November newsletter (Patreon)

Hi. October was kind of a rough month. Let's just... leave it at that. Awkward laughter.

2020 Holiday specials

They're done! One's already out! New Year's special is pretty much all ready to go on New Year's eve. I just need to do the body writing and credits page. The Halloween one was fun but if I'm being honest, I like the NY one even better.

09 Wick, 10 Four 

I think I mentioned in the last newsletter that I did, in fact, get Wick done and I've already gotten well into the thumbnails (halfway done!) for Four... and it's only 3 Nov. It's a good one. Rosemary and Diana actually talk for like. The majority of the pages. While Jack and Freddi reconnect. It's happening, it's happening! But this also brings me to a more significant and newsworthy update...

Updated release schedule with break

I am planning to introduce a two month break in the posting schedule. If we followed the usual schedule of a new chapter every other month, the next chapter (09/Wick) WOULD be coming at the end of January. However, in order to prevent myself from burning out and also because January is typically busy-slow, I am actually delaying the release of 09/Wick until the end of March. So the schedule is:

[number, title, release date advanced access/public]

• 2X Elixir (November 24/30)
• New Year's Special (December 24/31)
• BREAK
• 09 Wick (March 25/31)
• 10 Four (TBD)

(as always, this information is available any time on the website)

However, evern though I'm adding a break here, it doesn't mean I won't be working on Familiar stuff. I am hoping to get even further ahead (I'm currently about 2 chapters ahead) with backlog, work on some side projects (read on), and give myself a chance to move a little more slowly on the chapters so I don't break my hands in the tendinitis (winter) months. So, this is all to say, I am not planning on pausing Patreon because I plan to be working on all kinds of good stuff despite a break in chapter release.

Side projects!

Thank you to everyone who voted in the stretch goal perk poll. It really helped me understand what people want and would enjoy. To that end, I've started figuring out what it would take to do the various rewards/projects, and my status of those projects follows:

Enamel pins - I am in conversation with a friend of mine who does enamel pins (buboplague - you may have seen her immensely popular shibari hands pin) about a Familiar pin. It will probably be Jack and sexy while still safe-ish for work so you can wear it wherever. Most likely I will be art directing and bubo will be producing the pin as well as fulfilling orders through her shop, and most likely we will kickstart the pin project and offer special perks (prints probably) for Patrons who back it. This probably won't happen until 2021 because we're both very busy, but I will be adding it soon as the next perk reward for this Patreon.

Print volume of Act I - I am also going to be reaching out to a printer about a limited run of physical editions of Familiar Act 1. In THEORY, this anthology will include the pilot, chapters 01-08, and the fillers associated with Act 1 (Gift and Desk Job). It will also include bonus material such as behind the scenes content, original scripts, and my commentary on stuff. I'd like to include a section for artwork as well.  Note that this is a pretty big project and will involve some significant time and $$ investment on my part, but I know that many people have asked about it and I'd love to be able to offer it, even in a limited run. Most likely we will Kickstart the project.

Spell & craft book - This is something we were discussing on Discord that I am really interested in. I would love to create a collection of recipes, rituals, and spells that are Familiar-relevant (that is, centered on self care with a healthy/heavy BDSM angle). I am working on seeing what I have in my own grimoire that I could use. My hope would be that I would produce the majority of the content, and then I would love to open for submissions from Patreon to include in the book. The end product would technically not include visual erotic content, so it could be printed on demand by a printer like Lulu, and could be offered to Patrons at a discounted price. More on this as it becomes more clear.

Gumroad....

I am also trying to figure out how to use Gumroad to offer an alternative to Patreon for people who either don't want to use Patreon or would just prefer to use Gumroad. The Gumroad subscription, regardless what it ends up being, will be comparable in price to the tiers on Patreon, so don't worry about having to choose between the two. Basically I want to allow people to use the platform they prefer and get the same rewards/perks for the same price. Getting it set up is a little fussy though. I'd also like to let people buy "passes" for friends - for example, a 6 month pass to the server or a 6 month pass to advanced access. Patreon doesn't allow this, but it could work on Gumroad, so you could invite friends to the community. We'll see how it goes.

As always, thank you so much for sticking around. Don't be a stranger - please join us on Discord where we post memes and cat pics. If you need help logging on, send me a DM.

Yours
Jude