I'd say to sound the alarm, but that would almost make this sound like I was trying to have fun, and...I'll be honest: I'm not here to have fun, right now.
I'm here to win, to succeed, and to get back out of 'survial mode' so I can thrive again.
Last month, we set a goal of $6500 from all income sources, as a proof of concept that I would be able to reach a point where I could be the solo breadwinner in my house, and grant my wife the opportunity to be a stay at home mother to our daughter.
Instead, we pulled about $3,311 from all sources, which is great, and I truly, truly appreciate all the support, but it's far from enough to accomplish the only thing that I really want to accomplish, anymore. My wife deserves the chance to follow her chosen path in life, as well, and that means I need to step it up even more.
This calls for drastic measures, and potentially, a huge change.
The Mayday Event
I've already made up my mind about this, and due to a recent issue, I need my word to be redeemed, so that it's properly worth something. That means putting my balls on the table, I suppose, but they're closer to the bandsaw than I would prefer.
For the months of May and June, my price structure will be changing to favor standard and rush level commissions. In as much, there will be no "sale" prices (most likely,) but the lower prices should more than make up for the lack of an actual sale.
However, the goal that I'm setting now is not negotiable, and if we fall short, I will begin the process of shuttering Joshiah's Written Works, as a business, and return to the working world so that my wife can stay home with our daughter. It's the only thing that's fair to my family, as a whole...and nothing is more important than they are.
Should we fail, my final convention will be Anthrocon 2025, and from there, I will use what time I have to finish the backlog of what is due and wish everyone the best.
Should we succeed, very little will change, but the most important thing will be a brighter outlook and a better future to work toward.
With all that being said...
Our goal for the months of May and June combined is $13,000. The bare minimum I will accept as a success is $10,000 between them.
These are huge numbers, to be sure, but if I'm ever going to finish off my debts and be a proper, solo breadwinner, $5,000 a month would be the bare minimum of what we could handle. Even $6,500 a month would be a little bit snug, but having run the math, if I didn't have debt lingering over me, we could make it work.
It won't just magically happen because I need it to, though. We've got a fuck ton of hard work to do...either for the rest of my natural born life, or until this all goes tits up.
What's Changing
Standard commissions will be just $25/1k, from now on. If we achieve our goals for the month, this price point will stick. However, their turnaround time is being increased, until I can get caught up further.
Rush commissions will be just $40/1k, from now on. Same thing: if this works, I'll keep the new price point, but again, turnaround times have been slightly bumped up.
Three Day completions aren't changing.
Same Day completions have gone up very slightly in price, but if you can afford those in the first place, it'll be a neglible difference, from $75 to $80.
There will be an updated price table on the public backlog and the TOS, which will cover all of that stuff, for easy reference.
How This Will Work
I'm not putting a limit on how many words I can sell in a month, anymore. Commissions will be on an "always" open status unless otherwise stated, but I'll have milestones for what I reasonably hope I will be able to accomplish in a month.
50k sold per month: 20% off voucher giveaway the next month 100k sold: 20% and 40% given away next month 150k sold: 20%, 40%, 60% given away next month 200k sold: 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% given away next month
I don't anticipate ever selling 250k words in a month, but if I do, I'll come up with something great for it.
The public backlog will be getting updated much more often, I'm gonna start posting on Patreon again, and I'll keep everyone aware of how close we are to the goal...and hopefully, come July, we won't need to change anything else.
I love doing what I do. This is the career path that I chose...this is what I've always wanted my life to be, but not at the expense of my family's wellbeing, my wife's trust, or my daughter's future.
Thank you all so, so much for everything you've all done for me over the last decade. If it all ends where it began (Anthrocon 2015, as it were,) I suppose that's poetic, but that's far from what I planned.
I'd rather we keep this gravy train zooming ahead on those biscuit wheels.
Let's make this summer the best there's ever been.
