We have quite a bit to go over in this one and according to the little scheduled I jotted down in an unsaved notepad file I only have about twenty minutes to cover it all in.

On a very quick sidenote having an actual schedule I can glance at to make sure I’m on track has really helped make today productive.

And on the matter of productivity, let’s talk about chapter progress first.

It’s done.

Chapter 101, the first 10k word chapter I’ve had in a while is complete and has been since yesterday..morning? Either morning or early afternoon. Chapter 101 is scheduled for next Monday, 2019.10.14, so we’re about where I would expect to be for chapters as I finish up my last day off but it doesn’t stop there.

As I write this I’ve just finished 6k words for chapter 102, which isn’t expected to be posted until 2019.10.28. If things go well I may even have it done before next Monday putting me a good chapter ahead of schedule.

Unfortunately this doesn’t mean I can somehow manage a 10k chapter every week going forward because I’ve dedicated most of the last week- every chance I got before and after work- and neglected just about everything else.

As much as I would like to keep up such progress there’s no way I could maintain such a pace for long before burning myself out. So, you might be asking why I’m putting in so much work when I’ve already managed to get ahead and the answer to that is the next part of this update.

Convenient, no?

You may have seen my recent post ‘Support’ posted last Thursday [2019.10.03] which should give you a good idea but for those who haven’t I’ll try to summarize it as best I can here.

While I am greatly enjoying my new job, it has come to my attention that the difficulty I’m having reaching a certain metric- sales- may result in a new job search in the near future. The Field Managers and Operations Manager are doing everything they can to help me gain the skills I need to remain but knowing that there is still a distinct possibility that I won’t make it in this field I decided to go over my options.

As attractive as some of them are, what I’d really like to spend my time doing is writing. I dare say I have at least some measure of skill in it but I never really considered it feasible to support myself doing it.

You probably know exactly where this is going but let me clear up any doubt-

I have recently made- well, re-purposed – a Patreon page for myself. I had originally created it back when I had dreams of being a Youtube Gamer but as that’s far less likely to happen I’ve instead changed it to reflect me as a writer.

Before you close the page in disgust, know that I will continue to provide my work for free. Postings will follow their current schedule for the foreseeable future.

As it so happens I have some pretty bad timing with this because I chose to do it right after I changed over to posts every two weeks so I won’t be able to add it to the bottom of the chapter until the fourteenth.

And I’m sure there will be those among you who believe I did so for the purpose of Patreon but I can promise you I didn’t manage to muster up the drive to actually try for this until after Thurday when my Operations Manager had to call me off a job so she could have a chat with me about my performance.

I did, as you no doubt can, see how I could utilize the longer periods between updates to provide something to my Patreons after I finished and posted the first half of chapter 101 that Thursday evening.

As it so happens being sent home early for the day has some benefits.

Yes, you heard that right. Wanting to provide something for Patreons I posted the first half of Sealkeeper: He Who Binds Chapter 101 as a Patreon-only post on my page. It’s 5k- give or take a few hundred- words long, the same as a regular chapter, and was posted a good three days before the usual upload.

Of course with my update schedule changing it did provide a chapter on a week there would otherwise be no chapter. And that’s when I came up with it. Better than just posting the chapter as soon as I finish it so Patreons can read it early, I can split the double chapters into two and post one each week so Patreons continue to have an update every week.

On one hand it does feel kind of scummy but the other option was just to get ahead and post the full 10k chapter a week before release which would really only put them a week ahead of the public release.

Providing chapters every week-and early- seemed better, even if they’re only 5k chapters.

It’s not much, but I really don’t have anything else to offer people as thanks for their support.

Well, aside from maybe their name at the end of a chapter. If that’s something that interests you let me know because I’m more than willing to list my supporters at the end of a chapter if it helps them feel good about supporting me. Hell, I might just do it regardless, that sounds pretty good.

And on the topic of Patreons, I would like to thank my first two Patreons Nssheepster and The Kevin for showing their support. It means a lot to me gentlemen.

Before I get distracted and forget the second half of chapter 101 is up too, posted yesterday [2019.10.08] almost a week before the full release of the chapter. That’s why I’ve been putting in so much effort into my writing, I want to make sure that if I’m asking for people to support me that I’ve provided something to thank them for it.

After I finish up chapter 102 the plan is to set up a Discord server for Patreons to add additional value but I’m not sure how much people even care. Regardless, if I can provide it I’ll try to make it happen to show how much I appreciate the chance to turn my hobby into my livelihood.

So, to recap- because I ramble and I know it- I have started a Patreon page where for just a dollar a month you can have early access every week to chapters of Sealkeeper and, eventually, anything else I’m working on.

I have higher tiers than just a dollar in case anyone’s feeling particularly generous but I won’t suggest them because I don’t have any additional perks or rewards for the higher tiers.

That’s right, you gain every benefit for just the $1.00 every month- actually, it might have tax. I’m not sure so don’t quote me- and not only is that early access to chapters for $0.25 a chapter- less than buying a newspaper but without the comics or coupons- but it’s also the lowest Patreon would let me set.

Should you visit the Patreon page [ Patreon.com/Eyazahrid ] you may also see that I’ve set a goal. To be perfectly honest, I don’t expect to reach it. Should by some miracle we do, however, I will quit my job- you know, or my next job depending on when it happens and how everything works out- to instead write full time.

I’m not sure exactly what that will mean for Sealkeeper progress- probably nothing- but it would make it easier to do and provide the chance for me to work on other stories for my readers to enjoy. Again, it probably won’t reach that point but the closer we get the less I have to worry about what job I am working.

A pay cut wouldn’t be much of a detriment if I have an income from your generosity and if that pay cut is in part due to less hours then that’s more time for me to work on my writing.

Knowing that, there was no way I could not at least give this an honest attempt.

It’s been more than twenty minutes now so I’m behind schedule and still have to correct this post before publishing it, but that’s also just about everything I needed to cover.

At least, it’s all I can recall needing to bring up at the moment.

Oh, no, I have one last thing. If you’ve ever wanted to know what I look like there’s a picture on the Patreon page -my earliest post- that’s been made public so you can see who it is you’d be supporting and as a thank you for at least checking it out.

And with that we’ll call it a wrap. I’ll see you all on Monday for the public posting of chapter 101.

Thank you for all of your support over these past years, I look forward to many more.

Until I next have your attention,

–Eyazahrid