Creating new IP is hard.

I've been wondering lately what makes a project popular.  It's familiarity.  If it's in the top ten, or a bestseller, then people will trust that the experience must indeed be good.

For a new endeavor, it's easier to drum up support if it's based on an existing work that people are already familiar with.  That's why movies not based off anything like comics, novels, or games are rare.  If you're making a game, it's easier to make a sequel, a remake, or a translation, than something totally new from scratch.  It also explains why it's easier to get a group together making a fanwork than something original -- the people in the group share their love for the source material, so they all strive to make sure to recreate the feel of the original. 

That's not the case in original works, where the source is usually a single person, and it's really dependent upon that person to communicate and inspire other team members.  If the entirety of that vision is not yet communicated, then it's understandable if hardly anyone is interested.  So what ends up happening is that only the creator is enthusiastic about the work.  It's really lucky to have other people interested enough to work for free, but usually help will only come if you pay people, such as commissioning freelancers.  And even then, you might not really need to divulge the entire vision, but only the elements needed to get the art assets designed on spec.  It isn't just that the freelancers have other projects they're working on... they may also have experienced their fair share of failed projects so it's really hard -- as a near-professional -- to really get your entire heart into any project that looks mildly promising.

The best I could do is to strive to surprise and delight people with the resulting work -- even with the freelancers I'm working with -- to see how their art is unexpectedly adopted in innovative ways.  That's the main reason why I'm holding off on posting any artwork until I have enough resources to convey the full force of my vision.