Thursday, February 27, 2020
I Have a Patreon Account
Written by Kodi Wolf at 10:44 PM
At the request of one of my Site Members, I opened a Patreon account over the Christmas holiday. They wanted to be able to support me beyond the one-time membership fee and while I was surprised, I wasn't going to turn down the offer.
I had actually been considering doing something like this for over a year, since it costs me at a bare minimum $900/yr to maintain this site (monthly web hosting, domain name registration, filing taxes, etc.), never mind wanting to improve my writing by taking courses or buying books or software, or needing to update that software, or even get compensation for the time I spend writing. Adding in those other costs, the amount is closer to $1,200/yr.
The reason I didn't do it sooner was because I felt weird about asking my readers for more money. They'd already paid their membership fee and I didn't feel right asking for more.
But getting that request and knowing my wife is set to retire in about 5 years and multiplying that ~$1,000/yr x 5 years... That's $5,000 that won't be in our savings when it comes time for her to retire and I was seriously considering either having to take my site down or put more time and energy into marketing than I was my writing. Given my social phobia and the more I learned about marketing, I wasn't too hyped up about that course of action.
The simple fact is that I'd rather write than market and if my costs are covered, then I don't have to spend my time on marketing. That stressor is removed. Instead of writing being this thing I do that costs money, it becomes this thing I do that makes me happy. That thought was really freeing and since I know my readers want to read more story content from me, I considered that a win-win.
I don't have to make money from my writing. I just need it to not cost me any money.
Anyway, when I let the person know I'd created the account, I was expecting maybe $1/mo or possibly even $5/mo, but they signed up at $20/mo, which just blew me away. I just about cried when I saw that amount.
Then I sent an email to my members to let them know that this option was available, though I didn't expect to get more than 1 or 2 signups, if any.
Instead, I got 6 new pledges, including another $20 pledge and a $15 one, with the rest at $5 and $1.
All I can say is, "Thank you. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me."
My goal is to hit about $75/mo (though it's set for $100 because Patreon does take out some fees). That would cover my basic costs so that writing was no longer a financial drain. It wouldn't be actual profit, but I'm okay with that.
Just knowing there are people that eager for my next post is a huge motivator. That in conjunction with my goals for 2020 has helped me to already complete quite a few new scenes for A Bondage Primer, Lights of Life, The Vampire Hunter (which I haven't worked on in ages), and Xena: Warrior Slave (I'm so close to having some new chapters ready for you I can hardly wait).
I'm currently at $69 in monthly pledges (as an erotica writer, please <insert joke here>), but I'm hoping maybe a few more people will see this and will want to help me out.
Seriously, even $1/mo would be amazing. It would let me know you want to read my stories as fast as I can write them.
Also, even though I don't have tiers on my Patreon, I am offering a kind of bonus, which works particularly well if you can't afford to pay for a $10 Story Membership all at once or a $50 Site Membership.
If you sign up for $1/mo, then every 10 months, you'll receive a new Story Membership to the story of your choice (or at $2/mo, it would be every 5 months, etc.). Once you've reached $50, I'll convert your Story Memberships into a Site Membership, so you can access everything (including A Bondage Primer, which isn't available as a stand-alone Story Membership).
If you're already a Story Member, the same applies. Just let me know which story you'd like added to your account next when you reach the $10 mark. Or if you're a Site Member, you'll get a free Story Membership you can gift to someone (or Site Membership if you wait until you hit the $50 mark).
And to those of you who've already pledged your support, thank you again. I mean it. I'm thinking of you when I set my keyboard in my lap and start writing. I want to get my work finished faster because of you, so you can read it.
I'll even stop requesting feedback because you've basically already told me you love my work by supporting me so I can focus on just writing.
Anyway, I just wanted to publicly say thank you to my Patrons. You guys are amazing. :)