Stuart Millard
patreon
Patreon: Year One
🕑 Added 2019-03-01 09:34:03 +0000 UTCSince today is the one year anniversary of this endeavour, I thought I'd do a short State of the Union and see where we're at. Taking the plunge to start a Patreon was a big leap for me. I brushed off the idea for a couple of years, with this fear that nobody would join, and I'd be publicly announcing to the world my literal value as an artist of zero bucks a month.
But I built it, and they came. More specifically, you did, consequently enabling me to write a bunch of weird shit, to the tune of roughly 170,000 words of content and a handful of short videos in the first 12 months. Having a Patreon is a pretty great motivator to just knuckle down and create stuff, and I effectively treat it like a full-time job (which I kinda had to, after committing to two content tiers).
So, what's up for Year Two?
Honestly, while it's been great to be able to tell the story of Men of the Loch, tying myself to a full-length novel, on top of all the other work, meant I couldn't be as varied with the output as I'd have liked, but with that in the bag, I'm going to be a bit freer and more able to experiment, so expect more variety, and hopefully random extra videos and shorter bonus pieces between the regular posts.
As I wrote back when this all began, the more successful my Patreon, the more I'll be able tackle stuff outside the usual remit. For example, I really want to get into 'on location' non-fiction pieces. I've been dissecting televised ghost hunts, yet have never been on one for real. Ditto attending one of the many local psychic nights around here; where every second person in my town is a self-described medium. But that needs some kind of recording equipment/smartphone, and as such, more Patrons. We'll see.
For now, things arriving in the coming months include pieces about drug television, more weird cartoon spin-offs and shitcoms, a series focussing on the cursed culture of the 90s, a novella, tons more short stories, and finally, the podcast, You Are Haunted. I'm hoping to launch the podcast around May/June, depending on how long it takes to amass the material, the finances of acquiring a decent mic, plus figuring out all the techy aspects. Hopefully, that'll also allow me to occasionally produce the kind of deep dives I've been doing as written work but in video form.
I think the worst thing as a person, let alone as an artist (using that term lightly for someone who writes essays about Bobby Davro) is when it feels like you're shouting into the void, and nobody's listening. You, my sweet Patrons, have kept me from tumbling into that void, and there's not a day when I'm not wildly appreciative of your support.
Alright, enough earnest real-talk, back to the cum jokes.
Cheers.
Comments
Stuart Millard
It's funny how the Patreon evolved. In the beginning, I envisioned leaning far heavier into Fortean topics, but then the 'shite old telly' stuff was way more popular, plus in writing those I went further down the rabbithole, so everything changed course and that just became my brand. Ghost stuff's had a bit of a resurgence at the moment with Uncanny, but as a consequence it feels a bit diluted. Still, I would like to return to it at some point (outside of just the Halloween videos).
Chris Mall
Interested to read about the idea of a real life ghost hunt episode or episodes. Would possibly a Kickstarter help with that? One of my favourite paranormal books is Will Storr vs The Supernatural. Would love a Stuart Millard take, I think that’s a great concept, book and documentary!
Martin Worthington
Think Nancy Pelosi did you down, disinviting you from addressing a joint session of congress. Still, glad to know that things are forging ahead, let me know if you want that order of Make Britain Millard (Again?) hats.
Stuart Millard
Thanks, John!
The Ukulele Teacher
Smashing, can't wait for more stuff!
