State of the Scribe: August 2019 · 2:23am Aug 8th, 2019
Forgot to repost this, sorry about posting it so late. But better late than never!
So what's coming up this August, that's the question today. First, in case that little yellow patch on the chart wasn't obvious enough, the physical print of LPoE is just about out of time. You've got another two days to buy the book if you still want one. For those who don't know, the print edition of LPoE includes an additional 12,000 words of original fiction linking LPoE to founders, along with several never-before-seen illustrations.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/last-pony-on-earth-hardcover-print/x/20354232#/
The Calendar this month doesn't involve any new stories or current stories closing off, however for those on Fimfiction it will (fingers crossed) be the month that Mapping and Modding finally gets a cover and makes the transition to Fimfiction for general audiences.
Mapping and Modding (working title) is a FiO story tackling the scripting, modding, and "hacking" scene for Equestria Online. It focuses on the identity and transformation aspects of the world in a way I've never done before (though I've certainly written about elsewhere). I'm quite looking forward to this story, and I'm sure you will be too.
I like the way my schedule has the slower stories all on Friday, I think it looks quite clean. For those of you who don't know, I've made the first chapter of these stories available to anyone on Patreon. The later chapters are open to backers only until the stories are complete, at which point they migrate to Fimfiction. My usual speal.
This is my transitional month, the last one before I return for my (final) semester of school. Anyway, my writing hasn't been affected yet, but we might be seeing some changes that would start in... October, I suppose, since I'll have written September's stories already. What change could this mean for the Patreon going forward?
Some stories are paying for "extra" words, beyond the usual 2k-per-chapter setup. These stories may slow down, as my free time is reduced, and I no longer have the time to write these extra words. They will, of course, never drop below the amount guaranteed at their tier. And maybe they won’t drop by much, I just can’t say yet.
Many of you know that I've always had the goal of becoming a professional author. This hobby has been a proving ground, and my skills have improved dramatically (just compare My Little Apprentice to a newer story to see what that looks like), but sooner or later I actually have to be out there doing the professional writing.
I will eventually be reducing my Patreon commitments, so that I have the time for other professional writing. (For instance, I'm lead for an awesome high fantasy roleplaying/board game that just killed it on Kickstarter, and that's going to involve about 300-600k words of new fiction for me to write). To say nothing of some awesome original novels I've finished but not quite edited enough to sell yet.
All this means that in the coming months, there may be some changes to the Patreon to reflect the pony writing time I have left. But whatever form these changes take, I want to have an idea of how fast I'll be writing for that Kickstarted product, and what my course load is.
To anyone who read through that nightmare, thank you. And to those who support me on Patreon, I'd like to reiterate my thanks. It's been over a year since I started writing pony as my only job. Living in this world has been incredible. I hope to stay in town for a little while longer.
Any familiar faces in the FiO story?