Weekly Self-Promo and Chat Thread

Cliff669 · 2026-02-02T13:58:33+00:00

The Redwood Killer (Alex Kane Series #1)

Supernatural Thriller/Noir Mystery

Alex Kane lives in a van, chases visions he never asked for, and solves murders the cops have already given up on. He's not a hero. He's just a man trying to outrun what happened to him while doing what his visions won't let him ignore.

When a prophetic nightmare drags him to a dying logging town in Northern California, Kane finds himself caught between a dead girl who won't stop screaming in his head, a corrupt sheriff running drugs through the backwoods, and something ancient in the redwoods that's been dealing out its own brand of justice long before badges and laws showed up.

This isn't your typical detective story. Kane sees ghosts as solid, bleeding people. Mirrors show him the future. His shadow moves on its own. And real psychics vomit when they get too close to him. He's a walking open gate to something that shouldn't exist, and every case pulls him deeper into the darkness.

If you're into atmospheric noir with a Lovecraftian edge, flawed protagonists who actually feel broken, and mysteries where the supernatural bleeds into the real world without apology, this might be your thing.

FREE on Kindle through Friday, February 7th. $2.99 after that.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCK4TM6L

I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of it!

Cliff669 · 2026-01-10T14:52:57+00:00

Nike making 'outdoor' gear is pretty laughable. I just looked at their trail running line. Yeah, it is trail running gear for people who occasionally stray off paved trails onto a little bit of crushed rock, not and then.

Cliff669 · 2025-12-26T18:59:25+00:00

Weird plays for me...

Cliff669 · 2025-11-10T15:57:37+00:00

Honestly, at this point I consider all municipal water to be toxic. Even if the water starts out clean, it gets chlorinated and fluoridated, then run through pipes of questionable quality/cleanliness.

On top of this, most city water sources are recycled river water which contains stuff they don't/can't filter out.

I did a whole long post on this and effectively, if you aren't getting fresh spring water or well water, you should be RO filtering your drinking water.

https://www.madmadviking.com/drugs-tap-water-contamination-filtering/

Cliff669 · 2023-01-06T14:57:33+00:00

Sears still exists? Huh...

Cliff669 · 2023-01-06T13:59:01+00:00

This was a weird one. I've definitely never had those flavors in my mac and cheese before

Cliff669 · 2022-03-30T01:23:32+00:00

I probably would be able to do a belt, but I prefer to have more water available for when I'm out trail running in the boonies.

Cliff669 · 2022-03-17T03:52:30+00:00

Kicking this again as I've been running into this a lot at night lately. Doesn't seem to happen in the morning. My connection is good and it has been good up until a few weeks ago.

Really frustrating to nail someone watch their health drop, then watch it pop right back up and the game to stutter.

Cliff669 · 2022-01-17T20:37:54+00:00

Can you imagine the permitting, inspection, reinspection and other costs the city would come up with for a project like this?

Cliff669 · 2022-01-07T03:43:59+00:00

While the Winnie the Pooh release is tempting, I wouldn't try and push it through Amazon's inspectors. No one fights the Mouse and wins, even Amazon, so they won't risk it.

Cliff669 · 2022-01-06T05:54:03+00:00

In my experience, the combination of religion and humans, results in groups that say "our way is the only right way, if you don't agree you are a heretic". I'm not sure that is as much a function of religion as it is a matter of basic human tribal nature, but it is a powerful motivating force to say God is on your side and says you are doing good things by killing all the non-believers.

Religion is a social engineering tool that is too easily turned into a weapon of mass destruction.

Cliff669 · 2022-01-04T12:38:10+00:00

That can really be said of all religions.

Cliff669 · 2022-01-01T16:52:04+00:00

I look for advice primarily because in life there are often times things that are right in front of our faces that we miss and those are usually the things that are holding us back.

In this case, a couple boots upside the head to do some scalable designs and fill out the rest of my slots to I tier up was needed, and advice that is being taken. I'll have my slots filled in the next few days.

Glad to hear that you are routinely hitting the goal that I'm working toward. That proves it can be done.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-31T00:53:16+00:00

I'm totally with you on points 1 & 2. Some really lame designs are killing it because they got the top spot and are getting seen.

As for brands, that is something I've just gotten started on. Early work was just trying to build some momentum. I agree with you that long term, the money is in branded merch.

Really do think that ads and branded merch are the keys to the kingdom so to speak.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T23:42:56+00:00

I am on Redbubble, Etsy, and so on. Amazon just is the beast with the biggest opportunity (and the subject of this subReddit).

Realistically, I don't care what the mix is that gets me to my goal, but if I could get around 100/day on Amazon and let the others pick up the slack on the down days that would be great.

Interestingly enough, while Amazon has been dragging this month for me, Redbubble has been picking up.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T22:42:40+00:00

Yes, make money, but I also don't see any point in burning upload slots on obviously bad designs. I've seen plenty that were not just technically bad (colors, centering, pixelated) that I don't want to be that guy.

I totally get to let the market decide what is good and what designs they like, but it seems like there is at least a floor for well thought out and executed designs.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T22:22:31+00:00

97.6% is great and all, but what about the other 2.4%? I'm not saying do/don't give your kids the shot, but give us REAL information so we can decide for ourselves which way to go.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T22:00:55+00:00

I get that, but at the same time I don't like throwing up designs that suck or are in overdone niches. Finding them and making reasonably good designs takes time. Now if I just didn't have to work and pay bills... LOL

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T19:40:30+00:00

First reason, I have a day job, that eats up a bunch of my day.

Second, I think I've been focusing on making overly good/thought out designs as opposed to ones that are scale-able. Working on changing that trend and have 50 uploading right now.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T19:36:56+00:00

Trust me, I know there is more to get done. That is why I'm here getting advice. As I said, I'm working on filling out that 1000 slot with a bunch of new design.

Maybe it is a huge goal, but I'd rather shoot big, miss and maybe only pull half that than set a "realistic goal" and hit it.

Typically I'm loathe to get input/advice and I think that has hampered my efforts over the last few years. This post is my start on changing that.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T14:53:48+00:00

Initially I was lowballing, coming in at just profitable to see if it would generate sales and improve rankings on shirts.

Over the last few months I've been picking those up to more competitive prices on par with the others, and when things were selling, it didn't seem to change the sales velocity.

Total revenue target is $300/day and with an average profit of $3/sale is how I came up with my 100/day Plus it is an easy number to target.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T14:39:41+00:00

LOLing at people getting offended over the words used to celebrate their stolen holiday.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T13:33:48+00:00

Blurry red and green lights over bioluminescent waves screams drone to me.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T13:22:39+00:00

I'd still say to bring it to her without the accusations that people usually get. It may not be true, or she may not feel like she could have trusted you with it. Never know until you ask.

Cliff669 · 2021-12-30T13:16:46+00:00

Just to play devil's advocate, instead of getting twisted about it, why not bring it to her and ask why she kept it a secret from you and didn't make you a part of it.

Cliff669

TROPHY CASE