erotibot
patreon
Moving On...
🕑 Added 2022-11-22 19:02:59 +0000 UTC
(I posted this to my website a moment ago, but I’m posting it here, along with a little addendum at the bottom describing the plan moving forward.)
I have mulled over this decision for a long time, and kept putting it off due to my own fears and reservations, but...
I am moving on from Hot Shit High.
It’s been nearly a year since completing Chapter 2, and I have spent almost every day since then trying to come up with a conclusion to a story that I never fully envisioned and never planned for. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the first chapter was only ever supposed to be a single issue, and while the second chapter expanded its scope and set up new things, I never had any idea what to do with it, or where it was going. No overarching story - no way to turn the pieces into a compelling narrative that didn’t devolve into a convoluted mess. Despite my many attempts, I simply couldn’t come up with a conclusion to the story that was to my satisfaction, let alone one that I was excited to work on.
The worst part was my memory of working on Chapter 2 of the comic. Even though I was satisfied with the work I had done, creating the second chapter saw me through one of the most difficult periods of my life. My mental, emotional, and physical health were the worst they’ve ever been, and I’m not exactly eager to recreate the conditions that brought me to such depths.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Hot Shit High wasn’t financially successful. While I was making the comic my income plummeted and my support dropped by over 50%, making life difficult and adding to my stress. I had hoped that sales of the comic after it was completed might help me recover some of what I had lost, but the comic didn’t sell many copies either. Simply put, Hot Shit High bombed at the box office.
And for that I blame myself, first and foremost. There’s no doubt that the infrequent updates and many delays contributed to its financial failure. Additionally, my presence and performance on Patreon only worsened as the series went on, contributing to the downfall.
But I’ve also come to suspect a few other reasons as well. Perhaps it didn’t help that I made the comic so freely available, assuming that people would want to support it “just because”. Perhaps the characters and content matter were not interesting enough to draw in a broader audience. Perhaps it was just the pressure that I put on myself, or the conditions under which it was created.
With all that said and done, I can’t envision myself returning to the experience that I had while creating Hot Shit High, and I’m not really in a place creatively, emotionally, or financially to do so either. So after months of agonizing over it, I’ve finally decided to cut my losses, try to forgive myself, and move on… as painful as it is for me to close that door and say good-bye to characters that I had grown to love, and to a story that will remain unfinished. The frustration, disappointment, and dissatisfaction are mine to own.
To all of my readers, thank-you from the bottom of my heart for giving Hot Shit High a chance. I am truly sorry to have kept you waiting for so long only to read these words. To all of the supporters who are still with me after everything, you have my eternal gratitude and undying love. And to those of you who have left, I hope I can earn your trust again and produce something good enough for you to come back and stick around for.
In the near future I’ll be revamping my Patreon and announcing a new comic project that I’ve had in the works for a while now. This time with a better plan.
Until then, much love to all of you, and may good health and well-being grace you until we speak again.
-Erotibot
***The plan moving forward***
As I eluded to in a previous post… I’m in a bit of a tricky financial situation with my income being as low as it is. I am eager to start the new series, but it needs a little more development time, so in the meantime I’ll continue to produce character illustrations while also taking a couple of monthly commissions here to make ends meet. Most of these will be exclusive to Patreon, but nothing will really change here in terms of how things have been over the past year.
I’ll be sharing more information about the new comic series in the very near future. Currently, the script is being finalized, and designs are being worked on. I’ll continue to post updates on the project’s development until I’m ready to begin (likely sometime in Jan/Feb). It’ll be a lengthy project, so I want to make sure I set myself up for it properly, but it’s going to be fun, and I’m really looking forward to it.
In the meantime, please stick with me! I'll be posting exclusive Patreon content for my supporters, and working hard to make sure the new comic has a successful start.
See you again soon.
Comments
Matt Ruecker
Erotibot, have you considered bequeathing HSH to another artist that you know/or respect? Just because you would prefer to move on it might be nice to see someone take your orphaned OC and build an end to it?
so cute
Erotibot
Hello Clemens. Thanks for the pledge, and for your comment. I appreciate your suggestions, and I sympathize with you wanting to see an ending, but my need to move on from HSH is too multifaceted for me spend any more time trying to figure out than I already have. While the finances played the most important role, I was already at a point creatively, and emotionally, where I couldn’t bear to deal with it anymore… or at least, not right now. You see, unfortunately my creative process is not one that bears fruit through sheer willpower. For that I need to feel motivated and happy to work on the material. The reason why Hot Shit High existed at all is because it was born out of excitement and fun. Neither of those things exist for me at the moment when considering the future of HSH, and I won’t suffer for an unsatisfactory ending just so there can be one. There may come a point where I feel pulled back to HSH in the future, and if the material comes to me, and the conditions are right, I’ll consider it then… but as for now, I feel pulled in a different direction and I can’t ignore the calling. Onward to better things…
Clemens
Hey, I joined just so I can write this: I quite enjoyed HSH and am sad to see it go. But I understand why you'd move on. However, I would like to make a suggestion to at least cover the monetary issues you had. Would it be possible for you to create a HSH supporter tier people could sub to, with no other features included (as well as maybe a combined tier for HSH support + regular rewards). And whenever an arbitrary amount of money has been pledged through that tier, you work on one HSH page. So for example, after 250$ from the HSH tiier in total, you draw one page. As for you not finding an ending that you see fitting, As a reader. I would like to see an ending before no ending. Even if it's not the best. Maybe focus on what tropes you want to hit with the HSH comic and build around those. Or turning my suggestion into wise words: Learn to tolerate imperfection.
