There’s a pretty important post over on my other site, Mark Reads. As you might not know how all this started, I once did Mark Reads Harry Potter, and the success of that is what inspired me to create this site. Well, I’m working my way through releasing my reviews as books, and I’ve started with the first Harry Potter novel!
I will be releasing books for the Mark Watches projects I’ve done as well, starting with Firefly, and I hope to get started on those soon. The most important thing y’all should know, though, is that as of yesterday, I am now doing this full time.
It’s been a fantastic journey for the last year, and I’m going to take a leap of faith and try to do this as my sole job/responsibility. The success of Buffy has certainly helped that! So, what does that mean for Mark Watches?
You’ll see me around in the comments a whole lot more. Next week, I am opening up our WordPress-friendly forum. There will probably be some new mods to help out. Eventually, I’d like to have posts up on Saturday and Sunday, too! I am not going to take on anything extra for Mark Reads, but since I’m not releasing any TV-related books, I wanted to do something special for y’all: I am committing right now to watch all of Angel in broadcast order AND mixed in with Buffy. My friend Matthew has assembled an amazing list that comprises every episode of both shows that intertwines them in a way so that I can see the crossover episodes in the correct order. When we get closer to that happening, I will release a schedule so everyone knows what episodes are coming up.
So, this whole experiment of mine is exciting and terrifying at the same time. Here is how you can help keep this thing going!
- Buy my books! MarkDoesStuff.com has the first Harry Potter book, and all four Mark Reads Twilight books!
- Recommend this site to others! The more who come, the higher my possible payment for advertising.
- Come see me on tour! The Intensity in Ten Cities Tour starts in February, and I’ll be making appearances on the east coast, parts of the midwest, and Canada! I’ll have a Pigfarts Donation Fund on hand for anyone who’d like to donate to keeping me going. On top of that, I am rushing to get some AMAZING MERCH for y’all to wear that you can only buy on tour.
Every since y’all kindly crushed my last server, I now pay around $200 a month to keep my two sites online. Any help you can provide would be LOVELY. But I promise that this site will always remain free to read and participate in. 🙂
Thank you all for the support, and I hope you’ll join me in this journey of being literally unprepared IN THE REAL WORLD. So excited!
Oh my goodness! Congratulations on everything you've done so far Mark!
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that your sites have had a huge impact on my life. I discovered 'Mark Reads' back when you were reading the first Harry Potter book – it came at kind of a hard time in my life and being a part of this little community has really given me something to anchor me and have something positive to look forward to each day. Your reviews are always the highlights of my day, and your openness, kindness and insightful commentary has been a really important part of my life for a while now.
Thank you for everything, I really mean that.
And good luck for the future of Mark Does Stuff! I'll be supporting you every step of the way. 🙂
Oh, Mark, I'm so proud! I'll definitely be buying your book, dfksjdgvs,dv.
Every since y’all kindly crushed my last server
Mwahahaha, but YAY for everything else and congratulations on making this full time! The future looks promising and I couldn't be happier, I'm probably one of the quieter members but I love being part of this community. It's given me a deeper understanding of the shows and books that I've loved and opened my eyes to recognising more problematic themes and elements (okay that might sound like a criticism but it really isn't). Basically, thank you for creating this awesome place!
I'm excited that there might be some weekend reviews now (YES IT IS ALL ABOUT ME). It's fantastic to hear that you're committing to Angel as well, because Angel is such an interesting compliment to BtVS, in terms of character development and similar/dissimilar world view & themes.
Keeping a website online and frequently updated does not happen for free, especially when you're doing it unfettered without corporate support (and that pesky oversight!). I hope that you get the books sold that you need to keep this all going. Good luck!
I've been reading your reviews since you started on twilight. I still remember how giddy i got when you announced that you were starting on Harry Potter! How long ago was that!
I'm more of a lurker than a commenter but i've finally made an account just so i can wish you the best of luck with your venture! And also to thank you for the entertainment that you've provided.
Now, i have some books to go and buy!
omg thank you
THANK YOU
I'm sure there are many many many more people like me who enjoy your sites but just don't have time (or are far too lazy) to comment. We are the silent minority but we love you too 🙂
BRB buying MRHP.
Ditto
Yay! I will definitely be buying MRHP when I get paid on Tuesday. Congratulations, Mark!
AH! YOU ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO DO ANGEL! I had literally just calmed down from reading the announcement on the other site. Not cool.
YES. YES. YES. MARK DOES STUFF, AND NOW THAT STUFF IS WORK.
…so weird.
Books! Angel! Weekends! Happiness!
All excellent news Mark!
Slightly inadequate gif-party, I'm thinking I'm gonna have to stock up but until then here we go…
<img src="http://i40.tinypic.com/10wihkm.gif" alt="Lilian from The Smoking Room giving a thumbs up" title="Thumbs up!">
<img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2dj5mdj.gif" alt="Daniel Mays dances" title="Daniel Mays dances and it is excellent">
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/95ykw5.gif" alt="Helo wins his boxing match" title="Helo wins">
<img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/ixxhjk.gif" alt="A woman dances" title="Awkward dancing time!">
<img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/dhcww0.gif" alt="Starbuck spits on Lee – it's cuter than you might think" title="Time for the waterworks!">
<img src="http://i40.tinypic.com/w1sne8.gif" alt="Helo and Sharon hug and everything is beautiful" title="Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts">
Who am I kidding, everything works with The Fightin' Agathons.
I WILL JOIN THIS GIF PARTY. And it is now also a DANCE PARTY.
<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxsd1xw1q61qzdf0go1_500.gif">
<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxr5shLGou1r769v8o1_500.gif">
<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxpzdweKhY1qz6ehwo1_500.gif">
A dance party? I'm there!
<img src="http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7899/partytimeg.gif">
<img src="http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3213/craigyfergdance.gif">
<img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2nu6mj8.gif">
<img src="http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9748/dotherobot.gif">
A dance party you say…
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/sqpf07.gif" alt="some bad square dancing">
<img src="http://i40.tinypic.com/2hh0q40.gif" alt="people dancing at a bar">
<img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/5wgu93.gif" alt="a woman stage dives">
<img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2j481ed.gif" alt="two doctors dance">
<img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/11blpnn.gif" alt="a woman dances happily at a bar">
PARTY!
…Only I have no dance GIFs. Only bouncy Sherlock.
<img src="http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h213/amyberries2/BOUNCE.gif">
joy joy joy joy joy joy joy joy!!!!!!
… that is all 😀
OH GOD YOU ARE GOING TO WATCH ANGEL!!!!
I cannot wait because that show just fills me with feelings (also on some days I love it more than Buffy)
Holy crap, you're doing Angel! This is the most exciting news I've had in a very long time! I'm so happy that this has been so successful for you and that's only, like 40% selfish. Congrats! I can't wait to see some of the changes around here
OH MY GOD I AM SO GLAD YOU GET TO BLOG ABOUT ANGEL FOR US. SO MUCH UNPREPAREDNESS.
ALSO CONGRATULATIONS AND STUFF.
ANGEL! This is exciting! It's just like the first time I had a Buffy Night with my friends and when Angel started we added that in as well! I promise you won't regret it just for the crossovers alone, Mark. (I haven't seen all of Angel, so I can't speak for the entire show. I think I've seen seasons 1-2 and half of 5.) I'm looking forward to watching it all along with you! <3
I think I've seen seasons 1-2 and half of 5.)
My favorite bits! (I'm in a minority on that, though)
Oh, really? Eenteresting.
I know most of the big plot points from the entire show, who the villains are, etc., but I haven't watched anything beyond season one in years. I'm excite!
I'm late but I think it's pretty well accepted that (expectations spoiler maybe? You've seen them but I'll put this here for others who haven't) that seasons 2 and five are the best, although three quite often makes the lists aswell.
Five's my favourite, though. SO EXCITED.
I haven't actually watched Angel. I watched the first episode and decided not to bother. I will now have more incentive. 😀
THIS IS VERY EXCITING.
I've only ever seen the first season of Angel so I'm looking forward to watching that soon and reading your reviews as I watch.
And I will totally buy your MRHP books whenever I get a Kindle.
I am the most excited for possible updates on Saturday and Sundays too. OH WOW. THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!
I am really happy to hear that you can do this full time. I hope you will be able to make a living out of it because I've come to enjoy and love this place so much. I found it through a friend who told me watching Buffy for the first time and I instantly got sucked into reading all the reviews for Firefly, Sherlock, and Battlestar Galactica (which has me rewatching the series right now with my little sister who has never seen it). I enjoy your take on things so much, I love seeing someone watch the shows for the first time, and I love the way you write.
Reading your Buffy reviews has been like watching the show for the first time again. No matter who much I've seen you make it feel new again. If anyone deserves to make money off blogging it would be you. I've been referring this blog to everyone I know and will continue to do so because it's pretty amazing.
Also, really happy to hear you are doing Angel as well!
Man, it's like Christmas 2012 came, like, SUPER EARLY! So much fun!
I love that you're taking this leap of faith. It reminds me of the movie Holiday actually, where Cary Grant's character basically wants to earn enough money to live on for a while and then just go out and do what he wants. He might succeed, he might fail, but he wants to try, darn it. I think that's awesome.
<img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/4he8u1.jpg">
Anyway.
Yay for watching Angel and Buffy together! I did that once; it was really interesting and gave me a better understanding of the shows. I'm excited to do it with you!
Gah! This is so amazing for you! Making a living through your writing has got to be a dream come true. I wish you all the best and obviously I must get a Nook or Kindle ASAP so I have something other than a laptop to read MRHP on!
Also, you'll be watching/blogging all of Angel?!?! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Do you have a fancy modern sort of cell/mobile phone? Like, something Android-esque or Blackberry-ish or iOS-y? 'Cause you can read Mark's ebook on some of those! Or, even if you have a web browser on your phone, you could use something like Bookworm to read on-the-go.
Nope. I have a pay-as-you-go phone.
Hooray! This is wonderful news! If I had money, I would send some of it to you! Unfortunately, I have had some pretty major expenses this month, and it doesn't look like I will be able to have nice things for a long time. *sigh*
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HOLY WHAT OMG FUCK WHAT ALL YAY WHAT FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YEEEEEES
also FUCK COHERENCY
Super excited because I was a bad Buffy fan and never watched Angel when it aired so NOW I GET TO EXPERIENCE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Also, omg, fulltime. Books! Things!
You're the best, Mark
THANK YOU THANK YOU MARK YOU'RE DOING ANGEL THAT'S AWESOME!
Mark…I flailed. I have never ever felt the urge to flail around in real life before, right up until this very moment. Congratulations, man 🙂 So very happy for you. And having finnaly gotten a kindle, I figure It's time to binge-read everything you've released so far, coursework deadlines be damned 😀
I'm so excited! I'll buy all the MRHP books for sure 🙂
Also WEEKEND POSTS YES PLZ the wait between Friday and Monday seems ridiculously long right now!
Congrats! So much excite on Angel, as, like a couple others, I haven't ever watched it and it will be great to watch that as well!
I hope this works out for you! *goes off to buy the Harry Potter book*
o/ Good luck on doing this full-time.
I was wondering if there is any way to ~donate to help you that doesn't involve the tour? Other than recommending the site to others, of course. Because (AND THIS IS A GREAT TRAGEDY IN MY LIFE), I most likely won't be able to make the tour day in D.C. (curse you, one-day-a-week classes that I cannot afford to miss!). If there were some kind of Pigfarts Donation Fund button here or on MarkDoesStuff, that might be useful for people who want to pitch in but can't make it to the tour dates for whatever reason?
(Also, for some reason I'd been under the impression that your books were only purchasable for Kindle but HOLY PDFs, BATMAN! 😀 THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING)
This is just the news I needed to get me through Reichenbach day. :c
EDIT: Oops, clearly should read both posts before I say anything, because I just saw what you said about a donation button. MAYBE THERE'S A WORKAROUND FOR THIS, I don't know.
You could always click on ads even if you have no intention of looking at the page. A classmate in high school threw up a page of simply google ads and asked people to go and click on the ads so he could raise money in order to send a copy of 1984 to some politicians. (We were a pretentious bunch.) And I think he did raise over $50 simply through that website and ad clicks.
Ok just read this on my phone while waiting for the tea to brew and made so many excited squeeky noises that my flatmate to check I wasn't being attacked!!
Congrats and wish you all the best!!! This site has always been my dose of pure geeky happiness.
Shame you're not doing a tour this side of the Atlantic maybe in Round 5!!
Hooray for you! Hooray for us! HOORAY FOR EVERYONE!!!
I am excite 🙂 Both because you are doing this full time (that's amazing, you are so lucky!) and because you will be doing Angel… I gotta warn you that the first season of Angel is a bit slow to get going and has tons of boring filler episodes, but starting in second season, the quality is just as good as Buffy, in my opinion.
Question: Do the ebooks have the comments or just the reviews? I loved the gif parties in the Harry Potter comments (we need to have gif parties for Buffy! A Giles party!), it'd be sad if those were left out of the ebooks!
uuh, wouldn't this count as an expectation spoiler?
Yay! I can't wait until I get an e-reader so I can download your reviews! I'm keeping bookmarks until then. This reminds me, I really need to find time to stop lurking at Mark Reads and actually post my LoTR related thoughts at some point.
And congrats on being able to do the reviews full time too!
"I am committing right now to watch all of Angel in broadcast order AND mixed in with Buffy."
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<img src="http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww156/iconmania/gifs/YAAAAY.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
<img src="http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww156/iconmania/gifs/kittyaaaaaaaaaa.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
<img src="http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww156/iconmania/gifs/ponyparty.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
YES YES YES YES! This excitement that I feel is at least double what I felt when you said you would review Buffy!
Please excuse my gifspam, I just had a lot of excitement and this was completely unexpected!
Flawless gif choices.
Is that Jesus?
Yay Buffy AND Angel!
you just made my monday morning, mark! how 'bout that alliteration?
i have been reading your site for a long time now (starting with harry potter, which i LOVED), and i am so excited for you! CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations and Good Luck!!! :oD
*Jbaqref vs gur jrrxraq erivrjf jvyy fgneg va gvzr gb abg unir Orpbzvat cgf 1 naq 2 frcnengrq ol n jrrxraq…*
Congratulations, Mark! I'm so happy for you! I've had less time than usual to get on here and read since I started a second job but so far it's going pretty well and it feels like I might end up at least getting to pay off some bills so that I'll be able to help support you by buying your books (which I've been wanting to do anyway so bonus!) and I'm always telling people about the site. 🙂 I didn't post comments for a long time when I first found the site, back when you were starting the first Harry Potter book, but for a very long time your site gave me something that I could actually look forward to during the day and now I just grin whenever I see a new post by you, whether it's here or Mark Reads.
Again, I'm so happy for you and I'm so excited to see you'll be doing Angel at the same time as Buffy too! Yay!
HOLY SHIT THIS IS WONDERFUL EVERYTHING IS RAINBOWS AND SUNSHINE AND CANDY I LOVE EVERYONE
MARK!!!!!! I am so excited for these new adventures you can now FULLY enjoy! I've been around since the tail end of "Mark Reads Twilight" (lurking mostly TBH) and have enjoyed every second. To you, good sir, I raise my mug of morning coffee and settle in for MASS UNPREPAREDNESS! HUZZAH!
MMMMM COFFEE
(Thank you!)
Congrats, Mark. As a serious luker to your site, I'm happy you've been able to make it a full time gig! I'm about 2 season ahead of you on Buffy. I keep thinking what will Mark think when this happens. Keep the good stuff coming.
Thank you!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<img src="http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb470/katiemwebb/Disney%20_%20Gen%20GIFS/Tangled%20GIFS/Tangled-BestDayEverGIF.gif">
I'm so happy for you!
I am the editor of my school newspaper, and since the editors gets one page in every issue to recomend something, I took the opportunity to reccomend your site. I hope it brought at least some new people here, because you're doing a remarkable job!
OH GOD THANK YOU!!!
Congrats, Mark! That's wonderful! You rock on, bb.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/CcYd2.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
Awwwww, congratulations Mark! SO THRILLED TO HEAR THIS.
I'm sure your friend already told you this but make sure you don't start Angel until AFTER season 3 of Buffy!
Congrats for everything Mark !
AND YAY, YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH ANGEL !!!!!! *Dance of Joy*
Because you'll know so much more watching the both show. Can't wait !
I AM SO EXCITED YOU'RE DOING BUFFY AND ANGEL AT THE SAME TIME. THIS WILL BE AMAZING.
Will most definitely support by buying some books.