Newsletter: June 2021

June 2021 Status:

Hi all! We’re so sorry we haven’t kept in touch with everyone. Riff and I, as many might have heard, are trying very hard to buy the house we’ve been leasing since 2017. That has meant a lot of work to gain capital, to raise our credit scores, to get certain things done on the house, etc. It’s been a stress-mess, to say the least. Fighting the IRS, illnesses in our furry family, and of course the dark shadow of COVID-19 holding sway over all…we THOUGHT 2021 would be a lot less stressful. *^^*

But it’s not been all bad which helps us get through the bad or uncertainty, so if you find yourself having a bad day (even today), just think about the good things going on today, make a list if you have to. Good things happen all around us, and that’s what we should try to focus on always. A lesson from a seasoned pro at having bad days. *^^*

“The Depths” since the last year has had a readership drop of 40%. We’re thinking that’s probably because we had a change in artists that people didn’t like very much for the comic. Moonabel’s style and design has been very much better-received and for June, we’re actually back about 20% ahead. Advertising and marketing are also underway. We maintain that people do love the webcomic very much, as we’re still #1 ranked on Google for adult furry comics – in fact when we Googled “furry comics” the other month, we were very excited to be not the #1 ranked site on Google, BUT…we were the #1 ranked webcomic name. Meaning out of all the “furry comics” sites out there, “The Depths” ranks first by name! So, technically, we’re #1 in “furry comics” too. <3

We also fault our drop in readership due to our breakaway from Top Webcomics. We are no longer listed in Top Webcomics, at least officially. People still seem to vote for us though, which of course is fine. We just no longer want to be associated with the Comic of the Month, as we have seen too many instances of people using sneaky and illicit means to garner votes, and it is very hackable. It’s not a good “measuring arm”, that’s for damned sure. =P

But we’re happy with what is going on right now, and we’re VERY excited to reveal to all of you the next part of the series, which explains the origins of the Talen, the true secret of the mantas, and a plot twist we promise no one will see coming. It will challenge Kalea especially – and it will be up to her on the fates of them all. Scripted pages are coming!

We are still seeking a web designer that can take care of “insignificant Otters” and “Island Girls” websites, which should start seeing a lot more traffic soon as well. For Comic Ad Network, we generate roughly $2 per day. The other sites will eventually become just as successful, and we should at that point generate $5-6 per day. That’s enough to update two comics extra each month.

We were in negotiations to list “Insignificant Otters” on Kemono Café, but for some reason they do not want us there. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their loss. We have a very popular comic strip on Tapas (about 420 subscribers now) and we’re quite happy with the results so far. Artist Roy Wolverine is getting over a family crisis and will be back to work very soon on a new page. <3 People must please understand that we value all of our artists and that their lives are very important to us as well as them. Their well-being comes first so we must be patient.

Obviously, “Island Girls” just isn’t getting much traction, despite over 100 subscribers on Tapas. We’re certain part of the reason is that “Island Girls” is an icky human comic and the bulk of the work here is furry-oriented. *^^* So…we are thinking we may drop “Island Girls” from the line up at least here on Patreon, build a dedicated website for that, and just work as we can on that one. It may require we get a dedicated Patreon strictly for that title as well. We’ll start closing down “Island Girls” soon and focusing on our otters. It might be for the best though. Maybe we can call our new enterprise here “OtterComics”! (I just have to make sure we can change our domain on Patreon. I DOUBT it but we will see.) If there are objections over the "split" we can revisit this notion! 

One more quick note: We are in the middle of designing 45 t-shirts, 15 each of medium, large and extra-large and this is the image we’re wanting to work on:

(Our thanks to ABlueDeer for this)

The tag on the collar will have the website for “The Depths” and we plan to charge $30-40 for each size: ($30 for medium, $35 for large, and $40 for extra-large). Most of these proceeds will go towards paying our artists more AND if t-shirts really take off, we’ll be able to finally create an online store and sell t-shirts, keychains, beach towels, swim caps, cups, mugs, and a variety of other things. So yes, we’re VERY excited about the possibilities here. <3

That’s all we had for everyone, but we’ll have more updates very soon. Thank you, as always, for your incredible support! We love you all! <3

Leilani, speaking for herself, Riff, Roy, Ralph and Moonabel <3