What MORE can I offer?
Added 2015-10-11 20:52:49 +0000 UTCSo, we're once again a bit too dangerously close to the 4K threshold, which is the minimum amount to keep releasing 2 comics a month.
There wasn't any major growth in patrons numbers over the last few months, even though I've been consistently promoting the new and old comics around.
I guess I should focus more attention on YOU, my current patrons than on possible future ones (which should've been obvious to me in the first place).
I already know that a large number of you expressed that posting daily content is not a good idea, so I'm trying to come up with some new possibilities.
One idea was to open some sorta PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER pledge category for, let's say $15, which would get some extra materials beside the actual comics, like the original script, sketches, lineworks, unlettered pages and whatnot I have lying around. Maybe even more behind-the-scenes upcoming stuff...
Another option would be to open a few limited spots for a new $70-$100 pledge category called, let's say, PANEL DEMIGOD which, as the name hints, would give said patron almost absolute control over 1 panel of an upcoming comic. It would be almost a pin-up commission, although it would need to obey some criteria to fit within that narrative.
Also, I just lowered the CO-WRITER category back to $300, so if you've been saving money for that sole occasion, you don't have to wait anymore. You can make your Spidey smut comic idea become a reality.
Anyway...
I'm very open to suggestions on how to keep that patronage number above the line, as long as they don't generate more costs and/or take way too much time out of my hands.
Considering you could increase you patronage for a bit more side-content, what would make you want to do that?
(PS: That picture above is from one of the new comics for this month. Full reveal in Oct 15th.)
Comments
Yes, the cost of more pages would offset the increase in income, or even worse. 10 pages would means 25% more costs on the artists, 25% more work on my already filled up time and a rise in prices for everyone would probably mean a decrease in patrons numbers. The idea is to find a way to increase income without increasing costs, while at the same time bringing some sort of additional content/bonus/inside voice to those who could be in conditions to support with additional amounts.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-17 01:39:59 +0000 UTCI'm not sure about the viability of this but is an increase in pages a possibilty? Currently the cost of Two comics with 8 pages of story is $10. Would a story page increase to say 10-12 pages with a price increase to $7.50 (Two comics a month comes to $15) be possible? Or would the cost of more pages offset the increase in income?
Kennith
2015-10-17 01:28:32 +0000 UTCSure, but I must be careful with that too, because writing a long prose story can sometimes be much more difficult than writing 8 pages of comics. An image can, after all, be worth a thousand words.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-15 19:23:02 +0000 UTCYou couldn't be more right.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-15 19:21:32 +0000 UTCI'm sure I can show at least a few more times, by throwing in some wildcards in the mix. =) And those wildcards will appear without Felicia too, including Ms. Marvel, a few X-Women, Jessica Jones and some unexpected unfrequent villains and colleagues. All coming soon.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-15 19:21:17 +0000 UTCI agree as well, While the art is grate and all, sometimes I can get way more out from some text, and with text only stories it's easier to make "longer" content or more elaborate things then what is possible on a 8-10 page spread. My favorite being the Spidercest as it just do that, expand a good story, which is even more easy with text based material.
Sehad
2015-10-15 18:34:36 +0000 UTCI second that idea, but would also like to point out that writing smut isn't quite the same as writing a smut comic. The story line planning should be very similar and Tracy has more than proven to me that she can do that part well. But the lack of visuals makes the actual writing and dialogue structure different.
Dinadan256
2015-10-15 00:02:16 +0000 UTCWell instead of doing cross over, how about more variety with the current Marvel Verse women? How about Spidey + Scarlet Witch , Widow? I know people would love to see Marvel but there always been hint with the Invisible Woman during his Future Foundation days. Maybe something with his now legal protege Hope summers. The list is endless. For me, it seem that his current partner are being recycle and it feels that we are not getting as much new content. After all, how many time can you see Black Cat fucked until it's played it? XD
Stellavan
2015-10-14 21:40:19 +0000 UTCI'll consider that with great care. And I'll repeat here the answer I wrote down below: About expanding to other universes, I'm not ready yet for such a bold move but how about doing some crossovers? Spidey already met many characters from distinct publishers in the past. I've actually been thinking of having a parody on that Gen13 encounter for some while. Could be a nice one...
Tracy Scops
2015-10-14 19:23:37 +0000 UTCNot a bad idea. Let me think about that for awhile.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-14 19:21:22 +0000 UTCI couldn't possibly produce more than 2 comics a month. There's just not enough time. About expanding to other universes, I'm not ready yet for such a bold move but how about doing some crossovers? Spidey already met many characters from distinct publishers in the past. I've actually been thinking of having a parody on that Gen13 encounter for some while. Could be a nice one...
Tracy Scops
2015-10-14 19:20:41 +0000 UTCI hope to come out with better options than making you guys spending more $ for the same quantity of content I'm offering right now. But if any of you want to send a few bucks more every month, feel free to do so, by editing the value manually on the pledge page. =)
Tracy Scops
2015-10-14 19:14:38 +0000 UTCThere is many stuff in the Spiderverse to explore, it's true. But I think people get tired after so much time of Spiderman parodies. Yeah, the comics have great situations and artists (the more important factor!), and in overall are better than never before; but this isn't new or refreshing. I mean, I loved sooo much the first four Spiderverse acts because rarely I could find good material Spidey related. Now, there is too much! The thing is, I think you need to find new fanbses to work with. Not abandoning the Spiderverse, but expanding your world as an artist. Otherwise, with the time, people may get a little bored, and they need something refreshing.
Daniel García Astarloa
2015-10-14 16:54:58 +0000 UTCwhat story is that?
Stellavan
2015-10-14 04:28:09 +0000 UTCI've been thinking about this a long time, and am not sure I have any good answers. But the one I came up with is this: you have a talent for writing stories, and writing doesn't increase your personal overhead at all (just your time). Maybe additional smut that is purely text based might be a thing to offer?
GregD
2015-10-14 00:56:35 +0000 UTCWell, I would suggest opening up a new fanbase. It seem that you focus on a very specific group, spidey is popular as is marvel stuff. However... you can up the sub and add another comic for 15 dollars. This one however being DC. I am sure people would love to see some DC girls options and if the spidey fanbase no longer give out enough money try to tap into the DC one. Making it two dc and one spidey and see how that works? Perhaps a comic featuring someone like power girl, supergirl and the other hot girls of the DCU. There's even that new black superman val zod so that might gather more fan. Then there also branching out to other hot girls of the Marvel U for our spider fans. Not gonna lie initially I was stoke to get your comics but then it just spidey gallery for the most part so for some reason the excitement have died down. That would be the "more" I would be looking for as a pledger and I would pay more to see how you would do a DC product.
Stellavan
2015-10-13 22:39:06 +0000 UTCWhat about raising prices slightly? $6 for one comic per month, $11 for both? Right now it says you're getting $4306 from 420 patrons, which means your average pledge is over $10 anyways, but if you ever get to the point where all 420 patrons are at the 2 comic level, the extra dollar is the difference between $4200 and $4620. Personally speaking, I won't notice an extra $1 per month.
Kyle R
2015-10-13 02:50:34 +0000 UTCThat's not an easy question to answer truth be told. One thing you have to keep in mind is that you are selling a porn parody of comics. And a main factor there is sexual attraction. The problem with most people is that in regards to stuff like that they can get bored over time. So you kind of have to keep things a little different to keep their interest. Ironically some people can hook you in with stuff that doesn't always have to be about just that. I'm currently reading a comic now that's a porn parody. but there's both a storyline in it as well as sex. And I know some people who have been reading the comic for a little over 5 years now. So the balance it has tends to keep people coming back to it for more. Truth be told, one of the reason I started buying your comics was because of the spideriest thing.
Akira Inugumi
2015-10-13 01:42:11 +0000 UTCNot a bad idea at all. Just added it to on my list to include in the next voting contest. =)
Tracy Scops
2015-10-12 14:50:15 +0000 UTCOh but I can't offer single comics for a discounted price. What I can do (and just did) is to change the smaller bundles prices to include a bit more comics than the multiplied amount.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-12 14:38:23 +0000 UTCExtras? How about including a page of a different comic in the one they order. Add a code to the page. Then say, "Want to see more? Here's the deal. If you order the comic with the code, you get it at the discounted price of..."
Ars Gratia Artis
2015-10-12 05:10:40 +0000 UTCYou should definitely do a comic based on the Spider-Man loves Mary Jane series. That was a weird version.
Ars Gratia Artis
2015-10-12 04:59:54 +0000 UTCThe usual fall on the beginning of the month is indeed due to newcomers getting the full bundle on their first month and adjusting their pledges to become subscribers for the next months on (which, by the way, I actually recommend). My efforts were always to promote a steady flow of newcomers, to balance that. But since they have been becoming more sparse over the last months, I'm thinking of new goodies that the old-timers might be interested in, to counter-balance this and keep the income rate above the limit for 2 comics a month.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-11 21:47:59 +0000 UTCYou'd be happy to know I already got sketches for a new a comic where Jean Grey and her telepathic powers play a major role.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-11 21:32:39 +0000 UTCExacty. I have no problem with doing things on the fringe of the spidey-verse, like I already did (2099, Miles, Spider-Gwen) and willkeep doing with Jessica Jones, Anya and many more. My only rule is that it need to be really connected to him somehow, mostly because that's what I really want. =) And Amazing Friends is indeed on the list of future worlds to explore, just as Marvel Adventures, MCU, the animated shows and many others more. There still is a looooot of Spidey content to explore.
Tracy Scops
2015-10-11 21:30:05 +0000 UTCParody on this one day.
316walker
2015-10-11 21:27:59 +0000 UTC<a href="http://pre15.deviantart.net/9e51/th/pre/i/2012/235/b/8/spiderman_and_jean_grey_by_flashtheshapeshafter-d5c4cov.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://pre15.deviantart.net/9e51/th/pre/i/2012/235/b/8/spiderman_and_jean_grey_by_flashtheshapeshafter-d5c4cov.png</a>
316walker
2015-10-11 21:26:48 +0000 UTCLine art versions and stuff like that sounds like a good idea. I'd potentially be with Jim on possibly branching out a bit. I'd suggest checking out a few things and seeing if anything catches your eye even if it's something like what you're doing for ALIAS/Jessica Jones where it's still related to spider-man but getting a bit further out there. However, I'd expect you not be able to implement these types of things any time soon but it is a suggestion. Even goofy stuff like a Porn Pardoy of "Spider-man and his amazing friends"
That black guy
2015-10-11 21:17:07 +0000 UTCJim said something that is true but there are a lot of Spidey fans out there so that should matter. I like both the 15 & 70 dollar ideas. Some people that have all comics just decide if they want to by one or both each month that is sometimes the effect of the rise and fall of money.
CashMoney_30
2015-10-11 21:07:48 +0000 UTCThanks for the idea, Jim. The reason why I stick to Spidey-related content is explained here: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/1555462">https://www.patreon.com/posts/1555462</a> I haven't read much of other stuff for a while, to feel confident to write anything similar to what I do for Spidey. So, even if there was a large demand for that, I wouldn't be interested in supplying. Keep in mind that I'm not doing this for the money (which I don't keep), but because I'm that passionate about this particular niche. =)
Tracy Scops
2015-10-11 21:06:05 +0000 UTCI think you might want to consider doing surveys to see if there is enough of a demand for non-spiderman comics. I don't mind, but there is a huge universe of superheros to choose from, and i feel like you may potentially lose people when they find out everything is spider-based.
Jim
2015-10-11 20:59:19 +0000 UTC
