When you branch out to new cons, sometimes you find great crowds, a good reaction, and lots of sales. And other times... well, other times you find yourself at Raptor Con.
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| A penny for a tale would go quite a long way this month... |
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How I Spent My Weekend...
For folks who noticed the hiccup in both my social media posting, as well as my missed updates on my blogs, I was at Raptor Con down in Evansville, Indiana this past weekend, holding down a table in the dealer's hall with Alice Liddell. And let me tell you, it was a trial. Preparations started Thursday afternoon, and I didn't stop sweating and straining until Friday night, which is how long it took to load up all our combined merch, drive 5.5 hours across Indiana, load that merch into the dealer's hall, and set it up so it looked nice and presentable.
And from the outside, this con looked like it had a lot going for it. The dealer's hall was quite large, the venue was located in a good spot, there were some fairly big names on the celebrity guest list, and there were even additional programming options attendees could participate in. Not only that, but our fellow dealers came in all shapes and sizes, selling everything from handmade plushies, to wooden dice towers, to laser-engraved and 3D printed everyday carry items and geek paraphanalia.
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| The numbers were looking good, is what I'm saying. |
I can tell you quite honestly that the con did pull a lot of attendees. A few hundred people went past our booth in the two days we were there, and it very well might have been well over a thousand by the time all was said and done. The con also ran a live stream of the hall to get folks interested, and the event was covered by several local news stations. Despite all of that, though, I didn't sell a single thing. Most folks who showed up to the event barely scraped by with a few sales, and everyone I talked to during load out was grumbling about how they didn't make back anywhere near the cost of this event.
Now, I hadn't come to this event expecting to sell out of all my novels and RPG books... but of all the events I've gone to over the years, this is the first time I had a table, and I sold nothing. Hell, I can count the number of people who even picked up a book and looked at it on one hand, and that was also something I'd never seen happen before at all the shows I've been to.
Which is why I wanted to take a moment to ask folks reading this if they could help me out a little before this month is over.
What I Do (And Don't) Mean By "Help Me Out A Little"
Some folks who read those words are thinking that I'm just shaking my cup and asking for donations. That is not what I'm doing here, though if you did want to buy me a Ko-Fi or become a Patreon patron I certainly wouldn't say no to that.
However, I'm also aware that times are tough, and belts are being tightened all around. So rather than just asking for direct assistance, I wanted to instead ask my readers this week to please help support some of my ongoing projects. As always, if you have the spare dosh, consider buying some of the books and supplements I'm going to mention. If not, though, consider sharing a link to them, reading some of the articles I mention below, or watching some of the videos, because that also helps more than I can adequately explain.
Okay? Okay.
#1: Check Out "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic"
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| We're so close to Copper sales status I can smell it! |
Earlier this year I released my first RPG every, Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic where you and your follow players take on the roles of soldiers fighting for the Plastos Federation against the incursions of monstrous insectoid creatures called vespoids. Since the initial game dropped there have also bee 4 separate supplements released for it (listed below). The game uses a modifed version of the DND 5E rules set, but with a lot more tactical rules added back in so that players need strategy as much as they do the luck of the die to help them clinch victory in their missions!
This is a project I've been trying to build momentum on for a while, and it's been an uphill battle. So if you haven't checked it out yet, please give it (and the other supplements I've released so far) a look! And if you are one of the folks who bought a copy or backed the Kickstarter, then please leave me a review and a rating on Drive Thru RPG, as well as boosting the signal about it so others can find the game!
- Army Men: Threat Assessments (Extra Monsters and Threats)
- Army Men: Medal of Honor (Introduction of The Medals System For Rewarding Players)
- Army Men: Ungentlemanly Warfare (Booby Traps)
#2: "Windy City Shadows" and The Azukail Games YouTube Channel
I've been talking about this for a while on this blog, but the Azukail Games Youtube channel has been steadily getting closer and closer to reaching the goals for monetization. At the moment we have shows about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age fantasy setting, Discussions of Darkness where I talk about the World and Chronicles of Darkness system, audio dramas taken from my various supplements, and Tabletop Mercenary where I talk about the business of TTRPGs behind the curtain.
However, we need about 200 or so more hours of watched content (that is, amount of time that the audience watches our videos) to get us over the hump to get us monetized... which would be a huge accomplishment under my belt, and it won't cose you all a dime (just a little bit of time and energy).
Additionally, once we cross that threshold, I am hoping to use that momentum to put together a Chronicles of Darkness audio drama podcast titled Windy City Shadows. I recently talked about this project on the channel, as well as on this blog, so if you'd like to listen to a show that can best be described as Dark Fae John Wick, take a moment of your time to check it out, subscribe to the channel, and help us reach our goals so I can push this up my priority list!
The initial elevator pitch can be found at "Windy City Shadows" A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, and the recent Ask Me Anything I did about it is below!
#3: Check Out My "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" Setting
I've been releasing splat books for my own fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age for several years now, and while something occasionally breaks the surface, it's been harder and harder to get any sort of eyeballs or interest regarding it. While I'm currently in the midst of doing another concerted push to build off of the already-released cities books (which are designed to be useful for any Game Master, whether they want to run my setting, or import the cities into their own setting), I really need any and all attention folks could give this project. Whether you watch the Speaking of Sundara playlist, where I talk about the various parts of the world and my process for making them, or you buy, review, or share the links to the supplements below, I would appreciate any signal boost you could offer!
Cities of Sundara
The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!
- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!
- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.
- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.
- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.
- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.
Gods of Sundara
- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.
Species of Sundara
Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.
And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.
- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!
- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.
- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.
- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!
- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.
- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.
Organizations of Sundara
Phase 3 has been going strong, but there's still a few titles left in it! So if you haven't seen them, consider checking out:
- Sellswords of Sundara: With power structures being smaller in scale in Sundara, standing armies aren't often maintained for long. As such, soldiers of fortune are quite common! This supplement contains 10 mercenary companies, their history, uniform, sample members, whispers and rumors, as well as either an archetype or subclass for playing these unique warriors. Grab your copy for Pathfinder of DND 5E.
- Cults of Sundara: Faith comes in many forms in Sundara, and there are as many gods in the Prim as there are dreams in the minds of people. This supplement contains write-ups for 10 cults, their histories, sample members, rumors about them, their beliefs and tenets, and a unique magic item for each. Get your copy for Pathfinder or DND 5E.
- Guilds of Sundara: While cities and villages may be relatively local, guilds are spread across the length and width of Sundara. From professional orders of skilled miners and dredgers, to monster slayers and bounty hunters, this supplement has 10 guilds with histories, sample members, rumors, as well as unique feats one can take to represent the skill and benefits of joining this order. Available for Pathfinder as well as DND 5E.
- Merchants of Sundara: Whether a small shop of highly specialized craftsmen, or an organization whose brand is recognized across the world, merchants can add a great deal of story to your setting. The most recent release at time of writing, check out Merchants of Sundara for yourself!
My Thanks In Advance!
Being a professional creator is a crap shoot, and you never know what is going to explode, and what's just going to be a dud. You have to keep rolling, though, because giving up isn't an option in this line of work. So if you're one of the folks who supports me, whatever form that takes, thank you. It means a lot to know that the things I manage to pry out of my mind and set down on the page are things that at least some folks out there really enjoy, and want to see more of!
Just like PBS, without viewers like you, none of what I do (or really what any professional creative does) would be possible.
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!
Sorry, the con was a bust. But, as you know part of the slog is attending as many cons as you can to try and get your name out there and on the lips of people.
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