Changes to Patreon (Monthly.)

While I have already notified the monthly Patreon users, it’s time to post to the blog about some changes I’ll be making. While the price per tier will not be changing, the tiers themselves are undergoing some modifications.

The tiers will be changed to be as follows, with each tier having everything the tier(s) before it has plus their benefits:

Tip Jar: Access to Patreon-Only News, Any Short Stories produced, Coloring Book Pages when done, Posts dedicated to Photography. (Read Alongs are going to Pixie+ moving forward.)

Note: Patreon did release a function that allows people to follow Patreons without paying. Click “Join the Community” to do this. You will receive basic news that tends to go to Patreons. (While the blog gets most everything, I tend to focus on the Patreon first.) I just tested the functionality, and it does seem to be working, so that’s a way people can follow that without having to pay anything. The “Community” posts will just have news.

$5 Pixie Patrons: Read alongs of previously published material, access to polls, any standard behind the scenes special news. Access to Answered Ask Me Anything Posts.

$10 Otters: Copies of all new novels (full-length books only, no anthologies). Invitation to ask questions on “Ask Me Anything” Posts.

$25 Cindercorns: Access to Read Alongs of unpublished material. Opinion Polls regarding upcoming projects and other behind-the-scenes things. 

$100 Spicy Ponies with Bite: As spoons and energy allow, all Spicy Ponies with Bite will receive a small thank you box. (This will be a one time thing.) I will be messaging spicy ponies with a request for a mailing address/name to put on address. No restrictions on country, but size of package will be determined by amount of postage.

A few things of importance:

1: The unpublished material will be completely unedited drivel. Each book will be left on Patreon until either a month after the final chapter has been posted or the book is released to Otters (and higher tiers), after which they (the chapter by chapter postings) will be removed from Patreon and a new read along will begin.

Note: There may be more than one project going to the Cindercorns and Spicy Ponies with Bite at the same time. The frequency will not be consistent; I may not work on a chapter of one of these projects for weeks at a time, and then do three chapters all at once.

2: Box will include things like pens, signed book plates, stickers, magnets, and things like that. If time allows, I’ll sketch / doodle a piece of art. Expect a diamond art project (of one that I found to be highly enjoyable, hoping you’ll enjoy making it too.)

As I’m anticipating a few questions, here we go:

1: Yes, I will be posting books I’m working on on the side that I may not have money to produce to the Cindercorns and Spicy Ponies with Bite. For shits and giggles, I may even dig into the “Shelf of Shame” to show some pre-publication garbage stories I wrote to learn how to write. It will be chaos, typos, inconsistencies, but books.

2: Yes, the completed books will be posted, although they will not remain on Patreon for long after completion.

3: Yes, Patreon is helping to fund future book titles.

60% of my Patreon earnings will be going to the household to pay rent, 40% will be going to future production. (Because taxes are real, here’s how the math works for the Patreon: In August, I received $3,720.88 from Patreon after platform fees. (A lot pay by year, so I will get varying amounts per month! The number Patreon shows is the average over the course of an entire year.) The tax man took $1,562.77. The household kept $1,294.87, and the future book account was given $863.24.

(This is why I can’t just go with things like Patreon or my other vendors and ditch Amazon. My rent is $3,200 a month. The math simply does not work.)

When all of my vendors are partnered together, I make enough to pay my rent, put aside money for the future books account, and pay my monthly staff/basic fees.

All the changes are doing is making sure *I* get paid at the start of a book’s production, so the book enters the world just contributing to the household, etc, etc. With this change, it doesn’t really matter if the book earns back or not, because at the start of production, I am not relying on the book in question to pay back all the expenses. The previous books all gave their share to new books being written.

Plus I am definitely getting paid rather that just hoping I make enough profit that there’s more left over than “just paying the rent and bills with some random luxuries thrown in.”

(Authors don’t get 401ks, etc, etc, etc… so if I ever want to retire, ever, I have to do all the saving myself.)

We don’t get employer healthcare either, although I leech off my spouse for that.

I expect it will be slower to produce books moving forward, but that won’t stop me from writing. The Cindercorns and the Spicy Ponies with Bite will get to read in advance.

4: Yes, I’m aware piracy could be an issue, but we’ll see how that goes. If piracy becomes an issue, the gravy train of fun serialization will grind to a halt. I will be taking some steps to mitigate the damages (see limited posting to Patreon, recording the publications so if someone DOES pirate, I can showcase the serialization process), and copyright registrations as normal.

This boils down to “leave the books on Patreon; you’re not licensed to copy and post them elsewhere.” You’ll eventually get the book as a bookfunnel file / download as usual, it’s just advance peeks.

5: Playing with Fire will be the first previously published book (with author notes for each chapter) to be done for Pixie+ readers. (Tip Jar will no longer have access to any of the previous read along material.)

6: I will be editing/adjusting/organizing the previous read along stuff to go to the appropriate tiers as time allows, and I will be doing my best to get everything added to collections. This will take some time, but that’s fine. It’ll get done eventually.

So, the Cindercorn tier (Monthly Patreon) will be the first to be able to read stuff and the last to fall should the money not work out to allow for future publication.

Expect some chaos, because I don’t do well with set schedules outside of my publication deadlines. You may have weeks where you get three or four chapters, or a month where you only get one or two.

You can check out the Monthly Patreon here.

No, the Per Novel patreon will not be getting any of these perks. As a gentle reminder, the Per Novel is really intended for super fans who want everything, which is why most titles are offered at a discount. If you want to come and go, it is 100% on you to track when you need to be a member and when you need to unsubscribe from the Patreon.

While you’re benefiting from the lower price, I am not going to be holding your hands. You’re just benefiting from something that is really intended for the hardcore fans. So, you’ll get a book title, and that’s it. If you don’t care for my other pen names, it’s on you to check the blog or keep a list for which series/pen name that book belongs to.

I’m not making something hard and stressful even harder, not when the intent of that patreon is to reward super fans who really want everything.

And no, I will not be making a Patreon dedicated to each and every pen name. I struggle enough with the Patreons I have.

Thank you for your patience while I rework life. It is appreciated.