The Money Goes in the Money-Place

Personal   By Shamus   Feb 20, 2011   96 comments

I know how it is. The money keeps rolling in, piling up. That’s fine at first, but after a while it becomes annoying. I mean, where do you put it all? The desk drawers are so full that money just comes spilling out every time you look for a pen to write a thank-you note to somebody for the duffel bag of cash. Your pillowcases are as stuffed as they can get, there’s no room left in the icebox, and the closet is clogged with the stuff. You can’t go up in the attic without bumping into something and having a pile of cash snow down on you. The heaps of bills in the basement have been scattered from the kids jumping in them, and you’re sick of sweeping them back together. Sooner or later you turn to your spouse and say, “Isn’t there something we can do to get rid of all this damned money?!? Can’t we just… you know… give it to somebody?”

I know this is a big deal for some of you. In fact, I got a comment from Strangeite yesterday, and he seems to be suffering from this exact problem:

Shamus, I say this with the love of someone that has been reading your blog for years (which is a weird sci-fi futuristic kind of love we could never have imagined 20 years ago)…

PUT A DAMN DONATE BUTTON ON YOUR BLOG!!!!!

I click the advertisement that you reluctantly put on your blog (without any fan-fare) a couple of times a day, but you really need to allow those of us that can spare a few dimes to help you out while you are undertaking this new adventure in your life.

Since your book is set in the 1880s, then I am sure you are aware of the concept of patrons funding the struggling artist. Well, let the community that you have cultivated over many years be your patron.

I can’t promise that you will make a living from the Twentysided community’s genoristy, but we (yes, I know I can speak only for myself, but I don’t think I am alone) WANT TO HELP.

Get off your high horse and realize you are an artist.

I talked it over with the wife. She wasn’t crazy about the idea, but she wants to help if we can. If you need to get rid of some money, then we’ve set up a mechanism where you can do that:





Just, you know, take it easy. We’re offering to help. Please don’t take advantage of that.

2020202016There are now 96 comments. Almost a hundred!

From the archives:

  1. MrWhales says:

    I /just/ read that post, came back to the site proper, and this was here. Go Shamus! I’ll donate when i can

    Edit:firsts ;) (i never got first post really, so this is a big deal for me)

  2. Sean Riley says:

    Will you be moving the device into the right-hand toolbar, perhaps? So that it’s more visible?

    I shall be making use of it soon, by the by. I have far too much money, and while Desert Bus do an admirable job of keeping my money levels under control, any new devices for managing it are quite appreciated.

    • Another_Scott says:

      I bet that Shamus will probably remove the donate button completely by tomorrow after half of his loyal fan base chip in all at once and he will be overwhelmed!

      If you want to take that bet then I suggest you put that miscellaneous amount of money that you won’t miss in the donate button right there; I’d like to be proved right by morning. =)

      • MichaelG says:

        How about a Spoiler Warning t-shirt? I’m thinking something that says

        The End Is Near!

        (but the dialog is wooden, none of it is in character, and the plot is a joke!)

        Spoiler Warning

  3. Chad says:

    Thank you, Shamus. Thank you.

  4. Akheloios says:

    The ‘Bless you’ was unnecessary, I don’t believe in that kind of folderol. So I’ll say thank you for many, many hours of entertainment and advice on narrative, plotting and execution as well as clinical dissection of some of my favourite games. I’ll try to pass on money when I can, anything to keep you from devouring the rest of the Spoiler Warning cast in a fit of bohemian artiste hunger.

    I’m looking forward to buying your book when you finish it. You can always try throwing it out to the wolves here for an alpha test of your 2nd draft too :3

  5. Caffiene says:

    I have the opposite problem… I go looking in the desk drawer for money and all I can find are pens…

    Despite that though, of all the sites I frequent that ask or allow donations the ability to assist in the creation of literature is definitely one of the most tempting.

    Ill be keeping this in mind for if I ever find something other than pens. Or figure out a way to convert the pens into some sort of negotiable tender.

    • Dromer4ever says:

      In the future all pens will be currency, like pop caps, or tabs if you believe in the half canon that is Fallout Tactics.

      • BenD says:

        In the future, anything that has negligible mass (according to the pockets and physique of an exceptional human being) will pass as currency.

        In other news, I’m hoarding Newcastle bottle caps. They have blue stars on them.

        Don’t think you can come to my house and take them from me, though. I have frag mines.

    • MichaelG says:

      So that’s where all my pens end up!

      • Piflik says:

        There is a whole dungeon dimension, where my pens end up…and my umbrellas…and left socks…if I ever find a way there, I will be unimaginable rich…

        • Mari says:

          I don’t have the umbrella problem as I live in the desert. But someone in my house eats pens and socks. And possibly money. I suspect the 11-year-old. In the past four months, I have bought 28 pairs of socks to be shared between the two children. And yet with all the laundry in the house put away, they can’t come up with more than 4 pairs of socks each.

  6. Donated, I’m glad you finally put this up here Shamus. I’ll probably be doing so once a month or so because, as Strangeite said, I like to give a little back to someone who has provided me with HOURS of entertainment and thought.

    This has been a great site, Shamus, and I’ve read every single post you’ve done, and not only have I been entertained, but I’ve learned or been inspired on multiple occasions. I admire what you do and how you do it, this isn’t just another site I check, it’s one I pay attention to.

    Good luck with everything you’re doing, and I hope God will add just a -few- hours to your day so you can do all you want to. XD

  7. Strangeite says:

    I must admit, I feel all kinds of warm fuzzies that it was my comment and the subsequent second, third, etc. that finally convinced you (broke your will, same difference) to create a donate button.

    BTW, when I donated, for some strange reason, Paypal wouldn’t accept the first two credit card numbers I used. It finally worked when I created a unique online only credit card number. Not sure if you have any control over that, but I have never had that happen before.

  8. Rustybadger says:

    HA HA HA! So, like Mubarak, you finally caved under the pressure, eh? YOU ARE SO WEAK!

    I’m happy about this. I know I can’t be the first to send you money through your shiny new button, but I have other ways at my disposal.

    This is gonna be awesome.

    *EDIT: It worked flawlessly for me, but maybe because I already have all my cc info saved in Paypal? What- you say that’s not very smart or secure? Oh.

  9. Rustybadger says:

    Also, the contextual ads on here are hilarious. Right now it’s showing a banner begging for money for poor people. On your post about writing, it offered publishing services. Internet ads can be very funny at times. A while ago, I set up a webcam that was streaming the view of a hibernating Kermode (white) bear. The Ustream advert on the bottom was for a Maine company offering “exciting bear hunts”. Hilarious- and I still have the screenshot of that one.

  10. Ben says:

    If your fanfic novel is any indication, your current project is well worth a donation now and/or a purchase later. Keep up the good work.

  11. somebodys_kid says:

    Finally Shamus! I was so tired of tripping over that stack of cash positioned awkwardly in my kitchen doorway. Now I can traverse the length of my house freely and safely.
    Many thanks for the wonderful blog and all the best with the novel.

  12. Aldowyn says:

    I don’t have the opportunity to use said button atm (little hard for a HS student with no job), but rest assured I will at some point – even if it’s only $5 here, $10 there.

  13. Tom Davidson says:

    In for fifteen — although the “hyoung@zbzoom.net” thing threw me for a moment. :)

  14. Richard says:

    Just tossed a bit of my money in the tip jar.

    I figure I’ve paid substantially more for stuff that’s kept me interested me less (and for less time) than your blog has.

  15. Robert says:

    You’ve got a lot of nerve begging for donations when you haven’t updated “DM of the Rings” in MONTHS.

    • krellen says:

      Just to be contrary, and to give the impression that I cannot detect sarcasm online, I want to make it clear that I don’t expect any future content in return for my donation, Shamus. It’s a small nod towards value already provided.

    • Kdansky says:

      Someone get the writer (whoever that was) of those books (or someone else, I’m sure anyone can write a book with elves in it. Writing is easy!) to write a fourth volume. After all, they seem to be a really well running franchise. And then Michael Bay could do the next part as a movie! Something with time travellers and guns and tanks in middle earth!!

      Then you can make a comic about it! It will be awesome!

      • wtrmute says:

        I’m sure one can film a heptalogy, at least, from the Silmarillion. The problem will be getting the non-Tolkien-nerds to watch it.

        Also, on topic, as it happens my wife made off with my credit card today, but I’ll be sure to drop some tomorrow when she gets back.

        • Mari says:

          I’d like to take exception to the non-Tolkien nerd comment. Except that I’m a Tolkien nerd. But yeah, I re-read the Silmarillion annually and would give up appendages for the chance to see it done well in film format. I think my sisters (who aren’t Tolkien nerds and couldn’t even stomach actually reading the LotR trilogy AFTER watching the movies) probably would go see it as well.

          • Aldowyn says:

            The problem is the Silmarillion would be exceptionally difficult to do well.

            • Mari says:

              Yeah, no doubt. I’m sure the filmmaker instinct would be heavy-handed use of CG but that wouldn’t be good. At least not the way CG is being used right now. But yes, the entire Ainulindale and Valaquenta would be exceedingly difficult plus bits of the Quenta Silmarillion including a fleshly Morgoth, better views of balrogs and fleshly Sauron, Ungloiant, the destruction of Numenor, and more. It still might be worth trying with a director that really loved the material.

    • Jack V. says:

      Shamus: Cool. I’m definitely grateful for a chance to support an independent media-producer. And yes, this is to support everything you’ve done so far, especially DM of the Rings, Lets Play Champions online and WoW, and your working on a novel, feel free to quit now if you like :) But also, when I was mroe recently out of universioty I never would bother to donate, but now I feel I have some disposable income, I want to support the donation model, because I like to know that people can support their creative endeavors on the internet, so several blogs and comics I’ve followed for years I’ve spend something on. (Although I’m not organised enough to make a regular donation.)

  16. BenD says:

    I, too, recommend moving the device to the right-hand bar (once this post is buried). Excerpt some of the funny to go with it if you want. I figure I’ve read several novels’ worth of your work – and I haven’t even read your [first] novel yet – my donation can reflect only a small fraction of that value. Hopefully it will help fund your current endeavor, however, because I’m totally hooked by the description of said endeavor. I want to wander down to the bookstore and buy it… so you need to finish it!

  17. Davie says:

    Don’t worry, I’d never force this 7.4 tons of twenties on you. It’s filled my garage. If you have a garage, I’m sure you want it free to put useful things in. However, it does mean the next best option is kindling. I’ll be lighting my fireplace with money from now on; it’s the only way to keep it under control.

    In all seriousness though, this is a wise move. Just have to replenish my paypal account and I will happily contribute to the starving artist fund.

  18. Tomulus says:

    Free Radical: $15
    DM of the rings: $5
    Chainmail Bikini: $5

    Hours of entertainment, spread over 2739 thought-provoking posts: PRICELESS (so I only donated $25)

  19. Thom (talzaroff) says:

    “Don’t waste your money on starving artists. Give it to me instead. I eat regularly but I promise to be very, very grateful.”

    LOL @Shamus

  20. Silemess says:

    I groaned when I realized I didn’t even budge the % of the goal. But like the others here, I’ve enjoyed the site. Glad that what I could afford could help you afford to write!

  21. dman says:

    Yep. Worth the price of a magazine subscription – for the last few years of RSS-consumption

  22. Mistwraithe says:

    Done.

    You better make sure that percentage is live!

    I want to see it tick up to 0.01%… at which point by my count you’ll have $123,456.78 and be rolling in more Doritos than you could possibly eat!

  23. Kdansky says:

    I make a point of not donating money. I will make an exception now, as I consider this fair payment for great entertainment. Awesomely, the USD is worth exactly nothing right now.

    Live stream of money amounts requested! (Or at least a blog post about it)

    And a picture of the money spilling everywhere. And don’t you get the silly idea that you must spend this on something for the community. Keep that money, I have my own!

  24. I’m certainly not going to donate anything that goes towards no [redacted] book! All my donations will go towards caffeine or sugar, or both.

    I will reserve my right to do this.

    PS. Good on you! :)

  25. ZapperDude says:

    Guess I`ll have to make a paypal account now :(

    EDIT: Found out i did not have to make an account to pay :D
    Mr. Young is now 100$ richer. Don`t go spending it all on videogames now! (Allthough on reflection, do that. Then write lots of funny funny witty stuff :D)

    • SolkaTruesilver says:

      Shamus is probably one of the only receipient of donation where you might actually hope he will go and spend it all on video games, as it will either spark new content on his website or help with his inspiration.

  26. Amsus says:

    Having now frequented this blog for just shy of a year, i suppose it’s only appropriate i show my appreciation of a great deal of quality content.
    That and finally comment :)

    please consider this a thank you for massive amounts of all ready created content and not a down payment on future content.

    plus if the first two chapters of your fan fiction novel is any indication i certainly hope you finish the novel you’re working on now.

  27. Robyrt says:

    I only donated money because you don’t have any merchandise I could buy instead. My current station in life is closer to groupie than plutocrat anyway.

  28. poiumty says:

    Man, judging by all these comments, Shamus is gonna be RICH.

    Sadly, i’m flat broke, so please accept this artist’s impression of Shamus in the near future:

    http://i52.tinypic.com/fw0n88.jpg

    I hope its sentimental value will truly outweigh any material payment.

  29. asterismW says:

    It’s about friggin’ time. I’ve been waiting for a Donate button for years.

  30. Mindstar says:

    Just put some money in the donation jar. Even if I had spent no time at all reading your site, your system shock fanfic alone was worth the money I put in there.

    Waiting for that new book :)

  31. Mad Flavius says:

    Thank you so much for putting up that button, Shamus. I know this merely repeats what has been said before, but I’ve been waiting a long time to show my appreciation for this fantastic entertainment. Good luck writing that novel.

  32. Octorok says:

    Excellent stuff, my good man.

    At the moment I’m saving my pennies in my current account for a game, but once I give my bank an injection of revitalising money, I heartily promise to send some of it your way.

    I owe you a token of appreciation (or thirty dollars, whichever) for all the times you’ve shown your natural talent for making me smile. You’ve provided a constant source of funnies, humour, insight, laughter, inspiration, smiles and grins.

    Also, your series on WoW and LotRO got me playing them, so I guess Codemasters and Blizzard thank you too.

    Keep on writing, and your readers will keep on givin’.

  33. eric says:

    As a jobless, talentless, oxygen-wasting failure of a human being, I have little to no moneys. In fact, my rancid carcass will probably be occupying a nameless ditch somewhere in the near future. Sorry. :(

    Glad you’ve set up a donate option, though, and if I run into any money that I don’t have a use for then I’ll try to send some your way in the future. I really appreciate what you do here, along with many others.

  34. Sven says:

    I am a long time reader / viewer of Shamus’ various projects, but this is the first time I post any comment. Thank you for entertaining me for the last two years on a very regular basis. I both enjoy the content and the friendly atmosphere of this community.

    I donated 20$, enjoy!

    Best regards from Germany, keep up the good work :).

  35. Matthias says:

    I estimated an appropriate amount to give by dividing the enjoyment I get out of everything you do (and I enjoy pretty much 100% of your output!) by that of a good to excellent video game and then multiplying that by 50$. I then proceeded to NOT donate that amount, but a rather smaller one that would not require me to sell my body…

    And I haven’t even read Free Radical yet! I’ve downloaded it now, though, and will finish it as quickly as possible so that after you hit it big I’ll be able to say that I’ve read all your stuff before you became mainstream! ;-)

  36. Duoae says:

    I’d love to help out a little…. and i really would (and will – so don’t take it down!) but i’ve had amazingly sluggish troubles with banks and addresses and finding out that paypal is region-locked (I thought that only happened to entertainment?!!)…

  37. lupis42 says:

    Feel free to blow it all on black tar heroin^H^H^HMinecraft :-)

  38. Pffh says:

    Is there any way to donate without using paypal? I’d like to give some but I don’t like paypal.

  39. Piflik says:

    I guess you will never have to work again ;)

  40. Nostromo says:

    At least, you can retire and give up this life of crime!

    Shamus, I hate, hate it that money isn’t rolling in for me at the moment, and that I have to take care of me and mine first instead of sending you some moolah, but that’s the case right now, and I only can thank you for all the free entertainment you provided all those years. Hopefully, it will turn around for both of us at some point in the near future, and I’ll be able to click that button.

  41. Yar Kramer says:

    At first, I misread the title as “The monkey goes in the monkey place.”

  42. Mari says:

    I just wandered in to my husband’s geek cave and informed him “Shamus has a donate button finally.”
    He responded, “Yeah, I just read that.”
    Me: “Well, erm, I was thinking of clicking it.”
    Him: “I was too. I’ll take care of it.”

    So, yeah, money’s on the way. Luckily we don’t have to pay per coffee-spew incident or I’d be broke.

  43. Lalaland says:

    A small token towards countless hours of entertainment I’ve taken from your site

  44. Ethan says:

    Thank you for all the many, many wonderful posts and comics, and videos and everything else! I can’t wait to read your novel!

  45. David W says:

    Yet another donation from here. Of all the places I go on the internet, this is the one I crave the most. I was just archive diving (again), in fact.

    And given that I heartily enjoyed your first, sadly rights-impaired, novel, I’m looking forward to your second, as well!

  46. Darthricardo says:

    Sadly, I’m just a poor student, so I’ll just throw in the spare change I have sitting in my Paypal account after my latest batch of Steam purchases. Thanks for the fun reading!

  47. Antwon says:

    Tossing in my sawbuck, as offered/threatened on the other thread. Woo!

  48. Kyte says:

    I’ve had $20 floating around in my PayPal for months now, unable to spend them (curse you, credit card verification requirement!). Now I’ve got TWO good causes! (The other is Dwarf Fortress)
    So here’s $10.

  49. StranaMente says:

    Finally I got rid of those damn money! Can’t believe we found such a generous guy to take care of all this money.
    I hope that this button will still be up next month as I will probably need this kind of service again!
    :-D
    Jokes aside, these money is for all the past entertainment you gave to me, so I hereby declare that I have nothing to pretend from you, and your future work (but I will be really glad if any will come).
    Mario l.

  50. DaveMc says:

    But wait a minute, does the Donate button exist *only* in this post? I can’t find it on the main page, anywhere … I don’t think you’re really getting into the spirit of this thing, Shamus: it needs to be out where casual visitors can see it and be so moved by your quality work that they decide to leave a tip in the jar.

  51. Bubble181 says:

    Quite unrelated to this post, but anyway – since you’ve changed the comments so that people can comment on specific other comments, it’s gotten harder to actually read everything. For those of us who do, actually, go “ooohh, 185 comments now! It was 184 yesterday!”, it can get annoying to find that one new comment hidden somewhere in a subset of some comment tree…
    Is there any way to make the “new” comments stand out more? An option so new comments are coloured differently, or whatever? Ctrl-F’ing by date isn’t always helpful :-P

  52. MOM says:

    Your grandma once complained that her life was so busy with work and caring for her mother that she had many ss checks, paychecks, dividend checks etc. in the desk and couldn’t get to the bank to take care of it all. We were in awe of her having the problem of getting behind on her spending.
    Your tip jar was just what she needed.

  53. Alex says:

    I remember a video interviewing Brian Clevinger at a con. He talked about how nobody would click his “Donate!” button, but then everyone would complain when he took it down.

    Maybe this is the cynic in me, but I wouldn’t trust in the kindness of strangers when it comes to money.

  54. Museli says:

    Having recently accquired more money than pens, I’ve found the greatest thing in life is the warm feeling you get after you give some of it away. Money seems to be strange like that.

    In all seriousness, it surprises me how passionately I feel about the option to donate. Having done so, I’m now reflecting on how much fun I’ve had with your work over the last few years, and it would be nothing short of a tragedy if you had to stop entertaining us all and become a Normal Person.

    Thank you for giving us the opportunity to donate, Shamus. I hope our donations allow to do whatever you wish to do, for ever.

  55. PinkCoder says:

    Since I’m way behind on my reading and catching up slowly, I am going to comment again here what I recommended on the previous post — check into Kickstarter. It is a way to drum up donations for a specific idea (in your case a book), and reward people based on how much they want to be involved.

  56. 2tm says:

    Donated!

    I honestly think that this might be the first time that I’ve straight out donated to something without any sort of material incentive. But really, I have enjoyed your work, which you so kindly give us for free, far more than many other forms of entertainment that I find myself paying for. You completely deserve my money and while I certainly can’t afford to give you the thousands of dollars that I’m sure I’d work out (($s per hour of enjoyment) * (hours enjoyed)) to be, I’m more than happy to donate now and again to support your work :)

    Edit: I’m not sure how many other people would be interested in it, but if you were to allow recurring monthly donations to your site I would totally opt in to that. Not that I’m suggesting any sort of subscription service, because I wouldn’t be happy about your site being paid, just that I’d be happy to pay for your free site….wow, that sounded CRAZY.

  57. Lluviata says:

    Thanks for so much entertainment and intellectual content. I want to support your efforts that have given me such value over the years.

  58. Bill says:

    Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading?
    I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
    Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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