My Wish List Goals As I Finish a Fourth Decade of Life This May

Normally I'm not a real big birthday guy. It's nice when people remember, and I love presents as much as anyone else, but ever since I turned 30 they've been sneaking up on me more and more to the point where I sort of forget until I wake up and have three dozen messages on Facebook sending me well wishes.

Which is definitely a nice change of pace from the sort of messages I usually wake up to.

However, this year is something of a milestone for me. I'm turning 40, but I've also been a professional TTRPG writer for a little over a decade now. I've weathered a lot of storms and disappointments, and I've managed several feats that I'm relatively proud of. So I thought I'd set myself some goals for this month, and ask my regular readers to help me achieve them before May's flowers give way to June's insufferable heat index.

All righty... let's light those damn candles already!

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Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Goal #1: Break That 50-Review Goal For My First Novel!

I'm a big believer in achievable goals, and I do my best to be realistic with the things I set. So I wanted to put the layup achievement first... getting my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife up over the 50 reviews it needs to finally get noticed by the Amazon algorithm! For those who don't know, 50 is the point when Amazon starts sharing your book around, and letting it be seen by other people because it's proven popular enough to garner a sizable amount of reviews.

The book has been out for a few years, and it's just been teetering on 49... so all it needs is at least one person reading this to push it over. With that said, when it comes to book sales and reviews, more is definitely better!

So grab yourself a copy today!

This novel, my first one on the market, follows the adventure of Dirk Crier as he's sent on a task to go retrieve a wayward cousin... an errand that becomes far more complicated when Dirk finds out his kin has gotten himself mixed up with some dangerous folk far in the hinterlands. This far from the mountain, this northern cult doesn't recognize him... but they'll learn well why the hill folk say that only a dead man crosses a Crier.

If you're one of my regular readers who's already got your copy of this novel, and you've left a review, then thank you very much for the assist! But if you like my books, consider grabbing my Hard Boiled Cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats, which are all about the cases of a Maine coon alley cat named Leo trying to navigate the cutthroat world of the street beasts of New York City. Or if you've enjoyed my stories of space marines, consider checking out the dystopian sci fi thriller Old Soldiers, where we follow Pollux and the other myrmidon as these genetically-engineered shock troopers try to unmask a conspiracy before it puts a bullet in each of their backs!

Goal #2: Get "Army Men" Up To Copper Metal Status on DTRPG

Regular readers know that my first full tabletop RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic went live on Drive Thru RPG a few months ago. The game was successfully Kickstarted, and it's been met with some pretty positive reviews by folks who've actually played it. It was also Deal of The Day last month, which helped get a few more eyeballs on it.

At time of writing, though, it's still about 20 sales shy of hitting Copper status on DTRPG. While I would love for it to hit Silver, Electrum, or even Gold status, I feel like Copper is something that could be achieved by the end of the month with a little luck, and some help from all of you!

Army Men is a game where you and your companions take on the roles of a squad of troopers in the Plastos Federation, defending your people and your homeland against the invasion of the insectile creatures known as Vespoids. However, while that is a simple setup, there are politics and bad blood that exist in the corners of the Federation, and this game is being expanded into all kinds of different modes of play and genres... and the more people who show interest and grab some copies, the more time and energy I'll be able to dedicate to getting stuff into your hands as players and Game Masters!

If you've already grabbed your copy and left a review (reviews matter on DTRPG the same way they do on Amazon), then consider picking up a copy of the game's first supplement Army Men: Threat Assessments to ensure that you have enough enemy threats to throw at your players during their next mission!

And if you've already done all of that, consider sharing a link to the book so all your fellow gaming friends can see it! I've been doing everything I can think of to get the word out, and a little help can go a long way.

Goal #3: Get The Azukail Games YouTube Channel Monetized!

While my previous two goals are leaning hard into sales and moving copies of books, this one is completely free to anyone who wants to help! If you have access to YouTube, and you enjoy my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, the World/Chronicles of Darkness, an insider's view into the business of RPGs, building your own map terrain, and audio dramas from a slew of different settings and genres, then you should definitely be subscribed to the Azukail Games YouTube channel!

I've been making video content for this channel for several years now, and at time of writing we have 1,028 subscribers (which is more than enough to get monetized), but we're lacking the second goal required to make YouTube give us that stamp of approval; watched hours. We still need, as of the moment I put these words on the page, about 800 hours of watched content before we can get monetized, and actually get a cut of the profits our videos are generating.

So, put bluntly, if folks reading this wanted to give me a great birthday present, subscribe to the channel, and spend the rest of this month watching 1 video a day.

I know it sounds like a big ask, but let me break some numbers down for folks:

- Our average video on the channel is between 6 and 15 minutes, give or take. We'll say 10 for an easy number.

- There are 60 minutes in an hour.

- Even small word counts for readers on this blog tend to get at least 300 views.

So let's say 300 people out there each watched a single 10-minute video on the channel. That's 50 hours of content. If those 300 people did that every day for a week, that would be 350 hours. Two weeks? 700 hours. In three weeks time, the channel would be monetized, which would allow me to start in on making bigger, more involved video projects for all the folks who've been wondering why we tend to stay small and simple when it comes to our shows and series.

Of course, if you want to help add a little gas to this race, consider putting on a playlist, and watching through any of the various shows and series we have for you. Share videos you like with your friends, and toss them onto your social media pages... we're in a, "So close, yet so far," style situation, and I would deeply appreciate a boost to help me meet this goal I've been working toward for years before I turn 40 this month.

Goal #4: Expand My Patreon Following

I'll be the first to admit, I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to Patreon. I know that the best way to expand your Patreon following is to put certain kinds of content behind a paywall, so that when someone becomes a supporter they gain VIP access to something that non-supporters don't get. Whether it be bonus episodes of a show, or early access to content, or the ability to help steer the direction a creator goes with their work, all of these things are good motivators in building that fan base.

And I don't do that. The one real perk I can offer is that, when I get free copies of a new supplement, I offer it to my Patreon patrons as an exclusive, but that is a relatively small perk.

The reason I do that, though, is that I know a lot of the people who enjoy my content do so because I don't put it behind a velvet rope and a cover charge. A lot of my fans are on fixed incomes, or like me they're struggling just to pay the bills in this capitalist hellscape, and even $5 a month is too much for them to justify when they sit down and really weigh their budgets. Unfortunately, though, AdBlock has basically made putting ads on a blog pointless (I removed mine over a year ago because it just wasn't worth the effort), and though I try to utilize sites that pay creators based on traffic (like my 300+ article archive over at Vocal.Media), it requires over 90,000 reads a month on those articles just to pay my part of the rent.

That's something I've never managed, by the by. If you're curious, I have the full number breakdown in If 90,000 People Read This Article, I Can Pay My Bills This Month.

It's exactly as ridiculous as it sounds.

Patreon is basically the way I fund my blogs, though, and it is a major part of my monthly bills (it's actually what I use to buy food, for those who are curious). So if you want to help keep this blog going, and ensure that I've got enough coffee and tacos to keep churning out fresh articles, please consider becoming a Patreon patron today! And if you're just someone who wants to give me a little tip so I can go get myself something nice as a reward for surviving four decades, you could buy me a Ko-Fi as a tip for a job well done instead!

All Help Is Appreciated!

I know this seems like a lot to get done in one month, and while I'm doing my best to reach these goals, I won't be able to do it without all of you! So whether you're just a regular reader, you lend me a few hours to help boost the YouTube channel, you help me get my books noticed by the algorithm, or you decide this is the year you want to help fund this blog so I can keep it going, I appreciate everything you do for me.

Without readers like you, I wouldn't be able to do any of this!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!