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Help Me Steer This Ship (Patreon)

Published:
2020-05-06 23:03:54
Imported:
2026-06

Content

I am once again asking. . . for your comments ; )

Seriously.  Actual question here, for my Patreon peeps.  I am attempting, (poorly) to reconfigure my business model more towards promoting myself and my artwork online.  I am very, very bad at this apparently.  And I am basing that on literally being told by other people that they were shocked how small my online presence was, considering my volume of work.  This is probably primarily due to how behind I am on understanding social media.  I'm much more accustomed to just traveling the country and meeting people in person to spread my work and make an income.

Buuuuuut. . . obviously. . . that may no longer be a safe way for me to assure I have a career in art going forward.  I am facing the very real possibility of having to at least scale back, if not lose art/writing as a full-time job in the future if this lasts too long, we hit a second and third wave, or another pandemic or something similar strikes in the future.  

Unless I can figure out how to build a slightly larger following online.

I'm absolutely thrilled to get the support I get here on Patreon every month, but without conventions to supplement, it simply isn't enough to live on.  I want to continue doing what I do, since you obviously all enjoy it enough to pledge your bucks and let's be honest, it's what I love.  I also think Historical Fiction Furry projects are a real under-served niche.

That being said, without traveling for work, I DO have slightly more time to diversify what I post here.  If that's what folks want.  I WANT to be producing what will help me make a living, and make you all happy- I am without shame in admitting that.  I wouldn't be anywhere without you all, and it matters to me what you enjoy.  

Two things I'd like you all to share your thoughts on are this -

What would you like to see more of on my Patreon page?  There are several options for what I will devote my time to in the coming months after 'Kindred' is finished, which include-

Continuing Red Lantern into Book 3 - This is the slowest-posting option, since nothing I could work on will take me longer than Red Lantern pages.  But I know it's what some folks want, so please tell me if you're one of those people who thinks it's worth my time.

More Adult Polled Images - Like the 'Knot on Wood' piece from last month, I've committed to one of these a month going forward, but I could do more.  I could also do more fanart, although I'm loathe to flood my Patreon with a ton of that.

Short-Story Adult Comics - This seems to be the #1 thing that very successful furry artists on this platform post, and I have to admit it's tempting.  I've done these before, so I have experience.  They'd take half the time I spend on Red Lantern pages, if not less.  VERY tempting.

What other social media platforms would you like to see my art on, if any?  What could I do better with the ones I have? 

Thank you all!

Comments

Avis Jay

Book 3. I need to know how the story continues

Kira Zinnecker

All three of those options are great. I’d love to see some adult short comics, people would love them. You could post some art on Instagram, although I’m not sure of their policy on nudity. Regardless Insta is the place art like yours could gain even more following. Continuing Red Lantern is a great idea, because patrons love seeing it early and I know I as well as others love getting physical copies of your work.

Kira Zinnecker

Also I think you’ve been doing great on the social media platforms you’re on right now! The adult polled images are cool too.

Ty Laurich

I think you have the right idea with short smut comics. You could also consider posting works with various styles or fetishes just to see what gets attention. Who knows, you could become the next big vore artist! :D Romance is my kink, so you fill that void nicely. Also electro-torture.

Tiller Brown

Short story comics could work very well to get the larger audience you’re looking for imo. Some of the forefront artists in the community post those types of comics. Definitely down for that 🤘

NITRO89

Rukis honestly your doing great on your books and on social media. I honestly like the entire series of books and the comics or graphic novels of the red lantern series. As for adult art more dragons would be nice^^ I definitely like to see the ones from the series. As for other options I'm not sure. My 3 main art places I go is here, Twitter, and inkbunny

Karmakat

sorry but, as much as I love all your work. I would like to see the Book 3. you have way more people following your Patreon that i wouldn't even dare. people don't insult you on sight while not even knowing you unlike they do to me. so yeah...I prefer real stories still. sorry...I really don't want to sound insulting here...

Obsidian okami

Short stories are a good option, it gives you abit more time to do other things at the same time. Platforms are hard but you are an amazing artist. So the less adult content could be posted pretty much anywhere you wanted. As long as it's got clothes and it's not adult content you can put them every where. Maybe a youtube tutorial channel could also help once it picks up. Art tutorials can gain alot of subs. Your amazing! let's hope this shinanagiens ends peacefully.

Randall

I am STRONGLY in favor of seeing more of Book 3, but I definitely want to see your career succeed. I'd still be pleased to see adult comics - if you think that's the best way to grow your career, then you need to do what is best for you to get your name out there, and your presence growing. I sincerely hope it's not at the expense of being able to do Book 3 at all, though XD.

wasteprocyonid

I discovered your work because of Cruelty years ago, and I think it's a fair assumption that many people getting into this fandom discovered you because of this comic, too. My point being that comics and stories might be what you're most known for... so perhaps continuing onto Red Lantern might be a good way to cater to a broader and maybe newer audience. Obviously though, smutty content is less time consuming and it's proven to be... effective, to say the least. Ultimately I think the... well, that ain't exactly a good way to put it but, the 'optimal' option for you might be to go for adult content.? Whichever you choose though I'm sure you'll get support. On a personal note, since you're asking for opinions, I came here because of your stories, but now that I'm here I'd stay for whatever you keep on doing!

Charles

Hey Rukis, I am sorry to hear about your struggles. I was first introduced to your work through your collaborations with Kyell Gold. I know this is much easier said than done, but perhaps increasing collaborations with other artists may help spread your name across the furry community.

Daniel Ortiz

Rukis I like Option number 1 a lot since you’ll finish the series off but I think best bet is Option number 3. I like your short stories a lot. So best bets (in my opinion you don’t have to follow what I have to say) is number one and number 3. Also I’d like to pay money for a commissions if you are interested just saying.

Charles

As for what I would like to see in your Patreon, I think the options listed are a great start. We all want to see how Amon and Luther's story develops and ends; however, I feel that since you are travelling less, you should be trying to post often. Therefore, I feel like this is the worst option. Personally, before I become a Patreon, I check how often the artist posts. One thing that I really appreciate about Kyell Gold is that every Wednesday he posts a section of his story. When Patreons are consistent, I know exactly what I am getting for my money and they are more likely to receive my patronage. Next option, the polled images. I love when artists allow their fans some choice. I feel that this would also be a great technique to employ in books as well for minor plot points. I just don't like it when it gets to the point where it shunts the artists creative freedom. My favourite option for you is likely the short stories plus images. I like this option because it is a great way to keep us up to date with all Red lantern characters. For instance, what was Delilah up to when Luther was at war, Shiva and Grayson adventures, how Puck was cast out, the complicated relationship between Klaus and Luther etc. This option could allow you to expand the Red lantern Universe and once you have several short stories complete, you can compile them and publish them into a novel. As a fan, one thing that I loved is when you started to due those brief character portfolios, it would be nice if those continued. Ultimately, the ideal situation would be for you to get to a point where you have a Red Lantern website (similar to the idea of the red lantern kickstarter). Fans could vote on what character they would like art for, what short story could be next and you could even have competitions where people create a novel Red Lantern character for you to insert into the Universe somewhere. I know that it is very difficult to establish an online community and it takes a lot of tech savvy knowledge to create something like that. I hope this helped somewhat.

Rhett

Discord would be interesting! It’s a great way to interact with your fans and easy to post art. People can go into a voice channel while you stream and talk while watching and do other cool things as well

Rhett

However I do not know how many people would even know what discord is so

Marcwolf

Hi. Personally I would love to see the Red Lantern series continue. I have brought all of the books and we are at a cliffhanger re Amon's future. Is there a way that these could be done as Black and White if coloring is a difficulty. I am more of a reader than a picture person - loving Kindred by the way - and really enjoy the short peeks you give in to the lives and the souls of your characters. A short time back you posted a short one regarding Grayson and how he was faring in his older years. The other art.. although nice.. is further down on the scale. Many many thanks

PZ

I think all three options are great, and I believe a lot of people will be very happy to see book 3. In terms of social media suggestions, Twitter is great but you can certainly expand to other platforms like DeviantArt, facebook etc. And to gain more popularity you really need to interact with other people, especially other artists. They definitely dont need to be popular, but little interactions can get you their attention and they can promote for you by retweeting your art. If you like, you can also do things like art trade and collaborative work which will attract the fanbase of the other artists and increase your own popularity in the fandom. Lastly and this is a bit personal, but I think making your twitter a bit less political can be a good thing since a lot of people dont really like politics and I have seen too many artists and content creators lose their followers over their political posts.

Anonymous

Something that might help build a larger online presence is to do interviews on youtube. Perhaps a virtual book tour. I have also seen a few authors build their presence by teaching/ going over the process of making a book. ex could be "how to write a compelling villain" or "how to plan a graphic novel." people search for knowledge, that gets them in the virtual door, which then gives you an opportunity to promote your work.

BeastNeverSeen

So, I'm gonna come at this from a somewhat unusual perspective: I would say that I follow you more for the sake of your writing than your art (your art is still great, to be clear, and my demand for More Puck is limitless, but there are a lot of hot half-dressed wolves out there and only one Off The Beaten Path). I think I'm with a lot of people on this page in wanting to see more of Red Lantern, but if that's a strategy that's not working, then... well. That said, writing by itself is tough to sell (and frankly, I may not be representative). I genuinely think that the combination of art and writing is one of your unique strengths as an artist in the fandom and your best bet is figuring out how to leverage that. Short comics are a great idea- it provides a springboard for both without requiring the sort of buy-in and commitment that Red Lantern does, though there's something to be said for longer works as a relatively unique 'thing' that people are certainly interested in. Honestly, I think the patreons that have succeeded the best on that sort of combination of art and writing are the various visual novels like the Echo project. I don't know if that's something that you would ever be interested in, but the "coding" aspect isn't remotely as difficult as it sounds. As far as extending reach on social media, it sounds rather shallow but there's always those sort of 'retweet for a chance at a free commission!' raffles people run. I guess people wouldn't do them if they didn't work? It might be worth reaching out individually to people that have 'succeeded' on the social media side of things, I think anyone commenting on this page is likely to be a bit out of their depth.

PZ

Another little suggestion, you can try to post little doodles on your twitter. The more frequently you post, the more people can see it and they are definitely a lot less time consuming. (People seem to love doodles more than complete artworks, its really weird)

Flann Moriath

Hi Rukis! I’m sorry you’re having a rough time. Your stories are my favorites of all time, the ones I re-read the most, and I really want to see you succeed. My opinion on your Patreon: I really want to see Red Lantern 3. That is my top vote for sure, and if you make another Kickstarter for it I’ll absolutely back that. I would also love the short story comics, preferably ones canon to your worlds and characters. Your stories are what I am here for primarily, so anything you create that builds upon your worlds, I am interested in. The extra art is fun, and what I originally followed you for, but your storytelling has come to be my favorite. You might not have a ton of extra time for commissions, but if you made more tiers for a variety of commission sizes, I’d consider that too! I agree with another poster about more collaboration to get your name out there more, and maybe helping you get more bodies of work out there with less time spent. What are your thoughts on collaborating with Sidian to continue Good Medicine? I’ve wanted to see that continue and I’m definitely willing to shell out more money to see it happen. Someone else mentioned a Youtube channel and I’m a fan of that idea! I’d totally watch Q+A videos about your characters and stories where we could learn backstory or little details that don’t make it into the books, and tutorials on YouTube might be a way to expand your following. General Q+A things might also be something to offer higher patreon tiers. It might be worth looking into expanding your marketing reach into non-furry niches, like if there are communities or societies for gay historical romance or other umbrellas your work could fall under. I wonder if Redbubble and TeePublic and those sorts of sites could help you with a passive income stream? I know it’s not as lucrative as making your own merch, but there are also no up front costs. Another artist I follow offered merchandise (stickers) through patreon at certain tiers. Not sure if patreon took care of the printing/shipping or not, but exclusive designs/items at certain tiers might be another possibility. I hope things improve soon <3 Thanks so much for all you share with us. Your work has actually been a great comfort to me throughout these past few months. No matter what happens, your characters always have it worse, haha.

Alex Peterson

Sorry. I'm no expert on this sort of thing. I can only tell you what I want of you: Red Lantern Book 3 and more Adult Polled Pictures. I don't know what to promise others in return for their money here on Patreon or on Kickstarter. I can recommend you post your written works and your comic book pages on SoFurry, to further promote your work. I know that if you're open to commissions or shipping prints, I would definitely consider.

Anonymous
>>36476840

Could do donation based sketch streams with streamlabs. people donate like 30.00 for a 10 min sketch of their character. you have them post their twitter handle in the donation description and request they have their character reff posted at the top of their twitter. (use a timer to keep the sketch to 10 mins. have a max number of sketches so you don't get over loaded. let people know on screen the moment all slots are filled.) I have seen such donation sketch streams hit around 800+ usd for roughly 4 hours worth of work.

CastJudgment

I've always been fond of the short comics. I love seeing and reading about your characters!

Luke Schneider

I Would love more red lantern personally, I like all your work though.

Cosmo

Well... what the hell happened? Patreon for some reason decided to remove my whole post. I hope you at the least got to read it...

Luke Schneider

Discord might be a good idea too, great for sharing and communicating.

ArcticSpirit

While we'd all love to see RL completed, its a monumental amount of work for one person. Perhaps a novel version with a number of illustrations? Short adult comics are also a great idea. Perhaps based on your various characters in side stories?

Skie

As far as #3, whatever happened to the Chain of Command experiment? That was donation drived, and seem to have died? I also wouldn't go compare yourself to other comic makers. You don't compromise on quality, and I'm not sure you can get out pages as fast as some, especially with everything else you're producing.

Tuuwa

As much as I'd love to see the third Red Lantern book, the last thing I'm sure any of us want is for you to feel pressured or burn out. But in the current economy, things are very tough all around, and folks are trying to churn out as much as possible just to stay in the black. It's an unprecedented situation for sure, and I'm not sure I could give adequate advice on that front. That said, folks here seem to have some great ideas. Working on more collabs for example. I also remember hearing some rumors of books you might've been working on that are more encyclopedias and side stories in your worlds. Me being the massive history and lore nerd I am, would throw all my money at something like that. Even aside from that, I also remember you stating you had some sci-fi stuff you used to work on. Perhaps branching into that could help pull in more folks too? I also second not comparing yourself to other comic makers. Aside from your uncompromising stance on quality, you're unique. Call me a butt-kisser, but I truly do think that you can't compare yourself to anyone else /because/ you fill a unique niche with truly engaging works. Even Dubiously Canon, which I'll sadly admit I only bought recently, left me satisfied with what I read. I've always wanted more, but none of the shorts or novels left me thinking it /needed/ more. I know that sounds contradictory, but I'm probably explaining it badly ^^;; In terms of getting your name out there though, I think collabs and specials will certainly help. Your writing and art are amazing, and I'm sure lots of folks will want to team up with you on something. Heck, remember @PDTokay on Twitter doing mock-ups of a Red Lantern adventure game? With your art and writing skills, I think teaming up with a programmer or two could result in a game with some larger appeal. Heck, visual novels are trending on Steam right now. A stand-out art style like yours would certainly stand out in the market, and the writing would reel folks in for sure. It'd definitely hook in some folks who would otherwise have never found your art.

Rukis
>>36488002

yeah it got funded to a certain point and I decided I wanted to continue it past that anyway, but just never got around to it. I really do still need to finish it.

CorWolf

If you want to get more renown and not only in the furry community then maybe you should compete for some fantasy award challenges or try to reach out to certain game developers as they lack illustrators most of the time. The later might not pay as well all the time, but it could help to see yourself referenced by them as the industry is still growing, even/especially in the current crisis.

DiezlWolf

I suppose social media presence is a good thing? I'm not much on that, but I know Twitter is important to many many people, and might help generate some more Patreon traffic? My obvious vote is for Red Lantern Vol. 3 (since it is AMAZING! Probably the best furry graphic novel I've ever seen), but if shorter comics are what you need to survive I'll stand by that as well :D. Red Lantern has Mainstream Potential. Wouldn't be surprised if it got picked up by something like Dark Horse (it could be the next Blacksad). Also, are you still selling Menagerie from last year? I see the journal on FA but haven't gotten around to asking. Should I email you?

WildFox

I always love seeing more Red Lantern stuff, so that's my vote, though I understand that the time and effort required for that may be difficult with increasing your online presence.

KiskaBeaust

I love the adult polling and I'm definitely waiting on more RL. I like the adult comic idea as well. Never did see an end to Chain of Command. Or if there was one, I somehow missed it.

Rukis
>>36503813

We'll be offering a new subscription period soon. You can e-mail me ahead of time if you want, though

Icehawk

Definitely would like to see Red Lantern 3 as a main priority, after that, short story comics or polled adult images are of equal interest.

Raptorzs

I would like to see more red lantern. That is an awesome story. The Adult images are of a close second to me. Also would you consider doing simple sketches as maybe a patreon award for individual OCs? I know I been wanting one for ages. Something fun that hopefully wont take too much time.

Komega01

If its one thing most furries like its cute cartoony porn which is the exact opposite of what you do your stuff is more realistic and the cumshots dont look like a gallon of milk exploded

Komega01

But there is a whole part of the fandom that cares more about the fuckin than the intense complex stories mst people just want a porn ya know? but i dont know how far your willing to go with this

Rukis
>>36541954

Well I don't really do toon stuff, and milk gallons exploding really aren't my thing either : P But I'm not opposed to more erotic images.

Luke Schneider

i'd really like more red lantern as well. Maybe in a webcomic format, fewer tiles, updated every week.

Monsieur Foxy

Red Lantern would be amaaazing. But honestly? I love everything you do. Also, adult vignettes would be excellent. Just sweet, 3-6k words, dropped on the page as inspiration hits. Maybe a few sketches for future reference so you can flesh out later for free-standing comics.

Halley

I would totally love to see RL3 going on! And more of your novels for surre

james maag

I can't pretend to know you budget but maybe getting a part time person to do some of these thing would be useful. The problem is return on investment witch is hard to measure with stuff like this. I know many would be willing to do it. Upload to various accounts and build new accounts. I did see one thing about a virtual con