,” as if it was one of the selling points of the comic. If that was the case, why would I keep drawing the same guys over and over? I didn’t realize I was admitting a shortcoming of the strip and disguising it as a feature.
So where does that leave me? Well, this Friday May 11th is the 5 year anniversary of HijiNKS ENSUE. I think that’s as good a milestone as any to re-evaluate what I’m doing, what I should be doing and what direction I am heading in. To that end, I would like to announce a new experiment of sorts. I am going to start devoting more time in HijiNKS ENSUE to getting to know the characters. Not necessarily their jobs, relationship or other sitcom type stuff (which still doesn’t interest me), but more their characteristics, quirks and view points. I want to teach myself (by doing) how to write in a voice that is not my own. I want to recapture that individuality the HE characters had in the early years before they became prisoners of my own head and parrots for my own point of view. The best part of this new direction is, if I do it correctly you shouldn’t even notice the change. You might just find yourself more interested in checking the site more often and getting your friends interested in the comic as well.
The first step down this terrifying new path involves location. I am going to experiment with having the characters fixed at one location, setting or event for more than one comic at a time. Their conversations might carry over for several days before shifting to another topic. I believe the ancient Greeks called this con… continuity? Yes, I think that’s right. Again, these will not be stories per se, but rather little chunks of continuing subject matter (like the “Under The Bridge Downtown” comics). For starters all of the comics for this week, starting with THIS ONE, will take place at The Avengers (before, during and after the film). Depending on the response to this change, I may do this for a week or so at a time, and intersperse it with one off gags to break things up. Beyond that, I don’t really have a plan other than to try new things and see what feels right.
What do I need from you? Just to keep an open mind. If you are of the opinion that HE is perfect as is and should not change, all I can say is A) Thank you, and B) You are wrong. My audience plateaued over a year ago and hasn’t seen any sustained growth in that time. In order for me to reach my goals of financial stability, toiling in obscurity cannot be a part of the equation. Luckily for this fictional guy that loves the comic and fears change, I have no plans to change the actual humor of the strip. Just the context in which that humor is presented. For each 3 panel HE comic I usually write a page worth of dialog, then trim the fat. With this new format I should be able to write 3-4 pages of dialog on a few related subjects then actually craft that into a 3-4 comic arc. I would also appreciate it if you, after reading the comics this week, shared some feedback with me. I would rather that you email comics (at) hijinks ensue (dot) com with your thoughts than post them publicly, and I don’t necessarily want to know what you think until you’ve read all of this week’s comics, though I will never discourage honest communication (and you are certainly encouraged to comment on this post if you have questions or words of support). Then, if you dig the way things are going, how about telling EVERY SINGLE PERSON YOU KNOW? Post about HE on your Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc like an insane person who is extremely fixated on one particular geek comic and REALLY wants everyone else to read it. I would consider that a kindness.
I am extremely scared and pretty damn excited about trying something new. I hope you (and I) will be pleased with the results. I hope I will be making a somewhat similar post about the continuing future of HE in another 5 years. I hope people are still allowed to make fun of stuff on the Internet in 5 years. I hope the A.I. Arachno-drones that police our homes and monitor our thoughts will take favor with my offerings and allow me to continue to make a living through putting silly pixels on your computers.
Godspeed, You Fancy Bastards!
~Joel
Quick Links:
The Experiment Overview | The Whole HE Story | The “Digital Age” Artist’s Manifesto |
4 Year Experimentiversary, 5 Year Anniversary And More Experimenting
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Starting now (actually last week) there will be 4 regular HE comic’s a week (usually Mon-Thurs) and a Lo-FiJINKS comic on Friday. There may occasionally be more Lo-FiJiNKS comics over the weekend. I felt it better to “show” before “telling” since my last announcement of “I’m doing 4 comics a week” was poorly timed around my convention schedule and never came to fruition.
I promise you that I WILL screw up and miss updates. I know myself too well to say otherwise. But I also promise you that I will make the best comics I possibly can as often as I can and continue to give them away for free.
If you like the idea of more comics, then how about setting up a donation subscription so I can maybe have less constant crippling anxiety about financial issues? Doing so will get you access to the Vault where I post all kinds of secret, behind the scenes art, photos, bonus podcasts, desktops and mobile wallpapers.
I should note that the decision to make this change has been rolling around in my brain-head for 6 months or so, but the final nudge over the edge came when I saw my friend Alina was doing the same thing. Seeing her step up and put her comics where her mouth is (???what???) really gave me the courage to do the same. Read her comic, Weregeek, and enjoy the LOLS.
Thanks for letting me continue to have the best job in the world. I am extraordinarily grateful.
“Godspeed, You Fancy Bastards”
~joel
]]>If you are fairly new to HE and The Experiment and would like to show your support, please consider getting a book or shirt in the store or making a donation.
As part of the next phase of The Experiment, I am now producing HijiNKS ENSUE 4 times a week. I know it’s going to be rocky at first upping my output like this but I really think it is imperative to the survival of the comic that I get as close to one comic a day as possible.
UPDATE: I spoke too soon. While it is still my goal to produce HE at least 4 times a week, so far it has proven impossible due to travel, cons and other obligations. WAY TO FAIL!
I am also happy to announce that I was asked by Olmos Productions, Inc. to design a new shirt for them based on the meeting that took place last year between the cast of Battlestar Galactica and delegates of the United Nations. Please check it out HERE and send the link to any scifi/BSG blogs or forums that you frequent.
]]>So now it’s “do or die” time. Phase 1 of The Experiment was all about “make the best comic you can and see what happens money-wise.” Phase 2 (this is Phase 2) is all about “The comic is pretty good, let’s get serious about the money part!”
A big part of the new money seriousness is that the fine folks at Topatoco will now be selling HijiNKS Ensue Shirts along with the shirts they already offer from all of your other favorite webcomics.
This is a pretty big deal for me and it’s great news for you. Topatoco is a top notch operation and all they do is sell webcomics merchandise. The shirts are cheaper than they were before, the are professionally screenprinted and you can save on shipping when you buy multiple shirts from me or any other artist. I’m extremely excited. I really want the Topatoco guys to see they made the right choice in adding HijiNKS Ensue to their roster and a great way to show them would be to pick up one (or all) of the new shirts (hint cough hint).
What about the old store? It’s still there… for now. It’s run through Yahoo Stores and I have ALWAYS hated their back end and every other aspect of using them, so I will be shutting this store down in the next couple of weeks. You can still purchase any of the shirts or prints available in the old store as long as it’s still there. I will be moving to a different store front service (same URL for your convenience) shortly. You will still be able to buy prints there and eventually it will have the first HE book. Seriously. I’m watching my wife lay it out right now. It’s happening. I will probably still offer some of the non-Topatoco shirts in the store but not many. If there’s one you want I would suggest getting it now.
What about the Donation Drive? Your monthly donations currently total a little over $700. I am so freaking grateful for this, I can barely express it. The original idea was to reach a goal of $1500 in monthly donation subscriptions. Then the economy went to shit and the donations dried up. Anyone who has donated any amount, especially those of you that have stuck it out and continued your subscriptions have my heartfelt thanks. I’m not going to be shooting for a specific goal any more with the donations. Instead I’m just going to post the monthly totals in the sidebar of the site. I don’t want you guys to feel like “we are never going to get there” in terms of donations. What you are doing now is already more generous than I could have ever imagined.
What about The Vault? The Vault is the “premium content” site that all donators and subscribers get access to. I have big plans for it in this phase of The Experiment, but you can already get Post Shows for the HE Podcast, Destop Wallpapers, iPhone Wallpapers, unfinished art, behind the scenes/making of type stuff, and much more when you donate or subscrbe.
So that’s the current “State of The Experiment.” Treading water but hopeful. The new shirts, the book, and a few other things I have planned for this year are really going to decide the fate of HijiNKS Ensue. If you want to help (with money) you can buy a shirt, buy a print or subscribe to The Vault. If you want to help (without money) you can tell a friend about the site, post a comic on your blog, or send me an encouraging email. Every little bit helps.
Thank you all so much for making the last 12 months so geektastically amazing.
-Joel
]]>Finally! In this return of the HE Experiment Video Blog I catch you up on The Experiment, Donations, The Store and the recent shirt woes. I ran out of time at the end and looked like a doofus. Enjoy.
]]>As of last month I am looking for part time work or freelance/contract work in order to keep the Experiment and HE alive.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
If you know of anyone (your company perhaps) that might require my services (illustration, graphic design, writing, etc) please drop me a line. I am also available for personal contracts like logo design or freelance illustration.
If you or anyone you know would be interested in SPONSORING HijiNKS Ensue, I am working on the details of a sponsorship advertising program now. Please let me know. You know what kind of audience HE attracts, so you probably know if HE is a good fit for your company or organization.
Here’s a new desktop wallpaper for anyone that that donates or subscribes to the Vault:
Thanks, guys!
-Joel
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Please HotLink the images directly so I can update them with new donation subscription totals.
Please link the images to:
http://www.hijinksensue.com/donations
You can also link your readers to this post for more info about what’s going on:
http://hijinksensue.com/2008/08/05/the-state-of-the-experiment-save-hijinks-ensue/
Check out the sidebar to the right and you will see the updated donation subscription totals. As of this post we are at $325/month. That’s 13% of the $2500/month goal.
Thanks, guys!
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Greetings Fancy Bastards and casual readers alike.
Four months ago I began an experiment, provoked by the sudden loss of my day job, to see if I could make a living from HijiNKS Ensue. In that time I’ve focused almost exclusively on the content of HE (the comics, the podcast, etc) and the community (emails, comments, the forum, Twitter), and less so on the capitalist endeavors. I did launch a New Store last month. I also began offering Comic Prints and Custom Designed Avatars for the first time, but I haven’t added to the shirts the way I intended.
I agreed to run that experiment for 4-6 months depending on how my finances held up. I must have run the numbers pretty accurately because in two months I’ll be out of funds (as in unable to pay bills). Considering the job market, I certainly can’t wait 60 days to START looking for work.
I believe in slow, managed growth of a business. This is why I haven’t jumped the gun and plastered the site with ads, put up 40 crappy shirt designs, or rushed a book to print. I want to do these things right. The truth is that this IS going to take longer than 6 months. I feel like if I quit now (return to a day job) I won’t be able to recapture the momentum I’ve gained since beginning the Experiment. Quitting now would most likely mean the end of HijiNKS Ensue.
So, is this the end of The Experiment? Not necessarily (this is where you come in).
I have 100% faith that given another 6 months to a year I will have no problem generating a full time income (enough to support my family, pay for our modest house and cars, and not be entirely broke at the end of the month).
After much deliberation, the only solution I have arrived at is a DONATION DRIVE.
If we can come up with at least half of the income I need to meet my monthly obligations ($2000-$2500) through Donations, I should be able to continue The Experiment. I don’t plan for this to be a permanent solution, but rather a stop gap measure to buy more time until ads, and t-shirts and such can really take over supporting the site.
To this effect I have set up PAYPAL DONATION SUBSCRIPTIONS. This will allow you to set up a recurring monthly donation of $5, $10 or $20. You are certainly still welcomed to make one time donations in any amount you are comfortable with. The subscriptions will allow me to better gauge how much to expect each month, but a donation of $50 or more has the same effect as a 1 year subscription. Subscribers will get access to The Vault each month. Regular donors will get Vault access for the month they donate.
The DONATION DRIVE TO SAVE HIJINKS ENSUE is starting today. If, at the end of 30 days, things are looking promising I will continue the Experiment for as long as possible. If they are not looking so promising I will have to find a (real) job and scale back my involvement in HE. This will most likely mean less comics and fewer (to zero) Podcasts.
“I Don’t Want to Subscribe. How Can I Still Help?”
Glad you asked. Again, you are welcomed to make a one time donation. This is very much appreciated. Many of you have given more than I would ever expect and for that I am very grateful.
You also don’t have to contribute and get nothing in return. You can still purcase T-Shirts, Comic Prints and Avatars. I’ll be adding new print packages and shirts to the store this week (if possible).
Since starting the experiment 4 months ago I have received around $1000 in one time donations and $110 in donation subscriptions. The goal is roughly 20 times that number of subscriptions to keep HE alive. Can we do it? I sure as hell hope so, because this has been the most rewarding work I have ever done. I LOVE THIS JOB and I don’t want to give it up without a fight.
Regardless of what happens I want to thank you all, you Fancy Bastards, for you support both financially and emotionally. Your encouragement and generosity never cease to astound me. Often I’ll find myself in a moment of self doubt and at just the right moment receive an email from a reader telling me that HE is the favorite comic or a notification from Payapl saying someone just donated $100. $100!?
I’ll add a counter to the sidebar so you can see how close we are to the goal. The next 30 days will decide the future of HE, so let’s make it count.
Thanks,
Joel Watson
“Godspeed, You Fancy Bastards”
]]>To further that end I have (finally) launched my donation incentives site “The HijiNKS Ensue Vault of Secret Awesome.“
Every donation will get you access to:
- Desktop Wallpapers
(New Desktops Each Month!) - Behind the Scenes Art
and Blog Entries - Works in Progress
- Original Sketches/ Concept Art
- Exclusive Audio & Video
- Contests and Giveaways
If you have already donated you’ll be getting an email with a password to access The Vault. Also, considering the month’s almost over I’ll be using the same password from now through July.
I’ve posted a few cool behind the scenes things on the vault, as well as desktops, and will be adding to it all through out the month. If you have ideas for Vault content feel free to drop me a line.
You can learn more about how Donations fit into the HijiNKS Ensue Experiment here on the new Donations Page.
If you enjoy any part of HijiNKS Ensue (the comic, the blog, the forum, the podcast or the videos) and you want to show your support, please consider donating through Paypal.
I’ll be showing off more rough art, unpublished ideas, and complete orignal comic sketches (before the comics go live) on the Super Secret Blog that only HijiNKS Ensue Donators will have access too. I’m working on this now and hope to have it all squared away this week. Anyone that has EVER donated to HE in the past will have access to this content as if they donated the month it goes live.
It’s going to work like this: if you make a donation, you’ll get a password emailed to you that will give you access to the Super Secret Blog (need to pick a name for this). You’ll be able to view all the content from the beginning up through the month that you donated. The password will change each month. If you donate the last few days of the month, you WILL get next month’s password.
I’ll be posting:
- Unfinished/Rough Art for comics, books and shirts, etc
- Monthly Desktop Backgrounds
- Videos and Audio that won’t be seen on HijiNKSEnsue.com
- Behind the scenes blog posts and such
- Various contests, drawings and other fun stuff
Remember, Donations are just that… donations. If you want to buy something valued equal to that of your monetary expenditure, please visit the store. If you want to help support me for making the comic, the podcast, the video blog, the forum, etc, etc, etc. then please consider donating. The Super Secret Blog and extra content will serve only as incentives or “thank you’s” for your generous contributions, and are not intended to be any sort of subscription based premium content.
Regardless, I’ll be playing this by ear and listening to your suggestions and feedback. Hopefully this will turn into a fun part of the HE experience, and help allow me to continue making the comic/podcast/etc. by supporting myself with these endeavors.
Oh, I met an HE reader (that I didnt already know) for the first time. We were at a karaoke party hosted by FarrisG. He was a damn fine singer and had shoes with toes… like barefoot shoes.
]]>Also, check out 3 new pages on the site with info about the Experiment:
]]>The Experiment Overview | The Whole HE Story | The “Digital Age” Artist’s Manifesto
Part of my Video Blog where I record the trials and tribulations of trying to make a living from my webcomic. The end goal is to create a road map for creative people to earn an honest living from their creativity.
]]>Episode #5 “Geeks with Double Lives”
Links:
]]>Thanks for all the input on the GYFB shirt, guys. I’m going to have to put it on the backburner for today and do Friday’s comic. Maybe after I’m not staring at it for a while, the perfect idea will come to me.
]]>Here’s the first video blog. It’s got some basic info on “The Grand Experiment” and some insite into things to come.
Check it out!
I’ll be adding a link to the sidebar but you can subscribe to the HijiNKS Ensue Video Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/hijinksensue
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@dragongears · 85 weeks ago
1 reply · active 85 weeks ago
hijinksensue· 85 weeks ago