#commission updatae

[twistedtummies2]

COMMISSION UPDATE + NOTES ABOUT THE FUTURE

Hello, everyone! This is just another commission update Journal. As usual, people keep asking me if I’m open for comms, or when I will be, and now that I’ve completed another round, I want to keep everyone posted. This will be split into a “Short Answer” and a “Long Answer” section (the latter coming after the “Keep Reading” line). Read as much as you care to. HERE IS THE SHORT ANSWER: I haven’t got even the START of an idea of when I will publicly reopen. I also have decided to stop accepting requests to place on the Waiting List. (I will get to why that is in a bit, if you want to keep reading into the “long answer” section.) I am going to work on finishing a trade, and writing two special stories, before I jump into the next round. The people who are on the next round will be contacted in the near future. They are as follows…

@trashytummies

Buffalo20 (FA)

Grimsaurus (FA)

ph0220 (FA)

@clouddreamer101

If any of the five above drop out, then someone from the Waiting List will be rotated into place. I may give the names of the people on the Waiting List in the future, but not here and now (for no other reason than this post is going to be long enough). If you want more details on things, you may continue reading into the next section. Otherwise, you may leave now. I know business matters can be dry. :-p

HERE IS THE LONG ANSWER: For the past several years, I have been fighting increasingly severe backlog, combined with an increasing demand, with tons of people coming to me for stories and not having enough time to finish everything, due to a combination of various elements I won’t get into here. (Again, this journal is going to be long enough as it is.) As the current situation stands, there is no way I am going to be able to complete the next round of commissions, plus everyone on the waiting list, PLUS other obligations and pieces of writing before the year is out. It’s just not going to happen; even if by some miracle I DO complete everything there before 2025, I am going to be SEVERELY worn out when it’s all over. So, what does this mean? It means that a lot of people on the waiting list will need to wait till next year to get their stories done. It also means that, at the moment, I sincerely haven’t got an idea when I’ll reopen, and anybody who asks is going to get that answer: there’s just no way I can predict it at the present time. That’s going to depend on a lot of factors, most of which are not within my power to control, frankly. If you want to know what those factors are, ask me in private; I am not boring everybody with my personal life issues here.

It ALSO means that, WHEN I DO REOPEN, once again I’m going to make changes. I really, REALLY don’t want to, but I just kind of have to. This time, however, the motivation behind it is going to be different: if this year’s severe backlogging, combined with the disastrous attempts of the past two or three years, have taught me anything, it’s that I physically cannot fight the fact backlog is going to happen. It’s just not going to be possible. With everything else that is going on in the present, has gone on in the past, and is most assuredly going to happen in the future…there is simply no way I can fight it. SO…instead of FIGHTING the backlog, I’m going to ACCEPT it, and I’m going to try and figure out a way to manage my commissions that will allow me to manage things with the full expectation it’s going to happen. I may also start looking into other ways to gain funding; I have considered perhaps opening a Patreon account (more on that later), or seeking other avenues of revenue in general. Rest assured, however: at the present moment, I have no intention of stopping commission work. It’s just a matter of how to do it better, so that I don’t have tons and tons of people waiting months upon months for stories to get done. However, I won’t be able to figure all that out till AFTER I get through everything already on my plate. Having said that…as I said, I will be releasing all the names on the Waiting List in the future. If you see your name there, when I do, and you no longer want a story for any reason - such as the long wait, or financial situations changing - then you are welcome to remove your slot. If I’ve guaranteed one to you in private, and you already know this, you are welcome to contact me privately, in turn.

I think I’ve said all I can say, or feel comfortable saying (a bit of both), for now. I know this whole mess is a colossal pain in the rear end. I know it makes a lot of people anxious or frustrated, and I know that it probably has made a lot of people cross with me. Believe me when I say, I am as agitated as the rest of you, as well as, frankly, a little depressed. If I seem a bit short when answering messages related to commissions, as a result, I apologize in advance. I’m just trying my best here, people; I’m only one man, and with a lot on his plate. I’m sure others are the same, so I ask you to continue to be patient and know that I am working my hardest to manage things and get the job done. I want to thank everybody here for your patience and for your continued support. Also, if you’ve made it all the way to the end of this journal, thank you for your support. Bless you all.