Cancellations and Shelvings

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Hey everyone, I'm still on hiatus but I thought it was important to update you guys on my current situation. I know the hiatus was extremely abrupt and sudden and I didn't give a whole lot of info the first time around. I tend to be a very private person, particularly when things are going badly for me because I don't like people to worry about me, but the fact is my private life is currently very relevant to what's going on now, so I'm forced to let people know exactly what's going on. Recently I was cited with a code violation on my property, and despite trying to reason with the county and fight an extremely unfair ticket, I lost, and as a result I am now stuck with an extremely huge fine until I find some way to fix the situation, which with my current health could take a while. I will have to pay the county $300 bucks a month unless I can find a way out of it, which is what me and my mom have been trying to do these past few weeks and why this hiatus is happening.

So what does this have to do with you guys? Quite a lot, actually. The fact of the matter is I need to move out and get out of this county. This incident is the latest in a long line of blatant violations of my civil rights and unfair harassment. But I can't move out until I start having a steady income. Because I am disabled, I can't get a 'regular job', but I need to start making at least $2000 dollars a month. Currently I only make 10% of that (aka, $200). As a result I need to start doing commissions regularly as well as focus on fixing my home situation. I haven't opened up commissions very often in the past because I have spent most of my working time doing my comics. But that has to change.

First off, I am canceling Queen of Games. I know that is sad news for a few of you, but I have been working on this series for seven years. It was intended to be a replacement for Cardcaptor Torika, but the reality is, despite my best efforts, it has never gained even a fraction of the popularity, and I cannot afford to waste time on something that can't make money. And because it is a doujin, I cannot legally get ad revenue from it. And even if I could the traffic just isn't there. I am very sorry about this. If things ease up I might be able to finish the series out as a fan fiction. I'd thought about doing in the past and writing has always been far faster for me than drawing. But I can't make any guarantees just yet.

Also on the potential chopping block is Sorcerer's Apprentice. Despite all my hard work on getting out volumes 1 and 2 in a timely manner, almost none of you have bought any copies. I have only sold 7 copies of volume 2 total. The money I get from ad revenue is almost nonexistent. I work hard and advertise the series, have tried contests, donation drives, advertisement at conventions and promotions, but y'all don't seem to talk about it, and my readership has never increased that much. I don't blame you guys, clearly I have not created something that excites you guys enough to talk about it or tell your friends and family to read it. So if I don't see some serious increases in traffic, and if I don't sell at least 30 copies of Sorcerer's Apprentice v.1 and 2 altogether by the end of March, the series will be shelved. I really, really don't want to do this, but much like a television show that doesn't get ratings or a movie that doesn't see box office profits, there isn't much sense in investing in a property that doesn't even return your budget. This really shouldn't be a huge surprise since I've been hinting about the subject for months now.

Midnight Menagerie will continue as normal, at least for a while, since I only do one page a week and that only eats up about a day's worth of work, and the readership is much, much higher. However, update days will switch from Tuesday to Friday because I have to cut back my internet travel days to one day a week. I don't have internet at home and instead travel to the library to do updates and respond to emails. But if I don't start selling some issues (seriously guys, they are only $3.99 an issue, is that really that expensive?) then I might only continue until the end of this current story line. Otherwise I will not be picking up any projects unless I am getting paid for them. I will also be increasing my current commission prices in order to accommodate my new situation. This is a pretty desperate situation, and thus it calls for desperate measures.

© 2015 - 2024 Nasdreks
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wasmina's avatar
I am so sorry to hear so much has to change for you for your current situation. If I could I totally would try to purchase your comics (I personally think they are worth the money) but am unfortunately unable. I am sad to see Queen of Games go as it honestly was one of my favorite online comics (and I have read quite a few). This probably won't mean much, but honestly I like your adaptation of the yugioh story better then the original (and I absolutely still love the original). I thought your characters had amazing depth and growth and you brought out of the story what I truly loved about the series when it was previously hidden under the ridiculous amount of card games. It has been a pleasure to read that comic again and again (especially when I was down and needed a good uplifting story). Thank you so much for your time and dedication to making your readers happy. I am sorry to see you in such an unfortunate situation, but I do hope things will look up for you in the near distant future. Once again I can not thank you enough for giving us such great stories to fill our heads with adventure and wonder. I wish you luck in your future, whatever it may be. :)