BlaiseCorvin
patreon
We need to have a talk. Please vote on the poll.
🕑 Added 2023-06-18 19:31:16 +0000 UTCHi folks! I'm looking for input. Apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I'm just kind of getting this thing out in a stream of consciousness.
So...long post here but I want to make sure I communicate my conundrum clearly. It's going to take a little bit of background before I ask your opinions.
I am working on 3 different books right now. Delvers LLC 6, Apocalypse Cultivation 3, and a new series, Past Life Hero. This is possible because I've embraced dictation and my writing speed has increased tremendously. I love storytelling, but typing would suck a lot of the fun out of it for me. Strangely enough, editing hasn't always bothered me...so this system works!
Also as a quick reminder, Cozy Isekai Craftsman is launching soon, and I might have another co-written series out later this year, too. This has been one of the most challenging years of my life personally, and I took a hit professionally too, but it might end up being the most productive year I've ever had as a writer by December.
Anyway, I've been thinking about making Past Life Hero a legit web serial. Even though I've posted other stories on Royal Road, I haven't done it seriously or in a way to actually channel more readers to Patreon. To be honest, I've kind of liked the friendly vibe of my Patreon and I've gotten to know some of you slowly over the years. Your opinions matter more to me than anyone else's.
However, if an author is lucky enough to have a big Patreon, the vibe is often kind of mercenary. Readers are there to pay for chapters and that's it. To kind of underline this, I don't think most of you even read chapters or want anything from me. You just support what I do and want to be here for the ride...which makes me tear up sometimes when I think about it.
Thank you.
Anyway, if Past Life Hero takes off, I need to think about how I'm going to structure the Patreon stuff. Unlike any story I've done before, I will be far ahead with chapters written before posting anything.
So my options are:
1. Create a new Patreon for Past Life Hero.
This option is probably the most work intensive and has the potential to cause the most confusion and annoyance among readers. Googling my name and finding 2 patreons is less than ideal, and I don't write under pen names. Past Life Hero is no exception.
If I went this route, I could theoretically post chapters here at the same rate for each tier as the other Patreon, but holy crap I get tired just thinking about that amount of work.
For those who don't know, running a webserial the way most other successful web serials authors do requires constantly changing the permissions on each chapter, so effectively they become unocked for readers at various tiers, eg $3, $5, etc.
I have never run my patreon this way, but I want to give it a shot for Past Life Hero.
Another option:
2. Change all the tiers in here to reflect the web serial thing.
This option would require the least amount of headache, not least of which because I have multiple systems tied to Patreon, like tax stuff, and my Discord. If I make a separate Patreon, I'm not sure how much admin stuff will take up my time. It could take me a couple days.
Changing the tiers in here would take me an hour, max.
However, there are a few potential problems here.
A. I don't want to lose the community vibe
B. I don't want to piss you guys off by suddenly switching everything around
C. New readers who are only here for Past Life Hero might be confused or annoyed by years and years of posts on stuff they don't care about.
The most important problem to me is B. I won't do anything until I figure out where I stand on that, hence this post.
So I'd like to get your input, opinion, suggestions...all of it.
For a little more context, at first I envision something like...
$1 for 1 chapter in advance
$3 for 4 chapters in advance
$5 for 7 chapters in advance
Then if everything is going well, we can have goals that lead to higher tiers being available, or even raising the number of chapters per tier.
This is all a work in progress. I might have to lower the chapter count per tier depending on my word count for the story. But this basic structure is why so many web serials have lower word count chapters. Even the hardest working writers only have so many hours in a day. :P
***
Thanks everyone. I know that a lot of creators out there make gushy speeches to their supporters and for me personally, sometimes some of it doesn't sound sincere. I wish I could convey how serious I am when I say that all of you, everyone who has been a Patreon patron over the years has motivated me to keep writing even though the dark times of 2020.
I lost about half of my Patreon in 2020. A lot of the people here right now are still here through that time and have been with me for years, watching my weird-ass career grow and change.
Bless you
-BC
PS - I'll still be posting chapters of Apocalypse Cultivation 3 and Delvers LLC 6 here. I have 4 chapters of Delvers LLC 6 I want to post soon I just need to do one more edit first.
PPS : the URL for the Past Life Hero page on RR is here - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/70150/past-life-hero
Comments
Blaise Corvin
Thank you for the input! this is helpful
Aelthai
Speaking as someone who does the web serial/Patreon thing (on my other Patreon, I did go that way to keep my publishing account separate from my personal account ... I really don't know why I did that), unlocking additional chapters isn't that much of a hassle. I have spreadsheet that I use to track which chapters unlock when for each tier. I unlock the lower tier manually when I post the top tier content. Public release can be scheduled. It's just part of my daily schedule; I have to post the chapter anyway. I set up the scheduled release on RR for that chapter at the same time, too.
Blaise Corvin
That's kind of the direction I'm leaning at this point
Robert jacobs
I generally do read everything you post so more context is a bonus for me. If your serial really takes off I would suggest marketing the other chapter you post for AC and delvers as bonus content. That then keep everything under one Patreon.
