I am moving on from Hot Shit High.

I know. It sucks. You can boo me and throw your tomatoes now.

You can even skip all this and leave a nasty comment at the bottom if you like. It won’t hurt me more than this decision already has.

It’s been nearly a year since completing Chapter 2, and I have spent almost every day since then trying to come up with a conclusion to a story that I never fully envisioned and never planned for. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the first chapter was only ever supposed to be a single issue, and while the second chapter expanded its scope and set up new things, I never had any idea what to do with it, or where it was going. No overarching story – no way to turn the pieces into a compelling narrative that didn’t devolve into a convoluted mess. Despite my many attempts, I simply couldn’t come up with a conclusion to the story that was to my satisfaction, let alone one that I was excited to work on.

Even worse than this was my memory of working on Chapter 2 of the comic. Even though I was satisfied with the work I had done, creating the second chapter saw me through one of the most difficult periods of my life. My mental, emotional, and physical health were the worst they’ve ever been, and I’m not exactly eager to recreate the conditions that brought me to such depths.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Hot Shit High wasn’t financially successful. While I was making the comic my income plummeted and my support dropped by over 50%, making life difficult and adding to my stress. I had hoped that sales of the comic after it was completed might help me recover some of what I had lost, but the comic didn’t sell many copies either. Simply put, Hot Shit High bombed at the box office.

And for that I blame myself, first and foremost. There’s no doubt that the infrequent updates and many delays contributed to its financial failure. Additionally, my presence and performance on Patreon only worsened as the series went on, contributing to my downfall.

But I’ve also come to suspect a few other reasons as well. Perhaps it didn’t help that I made the comic so freely available, assuming that people would want to support it “just because”. Perhaps the characters and content matter were not interesting enough to draw in a broader audience. Perhaps it was just the pressure that I put on myself, or the conditions under which it was created.

With all that said and done, I can’t envision myself returning to the experience that I had while creating Hot Shit High, and I’m not really in a place creatively, emotionally, or financially to do so either. So after months of agonizing over it, I’ve finally decided to cut my losses, try to forgive myself, and move on… as painful as it is for me to close that door and say good-bye to characters that I had grown to love, and to a story that will remain unfinished. The frustration, disappointment, and dissatisfaction are mine to own.

To all of my readers, thank-you from the bottom of my heart for giving Hot Shit High a chance. I am truly sorry to have kept you waiting for so long only to read these words. To all of the supporters who are still with me after everything, you have my eternal gratitude and undying love. And to those of you who have left, I hope I can earn your trust again and produce something good enough for you to come back and stick around for.

In the near future I’ll be revamping my Patreon and announcing a new comic project that I’ve had in the works for a while now. This time with a better plan.

Until then, much love to all of you, and may good health and well-being grace you until we speak again.

-Erotibot