Come to the dark side, we have cookies! Ok, maybe it isn’t that dark in here, and maybe not real cookies, but fictional cookies. We have fictional cookies.
Being a patron of the arts is a tried and true method for ensuring art gets produced. In the old days, it paid for things like marble blocks, chisels, and sometimes food. Or maybe it paid for oil paints, pigments, brushes, and sometimes food. As a modern writer, a storyteller, to give you the best stories requires spending money on professional editing, cover art, marketing, and sometimes food.
Take a look at my introductory video: https://richardfriesen.net/become-a-patron-of-the-arts/patreon-intro-video/
The cool thing is that now Patreon lets you become a patron of the arts for only a little money. If you become one of my patrons, you will get to see the inner workings of an author turning ideas to stories. Ideas, you see, are easy. Fleshing them out and making them live, making the characters live, is difficult. On top of that, I have to make the tension level high, the stakes matter, and the emotional payoff spectacular. With a small donation, you get access to the patron-only blogs and acknowledgement in my books. With more, you get stories, books and even input into titles and, if I need help with titles, I’ll ask you. If I get in a jamb, I will bounce ideas off of you, my patrons. Sometimes, just writing it out or talking about it will give me the answer. Of course, I may not tell what I decide. I have to leave some surprises.
My goal, as a writer, is to support myself and my family. In today’s world, this is quite possible—I know several authors you have never heard of who make their living writing (i.e. you don’t have to be famous even among those who read that kind of book).
The reasons behind this desire are complex, but they come down to three things:
- My wife has MS, and is now on disability. I want and need more flexibility in my working hours and situation to be at home with her, to care for her and allow us to do the things she wants before she can’t anymore (like travel).
- I have wanted to be an author for the longest time. I have stories to tell, and I want people to hear them.
- I am tired of working for the man. I’ve been in IT almost 30 years, and when, 18 months ago, I got laid off from a job I really liked to land in a rather ordinary job, I had had enough. I want to be in control of my own destiny.
Therefore, I am hoping to open a Patreon site—which is a place for patrons to contribute to my writing career. To start, I’m looking for ten people to become patrons before I create the page.
How does Patreon work? Well, you sign up to contribute monthly, for as little as $1 per month. At each level, I send you a starting gift—a short story, cover art, an ebook, and so on. Then, each month I will post a chapter in a novel, or ask for assistance in naming the next book, whatever comes to mind. In short, you can be part of the process and see how it’s done.
On my side, the money I receive will go directly to cover art and editing services. (One of the disadvantages of independent publishing is that to be a professional, I have to pay for professional services.)