Are SWM's days numbered?

A question, not an announcement.

Am I the only member who's been wondering if SWM will be folding soon?

Admin doesn't seem to be opening his messages, nor has he posted in quite some time.

And the forum seems to be less active lately. A lot of regulars seem to have dropped out of sight, others are posting less regularly. The last story workshop generated only a couple of entries, and nothing's been posted to the StoryBank for a while. I'm wondering if admin has decided that the site is no longer worth his investment in time, money, and expertise?

I hope not. SWM has been something of a "home" for me, and I'd miss it greatly if it disappeared. Where else can I join in conversation with fellow superwomen aficionados, get updates on other sites of interest, and post upcoming chapters of "The Supergirl of Smallville"?

Anyone else feeling the same way? :cry:

Haven't been wondering about closure, but yeah, it's a lot quieter.

And yet there's 12358 members. Oi, you lot, wake up! :twisted:

I guess so many of the members are just out and out lurkers


and some may feel that they have no way to contribute....

as for the admin...well sometimes real life just gets in the way of net stuff.... ?

I hope i can read more chapters of " The Supergirl from Smallville" soon.
And all the other stuff on this Forum is great.
Spulo for exsample, keep up the great work.

I hope it doesn't fold. Have not heard nor spread that rumor. hehe.

Just could be a lull in the season. 12K+ members seems like a lot but I wonder what the stats show as to people who actually check in and the # that actually post.

The lack of updates is a real concern.

I started a story a while ago, but lost the impetus to keep going...

It's summer time. Everyone is out enjoying the weather and stuff. Going on vacation. Going to beaches and watching all the pretty ladies.

Well, I don't know anything about running a website, but I do know how to write a check, and I am sure that if there is a question of money needed to keep the site going, several others would most likely be able to step up and help out as well.

As far as the Supergirl of Smallville goes, I just sent off our plans for the fifth commission for the next four chapters to TGK. It will go into chapter 12 which we have about 1/3 done. 11, 13, and 14 are ready to post. I will bet that the artwork comes back from TGK before Argo put the final touches on Chapter 12! My guess is we will have this update posted in around 2-3 weeks.

Summer is actually the best time for Argo and I to work on this stuff as it is our least busiest time of the year at work, and here in Arizona, it is too hot to do much of anything else!

I think it's just a lull. I consider myself a "regular" although I don't have much to contribute to the writing sections because I pretty much suck at it. And honestly, I've been way too busy to sit down and read other people's work. (Sorry...)

But anyone can contribute if they want to. All they have to do is search the web and post what they find. It doesn't seem that hard.

I have the feeling that a great many of those 12000 + registered members are people who registered expecting this to be some sort of peril site or something. Then, when they find out that it's the opposite, they just drop off. (<-By the way, that's just a theory. I have no proof whatsoever to support that.)

It's summer time. Everyone is out enjoying the weather and stuff. Going on vacation. Going to beaches and watching all the pretty ladies.

It's True! This is always a rumor and a fear every Summer start. Things always slow down a bit on every BB I'm on in the Summer no matter the topic. Now there is no reason we can't continue to enjoy heroine stuff all Summer but school being out and vacations draw more people away from thier PC's.

Hey ace191

That are good news!!

Keep up the great work!!!

I have been thinking about this topic for a few days since it was related to something else on my mind. I think the main problem behind this perception is that a lot of the core writers whom you could say pioneered many of the works others draw inspiration from have moved on in writing.

I started in the genre through Sharon Best and JulieVelor's works. While Sharon (aka Shadar) is still active, I tended to prefer the older, original Aurora works than present material. I am not saying the new stories are bad, it is just my personal preference. JulieVelor's Superior Girl story has been on hiatus for years now, which was my inspiration for my own tales. ConceptFan seems to have disappeared right when he said he was getting ready for another update. While there are a lot of other great writers, hardly any of them (myself included) have had the free time to be really prolific in our work. For example, I would love to see Yosh get some time to finish some more Serena chapters, and greatly look forward to how DKC continues The Project.

The other problem is that a lot of the artwork has been moved to pay sites. A good example of Paul Smith's Xtreme Strength site. Marco has moved most of his work over to his own pay site, powerbeauties.com. In the most recent update on Paul's site, the artwork was all from Marco's site with nothing really new for anyone who has been to Marco's site before.

Now I don't blame anyone for wanting to get some returns on the time they invest in the genre. The problem I see is the disparity of the sites out there that it can become very expensive for any active fan. I enjoy superheroine and villain feats of super strength, but am not too interested in the whole lifting weights or huge muscle thing. However, there is a lot of crossover in each of these sites from time to time.

Superheroine Related
supersexyheroines.com - $18.95
mandisteele.com - $14.95
adarasteele.com - $14.95
heavenlyheroines.com - $14.95
projectsuperwoman - $5.95 (assume 1 purchase per month)

Female Muscle Related
thevalkyrie.com - $5
powerbeauties.com - $19.95

First of all, I do not see a point of having mandisteele and adarasteele sites as two separate sites. If I am correct, it is the same person behind both sites with similar style, models, and so forth. In effect, you have to pay twice as much to see the full content of the Steele sites as you would the others.

Now, some people manage this by signing up to one site for a month every three or four months. Doing so you could rotate your costs around, and keep the expenses at about $20 per month. However, that is a lot of work for anyone interested in the photos, artwork, or stories to do. For anyone who pays for all sites every month, you are looking at about $69.75 per month. Add powerbeauties and thevalkyrie, you get $94.70. This does not include any other model sites any user may also be signed onto at any given time.

This can be rather prohibitive cost for anyone just starting to get interested in the genre.

Of course, it is a vicious circle in many cases. Models and photographers don't work for free. Take supersexyheroines.com site for example. I don't know how JonX works it, but let's assume he pays for models and photographers, but does website updates and the comic layouts himself. The location almost always appears to be the same so we can assume they use JonX's or a friend's apartment for free. Based on these assumptions, the money JonX pulls in goes to pay for more models and photoshoots. You can't estimate if JonX is making a profit, but since the site has operated for several years we can assume he at least breaks even.

Now if JonX lowers his rate to make the site more affordable for long-term signups or due to a affiliate program, how much does that dig into his ability to pay for more models and photoshoots? When I talk about affiliate programs, I mean some kind of price reduction for members of other sites. This would encourage people to signup to more than one site for longer than a month. I don't know exactly how such an affiliate program would work, but CCBill claims that they offer them. And most of the above sites use CCBill.

I don't have any easy answers to the problem, but personally feel that this is one of the issues hampering growth. Having some kind of affiliate program to help spread membership to all the sites might help reduce overall membership costs and encourage more people to join other sites and stay signed on for more than a month. In order to keep the genre and site going, we will always need new writers and artists to fill the void made when an established one gets too busy with life, work, or just runs out of new inspiration.

That's a well thought out response willow. Thanks for posting.

I am one of those people who rotate my memberships from site to site every month. Like you said, it is cost-prohibitive to do them all every month. I don't find it all that cumbersome though. Although, the number of sites I want to join has gone up so it is longer and longer before I get back to "originals" at the beginning of the rotation (<-Does that make sense?)

I'm not sure how those affiliate programs work, but it sounds like it could be a good thing if done properly.

Hm.

Q1: How often do you pay to go someplace else vs. how often do you come here for free?

Q2: Do you really think there's something mystical about your credit card? Does waving it over a website poof the contents magically delicious?

Q3: How long did your last girlfriend stay around once you stopped hugging her and telling her how beautiful she was?

Q4: Have you complimented your favorite SWM artist or author lately?

My point is this: all us freebies are friends here. We work in and off of relationship to one another and the rest of the audience here. But we're like your girlfriend. The relationship can be an adventurous euphoria, and it has been several times in the past-- but it takes time and effort on both sides.

Paid sites are good for a quick fix when your girl ain't givin' out. Instead of time and effort they take cash, check, or credit card. But they're like any other prostitutes on the street: once your membership is up, osta baby. Usually unceremoniously. Make no mistake of their seductive propaganda: the only part of you they ever want to see again is your credit card. They're honestly not interested in building the genre or advancing the art. "Bitch better have my money!" Guess who's the bitch. It ain't her.

Seems like SWM ain't been giving out lately and a lot of people are cruising the streets looking for a quick fix--wallets flapping. Meanwhile there's lots of SWM authors and artists out here just painting our nails, anxious to give the first guy who tells 'em they're pretty a big smooch, probably w/ benefits.

Tragic. Just tragic.

VE years ago warned you that would happen if you tangled with pay sites and you all flamed him into the phantom zone for caring about your well being.

It's getting so every cute girl on the street will Paypal micropayment you via your cell phone for every passing glance you steal. Sounds Orwelian I know, but it's that way with our genre and many others on the web today. I gave up photomanipulation a while back when I couldn't squeeze more than a half-decent thumbnail off the web any more without somebody clawing after my credit card. "We have to verify your age!" Verify the age of my ass. "Parents" give credit cards to 5th graders now. You're only as old as you wish to be and there's nobody anymore to tell you otherwise.

Are you all happy now?

Go hug a SWM author or artist if your broke. Chances are they are too. Might be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Else burn. Burn in your credit card debt. Hope ya choke on it. Don't believe pay sites are sucking the life out of our fun little genre? Go get your credit card bill and tell me that again.

I plead with you honestly: of what good to anybody is a rose in a bank vault? Worse than nothing: it's obviously a trap.

Spreading what roses I can.
Long live the Irrevolution.
-Paw
On behalf of VE.

50% of what WhitePaw says is 100% correct.

I think most of us could make more of an effort to let our fellow members know that their contributions are appreciated -- by posting feedback (or a simple thank-you) for stories and artwork, or by joining conversations on the forum. As an author, I can tell you how gratifying it is to receive an email saying "Great story!" -- and how much it can motivate me to keep going. I've said this before, but not so much lately -- partly because I don't want to become a nag, but also because I'm guilty myself: There have been a few stories recently that I haven't got around to reading or commenting on -- but I will!

But I don't think joining a superwoman-themed pay site constitutes infidelity to SWM. Kelly, Michael, Jon, and Random all love this quirky genre of ours and are trying to put something out there that they'll enjoy as much as we will. Maybe I sound like a Pollyanna, but I correspond with all four of them and that's the vibe I get. But models and bandwidth cost money, and they can't post their product for free. Are their membership fees exorbitant? I have no idea, but I doubt that they're getting rich from what they do.

In short: If you like what a pay site offers enough to be willing to pay the price, go for it. But don't forget your friends at SWM who give us the fruits of their time and labors for free. (And as always, a vote of thanks to admin -- wherever he may be -- for keeping this site going.)

Hey, admin! Good to know you're still around. I know I'm not the only SWManiac who was starting to get worried.

I'll be sending you a few things for the StoryBank shortly.

Roger that!

Parking can be a bitch. Good to hear from you.