You've lost quite a few fans with this one.
"Hey, fans without money, you are no longer cared about."
That's the impression I got.
It wasn't you becoming successful that has everyone upset. It's the fact that you screwed over the cartoon that we loved so much just to gain that success.
Adding stuff that didn't exist in the previous episode, just so you can say, "Buy the book and the comics to find out how I changed the story to get you to buy the books and the comics" is really disappointing. (Especially for us fans who barely have enough money to buy food, clothing, and pay for our studies, so we certainly can't afford the book/comics.)
Also, if you didn't have time to make a lengthy episode, take more time. Don't just release whatever animation you have done to get us to buy the books/comics. That's pretty lame.
I was a huge fan of Xombie. The name James Farr was usually at the top of my list for independent animators. I watched every episode within a few minutes of its release.
And that's why I'm kinda ticked. I feel like us fans of the toon just got thrown out the window to promote your other projects.
I know you're going to respond with, "I've got to make money."
But seriously, there are other ways to make money than to change your entire plot, destroy the toon, and toss all your fans just to sell a book.
There are TONS of animators making some good money off their movies. Have you considered:
Sponsorship
Donations
Merchandise (The kind that you advertise at the end of the movie, but don't screw the entire plot up to sell.)
All of the above?
Wait a minute. Don't you have all this? I seem to recall tons of people donating to the Xombie effort (back when you'd rather keep it the way it was than sell out). I recall a lot of people saying they bought your merchandise. And a sponsorship from Newgrounds, Flashportal, or one of the various other sites would be easy enough to obtain. Not to mention all the cash prizes you've won from Newgrounds (speaking of which, I don't think I'll be voting for this top of the month anymore; you're making enough money off your book without the $250 being top of the month gets).
Also, you could always get another job. You only release one of these every six to eight months anyway. You can't have been spending all that time making these.
One more thing, why was it so incredibly easy for him to get to the fortress despite how dangerous everyone made it out to be (just swung on a nail around all the defenses)? Or is this yet another thing changed for the book?
-st