Something a little different today.
Over the past few years, a reasonable number of people have asked me why I don’t set up a Kickstarter or a Patreon for my writing. I always thought the idea of a Kickstarter for a novelist was a little odd, and I was never too sure what I would have to offer Patreon backers.
However, enough people have asked me that I thought it was worth looking into, and I have, therefore, launched my own Patreon page!
*Pause for raucous cheers*
As it turns out, Patreon (and the internet in general) has some recommendations on what rewards might be of interest to someone supporting an author. I’ve gone with their $1 recommendation (that’s apparently how much they think my endless appreciation costs, which sounds about right), and their $5 (if I want to crowdsource an answer to a question, you’re the ones I’ll ask). I’ve also added my own ideas to provide a $10 and a $15 option. For the $10 level I have committed (perhaps ambitiously) to providing a 1000+ word short story for every month (there’s no upper limit to the word count, but bear in mind that I’ll be writing these around working on the novel). I assume that the $15 option will only be chosen by people whose primary motivation is to support me. For this level, you get an input into what I write for the monthly short story—whether that be helping me decide between options, or setting me a challenge (which can be a ludicrous as you like).
I haven’t set a lot in the way of goals on my Patreon for the moment. One piece of tech that will help me to grab every second I can for writing is about it. The biggest thing I need right now is time. Which you can apparently buy. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m now working two jobs, which leaves me scrabbling for time to write. Support through Patreon, even a little, will give me breathing room to not push for more hours at one of my jobs quite so much, and give me more time at my keyboard.
I know that a lot of the people I know personally are not in a position to support me, or provide support in other ways (even just sharing my posts is a big help as it gets my name out there). I don’t expect Patreon to be a huge source of income for me, but every little bit is appreciated.
Thank you.