RED LIGHT BYTES: Updates Dossier (7-1-2024)
Back in Action + A Quick Chat About 365 INFANTRY's Future...
OVERVIEW
And just like that, we’re back! Thanks to all who came out for both Issue 9, Summer 2024 and for making this year’s Summer Based Book Sale our best performing yet! Helps that we had a few more titles on offer, of course.
Red Light Bytes returns for another round of offseason pulp excellence as we dish up all the latest on series production, our recommendations in the world of art and entertainment, and of course, the weekly short story (and any others that happen along the way). While I don’t have a lot to tell you all right now about Issue 10, we do have to talk about some big goings-on in August.
I am calling on YOU the readers to help us gear up for the next year and make it the best it can be. For the month of August, we’ll be running a Kickstarter to fund all production costs for 2025. I’ve tried to cover things through sales, I’ve left multiple outlets of support open, and I’ve been blessed by some incredible supporters who have ensured that 2024’s costs are covered, but I think it’s finally time to bring the series to the crowdfunding age.
365 Infantry: The Ride for 2025 will be one-part storefront, one-part pre-order campaign. We have a wide array of releases under our belts, plans for campaign exclusives (including an early-bird preorder for the 2024 Annual), but since this is crowdfunding for the 2025 season, we will also be putting up the entire year’s releases for preorder. That’s an annual subscription for all four issues of the quarterly and a super advanced pre-order for the 2025 Annual.
While this is all in the name of keeping the webzine free, I’m slowly beginning to accept the fact that the digital freemium model here is a niche within the wider scope of things. Substack has been fiddling with its in-house networking thanks to tools like Notes, leading to some perplexing fluctuations in subscriptions, and the platform’s deboosting on sites like X hasn’t helped matters either.
In the end, though, I trust that things will work out. The newsletter will still be here, I’m going to soldier on no matter what, but above all else, I’m just big on physical media. This series was born with a freedom-loving backbone, and in an increasingly digital age where companies can and will delist, censor, and manipulate art and entertainment, with no immediate physical release preserving the original versions, I want people to have 365 on their shelves and stereos by all means. If that means Substack is merely a springboard for people to get their hands on our books, media and more, that’s fine by me.
I hope to have a preview page up this Wednesday so you can sign up for notifications, and be there to support us on Day 1. Thank you all for the love you’ve shown this series thus far, and I hope we can keep delivering quality pulp entertainment. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a story from my second newsletter, of which you will be seeing more from in the coming months as 365 isn’t the only project coming to crowdfunding…
May God Bless You & This Force.
