Noble Benefactors? · 10:47am May 21st, 2016
I'm not going to beat around the bush: This blog is about me maybe getting a Patreon account. I've been wrestling with this decision off and on for years, and it's time to put it to rest. My biggest concerns has always been waiting for the other legal shoe to fall, but at this point, that doesn't seem like it's going to happen any time soon. Plus, I haven't had any form of income for about a year now and I do have rent to pay. (Also Magic cards to buy. Addiction is a powerful thing.) Now that I'm finally out of college, I'm looking for an actual job, but it's slow going, and it would be nice to have something to bolster my finances in the interim.
So, card on the table: If I did decide to get that account, would you donate to it? Would you lose all respect for my artistic integrity? What kind of rewards would you like to see? Commissions, previews, fan cards, story reviews, something else? Please, let me know.
I certainly wouldn't lose any respect for your integrity; artists need to eat and pay rent.
Sadly, however, I am in no position to assist you myself at this time. I have only just got a new job myself (with a lovely new title: Principle Research Scientist, which is a really nice way to say "lab monkey"). Said new job is only on a six month contract initially; until I am confirmed permanent, I must be very frugal with my funds.
Still, I wish you the best of luck with this endeavour, and hope that I willbe able to assist in due course.
I wash dishes to scrape by bro. You ain't gunna get a smidgen from me. Good luck though.
I wouldn't lose any respect, because that makes no sense at all to me. Can't say I'd donate either, because I'm genuinely wondering if I'm going to be rage-quitting my job soon and I'm not sure how long it would take me to find another job and I'm pretty bad with money. If my situation levels out then it's a possibility, though.
I wouldn't donate, but that's more because I'm broke as well. Personally, I think you (along with a whole bunch of people I follow) more than deserve to receive compensation for what you do here on this site.
Depends on the kind of rewards in play
I think I've read enough of your work to toss you a few bucks.
Joining the chorus. Can't help because I'm also a struggling ex-student, but I encourage you to go for it. 771 followers? And you've produced 43 stories to date? I'd be astounded if you didn't make something from this.
It makes plenty of sense, artistic integrity only works when you have enough for food and rent.
And i'd definitely try to pitch a couple bucks, though I may not be able to do much.
As for rewards, I'd suggest stuff you feel you can deliver on. If you don't feel like you can do more than ten reviews a month/per story, don't offer more than ten. Nothing is set in stone, you can always change things around til you find the right fit n_n
I'd throw in a dollar like I try to do for any Author here.
Ability/willingness to donate aside, here's my two cents:
You probably shouldn't expect the amount you pull in from a Patreon account to make too much of a difference, though even a couple of well-spent dollars are a plus.
Whether or not I lose respect in your artistic integrity may depend on what rewards you offer for donations. I recommend away from rewards that involve you producing non-original work (e.g. story commissions). It's great for the people who get to have their say, but I, personally, usually end up not caring for most of the results of those rewards. If you don't offer those as rewards anyway, the people who donate are just donating because they like what you've already been doing. If I were to donate, it'd be because of that, really.
Early access makes some people happy, but I don't see much point in it. I'm that guy who's always late to the party, though, so maybe that's my problem.
If I were you, I'd focus my efforts on finding a job first. Fulfilling donor requests would only serve to further delay that.
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Honestly, commissions and early access were the only things I could think of, though I'd also accept commissions for reviews, card blogs, and story readings as well as stories. However...
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That's actually an excellent point. I'll need to bear that in mind. Thanks for pointing it out.
Probably not. I am more of a one-time donation person. And my budgets pretty tight right now, anyway. But, I'm not against the idea in general.
Absolutely not; everyone has bills to pay. I believe that an artist's choice of whether or not to make money from their art shouldn't impact the enjoyment of that art, especially if you don't have to pay to enjoy it.
I don't think this is really directed at people who said no to the first question. However, one thing I think people would like is to get to see some blog posts before those who didn't donate.
You have my bits. I support the idea of my favorite authors having food and shelter and Magic cards. (Speaking of that latter, I should follow up on that PM.)
I would actually set up an account for myself if I could manage any sort of consistent output...