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Stop with the Daily Grind email, already

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Open Letter, March 1st, 2005

Yes, yes, I know. There is a competition running now in which a few webtoonists plunk down $20 each, and the last one to NOT miss an update (Mon-Fri only) takes the pot.

Yes, yes, I know. The pot stands at $640 as of this writing*, and that’s almost two months of groceries for my family.

Yes, yes, I know. It sounds like easy money for me, since I haven’t missed an update in 58 months. It would also be easy money for Bill Holbrook, Jeff Darlington, and Chris Crosby (among others). This is why, to my knowledge, those of us who do NOT have problems updating on a daily basis aren’t planning to participate. Can you imagine how tedious and non-eventful it would be if (for instance) Bill Holbrook and Jeff Darlington were playing? Those two would just keep plugging away at their strips for years while the money gathered dust. And for what? Bragging rights? They already HAVE bragging rights.

I’m not belittling the event, mind you. A little “money-where-your-mouth-is” may be just what folks like my buddy Scott need to firm up their schedules. If it works out that way, hey, we ALL win.

As for me, I feel no need to put any more money where my mouth is — I told you people four years ago that you’ll be getting fresh Schlock Mercenary right here, every day, forever (or until I die.) If I should fail to deliver that, well, my word means a lot more to me than a twenty-smacker entrance fee would.

In ironically related news, the buffer has dropped to its lowest in over a year… FOUR. Yes, I know. That’s four more than most webcartoonists have in the can. It’s also about fourteen LESS than I’m remotely comfortable with. I wouldn’t have let it drop this far, but I had to put food on the table with a commercial project whose deadline got nudged forward a bit. Well, I completed said project Monday morning.

By Saturday of this week I hope to at least triple the current buffer. But I’m not asking anyone to place bets.

13 thoughts on “Stop with the Daily Grind email, already”

  1. Open Letter Update

    Wow. The Daily Grind pot is $1120. I’ll be standing waaaaaay over here, listening to the rumble from a distance while I crank out daily strips. Good luck, and happy grinding to all those who are participating!

  2. I don’t see how it’s going to change Scott Kurtz’s timing – he’s already updating daily by 12am PST – note that he doesn’t have to have it up at midnight, but before midnight comes the next day.

    i.e. the comic for 03/01/05 must be up before 03/02/05 midnight.

    So Kurtz is basically grabbing the easy money route that you noted in my eyes.

    1. did you read Kurtz’s page today. He found out about that too, and decided to push for the on time option for himself. He’s using the contest as a sort of springboard into timeliness.

        1. Check his page again. He did post, but he called the file pvp20050229.gif and his template was looking for pvp20050301.gif This is not a leap year.

          1. Yup saw that. I stand corrected.

            I still think that people who update daily anyways shouldn’t have entered the contest, but hey, it wasn’t against any rules.

  4. Do you know what’s odd?

    I was waiting for you to talk about this here, and I knew you would say what you said.

    As for me, I used to be daily, but I can’t see myself ever being daily again at this point in my life.

    *Bows deeply to Superior God of Updates, Buffers and Plotlines*

    http://visionmeld.com

    1. Definitely. If Chris Crosby really wants to, he could zap half the contestants off just by accidentally breaking the keenspot updating other than his comic. 😉

  6. I have to agree.

    Since Oct, 1998, I’ve had one update come out late, and that was due to a hard disk crash back in 2001 that kept me off the internet.

    Putting money on one’s word cheapens it.

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