A very Merry Christmas to everyone... <3 (also, news!)

Riff, KJ, and I want to extend our warmest wishes to all of you this holiday season. We'll be posting a very special "Christmas" page either today or tomorrow, both here and on the website, but as an extra gift for everyone, you'll all get the high-resolution version, regardless of your pledge. <3

What's around the corner, you might be wondering...

Well, a few really promising statistics first. According to our Google Analytics, "The Depths" saw approximately 3,000 page visits in the past week, and we had, from August until November of 2018,  almost 70,000 page visits in total. December isn't quite done yet, but our reports indicate we could see about 20,000 page visits this month alone. Also, a LOT of visits seem to be coming "directly", which means people have bookmarked and return often. The only negative we could see so far, is that we just have so many repeat visitors and not enough new ones (also, strangely, we get about 15% of our traffic from Latvia, if you can believe that!)

We're going to change the game in January, starting with a massive marketing campaign designed to attract new viewers. The campaign will be called, fittingly, #HoldYourBreath, and it'll be featured on Twitter, Facebook and other powerhouse sites. We are staying very VERY strong on Top Webcomics, and we've been in the Top Ten all month. We've even outshone a couple of webcomics that won Ursa Major awards at one time! (speaking of which, yes The Depths was recommended for a nomination, so we hope you'll vote!)

A very important investment is being made too as well into the Patreon, which SHOULD allow now regular monthly art treats, gifts, giveaways, and merchandise. We've been discussing ideas for t-shirts, tumblers, hats, and other things, which we hope will get word of mouth to spread even more. A local comic shop here near Riff and I will even carry the printed version of The Depths when ready. (He's absolutely excited, and his place gets about 1,000 visits a week.)

So, we have a LOT going on. I may have to forgo writing long stories for a while, unfortunately. =( My hand is still recuperating after surgery in October, but my plan is to instead write shorter stories, little vignettes, BUT...I'll write two of these short-shorts each month, at least 1,000 words each. And I want to include our supporters' characters in these stories, as well as story content to vote on!

I think the fairest way for that would be to add one more perk if you sign up for at least a Swell, the $10 level - your character included in one of the monthly stories over time. If I get a lot of entries, I'll simply create stories with several characters. *^^* 

Again, a very Merry Christmas to everyone! You can look forward to a lot more fun and romance and adventure in the coming year. We are STILL SEEKING a pencil artist, by the way, so if you have some suggestions, feel free to contact THE ARTIST(S) only. Don't recommend anyone to us, please. ^^

Take care, everyone, and peace and blessings to you all... <3

Lani, Riff, and KJ