Changes Coming to the $10+ Tiers in August - Have Your Say in What Comes Next!

This past month I've been re-evaluating the Patreon tiers and the content they contain, to see what the majority of my Patrons are interacting with, and not just with comments, etc. It feels like it's time to shake things up a bit. 

By far the lowest-utilized reward is the Behind-the-Scenes feature every month, no matter what form it takes. For example, the editing video got less than 20 views in total. It was a lot of work for very little engagement, which tells me, as a creator, that it's time to look at something new. 

When I look at making changes like this, I tend to go back and look at the things people request, the types of content I'm asked for regularly, and the types of things that aren't being done everywhere else. In this space, that doesn't leave me with a lot of options. No one wants to hear me ramble about past audios, or how I edit (well, very few of you do, anyway, from the analytics), and the questionnaires are downright boring, but despite that there does seem to be some interest in non-content/meta posts of some kind. It's a bit of a conundrum. 

What I do get requests for most are things like sleep aids and SFW content that isn't necessarily audios. So I've been thinking about that a lot lately. What helps people sleep? So I did some research. Two of the biggest activities people use to help them sleep, according to the studies I read, are watching/listening to ASMR videos and reading a book before bed. Hmmm...

Why not combine them? 

So that's what we're going to do. Starting in August, I'm launching Beauty's Bedtime Series. This will replace the monthly Behind-the-Scenes post in the $10+ tiers. We'll pick a novel as a group (that's where you all come in, but more about that in a second) and I'll read to you, one or two chapters a month, using the binaural microphone and creating a soft, relaxing atmosphere to help you drift off to sleep. 

Pretty neat, right? 

Okay, now that you know what my idea is, let's pick the novel! All of these novels are in the public domain, so I won't get in trouble for reading them aloud. Here are the choices:

1. Homer's The Iliad - From Amazon.ca: "The most beautiful woman in the Greek world is apparently kidnapped from her powerful husband, Menelaus. Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships, is used as a pretext for her brother-in-law, Agamemnon, to launch his long-planned invasion of Troy. Agamemnon has assembled the largest army the Greek world has ever seen, and is accompanied by numerous heroes who have the favour of the gods on Mount Olympus. Chief amongst those heroes is the legendary Achilles. Achilles has been forewarned that his participation in the war will forever immortalize his name and legacy, but at the cost of his life. After becoming disillusioned with Agamemnon, Achilles decides to abandon the Greek cause, and take his vaunted elite soldiers with him. The Greek assault is halted by the stout walls of Troy, and both sides settle into a long siege. However, the Trojans launch a surprise attack during the night, and Achilles’ most trusted friend Patroclus is killed in a duel with Hector, the Prince of Troy. Achilles recommits himself to the war against Troy and swears revenge against Hector."

2. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie - From agathachristie.com: "Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was the result of a dare from her sister Madge who challenged her to write a story. The story begins when Hastings is sent back to England from the First World War due to injury and is invited to spend his sick leave at the beautiful Styles Court by his old friend John Cavendish. Here, Hastings meets John’s step-mother, Mrs Inglethorp, and her new husband, Alfred. Despite the tranquil surroundings Hastings begins to realise that all is not right. When Mrs Inglethorp is found poisoned, suspicion falls on the family, and another old friend, Hercule Poirot, is invited to investigate."

3. Middlemarch, George Eliot - From Amazon.ca: "The most ambitious narrative of nineteenth-century realism, Middlemarch tells the story of an entire town in the years leading up to the Reform Bill of 1832, a time when modern methods were starting to challenge old orthodoxies. Eliot's sophisticated and acute characterization gives rich expression to every nuance of feeling, and vividly brings to life the town's inhabitants – including the young idealist Dorothea Brooke, the dry scholar Casaubon, the young, passionate reformist doctor Lydgate, the flighty young beauty Rosamond and the old, secretive banker Bulstrode – as they move in counterpoint to each other.
Art, religion, politics, society, science, human relationships in all their complexity, nothing is left unexamined under the narrator's microscope. One of the greatest novels written in the English language, Middlemarch is a literary landmark in its groundbreaking approach, as well as a priceless document of its age."

4. Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery - From thecanadianencyclopedia.ca: "The first in a series of eight novels, Anne of Green Gables follows the adventures and misadventures of Anne Shirley, an intelligent, passionate and precocious orphan. At age 11, she is delivered from an orphanage to elderly siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who were expecting a boy to work on their farm, Green Gables, in rural Prince Edward Island. As she makes her bright passage from childhood into adolescence, Anne finds ample “scope for the imagination” at Green Gables, where she wins the hearts of Matthew and Marilla, and in Avonlea, where she wins the community’s affection."

5. Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss - From penguinrandomhouse.com: "Swept off course by a raging storm, a Swiss pastor, his wife, and their four young sons are shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island. Thus begins the classic story of survival and adventure that has fired the imaginations of readers since it first appeared in 1812. With optimism and boundless enthusiasm, the Robinson family undertakes the extraordinary task of constructing a home for themselves and exploring the primitive island filled with strange and beautiful creatures and exotic fruits and plants. Rich in action and suspense, The Swiss Family Robinson is an exhilarating novel takes us to a faraway place of danger and beauty, where the courageous Robinson family embarks on a thrilling new life of adventure and discovery."

So that's it! Vote in the poll for which novel we should start with (The Iliad isn't really a novel, it's a poem, but we won't focus on semantics right now) and the first chapter will be posted in August. 

Voting closes at 11:59pm EDT on July 31, 2021. 

I'm looking forward to this new adventure. I hope you all are, too! 

~B~ 💜💜💜