Some of you are probably mad. Disappointed. Confused. Or curious. Or all.

I don’t blame you.

But before you attack me for one of my unwise decisions, please hear me out first.

Since the very first day I made an AFF account, which was eight years ago, I’ve never thought of or cared about people subscribing to my story, getting featured, or getting karma, and I believe readers who’ve been with me since my inception can confirm that truth because they know just how much I love to write and want to share with the creative writing community due to the kind of past I have (which can be found mentioned in my earlier public blog posts on here).

So, I totally understand if you’re angry or frustrated that I would even partake in a crowdfunding program. I know receiving support in terms of money is a huge and sensitive deal because it’s money. It’s hard-earned money. Not-easy-to-get money. Whereas karma is easily obtained by commenting on a story regardless if the comment’s worth reading, supportive, or constructive.

I totally get that.

So, I do want you to know that prior to my decision, I hesitated LOTS before taking up the courage to join.

But I joined because I want to do more with my writing, and I want to share my writing, my ideas, my stories in a more engaging domain.

The visual arts.

Webcomics.

I grew up reading not just books but also manga, and I would love, love, love to have my stories come to life in that form simply because not everyone has the time to read my lengthy chapters. Don’t get me wrong, writing is still my absolute fav. I have posted my stories on Tapas and Wattpad (with the changes in names, places, and etc. to parallel non-Asian fanatic readers), but I’ve had to shorten my chapters due to the character limit (Tapas, in particular), and that ruins my writing in a way because my chapters aren’t “bite-sized.” That, to me, shows that the newer/younger generations don’t have the capacity to enjoy a lengthy/long read (don’t get me wrong, life gets in the way too, but I just wished Tapas didn’t have that length constriction and was more like Wattpad).

I just can’t find myself satisfied with the shortening of my chapters, so a year later, I concluded that the middle ground for my passion to write/show so much in one chapter and for a site to consider my work as “bite-sized,” is drawing.

Drawing cuts out a lot of words, but at least I can imply more with what drawing has to offer, therefore, I can still accomplish what I want, which is to show more in one chapter—and it can fit a “bite-sized” limit.

Unfortunately, I’m not gifted with the drawing skill, but I didn’t give up. On Tapas, I’ve sought artists, but many are for commissions, and knowing my lengthy works, reaching halfway of my story in art form can cost up to $1000 USD. I’ve done some estimations, and my longest work can be up to $2500 USD in commission. Maybe even more. The cheapest commission I’ve come across was someone who had offered $0.75 per page, but she only does short works…and my works are nowhere remotely near being short.

I have tried to seek artists on AFF, but at the time, I was struggling with three things: completing my semi-hiatus story, Mirai; completing my was-currently-ongoing story, YIS: Our Virtual Family; and dealing with a personal writing problem, word count, which has its own blog post you can find here.

Then, the crowdfund program on AFF went beta, and I was curious. But I didn’t bother to really know more because only a few were accepted. About a year or so later (which was a few days ago), I happened to saw the “Apply for Crowdfund” green button above my feed display and was curious since I had never seen it on my page at all. I questioned our site founder regarding the program and figured that I should sign up in case. I never thought I’d be accepted so soon, and when I did, I immediately thought that this is a good time to use this to fund my artist.

That’s right.

This crowdfunding program is for my artist (just to let you know, I’ve yet to find an artist).

It was perfect timing because I had finished my stories and am working on a new story (which isn’t public yet), but the new story’s almost finished. I’m taking this as God’s calling to work on a challenging path and to help kickstart someone else’s—my future artist’s.

I know crowdfunding on AFF has also received some negative outlook because authors are getting funded over fanfiction. I see the problem too, and I want to say that over my eight years of writing on here, I’ve gradually wanted to do more with my writing. I want to get published. I want to make comics. So, to not let anyone feel as if they’re paying fanfiction authors because they believe that fanmade works shouldn’t be funded, I am gradually shifting my works into a more “original” domain, if that makes any sense. It’s why on Tapas and on Wattpad, I’ve changed my characters’ names, locations, and etc. This is also not to say that I will completely stop writing fanfiction (unless I’ve find a reason to stop). I just want you to know that my works are original, and idol-based names or characters are simply used for relating to the character in the story or for enjoyment.

As I’ve mentioned above, I love to write and I want to share my stories to a community I share and have the same passion with, so I love sitting at my desk, typing away my imagination onto a word document and posting for everyone to see what I’ve come up with. I don’t mind taking hours to re-edit 100,000k+ words because I get to see how much I’ve grown in my writing.

But my (future) artist might not feel the same way. Also, my (future) artist deserves to be paid for his/her time in detailing certain expressions, perfecting correct gestures and action movements, and adding color to make the atmosphere or emotional scene come to life. My future artist deserves it because they’re putting their effort and time into a work that’s not from or by them.

And I think that you, as a reader, wouldn’t mind supporting a graphic artist more so than an author or a writer because you’ll see the drawings instead of just the words. And maybe my words aren’t enough to evoke emotions but seeing a drawing will.

I do hope that after reading this lengthy post, you’ll come to understand that I do have a reason for joining this program, and that you won’t mind my decision.

I can promise you and guarantee to you that all funds from this program will strictly be used to pay for an artist or to support other writing/artistic works.

Regarding my tiers (crowdfunding page is here)

$1 per month:

• Sponsors of this tier can read author-designated chapters a week in advance

• Sponsors of this tier get special mention in sponsors list

• Sponsors-only access to crowdfund-only feed posts

$2 per month:

• Stories can be viewed in a single page

• Sponsors of this tier can read author-designated chapters a week in advance

• Sponsors of this tier get special mention in sponsors list

• Sponsors-only access to crowdfund-only feed posts

An additional lengthy note: I’M SEEKING ARTISTS and will only select one since I don’t have funds…

After reading the above, if you are an artist and would like to draw for me, please, please, please PM me. These are the conditions I have:

Please include a link to your drawing portfolio. Select one chapter from any of my stories to draw from the beginning of that chapter to the end of that chapter (this way, you and I get a feel of how long it takes for you to draw a 7000-9000 word-length chapter before you start hating the work I have for you) (let me know of which chapter first before you start drawing).

Most important of all, you’ve got to be okay with not getting paid for a while or at all. The thing is, I’ve also joined Tapas, and Tapas needs only 25 subscribers. It’s hard to reach that as a writer because most readers prefer comics, but as soon as we are included in their ad-revenue program (or as soon as we get funded on AFF), payment goes to you. Of course, this may change in the future, but that’s the “payment” I have now.

However, if you do have other conditions or a better idea, let me know. I’m interested. =)

As for working conditions or schedule, I don’t really care what you draw on since I have no knowledge about that so long as the visuals are captivating. I also publish bi-weekly, and though I would like to keep it like that, I’m also flexible since drawing requires more time than writing.

I don’t like giving deadlines, but my new story will probably be published some time in mid-June or early July…and I would like it if I can find an artist to work on the story first. This way, I’ll be publishing the written work and the visual work almost simultaneously. By deadline, I mean that  if I don’t have an artist willing to collaborate with me by that time, I’ll start publishing my chapters. It’ll because if I do find an artist after that deadline, his/her drawing will be behind my written work. THIS MAY GET PUSHED BACK.

Also, a perk of being my artist (or I guess an artist of all works), you get to know first-hand of what’s going to happen). Hopefully, that’s a good thing…lol.

Anyway, sorry that this has become a blog post more about seeking an artist than my participation in the program…but as always, I know my typies will understand where I’m coming from, and I will never be able to thank you enough.

Thank you,

Mstyper.