Plans for 2021

Hello again and thank you very much for being a loyal Patron, especially through a year as difficult as this one.

This journal will serve as a notice-of-intent for 2021. These changes will take place in February.  It can’t be January as I cannot realistically get everything in order in just under two weeks.  And at the time of writing this, it’s Christmas Week.

Following feedback from the earlier Tier Change proposal poll, I’ve decided to go with the combined product tier system** after all, detailed below:

What’s a Hashira? It’s the Japanese word for pillar. In other words, you’re the very foundations on which I’ve built this art career on, a pillar of the community if you will.  Don’t undersize how important you are, and thank you so much for your support. As a result, you get Infurlation Redux and Flora-Fauna-Fen SURVIVE two weeks ahead of anybody else, plus exclusive bonus art not solely tied to those two comics!

You’re quite the big deal, supporting Poking Around, my most popular (semi-)original project on Patreon. Your generosity will ensure this slice-of-life story’s continuation, plus you get to vote who gets a nice extra depiction in the VIPinnup polls, not strictly related to Poking Around either. You’re also a Hashira Hero so you get that content too. Thank you so much!

My word, you’re a generous one. As a result, you’ll get the first dibs on the VIPinnup polls featuring… spicier takes, as well as all the content above. (**If I can manage it, I’ll supply the continuation of Bear With, but no guarantees – this is just an extra)

I haven’t thought up any fancy images yet, but this at least gives a better flavour of what I’m going for than a blandy-mcblandy template. What do you think?

** I haven't yet decided on the lower tier price yet or the currency.

It’s no secret that this site is a bit of an unwieldy beast for those who have a lot of content. So I propose to move it off-site so it’s far easier to access, a bit like this:

To access the files, I’ll send along a randomly generated password by message to Patrons for the appropriate tier. That way, you’re not subject to as many email barrages (especially if you’re subscribed to multiple Creators), and prevents leakages. It’s true that one site specifically made to “freepost” Patreon-contentis no more, but another has sprung up in its place trying to do the same thing. It doesn’t bother me per se, since I consider it a badge of honour to be worth stealing from. Still…

What does this mean for the comics, especially as I love my translation notes? I was debating this for a long time but I’ve arrived at the following:

The reason why Flora-Fauna-Fen SURVIVE and Infurlation Redux are like that is because they go up publicly anyway (you know where to find them), and I usually have a little running commentary.

I want to make better use of Patreon’s Creator-to-Patron utilities, like Tier-specific messages. And also give more of a reason for my Discord to exist, which right now feels superfluous to requirement and a one-way street. Do you feel differently? What do you think of the above?

Something that Allan Meyer said offhandedly gave me pause to think: one of the ongoing concerns I have with Patreon is that I burn out and burn out hard. So going forward, I think it’s best if I operate on a cycle system. That is I produce Patreon-only/funded content for say, 2 or 3 months before taking a break/doing other things. Naturally, I would freeze Patreon the month I take off so nobody is unfairly charged for no/very little content.

So it could go a bit like this:

I think it’ll be more beneficial in the long-run especially if the new decade repeats 2020’s events over and over.  Is this fair?

Things will stay as they are until the New Year. But from 1st January onwards, I will start deleting older content and moving it off-site. I’ll reset this Patreon properly on the 1st February, but I’ll signpost when the big changes occur, so it won’t be out of the blue.

That’s all. Let me know what you think of these changes and most importantly, stay safe, stay sane and here’s to a better 2021.

Thank you again for all your time and support over the past five years.