Episode 119 - Special Thanks & Future Plans

[RedRetroRobot]

First, if the back catalog remains available at no cost as it is now, then I will have no problems continuing to point people over here.

Second, if I'm remembering correctly, one of four 'casts a month will continue to be free. The free episode will be the one that talks about Lovecraft's essay. The three paid will be analysis of the referenced stories themselves. So the Lovecraft material remains free, it's the other stuff that will be on the premium feed.

Rather than ragequitting, you should consider continuing to download the free monthly episode.

First, you make a good point about the back catalog. They did great work on the writings of the man himself, and I'm glad that will remain available for myself and others to enjoy free of charge. It's a great source of knowledge and entertainment.

Second, I'm glad they're offering some of their material for free. I'm sure many people will continue to enjoy the podcast in that form. All I meant to say is that some people won't. Some people might feel that a podcast that updates once per month isn't worth keeping tack of, and others, like me, might be put off by the amount of material that they don't get access to. Speaking of which...

I understand that my reasons for quitting the show might not make sense to you, but I hardly think it deserves to be called ragequitting. I find unappealing the thought of once a month getting to hear about all the stuff I won't get to hear about, and so I shall opt out. No rancor involved.

If we can keep 8% of our audience, we can do this.

Lastly, however, I wish to emphasize that what upsets me is that this move is not necessary. Why keep only 8% of the audience? Why not keep 100% and at least try to keep running it for free? Plenty of podcasts are done for free, and with their clearly affluent listeners, I imagine a kickstarter or donation drive would go quite well. It is my opinion, and I'm sure others will disagree, that it's better to at least try and keep their audience intact, before sacrificing 92% of it in order to start charging an admission fee. If they tried, and failed, to acquire the funds in a more creative manner, I would not begrudge them their choice to acquire them in a more traditional one. I just hate to see an opportunity like this pass by.

I understand your points, but this effort is also a transition for them to put MORE into the podcast. Donations are nice, but not exactly stable income. More or less, this model at least provides data for them to work with.


Also this podcast is obviously made with sacrifice of time, effort, bandwidth, etc on the whole team's part. It's not only free, but actually costly to the makers. If a situation came up where they don't have time due to other commitments to make a living, this podcast could essentially be victim. I'd rather follow this model in order to ensure it's longevity.

I know budgets are tight, but I find it incredibly reasonable. If it basically provides stability, then all the more power to it.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

They've already been getting donations, which doesn't seem to be enough. People who love stuff don't always donate. I've had over 150,000 people download the Lovecraft ebook from my site. Possibly 100 have donated anything as a thanks (which is fine, it's free, but I'm not trying to support myself on it).

I think that $2.22/month is incredibly reasonable. Even teenage me would've paid that, and teenage me was a total cheapskate (still kind of am, but I actually have a full-time job now, so I can afford more). Yes, some people may not be able to afford it, but they've got access to the entire HPL stuff + one ep a month for free...which is a lot of fantastic content. If this means that they can make an even better show, that's fantastic.

The only potential problem I foresee is their ability to take money from various sources, as people like oldbook have mentioned. But I assume that they'll do their best to accommodate people.

[rhorsman]

I'm so looking forward to this! I actually tried to do the project of reading as many of the things mentioned in Supernatural Horror in Literature as possible myself a while ago and failed miserably (though not before reading some awesome stuff by F. Marion Crawford that I hope you'll be covering).

And yeah, I would be on board for Chris and Chad Go Back to School too!

[old book]

Maybe there could be um a "discount" for students from Africa and Oceania or something, although $6.66 doesn't seem like much anywhere in the world anymore. Isn't that like $2.00 Canadian now? Return eight coke bottles, slap the dough in an envelope, you're in like Flynn. I know Zimbabwe has horrible inflation, maybe there could be a special discount for Zimbabweans, say $0.50 USD? Just thinking out loud, I don't know that any Zimbabweans are even tuning in.

As far as the back catalog goes, it seems like--and I might be making this up, I don't remember really clearly--it seems like I saw the full run to date on demonoid about six months ago. If there is a torrent, we could take turns making sure there are seeders every once in a while, and that might save Sich and Chard some monthly internet charges. Just an idea.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

I would be happy to be a seeder for a torrent of the backlog as long as C&C are ok with it.

[Lambda]

I'll be happily seeding whatever you come up with.

[Yojimbo]

We couldn't sell through iTunes, even if we wanted to. They don't do paid podcasts. HOWEVER, you can use your iTunes, or other podcatcher, just as you would the regular show. iTunes will prompt you for a user name and password, you enter it, and from then on, it just comes in as new episodes are released, just like the old show.

If you just download from the site, then there be a subscriber section for you to get all your goodies.

We'll have DETAILED explanations for all of it when the time comes.

I'll have to get over my "thing" about paying for stuff online, I suppose. I was hoping there would be some way to do this with iTunes gift cards. But I do think I can work this into my monthly entertainment budget fairly easily. I feel about not donating or chipping in to all the podcasts I listen to - maybe I can balance my karma a little bit through the subscription.

Looking forward to the next step, and learning how it's all going to work.

[PaulofCthulhu]

As someone who offers "pay podcasts" I think Chris & Chad's move is the most sensible option in the situation.

Decent podcasts take time and effort (and some cost) to produce. If you've not got major, regular sponsorship or sufficient advertising revenue then you do reach an end point - and likely (like me) Chris & Chad have tried their best to make that work - but those sponsorships for this kind of material just don't exist. - If the show was about pharmaceutical products, fast cars, accountancy or any of the regular vices then it might be a different situation (and certainly a very different podcast).

CthulhuChick's report on average number of donors rings about right to me and a Kickstarter would give (if successful) a discrete amount in a chunk but not provide the regularity needed for maintenance, stability and planning. The bills that most people pay are regular (e.g. monthly) ones.

Ultimately, is what Chris & Chad provide to you worth the price of a (cheap) cup of coffee once a month? Yes, or no?

[old book]

I would be happy to be a seeder for a torrent of the backlog as long as C&C are ok with it.

I'll be happily seeding whatever you come up with.

I went and checked and the only torrent I could find on demonoid was someone sharing Lehman's reading of Call of Cthulhu, I believe. It would be easy to do, though, and sure doesn't have to and probably shouldn't be exclusively on demonoid anyway. Maybe that openbittorrent tracker or whatever it's called plus some presence on demonoid or somewhere, multiple trackers. My hppodcraft folder contains about 5 GB but I'm not certain what all I stuck in there, probably a bunch of youtube rips and stuff like that in addition to eps and readings.

[Chad Fifer]

Paying for content is just simply not for everybody, and we understand. We knew that we'd lose some audience by going to this format. Obviously we'd like to keep everybody but we've also been on the other side of this kind of switch. We get it.

Other posters on this thread have hit on our reasoning. We actually have tried other models - donations (both when the listener feels compelled and when prompted by "ransom" drives) and sponsorships, which have been sufficient to cover basic expenses. Kickstarter is fine for folks funding one-off projects, but isn't a good fit when recurring and predictable revenue is required. And all of these models require additional resources. Sponsorships require solicitation and fee negotiations as well as tracking the efficacy of the ad for the sponsor (and surrendering a bit of editorial control), and the ransom drives require us to contribute more than just the show in order to attract donors, which ultimately leaves us less time for the show itself.

We're trying to offer the squarest deal we can and be open about the fact that we're not business geniuses. Please know we're approaching this with great humility and don't feel entitled to anything. We simply love the show and want to continue. But aside from server and design and production, there are a lot of intangible costs that make it difficult to continue for free. Obviously time spent away from family and friends as well as the pressure of doing this on top of full-time and freelance work commitments. It's worth mentioning that although we started during a lull in our careers, we have since both refused work that would've paid a heck of a lot more for a heck of a lot less effort, and can't continue to make that sacrifice without being able to justify it in a real-world way.

I really appreciate the support I've read here, as well as the openness of those who are jumping ship. There really have been only a few wholly negative reactions, and for that we're thankful.

All that said - if this doesn't work out, I'm going to drown a kitten each day of 2013. If you don't contribute, then I guess we all know that's cool with you.

p.s. Puppies on the weekends.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

I would be happy to be a seeder for a torrent of the backlog as long as C&C are ok with it.

I'll be happily seeding whatever you come up with.

I went and checked and the only torrent I could find on demonoid was someone sharing Lehman's reading of Call of Cthulhu, I believe. It would be easy to do, though, and sure doesn't have to and probably shouldn't be exclusively on demonoid anyway. Maybe that openbittorrent tracker or whatever it's called plus some presence on demonoid or somewhere, multiple trackers. My hppodcraft folder contains about 5 GB but I'm not certain what all I stuck in there, probably a bunch of youtube rips and stuff like that in addition to eps and readings.

If you have them all, would you be up to creating the torrent?

[catamount]

Chad,

Are you still going to have the Paypal donate button on the website, should people have some extra scratch and they wanna throw some more money your way, in addition to the subscription fee?

[old book]

If you have them all, would you be up to creating the torrent?

Yeah. I have them and would be up to that, but I wouldn't be able to seed a lot, only a few hours on the weekend probably. If Sich and Chard would like, that's my main consideration I guess. It would be better if someone with a higher-powered computer and internet connection did it, but I could probably muddle through promoting the first few leechers to seeders and then letting them carry on, if need be.

I guess we should do the straight eps and maybe leave the readings out, or as a separate torrent, or we should ask Leman as well as Sich and Chard? Not sure.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

If you have them all, would you be up to creating the torrent?

Yeah. I have them and would be up to that, but I wouldn't be able to seed a lot, only a few hours on the weekend probably. If Sich and Chard would like, that's my main consideration I guess. It would be better if someone with a higher-powered computer and internet connection did it, but I could probably muddle through promoting the first few leechers to seeders and then letting them carry on, if need be.

I guess we should do the straight eps and maybe leave the readings out, or as a separate torrent, or we should ask Leman as well as Sich and Chard? Not sure.

I think separate torrents for both would be a good idea. I'd be happy to leave it up seeding at a smallish rate (thinking 25kbps) on my computer while I'm at work. For audio it's a decent rate. Anyway, if it's easier, I can create the torrent here. And yes, I think we should get permission. I'll shoot an email. I'm assuming the answer will be yes because less bother for their media hosting, but who knows.

[Konrad Hartmann]

All that said - if this doesn't work out, I'm going to drown a kitten each day of 2013. If you don't contribute, then I guess we all know that's cool with you.

p.s. Puppies on the weekends.

You monster. Very well, I'll pay. But if you had any pride, you'd drown penguins. Any fiend could drown a puppy or kitten. But a penguin? That takes intestinal fortitude. And time. Lots of time.