The Importance of Specialization
After reading Heinlein’s famous quote, ‘specialization’ became a bit of a dirty word for me. Never mind that it’s how you get really good at something, or why the industrialization was so successful, being a renaissance man is where it’s at. It’s a romantic notion, but generally false. Especially when it comes to bloging, I find. What do I mean by that? Well, I guess you’ll just have to keep reading to find out.
Monday Miniatures: The Owlbear
This week’s subject was well received by the painters among us, who took time out of their busy holiday plans to get some beautiful painting done. Take a look.
Monday Miniatures: The Sarcophagus
Given that we have spent so much time painting BONES minis, it seems rather appropriate that today we find ourselves painting a sarcophagus, don’t you think? Peak below the fold for some spooky paint jobs.
The Cost of Kickstarter Rewards
Don’t let the title deceive you, this post isn’t about the cost of producing rewards. Rather, this post is about the cost of Kickstarter rewards after the backers have gotten theirs and the creator is left with a product to sell. This has proven to be a surprisingly touchy subject, and the source of more than one argument around these parts. Lets consider some recent projects, and how they’ve marketed the goods after the fact.
Peek below the fold for more.
Kickstarter Success Catapulted to the Big Time with VC Support
Oculus Rift is one of those Kickstarter campaigns that people cite when discussing the power of crowd funding to create something risky but entirely resonant with the zeitgeist. After raking in nearly $2.5 million backer dollars (and successfully delivering on their campaign promises), Oculus, the company behind the Rift virtual reality headset, garnered an additional $16 million in round one venture capital earlier this year to continue development towards a commercial product. This week, TechCrunch reported that Oculus just got an additional $75 MILLION in second round funding, to bring the Rift headset to market.
Monday Miniatures: Stone Golem
This week’s colum starts with the note attached to one of the minis that was sent to me this week.
“Thank you for including me last week! Attached is my golem. At first I really found it hard to get started on this mini, I just wasnt feeling inspired and almost gave up on doing anything this week. Then I decided that I would use it to experiment and I am so happy with the results. It needs work but I am still proud.
The point is making that if it wasn’t for your blog then I would have just put the mini aside and probably not painted this week instead I pushed myself and learned some new things. So Thank you!!!”
I love seeing all the variety that comes of watching a dozen people paint the same mini, but it is the motivation to work on painting every week that really moves me. I’m glad to see that it has the same effect on others.
2014 another year for serious Sci-Fi?
Have you ever reflected on the course of a year and been struck by just how many more “downs” there were than “ups?” Its been one of those years for me, and on this blustery Friday the 13th I can’t shake the feeling that ‘if years were seasons, than this December would be the December of our December.’ But no matter how bleak things might be, I’ll always have the movies. And like this year, next year is looking might promising for fans of genre films.
Peek below to see what Hollywood’s cooking up for next year.
Crowdfunding and Communication
After you finish getting the word out, communication is pretty much a non issue when it comes to crowdfunding. The point is to get the money, right? Then all those saps.. I mean, backers can just leave you the hell alone while you get to it, right? Right?
Some creators may see the process that way, but experiencing the creative process, from conception to completion is a big draw for many backers, including me.
It surprises me just how many projects screw up the whole talking-to-their-backers part of the equation. The porridge is often too hot or too cold.
Peak below the fold for some helpful hints on how to get it just right.
Monday Miniatures: Virina
Sneaking into your thoughts uninvited… Sapping your will and making you a slave… sucking out your soul through a straw and then going back for seconds…
No, ladies and gentlemen – for once I am not describing Kickstarter. I am talking about a certain voluptuous demonic succubus, Virina, who is the focus of our painting projects this week.
Caffeineforge 
New Year’s Resolutions
Happy New Year, readers. 2013 has exeunt’ed and 2014 has entered stage left. In keeping with the spirit of reflection that comes with the season, I’m going to share with you some of my New Year’s Resolutions.
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