Year Three Begins Now

I want to expand this coming year. I will need help to make that happen.

Livestreaming & Podcasting: It's apparent to me that part of what makes an author grow his audience is to be visible. Part of that visibility stems from having something available, daily, for that audience to enjoy. That's a big reason for why I started and maintain this 'blog. Building on that means going into other media, and livestreaming makes you available to your audience far more than a radio-style podcast does. It has the additional benefit of creating a file for later playback. This means that streaming live on (e.g.) Twitch grants me something to upload to YouTube (et. al.). Several streamers I follow (including Razorfist) do very well using this approach.

So why not get into this? The chokepoint is my computer; I use a Toshiba Satellite A5050 from 2010. I can intimidate it into running World of Warcraft, but its age shows. There's no way I can play the games I usually do and stream them. What I can reliably do is make use of the Hangout feature, as the Geek Gab and Metro City Boys crews do, but if I really want to go beyond that (or get into video production), I need to get a newer rig.

The lesser option (for me) is a PS4. (Lesser only because I can't do some of the other things I want to do with it.) The console has just enough desirable games that I can make that work as a streaming platform for me until I get that PC rig sorted; I'd just need to get a few to get started. After watching Oliver Campbell stream Mad Max from it over this past weekend, I think the PS4 Pro is the most future-proof console option there is, for now, with the Switch coming in second.

Eventually, I want to put up a proper tabletop RPG show, streamed live at Twitch and archived at YouTube, because the ones we have there now are done by Mech Pilots, SJWs, or Storygame wankers (save for the Palladium shows, which have other issues). Time to show folks how it's done; a proper old-school exploration campaign, with hexcrawls and dungeons and West Marches play styles.

Books: I want to learn to do more than just write. That means expanding the skillset, and thus the toolset. In particular, I want to get into the skills (and tools) to produce ebooks and the files necessary for Print-On-Demand production. I have Calibre on the laptop, but at the very least I will need a better rig if I get serious about book covers or start making promotional videos.

Acquiring these skills enables related side-hustles and their revenue, something I need to consider going forward. This, in turns, means I can contribute more to my fellows in the #PulpRev, #Superversive, and #OldSchoolRenaisance than an occasional story or article and these blog posts. If I can also learn how to produce decent location maps, I can start focusing on things that are always in demand: ready-to-go dungeons to drop-in and play.

A new PC rig will help with all of this. If you want to help get me the tools I need to do this, I would be grateful and appreciative for your support. I'd love to see my birthday this year (on Saturday) be spent putting that rig together and getting it up and running.

Regardless, I will do what I can to make this happen on my own. I just don't mind asking for a little help from my friends now and then.