Don't worry about Sindrel Song! Now it's in the past, and even if you maybe should have done more to promote it, I think you're better off focusing on the present now. The key may be to develop some sort of concrete promotion strategy beforehand that you can stick to.
I'm glad to be one of those people who have bought the game on Steam! I've not reviewed it yet, but probably will over the coming days.
Yeah, I think you're right to be sceptical of those people asking for free keys. You're not really in the spotlight anyway, so what you do get is probably just people writing a template with [InsertGameNameHere] to get keys to resell etc. There's actually online shops out there that make quite a lot of money selling Steam keys for lower prices than the actual ones on Steam, and they make their money through schemes like that and so on… it gets quite shady. It may be a matter of having to divide the wheat from the chaff (having a look at their websites, streams etc.) should you eventually go on to seriously promote one of your games. As for how those people justify it to themselves, I have no idea – I suppose it's a living, somehow?
On the other hand, I think you shouldn't disregard the idea of "influencer types" promoting sales – If influencers aren't worth it, are journalists worth it? Is marketing at all worth it? I think the point in this case is that exposure over time and through different channels may yield valuable results in the end. I think it's actually more or less standard practice for developers to send out some free steam keys to influencers and journalists whom they consider to be significant in order to receive some sort of favourable coverage. Honestly, that's the sort of thing that you should research for yourself, and the way to research that might be to communicate directly with other people in the industry, difficult though that may seem. You could probably learn a lot more that way than just by pure guesswork or random Google searches. Ultimately, I suppose it's a matter of building up your *network* as you said, annoying though that may be at times… but it's a tough industry you're trying to make a living in in the first place!
I think that Sindrel Song as a project is, as you put it some time earlier, idiosyncratic, but not necessarily off-putting in the "oh, what a disgusting weirdo is this guy" sort of way – you'd certainly not be *inflicting* anything on anybody else if you gave them some interesting or challenging perspectives. Some artists pride themselves on provoking or challenging people with their art in novel ways, and though I don't see Sindrel Song as doing that, it's clear you had a vision and that you stuck to it! And that's an intriguing thing regardless, especially with your own story.
I looked at the subreddit you linked, and I have mixed feelings, as you predicted – it's the sort of thing that *to me* seems to be the opposite of constructive, self-improving thinking, to just dwell in darkness like that – it was actually a bit uncomfortable to read those posts on there, since they reached some of my own anxieties as well. But, of course, everybody needs a place to vent, etc. etc., so I can hardly fault those folks for doing that. It just seems so bleak, so wrong to me, to give into defeatism like that. But if you can take that as a source of determination for your own aspirations, go ahead! Honestly, I think what you said about needing exposure therapy may very well be true. It's so easy to consider yourself a lost cause when you're holed up away from other people in your room, since you lack the perspective that interaction with the world can offer – so I think it's a good idea to seek companionship with other people wherever you can, if the opportunity presents itself. Even if you are rejected every once in a while, I've found that the act of being rejected is less significant than all the worrying and anxiety done about it – and there's nothing to be lost taking a chance!
I've read a lot of your "New Year's aspirations" posts throughout the years, and I have to say that you're coming the closest I've ever seen to really setting up concrete strategies to achieve your goals – before, I had a feeling it was more of a "I'd like to have X at the end of the year" type of thing – so the direction you're on right now is great! I think seeing a therapist in particular, at least, can't hurt – at the very least it's another source of exposure to the world that you might find useful.
If you do concretely work on those issues, I have no doubt that things will pick up for you! With your abilities and your self-reflectiveness, honestly, if you can't make things work, who can?
I'm glad to be one of those people who have bought the game on Steam! I've not reviewed it yet, but probably will over the coming days.
Yeah, I think you're right to be sceptical of those people asking for free keys. You're not really in the spotlight anyway, so what you do get is probably just people writing a template with [InsertGameNameHere] to get keys to resell etc. There's actually online shops out there that make quite a lot of money selling Steam keys for lower prices than the actual ones on Steam, and they make their money through schemes like that and so on… it gets quite shady. It may be a matter of having to divide the wheat from the chaff (having a look at their websites, streams etc.) should you eventually go on to seriously promote one of your games. As for how those people justify it to themselves, I have no idea – I suppose it's a living, somehow?
On the other hand, I think you shouldn't disregard the idea of "influencer types" promoting sales – If influencers aren't worth it, are journalists worth it? Is marketing at all worth it? I think the point in this case is that exposure over time and through different channels may yield valuable results in the end. I think it's actually more or less standard practice for developers to send out some free steam keys to influencers and journalists whom they consider to be significant in order to receive some sort of favourable coverage. Honestly, that's the sort of thing that you should research for yourself, and the way to research that might be to communicate directly with other people in the industry, difficult though that may seem. You could probably learn a lot more that way than just by pure guesswork or random Google searches. Ultimately, I suppose it's a matter of building up your *network* as you said, annoying though that may be at times… but it's a tough industry you're trying to make a living in in the first place!
I think that Sindrel Song as a project is, as you put it some time earlier, idiosyncratic, but not necessarily off-putting in the "oh, what a disgusting weirdo is this guy" sort of way – you'd certainly not be *inflicting* anything on anybody else if you gave them some interesting or challenging perspectives. Some artists pride themselves on provoking or challenging people with their art in novel ways, and though I don't see Sindrel Song as doing that, it's clear you had a vision and that you stuck to it! And that's an intriguing thing regardless, especially with your own story.
I looked at the subreddit you linked, and I have mixed feelings, as you predicted – it's the sort of thing that *to me* seems to be the opposite of constructive, self-improving thinking, to just dwell in darkness like that – it was actually a bit uncomfortable to read those posts on there, since they reached some of my own anxieties as well. But, of course, everybody needs a place to vent, etc. etc., so I can hardly fault those folks for doing that. It just seems so bleak, so wrong to me, to give into defeatism like that. But if you can take that as a source of determination for your own aspirations, go ahead! Honestly, I think what you said about needing exposure therapy may very well be true. It's so easy to consider yourself a lost cause when you're holed up away from other people in your room, since you lack the perspective that interaction with the world can offer – so I think it's a good idea to seek companionship with other people wherever you can, if the opportunity presents itself. Even if you are rejected every once in a while, I've found that the act of being rejected is less significant than all the worrying and anxiety done about it – and there's nothing to be lost taking a chance!
I've read a lot of your "New Year's aspirations" posts throughout the years, and I have to say that you're coming the closest I've ever seen to really setting up concrete strategies to achieve your goals – before, I had a feeling it was more of a "I'd like to have X at the end of the year" type of thing – so the direction you're on right now is great! I think seeing a therapist in particular, at least, can't hurt – at the very least it's another source of exposure to the world that you might find useful.
If you do concretely work on those issues, I have no doubt that things will pick up for you! With your abilities and your self-reflectiveness, honestly, if you can't make things work, who can?