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Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - Printable Version

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Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - Black Aeronaut - 03-17-2020

Okay.  So Rob has said that he'd be willing to send me money just so I could sit down and write.  And others have said that they wouldn't mind sending me a bit of cash to help me keep a roof over my head.

Now, I've had this idea in the back of my head for a bit, but Rob's statement brought it back to the front burner.

Basically, I start a Patreon or Kofi or something else to help support me so I don't have to worry about income quite as much.

The nice thing about this is that I can set up polling to determine by popular demand which story I focus on, set myself up with a Betabooks account and let people in the higher donation tiers be my official prereaders, and other nifty things.

Like anyone just starting out with this sort of thing, I know I won't be able to do it full-time.  I'll still have to work and all.  But then I'll also be able to justify spending most of the day at my computer working on my stories.

So, feedback time.  What do we know about Patreon and other platforms like it, risks and rewards, and should I pull the trigger on this?

EDIT: A cursory search online reveals a very polarized divide. Which kinda puzzles the fuck outta me because, at first glance, the two services compliment each other nicely. One is a subscription system that allows for rewards and tiers. The other is a digital tip jar, geared towards one-time donations. But apparently some people just wanna fight it out.


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - robkelk - 03-17-2020

Honestly, I don't know anything about either of them. I can't take money for writing, to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - classicdrogn - 03-17-2020

My only comment in that regard is that only original fiction should go behind the "patrons only" paywall, though earlier access that is added to the publicly available side in a few days or a week is ... less objectionable? Probably okay? I'd probably still be uncomfortable about it myself, but not so much as to tell someone else producing material that it's wrong. Maybe it's splitting hairs (either way) but that's my feeling on the matter. Sadly it's not like I have so much as some spare change to drop in the hat, so take it as you will, but there it is.


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - Bob Schroeck - 03-17-2020

Like Rob, I know nothing about either of them, so I can't help there.


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - Black Aeronaut - 03-17-2020

In regards to which service to use, I think I'll just do both.  I see no reason why not as, like I said, they compliment each other very well.  Patreon will have all the shinies in exchange for a monthly pledge, and Ko-Fi will permit the casual once-in-a-while donation with just the offer to have their name listed among the contributors for that month.

RE: Paywalls; I won't be hiding any content behind any paywalls.  I'd only have it be that the people in the higher contribution tiers would be invited to be beta readers.  Which would only be proper since Betabooks no longer has a free service, and their contributions would go towards handling that cost.

As for it being in a gray zone...  Yes, I'll fully admit that it is, but one has to keep in mind that Star Trek would be nowhere nearly as popular if not for fanfiction, and that the 'zines of the day often paid people to run their stories.  I'll abide by any C&D's that may come my way, but I doubt I'll get many of those because, again, I'm not hiding any actual content behind any pay walls.  The contributions I'd be receiving are 100% voluntary and the rewards would have no real pertinence to anyone's IP.

That said, I'm open to ideas for rewards.  I know Patreon has integration with Discord, so exclusive access to a server or a channel on a server can be something I do.

I could probably also do commissioned original shorts at the highest tier - say that a patron contributes at the highest tier for one year grants them a voucher for an original short up to a certain word count.

I could also probably commission an artist to draw someone's favorite scene and then provide them with digital and hard copies (with the caveat that the artist can use it for their portfolio and also viewable in a gallery online).

Thoughts?  Any other ideas?


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - robkelk - 03-17-2020

Remember why you're thinking of doing this, and then reconsider whether you want to offer tiers where you need to spend money...


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - Labster - 03-18-2020

Honestly I was just thinking of mailing you a check, ya know...

I was less interested in supporting your work, and more interested in just throwing out some help to you, as a person.

In the long term it might be nice. This is kind of a weird time to be building a fandom, when everyone's going to be eating into their savings.


RE: Patreon? Kofi? Something else? - Black Aeronaut - 03-18-2020

Nah, you both have a point. File this one under "Good Idea, Bad Timing" then.