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| Hey, I didn't know they had laptops back then!! |
Roman Payne
A couple of years back I did a post on writers using Patreon. Or, more exactly, I asked readers what they thought about writers using Patreon. My own feelings were mixed. Okay, honestly? My own feelings were biased. Though logic told me reader patronage was probably the wave of the future, I just couldn't help feeling that professional writers ought to be able to support themselves off their writing. Wasn't it an admission of failure to have to ask for sponsorship?
Some 50+ reader comments opened my eyes. Not only was reader patronage a tiny bit of a safety net for what has always been a precarious profession, developing, nurturing a community of your most invested fans offered the chance to build an incredible resource.
Since then, I've watched with interest as other authors moved to the Patreon model. Some were more successful than others, but that's true of everything in life. A lot of my initial concerns: the pressure of creating tons of new stuff on a tight schedule, undue influence from a select group of readers, other readers feeling left out or cheated don't seem to be issues for most of the successful artists I follow.
There are some really interesting--in fact, inspirational--Patreon accounts here -- though they're not writers:
https://blog.patreon.com/nataly-dawn-patronage/
https://www.patreon.com/amandapalmer
There seems to be a danger with really successful Patreon writers starting to focus all their energy on their Patreon accounts, and I don't want to do that. I don't want to deny my regular readers all the things I typically give them either (the Advent Calendar, for example) and regular book releases across all publishing platforms.
There are also a lot of completely ignored or all but abandoned Patreon writer accounts--writers may be one of the smallest creator groups on Patreon--so that's not encouraging.
But yes, you guessed it. I'm starting a Patreon account.
WHY?
(I can hear you all the way over here.)
I'll be happy to explain.
Partly it's about breaking the stranglehold Amazon has on nearly all of us these days. Currently seventy percent of all books are sold through Amazon. That's...worrying. On a personal level, eighty percent of my sales currently come from Amazon or an Amazon-owned affiliate like Audible or Createspace. This total dependency is both frightening and frustrating--for a lot of reasons. Amazon controls everything: visibility, pricing, distribution, who is permitted to review my work, and whether or not I'm allowed to do preorders. They control my royalty rate; if I'm willing to be exclusive to Amazon, I get a higher rate on many foreign distributors. If I refuse to give exclusive rights (and I do), I pay for it with lessened visibility and lower royalties.
Amazon controls both my creative output and how I'm allowed to interact with my customer base.
It gets worse.
Remember how when Amazon swallowed up Audible and dropped the royalty rate from 50-90% to a flat 40%? Well, a few weeks ago Amazon "mistakenly" posted a revised royalty schedule for authors that indicated some authors would be seeing a twenty percent reduction in the royalties they're paid monthly. This unplanned reveal on Amazon's part brought home to me how really vulnerable my position as a freelance artist is. I didn't sleep that night. Or even the following night--despite reassurances from Amazon that the posted royalty rates were just a mistake (that was a whole lot of website coding to have happened by mistake).
Make no mistake, Amazon is about to change the publishing paradigm yet again--and I don't believe this change will be driven by doing what's best for authors or literature.
But my decision to set up a Patreon account isn't just about Amazon. The main reason is to give myself some breathing room. Again and again the pressure to produce something ANYTHING by a certain date has resulted in juggling projects or paring down the original scope of a work or not writing things at all because I know they won't be as lucrative as something else. This publishing environment is NOT conducive to producing the best work. It's also not conducive to a healthy and creative life.
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| Healthy and creative life in progress |
I'm fortunate in that I actually am able to earn my living through my writing--I don't forget that for a moment--but it's not a steady income and there's absolutely no safety net for those periods when I'm ill or running behind schedule. I'm afraid to commit to hiring a full-time assistant. I don't dare take extra time for long-dreamed-of projects like a video series on writing male/male mystery. I can't do anything but write...and when I fall behind in the writing (which has been the situation for the last two years) I feel paralyzed, overwhelmed... sometimes even unable to write.
My goal in setting up a Patreon account is to take back control of my creative life. I've tried to come up with a lot of hopefully very cool rewards for every level of patronage--stuff that would be fun for you but also useful for me in crafting stories or in my marketing campaigns--but the real return on your investment is more and better books from me.
I believe we share the same ultimate goal.
To find out more, check out my Patreon page here.
I'm so happy you've done this. You healthy and happy and productive is beneficial to us all. It's very apparent when you are happy in what you're doing. It just shines in the books. Your books are always good, but when you're loving what you're doing, there's an extra ooomph. If I can be a small part of giving you that breathing room, why would I not? Money well spent in my opinion. <3
ReplyDeleteMaybe in the end it will prove to be something in my head and not a practical thing at all, but...I do think having time to do the research and planning and thinking--even if none of it is actually "visible" in the final draft of a story--is a huge part of making every story special.
DeleteWell, I'm more than happy to help you to take back control of your creative life. And yes, your rewards for your patrons are seriously cool. So, it's definitely a win-win situation. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope this will work out for you in the best possible way — it sure looks like that at the moment! In any case, I'm thrilled to see you taking this step. And I hope you're already feeling loved and inspired by this leap you've taken.
Oh, and here's a zen saying for you: "Leap and the net will appear." :-)
I did not expect that net to show up so fast. ;-) I was thinking I'd have to hit the ground hard a few times before people noticed my broken nose. :-D
DeleteSeriously, though, I believe these changes are about to be forced on us, and I would rather jump than be pushed.
Amazon is the reason I buy from Smashwords or direct from the publishers website.
ReplyDeleteSame here (some authors even use payhip when they selfpublish) Don’t hesitate to tell us were to buy <3
DeleteMy own relationship with Amazon is love/hate. Yes, they made a number of innovations that changed publishing and benefited authors. No question.
DeleteBut then the inevitable happened, I guess. Greed kicked in. And now they're making "innovations" that are actually harming literature itself and destroying author careers.
I'm still dependent on Amazon, but slowly, surely I plan to change that.
Payhip is something we're looking into for the new website. I'm really excited about the possibilities it offers.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis is exciting! Creativity, breathing room, and just enjoying the process properly, all sound fantastic :-) <3
ReplyDeleteI feel energized in a way I haven't felt for years. It's hard to explain. Patreon is a big part of it.
DeleteAlso, I have to say, I'm tired of winter. I think you need to change your header photo to spring. Just sayin.
ReplyDeleteI'm very tempted! It's very sunshiney around here, so I'm trying to be respectful to the rest of the country. :-D
DeleteIt is important to feel so secure, that the mind can fly.
ReplyDelete<3 <3 <3
DeleteWhen I asked you about Smashwords you seemed unenthused. It is not perfect for authors or readers, but it is one of the last places to buy books for third party apps--everything else is proprietary. Every time I bring this up to authors, they get mad and sometimes downright agressively insulting. I don't care if you watermark the hell out of every page, it has to be better than the emails I get from authors' newsletters which describe being ripped off by Amazon because of the opaque way they pay for KU, authors who game the chart algorithms, and "fake" authors that buy covers and books that are crap to sell to unsuspecting customers which also hurts their sales and public confidence in the books. Of all the authors' newsletters I subscribe to, most only give an Amazin link even when they sell other places and then bemoan that no one buys from anywhere else. In many ways, authors and readers both have lead us here to this place, which sucks for us all although many people don't seem to notice. We no longer own things, we rent access to them--even worse, we even rent access to our own data that we do own. Amazon also censors what works they are willing to sell. Patreon is problematic. I can't afford to support every writer I like with a monthly fee. I may not be able to afford supporting someone per post--especially if I have no bloody idea how many posts a year someone will make. There are almost no rewards for the lower tier, and I don't understand how some people are willing to pay more a month than the actual book when it comes out. Maybe I am just old and not moving with the times, but...I am not moving with the times. This move also hurts small publishers, which is the only other place I can go to buy in order to get the format I pick and be able to put it in the app/reader that I want--not Nook, not Kobo, not Kindle, not iBooks. We have actually given up our freedom to chose for ourselves for the convenience of buying everything in one place and not having to organize it or store it ourselves. We have all lost. I do have best wishes for you. I hope you have some of the financial security that you seek. I'm just frustrated by it all. It shouldn't be so difficult to buy or sell a book.
ReplyDeleteI'm already on Smashwords. :-D
DeleteI've been on Smashwords for years. When I state I won't be exclusive to Amazon, one of the ways I'm not exclusive is in staying with Smashwords.
Despite the fact that Smashwords has an extremely cumbersome interface.
For example two of my books which I delisted and then relisted were rejected as not meeting epub standards ALTHOUGH THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME ALREADY APPROVED FILES THAT WERE LISTED ON SMASHWORDS FOR SIX YEARS.
So I'm a little exasperated with Smashwords right now. I'll continue to support them, but they're not the answer to my problems.
The point of Patreon is that I am going to the trouble of providing extra rewards that I would not otherwise bother with in exchange for extra patronage beyond the buying of my books. I'm making an extra effort, doing extra stuff, in the hope of earning extra money.
I'm not making enough on my newspaper route--and I can't take on another route -- but I can mow a few lawns on the weekend. Or sell some lemonade. Not everyone who takes the newspaper wants to buy my lemonade or can afford me to also cut their grass, but that's okay. A few people can and will and I'll earn the extra income I need to keep printing my newspaper.
There are almost no rewards for the lower tier
DeleteAlso, I want to be very clear here, I gave a lot of thought to making decent rewards available at every tier.
My stories will continue to be available through multiple channels for as long those multiple channels exist. But I don't have endless time or creative energy, so--barring gifts to readers like the Advent Calendar (which I have already promised to continue)-- I DO expect to be paid for additional work.
But it isn't simply about an even exchange of good and services. It's about donating to support art and artists you love--which some people value as being able to take part in the creative process.
I agree. It's not for everyone. Nothing is.
As a reader, that buys books, I am not at all in favour of the patreon idea. It just seems wrong to me. I understand the economics of it - the reasons why - and in reality it would be just like paying for another book - but it just feels wrong. Maybe its the exclusion factor - if you don't pay me extra, you don't get to see all my work. (that sounds harsh, and I'm sorry for it, but that's what it feels like).
ReplyDeleteI also think, like you said above - this would put even more pressure on any author that is already fighting deadlines. People who don't sign up would possibly be seeing less from their favorite authors. So in terms of total $$$, will it make that big a difference?
Thanks for the opportunity to voice an opinion - and that is all it is. You will do what you need to, and that is as it should be. I've been a reader of your for years and I'll just continue to enjoy the books you release to the "general" public.
I appreciate your honesty.
DeleteOne reason I didn't make my backlist a significant factor in my rewards tiers is that I am trying to keep this as democratic as possible.
Even the serialized novel will ultimately get a final rewrite and edit and be published six months after it finishes its Patreon run.
A lot of the "rewards" I'm offering don't take me extra effort--or even if they do (character interviews, for example) they will end up making my books better -- they're the kind of thing I used to have time for. If I'm paid to do them, I can find time again, because in writing -- as in every other profession -- time is money. Time is my most precious commodity.
If I could have charged people minutes rather than dollars, I'd have done that. ;-)
Furthermore, things like my character notes, my rough drafts...I don't actually want those floating around in the general public. I prefer that those stay somewhat private. And charging admission is one means of curating who gets to see what.
I don't think Patreon is the answer for every writer -- and we're all facing challenges. There is no single solution, but I have a large enough fan base that, yes, I'm pretty sure I can get the extra breathing room I need without putting too much strain on readers or myself.
This is the five dollar tier:
Naturally you have access to everything in the previous reward tiers. You'll also get a backstage pass for Works in Progress. These first looks might include story snippets, playlists, character interviews, scenes written from alternate POVs, prologues, epilogues, character notes, etc.
That's the stuff most fans are interested in, and it's accessible for the monthly cost of a single fast food hamburger or a fancy schmancy cup of coffee. I think that's a pretty fair deal.
I am so very excited for you! This is a fantastic opportunity and I hope it provides you with some financial security and a peace of mind. I looked through your page, and I love those little extras - the interview, the character page, the extra chapters of Ghost Had an Early Checkout (about to settle down with those). Fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying Patreon. :-)
DeleteI just subscribed but am having trouble getting the audio from Patreon. They are not responding. Consider another vendor.
ReplyDeleteThere is no audio yet.
DeletePatreon is not a vendor.
I find this Patreon idea very distasteful. I like a lot of different authors works but see no reason to underwrite their efforts more than I already do by purchasing their work. I am not interested in the challenges of your personal life, everyone has them. And I am not interested in the details of your troubles with Amazon, I believe all the other authors who publish there face the same difficulties. What it seems you want is for your fans to subsidize your writing so you can make a living entirely by writing. Well, a lot of authors deal by having day jobs too. And you admit your work is not to the same technical standard that it has been in the past. I agree, but am not moved to financially underwrite your return to better writing. I consider some of your past works to be masterpieces in their sphere, and I wish you all the best for the future of your craft. I have no idea what standard of living you are asking your fans to subsidize, but I respectfully decline to participate.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with this. Not every reader can (or wishes) to support favorite authors beyond buying their books--and I am content with this.
DeleteI respectfully disagree that my works have declined even an iota in quality. That's just passive-aggressive nonsense. My point is that achieving these results takes more and more effort with less and less time to do it in. Publishing today is not a creative environment.
Perhaps it does seem unfair that I'm able to earn a living from my writing, yet am still asking for patronage. Which is why I've tried to come up with a slew of rewards and extras for my patrons.
These rewards will not be of interest to any but real fans--the kind of reader who IS interested in my personal life and what challenges might delay the books they're waiting for. That's the point of this exercise.
I was wondering if the stories that you post on Patreon will be available for non-Patreon followers when it's released in print?
ReplyDeletesuch as your new story Seance On A Summers Night
I am one of those who buy from Amazon - 'cause they are the only place that are able to ship to Denmark. And since I LOVE your work it's the only place where I can buy it. And I love and prefer reading books in paperback instead of e-books.
But I wish you well with your new found freedom and I hope that it'll help ease the pressure of economics that you're feeling.
Hi Maya!
DeleteThank you for commenting. And for your good wishes.
Print is presenting it's own difficulties these days and I have a plan for that too. ;-)
So the short answer is yes.
Anything that goes into print will eventually be made available to everyone--with the exception of a couple of titles where I'm planning to print a handful of promotional paperback copies strictly for giveaway.
Right now my plan for Seance on a Summer's Night is to let it sit for six months or so once it's had its Patreon run, then take another look at it, rewrite it if I feel like it needs it (which would require a reedit) and then publish it through all the normal channels.
I promise that as far as serialized stories, audio, short stories...these things I plan on making for Patreon will eventually find their way to the normal sales funnels.
Truly, my plan is not to exclude or deprive anyone. Patreon is about extras. All the items that would normally be made available, will still be made available.
Yeesh. And having said that...after a week of being live on Patreon, I'm going to have to walk this promise back.
DeleteThis is a learning curve for me, so some of my original ideas are simply not practical.
Certain audio, print and digital releases will be exclusive to Patreon for the foreseeable future.
That said, promised titles and series books will always be made available through the usual channels.
I'm excited for you and my opinion is that it is a good move. I understand that it isn't something every reader will want to or can do, but it's a choice and I think ultimately we all win when the time is allocated to creativity rather than constant worry over production and deadlines.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Janet! I believe this to be true.
DeleteI have often wondered how to better support my favorite authors. I see that ebooks from lesser known or under-represented authors generally cost a lot less than those from the big publishers. Patricia Briggs just charged $12 for her latest DRM-protected ebook (not even paper & only readable on one platform) and it is not of any better quality than your $4.99 Fair Game series. I think it's reasonable and actually moral to make up the difference somehow, and I'm pleased to find an easy way to do that. I switch reader technologies fairly often, and I prefer to buy DRM-free ebooks so I'm not wedded to any one platform. Currently I use Kobo which seems to honor a lot of DRM-free publications. It is disappointing when authors only publish with Amazon. I tend to put the book on my personal wish list and wait for it to come out on Kobo or Smashwords or other independent site since I just don't want to support the Amazon megalith. I am interested to see if this patron-type business model works in the long term. <3
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your thoughts!
DeleteProbably the simplest move would have been to kick up prices on my titles, but my books are already a bit higher than the average in my particular genre and I know it's true some loyal readers are genuinely strapped for funds. I don't want to punish readers for Amazon's greed.
So to make extras and exclusives available to those who can afford them seems the fairest way to handle this.
I don't know if the Patreon model is sustainable for someone like me long term--and I'm already having to rethink some of my original ideas--but it's worth a shot.
I'm encouraged by how many readers have been willing to sign on in support.
Does the patreon accept debit as well as credit cards? It keeps rejecting mine.
DeleteFrom what I can find out on the web, yes. They should accept debit cards.
DeleteHi! I'd be happy to join in and support you with Patreon, but I have a little doubt before submitting. I wish I could do more, but I can only donate 3$/month: for this kind of membership, I saw there's the bonus to "access to at least one serialized novel published exclusively to Patreon". Does this mean that there will be several serialized novels but I'll be able to read just one? Or that you'll at least publish one serialized novel? I'm not a native so my grasp of the English language is kind of flawed :(
ReplyDeleteI never get the chance to pass by your blog and say how much I love your work: your characters are always so well-built they seem real, the plots are well thought and every little details in your story tell how much you're passionate about writing. Thank you so much, and hold on tight, the sun is always just behind the hill, keep climbing and you will see it ;)
Ps. can't seem to be able to login as my livejournal account, so the comment will be anonymus... Name's Mara btw
Hello Mara!
DeleteThat's a very kind thought--and every dollar helps!
At the $3.00 reward tier you have access to the serialized fiction I write during the period of your membership. Meaning so long as you're a member you have access to the serialized stories. There will be at least one novel a year with at least one chapter a month. I'm aiming for more -- this month, for example, we had two chapters -- but I don't want to promise more until I know how it's all going to work out.
Thank you so much for your generous thoughts. I'm so pleased to know you enjoy the stories so much. :-)
No, thanks to you, really!!! I have another silly question: on Patreon , you say that "After due consideration, I've decided the novels will remain exclusive to Patreon." BUT, in a previous comment in this blog you say "Even the serialized novel will ultimately get a final rewrite and edit and be published six months after it finishes its Patreon run."
DeleteSo, which of the two?
Have a nice day,
Mara
Hey there, if you look up at the earlier comment, I reverse that with a follow up comment:
Delete"Yeesh. And having said that...after a week of being live on Patreon, I'm going to have to walk this promise back.
This is a learning curve for me, so some of my original ideas are simply not practical.
Certain audio, print and digital releases will be exclusive to Patreon for the foreseeable future.
That said, promised titles and series books will always be made available through the usual channels.
In short, a lot of Patreon content -- fiction and audio -- will remain exclusive to patreon for the foreseeable future.
Delete