Where's the money gonna come from?
All right, luvvies? I'm writing this at the start of a week off 9–5 work, which I'm trying very hard not to just fill back up with different work. I took the time off because I need time off! You can ping me in a reply (or on Instagram or Tumblr) when you get this to check whether I took a proper break (and berate me if not).
running order
soliloquy: so you've scripted a podcast. now what?
asides: nominate me for an award maybe, Monster of the Week mysteries you can buy, what's new with Merely Roleplayers, what I'm making and enjoying, #pinspiration
fin: when you need something made, where do you turn?
soliloquy: from script to speakers
So I've written scripts for the first season of a new micro-fiction/audiodrama podcast, I Need A Miracle. The next step is getting it made. I've been weighing up several different ways of approaching that. Let's go through them.
Option one is scraping it together on a shoestring. Buttonholing friends to perform, using whatever recording equipment I already have to hand, doing as much of the production as possible myself and begging favours for the parts I can't.
In some ways this is the easiest option. It doesn't rely on anyone else's approval, or involve putting any new infrastructure together.
But! For me, for this project, this is the option of absolute last resort, for various reasons.
First and foremost, I already have one podcast (Merely Roleplayers) that I run on this basis. I already ask a lot of my friends to perform on that show for nothing, on the promise it'll be fun and I'll buy everyone a pint afterwards. I think you only get one of those, or you should only get one. If you run every project like this, especially if you're calling on the same people each time, it starts getting exploitative.
Second, I'm trying not to exploit myself either, by which I mean, I've put work into writing this series (admittedly on spec), I think it's worthwhile, and I'd like to see if I can make some money in return for that work. And if one person involved in a project is getting paid, everyone should be getting paid.
So where's the money going to come from?
aside the first: play—prepare
The Sherrydown Enquirer is a series of mysteries I've written for the Monster of the Week roleplaying game, based on the first five Vigil productions.
Because you're reading this newsletter, you can get all these for a song – 50% off each issue, or get all five for $10 (a 54% discount), with coupon code 5become1. Grab your coupon and hit the sale – it runs until the next issue of this newsletter, the second Friday in June.
If you play or run Monster of the Week, these are full mysteries good for 2-3 sessions of play, complete with locations, bystanders and fully-statted monsters to battle – with a noticeably British-er flavour than your standard Monster of the Week scenario.
And if you're a fan of Vigil on Merely Roleplayers, all five of these mysteries include bonus lore for the setting. The secret histories of Sherrydown, the mechanics of the omission effect, the modus operandi of the Department of Omissions; all this and more sheds new light on the story we're telling in Vigil.
soliloquy continues
Option two is I fund I Need A Miracle out of my own pocket, then sell subscriptions or ad space on the show to try to recoup my costs.
This option isn't top of my list. Obviously it's financially risky: I'd need to pull from my personal savings up front to make the thing, and there's the risk that I'd never make the full amount back through ads or subs. Plus I'd still need to do a lot of the legwork myself, which would take time away from other projects.
I'd probably need to set up a limited liability production company for the show, to make sure I'm not personally on the hook if the whole thing goes belly up. There's extra risk because I'd be figuring out a lot on the fly; I've got a few years of experience with podcasting, but not with producing scripted audiodrama, so I'm going to make mistakes.
One thing in my favour is that the series isn't too complicated. There's only one voice in each episode. The sound design needed is minimal. It could do without music if it needs to.
But still, I'd be looking at paying 12 actors for probably half a day each; then backstage, at the very least a casting director, a performance director and a recording engineer. I could do the editing and sound design myself, but I'd rather pay someone else to do a better job if I can afford it.
Could I make that back through ads? I've built a couple of ad spots into each episode to make sure this option is possible. It's a micro-fiction series by an unknown writer, so download numbers are unlikely to be huge, at least initially. I could try to change that by marketing and community-building – or spend out some more to hire someone to do that work, in the hope that it pays off in bigger audiences and more ad revenue.
What about subscriptions? There are a couple of ways to charge some or all of your podcast audience now, including Apple Podcasts subscriptions and Apollo Plus. Marketing would be important again here – I'd need to convince people this show is worth paying to access.
So, could I recoup through ads or subs? Probably, eventually. Could I do it quickly? Unlikely.
Whether I end up taking this option is going to depend on a couple of factors. First, how much would I actually need to lay out, and can I afford it? I've bookmarked a couple of posts by more experienced audiodrama creators that should help me calculate a rough budget. And second, is it the only way to get the series made? That is, have the other options failed?
aside the second: recognise—reward
The CRIT (Creator Recognition in TTRPGs) Awards are open to nominations until 1 June. This is a new awards thing with an ethos I like, of celebrating the people you see as your peers. They want you to nominate people at your own level who you think deserve more recognition, rather than showering more accolades on already-huge players.
The CRIT Awards categories include actual play podcasts – like Merely Roleplayers, for instance.
In case you'd like to nominate the show at all: the eligibility period (1 Jan 2022–31 Jan 2023) covers Vigil: Quarry in the Main House, and Monumental Exit in the Studio. (Vigil: All Aboard and The Lost Andromeda Ward Christmas Special also include episodes that aired in the period, but some episodes fall outside, so I feel like it's safest to nominate things that are unambiguously eligible.)
So you could feel free to nominate anything and anyone related to Quarry or Monumental Exit – but if you do want to help us out, here are the nominations I'd suggest:
Best storyline | In a AP: Vigil: Quarry (Merely Roleplayers)
Best Series: Vigil (Merely Roleplayers) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCMIHyd_TMSpZ_HMrmThX2HcM_zP2yR5-
Best NPC: Ernie Bering, agent of DoOm (Merely Roleplayers: Vigil)
Best Villain: The Stranger (Merely Roleplayers: Vigil)
Best Game Master | Indie: Matt Boothman
Best Player | Indie: choose your fighter – you could nominate:
Natalie Winter (for either Gwynned in Vigil: All Aboard or Sue Sherpa in Monumental Exit)
Alexander Pankhurst (for Mike Sherpa in Monumental Exit)
Marta Da Silva (for Harper in Vigil: All Aboard)
(also eligible are Ellen Gould and Josh Yard for The Feed, and Helen, Strat, Vikki and Chris Starkey for Vigil: Quarry – but Nat, Alex and Marta are professional actors and a nomination could make more of a difference to them!)
Best Podcast: Merely Roleplayers
Best Audio and Sound Design | Podcast: Merely Roleplayers
Best Instrumental of the year by a musician in TTRPG: Vigil theme by Alexander Pankhurst https://youtu.be/KRsdcFLK0F4?t=104
By the way, this isn't me trying to rig the nominations in any way. It's just me trying to make things easier, both for you (if you decide to nominate us) and the CRIT Awards.
For you: I've done the maths on what's eligible, so you don't have to trawl our archive looking at dates and credits. If you like an NPC from another podcast or stream better than our Ernie, say, I hope you'll nominate them for Best NPC instead! But if you did want to nominate (just for example) Quarry for Best Storyline, please do enter it in the nomination form the way I've suggested above.
Because for the awards – who have bravely allowed free-text entry for every category at this stage – I'm hoping it helps them crunch numbers and tidy their data if everyone who nominates, say, Vigil for Best Series uses the same wording and the same link.
I've already got my own nominations in for things like What Am I Rolling?, Monster Hour, Campaign: Skyjacks, Interstitial AP, Realms of Peril & Glory, Unreal, and more (can't and wouldn't nominate myself, so I've enjoyed splashing some praise around!).
Get your nominations in by 1 June!
soliloquy continues
Option three is crowdfunding. Very similar to option two, except the funding comes from the audience instead of from my own pocket.
There are sub-options within this option: subscriptions and patronage-style funding (like Patreon, Ko-Fi or Gumroad) and up-front project-based funding (like Kickstarter, Indiegogo or Seed & Spark).
I've been weighing up the idea of a Patreon or Ko-Fi for a while, not for I Need A Miracle specifically, but for Foggy Outline in general. At the beginning it would effectively be a Merely Roleplayers subscription, because that's currently the only Foggy Outline show. But if enough people pay a bit a month for bonuses like uncut episodes, that could help fund I Need A Miracle, which could bring in more listeners and more patrons, whose contributions could help fund the next thing, and so on.
With the Indiegogo-type option, I'd need a big, concentrated promotional push to get pledges, but then (presuming I hit the goal) I'd have the twin benefits of funds up front, ringfenced for the project, and an audience waiting to support the show.
Of these two sub-options, I think project-based funding is a better fit for I Need A Miracle, because it's a limited-run, self-contained series (leaving aside the possibility of a second season for now) with a relatively modest budget. I'd probably still need to pay something out of my own pocket for ads and crowdfunding consultancy, but that could potentially be built into the budget and recouped soon after collecting pledges.
aside the third: the world's a stage—& we're all Merely Roleplayers
Now playing in the Main House: Vigil: The Great Fire, a conflagration in 5 acts
Persephone Byron came to this century pursuing a demon of smoke and fire. Now it's going to get her attention the only way it knows how.
Backstage: Backstory | Replay: Let's Get Gideon
Coming next
in the Studio: The Queen's Dead, guest starring Fiona Howat from What Am I Rolling? and Naomi Clarke, writer of The Secret of St Kilda, playing Court of the Lich Queen (beta) by Ursidice
then Vigil: Chief Exec in the Main House, followed by The Office Party in the Studio, a heroic fantasy team-building exercise starring Natalie Winter, Strat, Starkey and Dave, compered by Josh Yard, playing Quest
soliloquy continues
Option four is to secure a sponsor. Most likely a business, who'd fund the production in return for exclusive promotion on the show.
There's a bit less marketing and a bit more networking involved in this option. I'd need to get a really robust budget together, and probably a launch marketing plan as well, to show that I can actually deliver both the project and a decent enough audience for it to be worth the sponsor's investment.
Sponsorship or crowdfunding? Times being what they are, I'm a bit more comfortable asking businesses to front me money for a creative project than asking the same of individual people. Plus, running a crowdfunding campaign is a lot of work, and finding a single sponsor might be able to cut out that whole step. On the other hand, once the money is in, I'd maybe rather be beholden to a group of audiodrama lovers than to a corporation?
There's no clear-cut best option, but I'm currently putting out feelers about sponsorship, with crowdfunding in my mind as a backup option.
aside the fourth: create—consume
Writing: Dead Weight – turning one over-long pilot episode script into three perfectly sized pilot episode scripts, by rearranging scenes, reworking ones that weren't working before or that don't work as well in the new structure, writing a few new ones, and re/writing to smooth the joins
Reading: Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (reread); Mexican Gothic by Silva Moreno-Garcia
Listening: Re: Dracula (Bloody FM); The Great Chameleon War (Justin Hellstrom); RADIO: Outcast season 1 score (Samuel Kinsella)
soliloquy concludes
What all the options so far have in common is that I'd still be doing most of the coordinating. Wherever the money comes from, I'm the one deciding who and what to spend it on: finding, vetting and choosing casting agents, directors and so on.
Option five is an existing production company picking up the project. In a lot of ways this is the dream. An outfit that already has the right employees or network to fill all the roles that need filling on a project like this. That's flush enough to fund the series itself, or that has a system in place for crowdfunding new projects. I could take off all my other hats and just concentrate on being the writer.
Again, this option depends more on networking than marketing. And the partnership would need to be right. I'd be handing over a certain amount of control, as well as some rights and revenues, so I'd need to trust the company to treat the series right.
This is really my ideal scenario, because – as I've said in this newsletter before – I love collaborating with other creative people, and seeing what directors, actors and others add to the bones I've carved.
It would need a company willing to take a chance on someone with almost no scripted audiodrama bona fides – there's really only the audio production of Audience with the Ghost Finder to show I know what I'm doing. But I'm hoping the simplicity of the series means it's not too huge a risk for a company to take on.
And if option five doesn't work out, I know I have a number of fallbacks in place.
aside the last: accessorise—advertise
I like to dress up a bit for Merely Roleplayers recording sessions, and to use my pin collection to drop some hints (and red herrings) for the players. Here's what I put together last weekend, when we recorded the upcoming Vigil: Chief Exec...
fin: readers—writers
That's plenty from me! Now it's your turn. When you want to make something happen, are you a 'screw it, I'll do it myself' sort of person? Do you ask for help? Prompt the universe to manifest your will in some way? Tell me in an email (just hit reply) or tag your answer on the socials with #FoggyOutline.