It’s been two years since I parlayed my experience writing for (the now defunct) NerdMentality into my own website. The Indie Mine started out of a passion in highlighting the underrepresented work of creative, dedicated teams and individuals for all to see. And even though my life has greatly changed, I remain dedicated to that cause. Some of my colleagues have recently celebrated the anniversaries of their own sites, so I thought I’d get in on the fun.

It wasn’t an easy sophomore year at The Indie Mine. Much of the momentum built heading into Summer 2012 was lost as I stepped further and further away from my role with the site. Planning and holding a wedding took far, far more time than I could ever estimate. The team did an admirable job trying to fill the content gaps, but by November our traffic numbers had dipped to lows we hadn’t seen since a few months after our launch. We kept at it through those hard times, though, and by March we were reaching highs in site visitors that we’d never come close to matching before. I’m so proud that we didn’t just fold, and I have a lot of enthusiastic writers and editors to thank for that.

For those readers who don’t know, we’re entirely a staff of volunteers. No one gets paid to take the time to read, play, watch, and listen to these creative works. Everyone on staff has their own reasons for why they’ve chosen to come write and edit here, but I’m just glad they have. One thing I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to, though, is the turnover. Writers and editors have come and gone and it’s been that way since day one. Some have found that real life takes priority, and others have moved on to other creative projects. It’s tough to see these people go, even though they’re basically strangers on the other end of a computer. There are too many names to point out individuals, but thank you to each and every one of you who has given your time to help keep this site going. Whether you’re currently on staff or have departed, your efforts have always been appreciated.

It’s not just our own staff that deserves some thanks. It’d be a mistake if I failed to give shout outs to some of the journalistic colleagues that inspire me:

• Alan, even though you’re still one of us, I hope you get back to doing more with The Indie Ocean. I know real life calls, but I miss the humorous rants.
• Tim, I love what you’re doing with theXBLIG. I’ve said it before, but I always enjoy seeing that there’s another writer out there who generally shares my opinions on indies, particularly in the Xbox world. I’m not sure what the future of Xbox indies will bring, but I hope you’ll continue to be around in some form or fashion.
• Cathy, you continue to set an unreachable bar for the rest of us. As IndieGamerChick you’ve done so many things (an official seal of approval, an indie bundle) that I didn’t think a blog could do. Seeing you break that new ground is inspiring and a reminder of what’s possible for all of us.
• Kevin, even though you were only able to crank out a handful of music articles in your time here, you laid some serious groundwork for us. Your reviews have ignited our music coverage to the point where we need about three or four more music writers to cover all of the review requests we receive now. Best of luck with the Vinyl Exam podcast over at Planet Arbitrary.

Thank you to all of the developers, musicians, authors, and film makers who have entrusted their work to us. It can’t be easy putting your creative output on the table for judgment. Thank you for taking the time to find us, contact us, and work with us. Sure there’s a lot of junk out there, but there are so many talented people out there just waiting to be discovered and many of them have been a joy to work with.

Of course I need to thank you, our readers, for your continued support. Obviously I want everyone to be coming to the site and reading our articles, but I also appreciate the little things you do. Every retweet helps, and a few of you have become regulars at doing that for us. I’ve also done some surveys in the past year that have helped shape the way the site looks and functions, and I couldn’t have made those improvements without those of you who pitched in with your feedback. Those of you who’ve participated in our forums have made me incredibly happy. The forums are a new addition to the site this year, and I’m hoping that they’ll go a long way towards eventually establishing a community here. Please continue to use it. As with the forums, our e-mail alert system for new articles is something I hope will take off. We’ve had a number of people sign up for that, but I’m hoping the numbers increase a little quicker.

It’s been a crazy year two for us, but we’ve reached new heights in traffic and opened up new avenues in our music coverage. I’m hoping to continue to build on our gaming coverage and find a way to finally handle the majority of the music requests that come in. We’ve been slacking in our books coverage since March, and our movie coverage is almost non-existent, but these are issues I hope to begin attacking this year. Readers, if you know anyone interested in covering any of these areas, we’re always looking for talented, enthusiastic volunteers. My ambitions for this site have not wavered, and I hope we can continue to make leaps in year three.

Thank you all so very much, and I hope you’ll continue to be a part of our growing community.

Regards,

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The Indie Mine was born back in late July from an impulse.  I didn’t start 2011 thinking I’d launch my own website, it just sort of exploded within a very short time.  It began with my other writing gig, that of a staff member at Nerd Mentality, a website run by friends and dedicated to all things geek entertainment.  I’d been dabbling in playing indie games on the Xbox Live service and was floored by the quality of Zeboyd Games roleplaying titles.  I even purchased my own XNA developer’s license with dreams of developing my own games, a dream that was quickly quashed when I remembered that stick figures are the extent of my artistic ability.  It was then that I decided to support those developers who were able to make something they were proud to show off.   I began writing a regular feature for Nerd Mentality highlighting one or two games at a time.  I soon realized that my audience there was too divided in their interests to really draw them into the articles and began considering venturing out on my own.  With a nudge from my fiancee, along with her coming up with the site’s name, I made the call to just go for it.  Within 48 hours, I had a domain, a basic layout, and one or two articles posted and so The Indie Mine was born.

Those early days and weeks were quite the adventure.  My appetite for improving the site was only tempered by the amount of time it took to figure out WordPress, acclimate to Twitter, and learn the other important lessons that come with starting your own blog/website.  I jumped in headfirst and to this day I still feel the rush that comes with creating something that’s all your own.  I’m still learning, I’m still being surprised, and I’m still loving it and it’s hard to ask for anything more from a personal project.

But I couldn’t do it all alone, and that’s where my staff comes in.  It began with just my fiancee and I, and over time we’ve pulled in friends from all walks of life.  There are two things they all have in common though – they’re all talented writers and they all have an appreciation for quality entertainment whether it comes from a major studio or from a lone, unknown talent.  I’ve thanked them all numerous times over the past 5-6 months and I will continue to do so.  This isn’t a business.  We’re all volunteers here using our leisure time to pore through the incredible volume of entertainment produced by the artists of the world.  I know that my staff will continue to deliver quality writing to help promote those artists and to direct consumers to what’s worth their time.  In 2012, I hope to increase the staff size and keep us better organized to be as efficient as possible in bringing you, the reader, the articles you’ll be interested in reading.

I started The Indie Mine with the idea of promoting independent game developers.  Gaming is something that’s been near and dear to me my entire life and it’s a hobby shared by millions of players and developers throughout the world.  With the help of Twitter I began digging into the indie development scene by getting to know developers, journalists, and supporters and it still surprises me how much the entire scene is like a family.  It’s really wonderful to see how supportive everyone is of each other.  I think we all realize that that’s the only way the indie game medium is going to survive and flourish.  While at first we only handled game reviews, we’ve begun conducting interviews with development studios and I’ve learned so much about the process and industry as a result.  I can’t begin to express how much respect I have for these teams and individuals and it just serves as a reminder for why I started this site in the first place.  A lot of these people are just like and you me, trying to live their daily lives yet still finding the time, money, and inspiration to create something on their own.

We’ve grown in other ways as well.  While I started The Indie Mine with the purpose of covering games, I quickly realized there are other areas of entertainment where individuals were in need of recognition.  We began a more extensive coverage of small publisher or self-published books and authors.  Once again I was floored by the sheer amount of work being done by lone individuals trying to get their books out there for everyone to see.  Frankly it’s way more than the current staff can handle, but it’s been really wonderful to talk to people so passionate about what they do.  In 2012 I hope to begin interviewing some of these talented people and get them further involved with the site with contests and giveaways.  I want to make The Indie Mine a destination that authors think of when they want their work given a fair and honest evaluation.  I want readers to know that our site is a place they can turn to when they’re looking for that next great novel during a trip to the beach or a rainy day.

It doesn’t stop there though.  Technically The Indie Mine also covers music and movies.  In the next year I hope to give these two mediums the same treatment and dedication we’ve applied to growing our support of indie books and authors.  In the end I want people to think of The Indie Mine when they think entertainment journalism and it’s my desire to see that we give all mediums balanced coverage.

I have other goals for our little site that are a bit more universal.  Our readership is small, but with time and persistence I know it will grow.  When it does, I hope to begin a podcast.  I don’t have a particular format in mind, but I know it would give us more opportunities to reach a wider audience, and give us a different way of talking with all of those talented people we communicate with in written form.  With enough readership, a site forum wouldn’t be out of the question either and would give us a nice, central place to discuss and debate the issues and topics associated with the indie scenes.  Again I’m forced to temper my ambitions as I’m constantly reminded by friends and loved ones that building something great takes time and patience.

Finally I want to thank you, our readers.  Though you may be few in number, we are all much the same.  The same reasons my staff writes articles are the same reasons you’re here now.  You believe in your own work or perhaps the work of a friend or associate.  Or maybe you’re here because you simply like being entertained and can appreciate quality no matter where it’s found.  No matter what brought you here, we appreciate you stopping by.  I realize that The Indie Mine is but one of numerous sites out there doing what we do.  No matter how many of us there are, there are still many more people out there working on a project that may never get the recognition it deserves.  That is why we’ll keep doing what we do, and we hope you’ll keep coming back to bear witness.  Thank you all very much, and I hope your 2012, like ours, will bring great things.

Warmest Regards,

© 2011 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

© 2011, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.