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MiltonTeruel

The clean line
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Monetization

4 min read

(I mean, let’s call it what it is, right?)


Before we start, there are two things I want to state up front.


One: I have no intention of putting my finished work behind a paywall. I’d like to offer fans an opportunity to support my efforts and encourage more of them. And possibly –possibly—have some input into future work. But the final product will be available to all. Will this change? Anything is possible, but I doubt it. I’m making a bet on myself, and I think the new paradigm will slowly become one where fans support a creator directly instead of just purchasing product. We’ll see.


Two: This is not a criticism of how anyone else uses subscriber services or options. Do what you want to do, I am not the arbiter of monetization. And I am too old to get into debates about how to do this stuff, and frankly not concerned with how anyone does it aside from myself.


With that out of the way, I wanted to describe what I plan to do, and ask a question or two. My intent is to produce new artwork each week and see how much support I can build up, so that I can determine if it’s worth it to increase that rate. I’m ten or twelve years from retirement (from my day job) and once that particular event happens, I’ll have a lot more time to dedicate to creating art and comics. I’d like to think that, by then, I’m comfortably cranking out artwork frequently and making enough money that I won’t have to become a greeter at Walmart.


Anyway, the idea is that any final artwork will be posted here on DA, just like it always has. But I will share extra artwork with supporters. Pencils, inks, comic book layouts and breakdowns, story ideas, and so on. Paid supporters will get my attention when sharing thoughts and ideas, and when making requests or expressing what they’d like to see. It seems like a good setup. Low subscriber costs, a bit of extra access and goodies, and hopefully no drama. I don’t want to try to compete with the flood of AI and other content options, and I don’t want to complicate my life. If you like my work and want to support me in the hopes of seeing more of it, you will be able to do so.


So, we start simple and small, and we see where we go from there. Oh! Right. The question: does anyone have any thoughts on doing this through Patreon versus DA? I am not asking about the financial stuff, such as which might be more cost-effective. I’ll worry about that. But if anyone thinks one or the other is much easier or less of a hassle, I’d love to hear from you. And if you happen to find one more convenient than the other, that would be great to hear as well. I have a Patreon and would only need to set it up to get going. But I also think it might be simpler to do it via DA, which is where I post my work 99.99% of the time. If you’ve got thoughts or opinions, I’d like to hear them.


Thanks!


PS- I’ll probably come up with some kind of artwork in a few days to bring more attention to this journal. I don’t plan to rush through this. I’d like to make sure I’ve heard from at least a few people before getting started.


PPS- Jesus, I just realized I hadn’t made a journal entry in almost three years. I guess that is probably going to change…

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Everything's fine! Everything's fine. I have no alarming or sad news updates. In fact, life has been pretty good the past several months. I simply haven't been drawing. The art I posted today is the last thing I drew, and that was done in mid-April. It took this long to post it because I kept meaning to color it and didn't have the energy or focus to do it. It's not burnout or a creative block, I think maybe my brain needed the time away.


I will color the piece at some point, maybe soon. I had been thinking that maybe I'd just take the whole year off, but I bet most of you know that you can't just turn the creative muse on or off on your own. It leaves when it wants, and it returns when you least expect it. So I figure I'll be back to drawing and coloring soon.


Anyway, what is up with me lately? Let's see. I moved back to the apartment near my job in October (right around the time I stopped drawing... probably not a coincidence) and my friends have been staying at the house as they shop for their own place. This arrangement looks like it will work out very well. The housing market here has gone bonkers, and it's possible that I'll sell the house for a lot more than I was expecting to sell it for last year. But I have no idea when I'll put it on the market again, or how things will look then. But long term, I think I'll come out ahead by a few extra tens of thousands, and that's a very nice outcome to look forward to.


Work is fine, apartment life is quiet out here in the (not-quite-but-almost) boonies, and I've been settling in. It's taking this long to settle in for obvious reasons. I got my second vaccine shot last week, and am mostly (and happily) mask-free for the first time in what seems like forever. I've been furnishing my apartment, and that has been going a bit slowly. Last week I finally received the first of two living room pieces that I ordered back in February(!!!). I might have the place ready by the end of the year. But my office is done, and I might post photos soon.


And yeah, I kinda stopped drawing in October and almost didn't notice. But lets see if we can't change that...

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A day or three ago, I reached the 1,000 watcher milestone. I'd been keeping track of the watcher count as I approached 1k, but couldn't figure out what to draw in response. To be honest, I still don't know. Maybe it's because I'm already drawing all the stuff I want to. Heck, maybe that's the secret to getting to 1,000 watchers in the first place.


I'm grateful to everyone who adds me to their watch list. Even with the recent upheaval with DA, the number has continued to grow. I look forward to the next milestone. Thank you, everyone.

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All moved in

2 min read

Well, sort of. The move went like clockwork, and I'm back in my old apartment just a few minutes from the job. I had this silly notion that I'd have everything unboxed and in place by the end of the day. That... that's not going to happen. My back and legs will ache so much tomorrow, but I've got a lot of shopping and unpacking left to do. Honestly, I'm so happy that the move went without a hitch that I don't feel bad about how bad I'm going to feel for the next few days.


And I do mean without a hitch. The only issue I had was that the keys they gave me were the wrong ones, so they had to find the right ones and bring them to me. But that didn't slow anything down. Have I mentioned how much I love living in the rural Midwest? In the Bronx, the thought of leaving the front door of an apartment unlocked is madness; you may as well put a neon sign saying "STEAL EVERYTHING" on the door. I'm almost used to how relaxed people are out here.


Anyway, I've got my high-speed internet and my peace and quiet and an extra hour a day (shorter commute, woohoo!) and once I can stop to take a breath I'll decide what I'm going to do next. More info once I make those decisions.


Later!

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Almost there

3 min read

I'm moving again. I probably mentioned it at some point recently, but in case I did not, there you have it. I'm a bit less than three weeks away from the actual move, and lots of stuff is already packed and ready to go. But as I get closer, I tend to go into a 'wait for it to be over' mode and I can't do much of anything creative. Once the move is complete, I'll be back at it. And I've still got lots of work in various stages of completion.


The last fifteen months have been fairly eventful. I moved to an apartment to be closer to my job and to get away from a toxic environment. Being away from problem people was great. Being a seven-minute drive from my job was awesome. I had the opportunity to return to my house because some friends needed help, but the difference this time is these friends were able (and more than willing) to pay all necessary expenses. To be honest, I had to insist on paying for some things myself, because they really did want to pay for everything. Not the worst problem to have! And definitely not a problem I had with the previous 'friends in need.'


Their sense of fairness has allowed me to put a very large dent in my debt. Had I stayed until January or February, I may well have paid it all off by then. Even so, I should be debt free by the end of next year, before I even sell the house (the friends will stay there and keep paying the expenses for at least a year or so). So that will all be a bonus. I've pretty much determined that this is the last time I'll be in any debt, because I'm only around 15 years from retirement and it's time to feather that goddamn nest already.


Anyway, I would've just stayed at the house and lived there after they leave, but the long commute to work (a 40-45 minute drive from the house) is causing growing problems with my lower back, right hip, both knees, and now both feet. The problems go away slowly when I live close to the job (with a seven minute commute) and they return and increase slowly when I am commuting from the house. So the decision is kind of easy.


The best part is that I was able to get the same apartment I had before, which was situated in an ideal spot in the complex. Finding out that it would be available was one reason why I decided to move sooner and not later. In any case, I make the move on October first, and once I'm settled in you should see a veritable flood of content on my page. Until then, I posted some of the unfinished work that is almost ready for prime time.


See you all soon!

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