Update 221213-resolve.md

content/posts/221213-resolve.md

@@ -16,11 +16,13 @@ I have a few things I want to do in the year 2023. Probably not the above-mentio
 
 So instead I have a couple concrete things I wish to make this year, thinking about moving toward concrete artifacts and away from purely-digital chotchkies. A couple zines. An album. A newsletter. I resolve to make them. The reasons for this are a few. 
 
-One: I like physical media. I like receiving it and I like giving it. Sending a PDF of an adventure to a friend is cool, but the other day I received a copy of CHUM by my friend Andrew and it made my entire week. I already had CHUM. I printed myself a copy the moment he released it. The print quality on his version was a little nicer, sure, but functionally it made little difference. Still, what a cool thing to get! It's on my bookshelf at work, prominently displayed for any students or colleagues to ponder over, should they pass my office. 
+One: I like physical media. I like receiving it and I like giving it. Sending a PDF of an adventure to a friend is cool, but the other day I received a copy of [CHUM](https://occupiedhex.itch.io/chum) by my friend Andrew and it made my entire week. I already had CHUM. I printed myself a copy the moment he released it. The print quality on his version was a little nicer, sure, but functionally it made little difference. Still, what a cool thing to get! It's on my bookshelf at work, prominently displayed for any students or colleagues to ponder over, should they pass my office. 
 
-Two: Releasing a digital thing in a digital marketplace full of things like it is flicking a tear into the ocean. Yesterday, I published a small little thing: kobolds. in the equipment graveyard. It's not going to win any awards for writing or design, and it does suffer the same things so much of my writing does (this post is up to 539 words so far, ugh) but I thought it was pretty OK and at least interesting enough to read and download (with a bunch of free copies, even!) but, as my bruised ego will tell you, nobody's really doing that. It's an OK thing in a pile of things roughly as OK as it is, so of course it's not catching eyes. Now, if it were a little A6 booklet in a local gaming store? Or maybe a cassette or CD at a local record store? What would that look like? Am I naïve to think physicality would make something like this more appealing? At the very least, the people who would see it and then inspect/ignore it would be almost completely outside of the group making the same choice online. That group would also be much smaller, granted. 
+Two: Releasing a digital thing in a digital marketplace full of things like it is flicking a tear into the ocean. Yesterday, I published a small little thing: [kobolds. in the equipment graveyard](https://jasonwardell.itch.io/kobolds-in-the-equipment-graveyard). It's not going to win any awards for writing or design, and it does suffer the same things so much of my writing does (this post is up to 539 words so far, ugh) but I thought it was pretty OK and at least interesting enough to read and download (with a bunch of free copies, even!) but, as my bruised ego will tell you, nobody's really doing that. It's an OK thing in a pile of things slightly more OK than it is, so of course it's not catching eyes. Now, if it were a little A6 booklet in a local gaming store? Or maybe a cassette or CD at a local record store? What would that look like? Am I naïve to think physicality would make something like this more appealing? At the very least, the people who would see it and then inspect/ignore it would be almost completely outside of the group making the same choice online. That group would also be much smaller, granted. 
+
+I could also open a web store. It wouldn't take much at all to just have a spot with whatever inventory I have available, passively selling and mailing a copy here or there. This is how I got looped in with [MIRU](https://mimicpublishing.com/product/miru-an-analog-adventure-game/), although it is indeed *much* cooler and more visually-appealing than any of my little trifles. Still: I saw this neat game and zine kit that, while outside my typical purchasing sphere as I'm not huge on solo TTRPGs usually, was a very satisfying impulse buy. The game is fun, the additional components (beads! dice! lapel pin?!) are fun, and it's fun to have this thing and support a fellow small creator. What would it take for me to make a neat little package for, say, [The Dungeon Near The Shadow](https://phantomfuneral.com/games/adventures/tdnts/)? Would I get any impulse-buys for a small stack of [LampCorp](https://twitter.com/jasonhwardell/status/1374500416679936005?s=20&t=Eb77iK-9f-909I_niqCJFA) business cards, mailed on a forever stamp?
 
 ## I don't really know!
-Financially, this is a trickier prospect by just a little. Releasing a PDF on itch is more or less free. About $50 will get me 50 A6 zines. Not sure what it looks like for tapes. If I only want to make back what I spent on them, $5 should do it. This is a fun endeavor anyhow, not looking to turn it into a full job, but if I could make a few things, have the artifacts to show for it, and recoup my costs? That seems like hobby-time well-spent. And, shoot, I could find a few folks to just give these to if nobody wants to buy: lesson learned for the price of a B-tier video game release.
+Financially, this is a trickier prospect by just a little. Releasing a PDF on itch is more or less free. About $50 will get me 50 A6 zines. Not sure what it looks like for tapes. If I only want to make back what I spent on them & shipping, $5 should do it. This is a fun endeavor anyhow, not looking to turn it into a full job, but if I could make a few things, have the artifacts to show for it, and recoup my costs? That seems like hobby-time well-spent. And, shoot, I could find a few folks to just give these to if nobody wants to buy: lesson learned for the price of a B-tier video game release.
 
-## Consider my resolve at test.
+## Consider my resolve at test.