foxsaliant

Weekly Update (2019/12/16)

Added 2019-12-16 20:36:32 +0000 UTC

2019/12/16

Hey peeps!

Sorry for the silence last week. I was kind of in a very bad emotional state last week and had to sort of retreat and work on my projects for a bit while I dealt with my anxiety.

I basically got really upset about my progress (or lack thereof) with Various Happenings, and while I know that I've had to get a more solid base for the project for a long time, actually going in and digging in its guts was really hard for me. I've been having to rearrange and rework a lot of stuff from scratch and honestly I was really scared that I've fundamentally wasted nearly five years of my life on what I felt like was something that wouldn't go anywhere or that no one would like.

Obviously this isn't true. The reworking needs to be done; I need to solidify things a bit more. I need to have a plan and know where I'm going with things, rather than just feeling my way through nebulous thoughts and set pieces. Doing this will make my work a better whole for the people that I know like the characters and the world, and that I know will appreciate my work.

I was just anxious and depressed, and I felt like everything was hopeless.

But that's not the case, and it never has been.

I'm not sure what brought it on, and I didn't really feel like myself the whole time. It was all really up and down and I was have a hard time holding myself together, but I've worked through it now, for the moment, and I'm ready to get back to things properly.

The story behind VH is getting better all the time, and I'm hoping that, come March, I will have something really cool for you longtime fans to dig into and a new approach to the whole thing. But even if I don't and it takes a bit longer, or I have to add more to it as I go, it'll still be good, and I know I can make something worth reading.

As for business, well, everything's being chipped down steadily, which is good.

I might have to return to commissions in January, due to some financial pressures (such as my taxes, old debts, dental co-pays, and other things that are going to be required and need to be covered. So I'm going to be thinking about the price changes for the year thoroughly and finally making the proper updates to the site so that people have an easy place to go to and see what everything is.

One of the things, I'm probably going to be changing up is moving, things to a tier format, with obvious examples of what each one will look like so it's easier to see what you'll get with your money.

This will hopefully clear up some of the confusion that the form has had and I won't have to tell everyone who uses it what each thing means! Hehehe!

Unfortunately, this year will also likely see an increase in overall commission prices of about 15% to 25%. Unfortunately, this is necessary due to the amount of time I spend on each piece compared to their value and my overall financial needs in general. Sadly, being poor is not cheap, as I'm sure many of you can relate.

HOWEVER, to counter this, I will be instituting lower tier stuff for people who want quicker, looser pictures, as well as heralding the triumphant return of Sketch on the Spot, which will return in its weekly format (most likely on Fridays again).

This, along with limited monthly slots, will hopefully prevent me from getting overwhelmed and allow me to still make money while slowly transitioning to a merchandise and crowdfunded based system tied to my projects, rather than commission work being the backbone of my income.

It's all experimentation, and trying to both do right by my clients as well as doing right by myself. I hope everyone understands, and if I set things up right, we can all get what we want and need.

Over to Patreon, we're hovering around the $250 mark (after taxes and such) which means if we're over that line when things pass, I'll be doing a vote on a fanart pin-up for you peeps! Hopefully next month I'll be able to dig into my Patreon backlog, and get all of those benefits that I owe taken care of as well.

One step at a time, but I'm confident that we're getting there.

Once again, if you need to talk to me about business, scheduling streams, refunds, or payment options, feel free to contact me via e-mail at sali[at]foxsaliant.com, note me at any of the sites this appears on as a journal, or you can join our community discord to chit chat with other friends and fans of mine.

Anyway, onto the lists! Here’s the short list.

Current:
Patreon Reward (Norithics) - Not Started
Patreon Reward (Kithpine) - In Progress (Preliminary)
#410 (camel) - In Progress (Preliminary)
#411 (Cole) - In Progress (Preliminary)
#415 (CuriousGarchomp) - In Progress (Preliminary)
#443 (MadCoil) - Complete!
#416 (Winter) - Complete!
#445 (Goldenheart) - Not Started
#421 (Kithpine) - Not Started
#422 (Wuffbutt) - Not Started

The FULL list is, of course, on the Schedule Page.

I want to thank all of you who've been following Various Happenings, too, regardless of whether you've just started reading it or if you've been following it since I started, and commend you on your patience.

It's because of all of you that I can continue to have this dream and maybe someday have made something really awesome. As I said above, I'm still working, restructuring, rewriting and ironing out all the wrinkles that I can find.

So even with all of the stops and starts over the last couple of years, hopefully, soon, we'll get to take that ride and see where Cass, Eddie, and all their friends, enemies and frenemies go.

I'll let you know as things keep coming together so check back when you can.

I suppose it's too much to ask for snow down here in south Georgia. But hey, at least it's cool.

Have a good week, everyone, and I'll see you next time!

~Spooky

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A Special Thanks goes out to this month's Super Fox, MechaGhost2003, for their support! Thanks a bunch, Ghost! We really couldn't do this without you, along with the rest of our fantastic fans and supporters.

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