Allright, I stepped over the line in plugging my latest thingy, and that's Conrad's ruling. It's his board, his rules. I am in no way going to fight on that. He's got to have some measure of discipline if he's going to keep the place from falling completely apart, and I know that. I bear no ill will at all with any moderator or with Mr. Webmaster himself. It's a fine, fine board. If it were otherwise, I wouldn't have as many posts as I do.
Ahh, but there's always a "but" in these sorts of posts, isn't there?
But...
There it was. And again, let me emphasize, underline, and insist this is in no way a criticism of Conrad, this board, or those associated with it. Not even HFC. OK? Nothing snarky, at all. All right. I'll go on.
But... much as I enjoy it here, I have to ask if I'm doing the right thing. I admit my site used to have a more prurient angle to it, and I've felt like distancing myself from that. That means I really can't compete with the paysites that have more of the prurient angle to them. It's a fact of the biz, and I accept that. I don't really want to do that sort of thing and I kinda fell into it part of my own exploration, part to drive up ad revenues when I ran ads, and part to keep and boost subscriptions when I went pay. Moving away from that means cutting off that source of income, and I accept that. It also means I'm trying to find an new audience.
I would like it if I could ultimately get myself and my family supported by my artistic efforts. My problem is that in getting to there from here, I need to really examine what I'm doing and where it may take me. I have to ask what's my purpose in doing what I do.
Yeah, it was one of those buts, and I'm getting choked up thinking about what the end result of my little think might be.
I have to keep my day job. No question of that. I also have to eat, sleep, and spend time with my family and taking care of mundane chores. No getting around that, either.
OK, that leaves the time I'm already spending on hobbies I hope to leverage into something more: writing and illustration.
If the illustration isn't really something I can promote to the point where that takes over and I can do that full-time, then I have to look more seriously at taking a chance on my writing, to finish this one novel I've got in front of me and get it off to a major publisher. I know they'll screw me over in the process, but at least I'll have some money to show for it if it all works out, and I won't have to go the prurient route when I sell out that way.
And if I go that route, I really need to consider packing up a domain I currently run and move it all back to where it started. I'd also have to consider how much time I spend writing things that ain't for publication.
I'm not saying goodbye, but I am looking at a longer period of time where I'm not as active on the board as I've been of late.
I'm going down to the crossroads, but I don't know whether to bring OpenOffice or Paint Shop Pro when I sign in blood... any advice?
Ahh, but there's always a "but" in these sorts of posts, isn't there?
But...
There it was. And again, let me emphasize, underline, and insist this is in no way a criticism of Conrad, this board, or those associated with it. Not even HFC. OK? Nothing snarky, at all. All right. I'll go on.
But... much as I enjoy it here, I have to ask if I'm doing the right thing. I admit my site used to have a more prurient angle to it, and I've felt like distancing myself from that. That means I really can't compete with the paysites that have more of the prurient angle to them. It's a fact of the biz, and I accept that. I don't really want to do that sort of thing and I kinda fell into it part of my own exploration, part to drive up ad revenues when I ran ads, and part to keep and boost subscriptions when I went pay. Moving away from that means cutting off that source of income, and I accept that. It also means I'm trying to find an new audience.
I would like it if I could ultimately get myself and my family supported by my artistic efforts. My problem is that in getting to there from here, I need to really examine what I'm doing and where it may take me. I have to ask what's my purpose in doing what I do.
Yeah, it was one of those buts, and I'm getting choked up thinking about what the end result of my little think might be.
I have to keep my day job. No question of that. I also have to eat, sleep, and spend time with my family and taking care of mundane chores. No getting around that, either.
OK, that leaves the time I'm already spending on hobbies I hope to leverage into something more: writing and illustration.
If the illustration isn't really something I can promote to the point where that takes over and I can do that full-time, then I have to look more seriously at taking a chance on my writing, to finish this one novel I've got in front of me and get it off to a major publisher. I know they'll screw me over in the process, but at least I'll have some money to show for it if it all works out, and I won't have to go the prurient route when I sell out that way.
And if I go that route, I really need to consider packing up a domain I currently run and move it all back to where it started. I'd also have to consider how much time I spend writing things that ain't for publication.
I'm not saying goodbye, but I am looking at a longer period of time where I'm not as active on the board as I've been of late.
I'm going down to the crossroads, but I don't know whether to bring OpenOffice or Paint Shop Pro when I sign in blood... any advice?
