sammynona
patreon
It's been a hell of a week
🕑 Added 2017-12-10 05:13:06 +0000 UTC I got sick, had relatives over, had to deal with a ton of trouble over health insurance, check out the impact Patreon's new fees will have here, and just got snowed in today. It's been a lot of stress all at once, but I'm doing my best to pull through. I'll try and have both stories up for tomorrow but I'd rather make sure they're both up to snuff rather than rush them to get out.In the mean time I've been doing some thinking about the proposed changes to my patreon tiers that I wanted to implement in March, and how patreon's new fees might impact that. If you remember I was thinking of having three tiers, with a story or two for everyone pledging $1 or more, then 10k words more for the $5 tier, and another bonus 10k words worth of stories for the $10 tier patrons. For those of you who don't know about the change in patreon, they are now charging a 35 cent fee onto every pledge you have, supposedly to make up for the processing fees that us creators have to pay. I'm staunchly against the move and have written to Patreon to voice my frustration, as have a lot of other creators, so hopefully something may change from it.
Basically the new system doesn't hurt people pledging $5 or more as much, since it's only 35 cents added to it. Who it does screw over are people who only pledge $1 to multiple patrons, since you get that charge for each patreon you pledge to. I've already had a few people cancel to protest the charge, and I completely understand. This really isn't a fair situation towards everyone who just wants to give what they can to support the artists they like, but can only afford to give a dollar or two. I've always seen the smaller pledges like that similar to putting money into a tip jar, just a show of appreciation towards my writing, and I've always tried to reward everyone as best I can. From what I can tell there are about 70-80 patrons supporting me who pledge under $2, and you're the ones who are going to be effected the most, since your pledge is going up 17-35% with this new move, vs the $5 patrons who have an increase of 6%, which is pretty negligible but still a dick move.
So what I'm going to propose is eliminating the tiers under $5, and instead putting the stories for all patrons up for free. I expect a lot of you might have to cancel pledges based on this change, and I completely understand. What I'd like is for those of you who pledge a dollar or two to instead show that support here on patreon with comments and discussions. I want to keep the stories up for everyone to read and enjoy, like I always have. Rather than $1 each month please try to give feedback on each story or chapter you enjoy. Try to spread the word about my work if you can. Fan support is really huge for me, and everyone has already proved that you're amazing with all you've done. And if you do feel like showing some love you can drop a tip into my Kofi account every few months or so.
With this new system I'd put out a story or two every month that's free to everyone to read, and then keep the $5 and $10 tiers for everyone who's able to go beyond to support me, and get more of my writing each month for it. Let me know what you think of these ideas below, and know that if you have to cancel your pledge for financial reasons I completely understand. Just shoot me a message to let me know, and feel free to keep stopping by here for the free stories that will be coming soon.
Comments
Greg
Read the newest post. They changed their minds because so many people complained. :D
Sammynona
The $10 tier will be exclusive stories with it's own separate vote, so your vote should carry more weight with the smaller number of patrons in it. Also Succubus Cheat Sheet isn't delayed because of a lack of votes, but rather because I'm stuck dealing with how to actually write the story the way I want, and I haven't had any inspiration on how to work my way out of it. I'm hoping that once I finish up some stories and have more time I'll be able to get it working again
Paul Maxey
I feel that all what you have said is fair and I feel that you artists are being exploited just as bad as those pledging to you. It is like a 35% tax on the ones who pledge only a pound which hits both the pledger and the pledged. I know the bigger pledgers aren't penalized as much but as most people pledge the smaller amount it means the only winners most of the time will be Patreon the company. If everyone pays you $1 that means for every $100 you only get $65 and it looks even worse the more 0's you put on. I will always carry on pledging to you as you are the best artist (or should I say author) on here. I hope Patreon listen to the feedback that you and others have given them and they come to there senses. When people think you are getting 100% (or at least close to it) it is a shock when they find out that you might be getting less than 2/3rds of your pledges. Good luck and keep the good work up and I wish you a good Christmas and look forward to what you have in store for us in 2018.
Greg
Will there still be voting and will there be different votes for different tyers? Or maybe just more waited votes, if that's possible, for the 10. I'd love to see anther installment of Succubus Cheat Sheet. Unfortunately with how the voting was going it doesn't look like that's likely to happen.
Devi Lacroix
You're in a difficult spot, and I think your proposed solution is a daring approach! As a $5 backer, I feel in no way entitled to exclusive stories, so I 100% support the idea that all stories are available to everyone. With that said, you could always consider making the higher tiers a type of "Early Access" that gets to read the next story update before it goes public and free. Lord knows that's why I started to support you on Patreon in the first place -- I couldn't stand waiting for updates on mcstories and Amazon!
Sammynona
I appreciate that a lot nameless. Hopefully the massive backlash they got from it will let them know that it's a bad move and stop them from doing anything further. If they do try to make things harder for patrons again I'll start looking into alternative sites to host my writing.
nameless
I guess Patreon's finding out they're in a monopoly situation and have been told that selling price rises as higher transparency is supposed to work better. I encourage all creators to find other sources of income quickly before they tighten the noose any further. FWIW, I haven't cancelled any pledges because of this.
Sammynona
The $10 tier I plan to implement in March. Depending on the feedback I get from everyone I'll release more information on it when it gets closer
ParagonRocky
Is there a $10 tier already, or is that coming later? I went to upgrade and don't see it.
