However, despite all those challenges, I am still trying to push forward, and to keep making cool stuff for all of you to consume! And I try to keep the costs as low as I can because I know that a lot of my regular readers are on threadbare budgets as it is, and you all may not be able to afford just one more cost.
With that said, though, I'm currently dealing with a 2-on-1 assasult, and I could really use your help to get to the other side of this fight.
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| We're adjusting... your patience, and help, would be appreciated. |
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
The Two-Front Financial Assault
For folks who are regular viewers of my show Tabletop Mercenary over on the Azukail Games Youtube channel (which you should subscribe to if you haven't yet), you already heard about the most immediate challenge I'm currently facing. The short version is that, thanks to finally getting my portion of the earnings from the Kickstarter for Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, I got kicked up into a new income bracket. So instead of cutting a check for $300-$400, which is my usual, this year I owe roughly $1,700... which is more than half of what I actually earned from the Kickstarted in the first place.
More details can be found in the latest episode, Talking About Taxes For TTRPG Creators, embedded below.
That is, of course, a hell of a punch to the gut. I spent the year getting as many receipts for business expenses and charitable donations as I could, but in the end it just didn't matter. This isn't going to leave me penniless, but it is basically knocking me down the ladder to where I was at the start of last year, wiping out any progress I made, and just at a time when earnings are going into a serious downturn all around.
And that is... well, that's bad enough. But if that was the only problem I was dealing with, I wouldn't dedicate this Monday's update to the situation.
There is, of course, a second issue I'm dealing with. Since late 2024 I've been working on getting the details together for my audio fiction podcast Windy City Shadows. This show will be set in the world of the Chronicles of Darkness, and season 1's scripts are slowly coming together. However, since I already updated my video editing software in late Fall of 2024, I figured that this would be a good time to update my audio equipment as well. What I have is perfectly functional, but I was thinking on moving out of the realm of standard USB microphones, and getting something that would capture a slightly richer sound before I started recording for this podcast. After all, I don't want to be 3 episodes in, and then have the style and quality of the sound I'm producing radically shift.
Again, if this was the only challenge I was dealing with, I'd just handle it behind the scenes. But these two things happening at the same time is... less than ideal, to say the least.
How You Can Help
I'm not going to lie, I could use a hand to clamber up a few rungs. I also know that everyone is struggling right now. So if you're someone who'd like to help me dig my way out of this hole, but you're not sure you have the ability to do so, I've arranged the options in descending order. If you have spare dosh you'd like to throw my way, that's a great help! If you've got no spare money, but you have time and eyeballs, that can also be a major boon!
Let me explain.
If You Just Want To Give
If hearing about this situation makes you just want to throw money in my tip jar, that would be greatly appreciated. If you just want to do a one-time tip, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or if you want to become a regular contributor consider Becoming A Patreon Supporter.
This is the most direct way to help, and the most efficient in terms of funds going directly to me as a creator, which is why I put it first. The others on the list are equally good, though, so feel free to take advantage of them as well!
If You Want To Make A Purchase
If you're the sort of person who wants to support me by buying stuff I've made (and there's a lot of it for sale) there are two major categories you should check out.
The first is my rather large archive of tabletop RPG games and supplements. I've made a TTRPG pinboard for all of them for ease of browsing, but if you prefer to avoid going to Pinterest as a website you can also find everything I have on Drive Thru RPG through this link.
Secondly, for folks who don't know, I also write novels and short stories. You can find a majority of my books on my Amazon author page, and several of my titles are also available at other bookstores if you see something you like, but you're trying to avoid buying from Amazon. Defunct super soldiers, mystery-solving cats, a sword-and-sorcery novel that reads like Conan if he was from Tennessee... all these and more await you!
If You Want To Help Without Spending Money
I get it, funds are in short supply these days. Or maybe you already did one (or both) of the previous options, but you'd like to put a cherry on top of your efforts to support me as a creator. Well, there are several things you can do that won't cost you any money whatsoever, but they still go a long way toward helping me pay my bills, recoup my losses, and get the new equipment I'm looking at for my upcoming projects.
These are listed starting with the most impactful.
- Read Articles From My Vocal Archive: This archive has 326 articles at time of writing, and they're all free for you to read! However, for every 1,000 reads, I earn about $6. So if a couple hundred people all read 1 article a day, that's going to be a noted difference in my income every month. For extra points, share the articles you like on your social media platform of choice to get more eyes on them!
- Watch My YouTube Videos: I contribute a lot of content to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and when last I looked I think I've got nearly 200 videos on there. As with the above option, folks who watch just 1 video a day consistently can make a big difference (and an even bigger one if you upvote, leave comments of at least 7 words, and subscribe to the channel while hitting the bell icon to get updates)! Thanks to platform decay, it's hard as hell to get eyes on these, but whether you want to hear me talk about my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, my Army Men RPG, advice for the World of Darkness, audio dramas, or dozens of other things, adding views to these videos makes a difference.
- Subscribe To Me: Whether it's on social media platforms, the YouTube channel I just mentioned, or becoming a free member on my Patreon page, anything that puts more bodies in my queue helps tell the algorithm to pay more attention to me. Interacting with my posts, leaving comments, sharing stuff, all of that helps as well, but even just clicking to follow me as a bare minimum makes a difference. Social media sites can be found below, for folks who want to take this option!
My Thanks In Advance
In an era where it's getting harder and harder to tell stories for any kind of living, you are the folks who help keep me afloat so I can keep doing this. Because without you, I don't know where I'd be... and that's pretty scary.
So thank you. Thank you to those who've been with me since the beginning, and thank you to folks who are just coming across me. All of you help keep me going, and it's my hope that the things I make enrich your lives just a little bit.
Here's hoping we reach the other side of this challenge together!
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 Blue Sky, 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!
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