Hello, Mark Does Stuff community! Let’s discuss things.

Good day! I haven’t made a general post about what’s going on in my world in a while, so I figured that it’s about time.

Anyway, if you’re reading this, then that means you are a reader of one of my three sites: this one, Mark Watches, or Mark Plays.

YES, MARK PLAYS IS NOW REAL OH MY GOD IT’S SO AWESOME OH MY GOD.

It has now been nearly nine months since Mark Does Stuff became my full time gig. I lost my job in January when the owner of the company I worked for decided to be a horrible person and close the company and kick us all out after like 90 minutes. For real. Also, I never got my last paycheck from that place I COULD REALLY USE THAT RIGHT NOW, YOU ASSHOLE.

That’s not the point. Taking this on was a risk, and it’s been ridiculously rewarding. I’ve gone on two tours in North America, started a video gaming site, published thirteen ebooks and five physical books, started a YouTube channel and a Vimeo album, and read a ton of books/watched a lot of television. It has been a long, challenging journey, and I love it. IT’S SO FUN. The future of this corner of the Internet is ridiculous. I start Dollhouse later this month on Mark Watches after I finish Buffy, then I’ve got an anime double feature. I’m working my way through the Newsflesh trilogy and the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce on this site. After I finish Dragon Age: Origins, I’ll be doing Mass Effect, Ace Attorney, and Monkey Island for Mark Plays.

Basically, I am goddamned excited.

The purpose of this post is to be open about this process. The first four months of the Mark Does Stuff journey was funded through a combination of my life savings, book sales, and advertising revenue. I’ve managed to make it through the next five months or so with the introduction of video reaction blogs on YouTube and Vimeo. Once I added Mark Plays to my repertoire, the cost of running Mark Does Stuff shot up much higher than I anticipated. Our community has grown so large in the past six months that we outgrew four servers, and last month, I finally had to put up the money to buy my own private server through my hosting company. You probably have already noticed how much faster all three of my sites are. I HAVE. OH GOD, I CAN LOAD THINGS IN UNDER THREE SECONDS. It is great.

Let me first quell any fear you have at this point: I am not stopped. The format of these sites isn’t changing. Everything will forever remain free and accessible to all of you, so I’m not leading up to some big announcement about this. I just wanted to be honest and say that months of paying for all of this has finally caught up to me. It’s expensive, and I’m worried about keeping the bills paid.

I’m not much one for asking for help, as I generally feel too independent to do that. But I am just one person running what I can (with the help of my lovely, talented moderators and editors), and I must admit it: I am overwhelmed. It’s been a rough month, so I thought I would throw up a post to keep you updated on these developments and also let you know of different ways you could help keep this chugging along gloriously if you like!

First and foremost, let me just repeat this: you are not obligated to do any of this. I enjoy providing you with the content on this site, and I understand the myriad of reasons you might not be able to afford even a $1 short story. That is okay. Do not feel guilty, and I promise to never make any of you feel bad if you can’t afford to help. I LOVE YOU ALL, YOU CAN HAVE EVERYTHING I PROVIDE FOR FREE IF YOU WANT.

If you’d like to help out, there are a few ways:

• Click the Donate button in the right sidebar, and donate through PayPal! The minimum donation is $5.
• Buy an eBook! I have the complete Mark Reads Twilight series for sale, five Mark Reads Harry Potter books with COMPLETE RE-READS OF EACH BOOK IN THEM, and three Mark Watches Doctor Who books. They vary in price from $2.99 to $4.99.
• I have published three short stories that are all available for just $1.
• Buy a physical copy of one of my digital books. (The last two MRHP books are coming soon! My artist didn’t have access to the program she uses until this month.)
• Commission a Mark Reads/Watches video! They are $25, and I’ll read any fic (given the guidelines on the page), book, chapter, etc., on video up to 30 minutes and post it on YouTube! You can also claim a live reaction video for any show that I am doing for Mark Watches as well.
• Buy anything on Amazon after clicking on one of the Amazon ads in the sidebar. I’m doing their affiliate program, and I earn a percentage of all sales if you buy something after clicking on an ad. Thank you to the 50 or so folks who have purchased something so far! You don’t need to buy what is on the ad itself, just anything afterwards. 🙂

I am going to spend time working on a third Mark Watches series to do double features with this weekend: Puella Magi Madoka Magica. If you’d like to commission any of the remaining episodes, please do so! I’ll do a bonus Mark Reads series after that, and no, I have not figured out what it is. 🙂

Mark Reads Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be ready for purchase in three weeks. oh god ONLY ONE MRHP BOOK AFTER THAT HELP.

And lastly, thank you. Thank you for reading, commenting, linking to me, conversing with me on a daily basis, and caring about this project I started over three years ago that has now morphed into this. I will never forget what an amazing experience this has been, and I don’t want to come off as unappreciative of what y’all have done for me in the past few years. You are greatly loved and honored by me. Thank you. <3

Mark (Who Does Stuff)