Q&A - 03 🍄 (Patreon)

I get a lot of different questions about merchandise! In this post I want to go a bit more into detail about plans for 2020 and why I wasn't able to release new merchandise in 2019.

Q: Will you print Volume 2? Will there be a reprint of Volume 1 available, too?

Yes to both! Volume 2 will be printed, and I will reprint Volume 1 at the same time. I will offer both books in a bundle, too.

Q: When will you open your shop again?

I don't have a set date yet, but probably in 2020! 

I was planning to release Volume 2 in book form much sooner, but I decided against releasing any merchandise in 2019 because of my health... and then I figured I need to come up with a plan to avoid the problems I had last time.

I definitely want to pick merchandise up again! But with a completely new approach and a limited amount of merchandise.

What were the problems? And what's the new approach?

One problem was that I had a lot of orders and even though I managed to send them all off, it was a lot of work and took way too long and in that time I didn't have time to do the comic. The other problem was that after the preorder phase ended I had to give the books and other items into print... and ran into problems with the printing company, which delayed the whole process.

After thinking it through and considering a lot of options, I will not go the preorder route like I did last time. 

For those who don't know, a preorder phase is usually meant to collect money and to see the actual interest in the product. People order the items and then the creator knows the exact amount of ordered items. Then the creator can give the right amount of items into production and in my case, finance the book print with the collected money from the preorder phase. 

This worked very well for my fanbooks so I kept it for my original merchandise, too. But when I released Volume 1 I was overwhelmed by the amount of orders and the interest. 

I'm still very happy and baffled about it, and financially it helped so much!! 

But I was not properly prepared to send out so many things on my own. My customers luckily didn't notice (too much) how much I struggled behind the scenes and I tried my best to put a lot of care into each order and as far as I know the ones who received their books were really happy about theirs. So it really was worth it ; ; <3

But I know I can do it better now (and actually know I need to put my needs first) and because of all the problems that appeared back then I really hesitated to do merchandise in 2019. I've learned a lot from this experience and I hope it will help me do merchandise better from now on!

My new approach: I will estimate how much I can handle at once. Then I will order the amount of books and deal with the manufacturers and delays. Once I receive the books, I will check them and sort out faulty copies. Then slowly, will pack the good books and prepare everything. I will count how many items I have available and then, only then, I will open the shop.

That means I can send out all orders much faster, too! 

But it means there will be only a limited amount available ;; But if I notice it goes well, I might just do another run afterwards. But step by step, not all at once.

My patrons will be able to place their orders first though! I will let you know when everything is ready, and I will give you special discount codes as well.

Q: Will you offer calendars and other merchandise, too? 

Maybe! I DO have a lot of ideas for merchandise, but they're planned for later. I do have some ideas I really want to bring to life one day!

• washi tapes + stickers with gold foil
• enamel pins of Robin and Noah's spirit forms
• moth and flower themed accessoires
• apparel
• plushies

To be honest I want my merchandise to stay pretty neutral so I will mostly focus on merchandise with the spirits and the supernatural elements of the story. I love the idea of someone carrying something subtle at all times (like a spirit enamel pin on a bag or on a jacket) or having a sticker on a notebook. I'm not sure if this makes much sense, but for me, it's important people can show their love in a subtle way without having to worry that they're being super obvious (like yes it's from a gay webcomic but for a stranger it's just a cute deer enamel pin on someone's bag) 🦌🌸

In short: YES i probably will have merchandise in 2020 again. But with a new approach, and a limited offer of goodies. 

Printing the comic is a way for me to finance the comic, too! I really want and need to keep this up. Also I love the reactions to people holding their copies in their hands and receiving the orders ; ; It's one of the best feelings ever. I want to do this myself as much as I can. I had this mentality from the start and it seems like I can't shake it.. But it's also a way to show my gratitude and to connect with the people who want to support the comic and even want to have a physical copy of it! It's a tooon of work but I think with the new approach I take away the pressure of "an open ceiling". Limited items means limited earnings, but also limited pressure. The reader base of the comic has grown a lot the past months, but like this I feel like I could still handle it. This project is a very personal one, I want to keep it personal. For merchandise, I think less is more currently! 💕

- - -

if you have questions for the ongoing Q&A, you can ask me anytime in the comments 💙 

earlier Q&A parts: 01 - 02