As the year comes to an end, I have some bad news to share. The last six months at the Red Room have not been good, and the last three have been particularly rough. Recently, we tried investing in human-made art, but that didn’t help at all. In fact, it made things worse, as we spent more money and sold far less.
We tried advertising, but that obviously didn’t work. We sent books out for review, and (mostly) that didn’t work either. We sold third-party products in the store, and that barely made a difference. We asked people to share our posts and videos; while that may have helped, it wasn’t enough.
Now, don’t worry—I’m not asking for charity. We have other sources of income, and the bills are getting paid. I’m also not looking for more suggestions, as the last suggestion I followed led to people calling me a Nazi on Reddit. That was amusing, I won’t lie, but it didn’t sell any books.
Next year will be crucial for the future of the Red Room. It will determine whether there’s a future or if we bow out as some have suggested and leave the hobby entirely (sooner rather than later) – just kidding!
Anyway, don’t expect any human-made art after the next two major releases—those are already planned. It’s just not worth the cost unless it’s a vanity project, and this is definitely not about vanity.
If things improve (which I highly doubt), great—we’ll invest more in the future. If things stay the same (which I also doubt), fine—we’ll stick to fully AI-illustrated books and continue making just enough for me to work on this full-time. If, as I expect, things get worse, there will be fewer releases, and the store may eventually have to close.
If you’re celebrating this news, don’t overdo it. The Red Room will still exist in some form or another—I don’t intend to give up just yet.
