POLL: Question for $10 Patrons about more chapters
Added 2021-02-27 17:15:46 +0000 UTCHey guys, so I've been considering creating a $15 tier (based on USD) and offering 2 addition chapters ahead in both stories (Innocent Devil's Harem and Naughty Friend), but I wanted to ask if that was something you guys even wanted (4 extra chapters between the two stories).
Obviously, if I create a $15 tier, you don't have to join it, but my main concern is people joining and then deciding that $15 is more than they are willing to support me for 4 new chapters a month after that, causing them to stop supporting entirely (I know you guys are here for the story, but I really need your 'ongoing' support, lol).
Note: Long-term, I will still probably only be posting 1 chapter per week, so the big question is do you feel like $15 for 4 chapters per month (1 chapter a week) is too much to commit to.
Anyway, here's the specific question:
Would you join a $15 tier for an 'immediate' 4 extra chapters (2 per story), and be comfortable staying there?
Note: Saying 'no' doesn't mean you disagree with me creating the tier. It just means you personally wouldn't join it. So definitely say no if you wouldn't join such a tier, and please share why in the comments.
Comments
I hear you 100% * Just to be clear, I am not trying to shame you into higher productivity, nor am I trying to suggest your hard work is not competitive. * Rather, I am trying to have some real talk about how you might get to the next level as a creator, and how you might be able to increase your financial support. * It is unfair to compare you to unlimited services. But I think that is the reality of a capitalistic society. Money is the great unifier, and when people draw up budgets, some services are so valuable that they are essentially utilities (I have come to see spotify as a utility at this point). And oftentimes, $10 in one area is "greater" than $10 in another area, even though the monetary value is the same. Conversely, when people decide if they can afford to take on new payments (especially with disposable income), the decision making process often is idiosyncratic and inscrutable. I don't think you should be aiming to price yourself according to a "at what price-point would it be a no-brainer to support me" principle. I just wanted to underscore that when you are providing a service, it is not only the volume of content that you produce that determines how much people are willing to pay. As an indie writer, your value is multi-factorial, and a fair amount of it is in reader accessibility to your creating process, reader perception of being able to influence the direction of your stories, and reader participation in a community. It might be interesting to have an questionnaire / poll for your subscribers asking them to explain why they are subscribing at the tier that they are. * Fair point about the "less-value" advanced tiers. I appreciate that about you. I do feel that, when you and your writing process are ready to deliver an additional 2 advanced chapters, a non-trivial amount of subscribers will want to move up to that higher tier. * I do think that "supporters being interesting in a higher tier" is highly correlated with value proposition, as the number of supporters who are interested likely scales with the perceived value. That said, these value-judgements are hard to unpack, as variables such as disposable income and other financial responsibilities will vary tremendously amongst supporters. In any case, your transparency, outreach, and exploratory probing (rather than simply making changes) is a great way to navigate forward.
Asmitav
2021-02-28 20:28:18 +0000 UTCI personally don't feel like comparing me to those types of companies (spotify, kindle, etc.) is a good comparison, because there literally is no comparison. Even if I was able to write 10 chapters a day, there would be no comparison to what they provide. However, this is sort of like the difference between paying $20 a month to watch a sports game on TV versus paying over $100 one-time to see it in person. Not a perfect analogy, but you get the idea. And, it's as you said. People are supporting me as a writer, and some do want to support me at a higher level. However, I would feel horrible to offer that option, but to not provide at least some benefit in return. You mentioned creators having a 'best value' tier, and how those creators have more expensive tiers that don't offer much value. I personally don't think that's very fair to supporters. If I'm going to make a higher tier, then I'm going to offer something valuable in exchange. And yeah, since most people probably wouldn't support me if I offered no advanced chapters, I think it makes perfect sense to ask them 'if an extra 2 chapters per story' is worth it to them. Of course it's not 'worth it' if you compare it to an unlimited service, but if you ask someone who is considering supporting me if they'd like an extra 2 chapters, that's a valid question for them. At the end of the day, those who choose to support me at a higher tier aren't comparing me to unlimited companies. They are just considering how much they are willing to support me, and if the perk they might get is worth it to them. And if they are going to consider supporting me at a higher level, then I will absolutely try to give them a perk they care about. And this isn't really about increasing my monthly value propositions. It's about having supports being interested in a higher tier. The reason for this poll was to see if the interest might be more than just one or two people, because if it was only a couple of individuals, then I wasn't sure the effort would be worth it (since I'll have to have both stories at 7 chapters ahead if I do that). As far as the community stuff goes, that's a good idea. I'll have to think more about that. Although, I'm not sure if I want to do a discord, because that will be distracting to me personally. I used to use discord a lot, but now I'm almost never on there simply because it was too distracting (and it affected my writing).
Author Kaizer Wolf
2021-02-28 14:43:32 +0000 UTCI voted no for a few key reasons: *At the 10 dollar price point, you are now putting yourself into competition with services like spotify, kindle unlimited, etc. *I am willing to pay $10 not so much because I feel like 1 chapter a week is worth that, but more as an investment in you as a writer and content creator. At a certain point I will re-evaluate my subscription based on your growth as a writer and creator. I do not believe that $10 for 1 chapter a week is a good value proposition (especially because you are competing with "unlimited" services at this price point). To reiterate this point (and I am only speaking for myself) I am willing to be at this tier because I feel you are worth it, not because I feel that 1 chapter per week is worth $10 per month. *That said, many patreon creators have a tier that basically is the best "value", and more expensive tiers beyond that where there is not much additional value, but allow for people with more disposable income to contribute more. So you may want to pursue this as a way to not lose anyone, but possibly increase your monthly support. *I think you can do a bit more on the community building front --- such as discord, to encourage more of your community to communicate with one another, to post some teasers, and otherwise increase engagement. The extent to which this grows can give you more leverage and potential to add more to your monthly value propositions. ---- In any case, keep up the good work!
Asmitav
2021-02-28 02:30:57 +0000 UTC
