What follows is not a post I particularly want to write, but one that I think is necessary.
Publication here at Erotic Mad Science is going to slow down considerably over the next several months. In order to explain why, perhaps a little bit of background in the economics of the site is in order. I am on my own here. Every comics page that you see on this site was work from an artist I commissioned and paid out of my own pocket. What’s in my pocket is money I earned from my regular career, I have never relied either on advertising or sales of merchandise or on any of the voluntary finance arrangements (e.g. Patreon) that others have relied on. I do not in the slightest disdain anyone who does any of those things — we all have to make a living somehow, but I have made the choice to use my own resources and I happy with that. I have had the resources, and I have used them. I think that frees up more resources for other creators who have not been as lucky in life as I have been and I’m fine with that.
I am now, however, engaged in a project to produce a full-length graphic novel — probably around 400 pp — and the commission fees for its production bring me up against the limits of my resources. The novel matters a lot to me and I have to make a choice, and so that’s where the resources have been going.
I would also note that there is an element of time here that is important. Every bit of work on this site that is done is done by me. Writing scripts — even of the most lightest variety — is an immense sink of time, as anyone with writing experience can tell you. Keeping the site here running also requires considerable maintenance time as well. Time isn’t all that cheap in my life: I work a full-time professional job and have a lot of family obligations as well.
I also have a podcast I would like to resume if I can. We shall see.
On top of all that I’ve had some health issues which began getting worse in early 2022, and I should really spend some effort attending to those.
I don’t want anyone to feel abandoned; this site will continue to be here and there will be at least some new material appearing. I have some art not yet published here and there might be an additional “Agents” series if the artist who draws it can fit it into his budget. I am achingly close to the psychologically-significant total of 10,000 posts and would like to cross it. Perhaps I shall. And I also hope to devote some time in the near future to a significant site overhaul make all the material here more readily accessible to both new and old readers.
It has been an enjoyable run here. I am grateful to all of you who have devoted your own time to reading and commenting here. And who knows? Perhaps in the future fortune will smile and I will be able to resume…something wicked.