Thoughts and Future Plans for Squish Drives (Patreon)

Hey there, Oxdarock here!

Just thought I'd make a wrap-up post on my thoughts and future plans for Squish Drive. I've said this so many times, but to those who contributed, I can't thank you enough and I hope having your names written on the women you donated to see get bigger was sufficient show of gratitude.

The Experience

There's so much to wrap my head around with this. For one, if it weren't for this project, I don't know if I'd have been able to rent out an apartment. I've been here for nearly two months and I like it a lot. More so than that, it really blew my mind how willing people were to fund a project I came up with. I know kickstarters aren't exactly uncommon, but I didn't think anyone would go so far for my artwork. Despite running a Patreon, and even an online store, for several years, it's still hard to believe that people are willing to support me so much.

That said, I definitely have to give a shout out to Danny Tonkes. There were other donors who contributed over $100 to whom I'm also very thankful towards, but Danny T more or less single-handedly funded the Suu Squish Drive, and even threw in some extra for Homura as well. I always remember the rollercoaster of emotions I'd have whenever I'd get multiple emails of his donations, yelling things like, "Oh god no, not again! You don't have to fund the whole thing yourself!" all while having this huge grin on my face over the madlad's philanthropy.

Thinking back, this turn of events was similar to another turning point in my life, back when I made my first comic to sell on E-junkie, MikoXMonster. Believe it or not, that comic was half funded by someone, who contributed a similar amount on an idea with OCs no less! Since then, they've continued to support my artistic endeavors and have become my closest friend on the internet and continue to support my works, currently holding the top donor spot among my patrons. Anyway, point is, that was a big turning point for my life and this project most certainly was as well!

The Future

In case you haven't guessed already, I definitely plan to hold more Squish Drives in the future. It has the potential to be pretty lucrative and, more importantly, the prospect of being paid to draw my own ideas is incredibly satisfying. Mind you, I don't intend for everything I do to require funding, but little ideas like this are a lot of fun! And because I managed to complete these two projects, I now have something of a portfolio under my belt for future donors.

I am on the fence about how I should approach future drives, though. I need to be careful not to overwork myself, but I have like three or four ideas swirling about in my head. That said, while I won't go over all the changes I have in mind on how to approach future drives, one thing I want people to know is that there won't be a tight deadline. Even though FOMO is a profitable business tactic, it's also a big source of anxiety and is predatory, neither of which I'd like to be a concern in the future. So long as I can reach at least one milestone a month, it's fine. Part of me is still concerned whether people will want to support future ideas (for all I know, I got lucky with the characters this time around), but I feel like that time frame is more than enough for people who are curious to pool some funds together.

Anyway, I've rambled enough and somehow managed to keep this from getting too long. Once again, thank you everyone for all your support and I hope you'll look forward to future Squish Drives!