A Wrinkle from Patreon
Added 2024-08-19 16:19:09 +0000 UTCHi everyone,
Over the last few days we've received a few updates from Patreon advising us that they are going to cease supporting per-creation billing going forward.
There is a bit of a timeline involved, so we are considering our next steps carefully. For us, Patreon has always primarily served as a preorder platform for non-Amazon readers, so I'm actually uncomfortable with the thought of moving to a subscription-based charge.
Currently, we see three options and we wanted to check in on your thoughts:
1) Move, as Patreon is requiring, to a monthly subscription. Logically, this would involve lowering the pricing tiers as you would be paying, give or take, two months of subscription for each book, though that would create some level of risk for us that I'd need to mull over.
2A) End the Patreon and replace it with a separate limited time preorder system on our website. This would probably be the most optimal, but requires time and resources we don't know if we can employ this year.
2B) End the Patreon without replacement. Given the difficulties of setting up our own preorder and how I prefer to use this platform, this is currently the most likely course. We will give everyone plenty of heads up before that happens.
Regardless of how we end up responding to this, I wanted to make sure you all knew what was going on in our heads.
Keep your eyes on this space for the second House Adamant book in a few weeks!
Happy Reading!
-Glynn Stewart
Comments
What about all the other platforms that are basically PATREON with different names? One of them has to still be sane. There are so many.
David Silva
2024-08-24 11:12:59 +0000 UTCYou are my first choice for a read. I would prefer some option for prepaying (no matter if it’s a subscription or some other method). If you do away with Patreon and don’t replace it, I’d be sad but not mad.
Ernest Blanchard
2024-08-23 03:22:43 +0000 UTCThank you everyone. We appreciate the support and will let you know what we decide!
Glynn Stewart
2024-08-22 14:29:27 +0000 UTCThe funny part is I thought I was already paying monthly so I’m good with that going forward. 😃
Shultzman
2024-08-22 12:17:43 +0000 UTCI would be perfectly OK with a monthly subscription of approximately three to five dollars, and it wouldn’t bother me if you had a longer period between some books. I have been reading your books since I first discovered Starships Mage and I’m not gonna stop now
Bill Colston
2024-08-22 08:54:04 +0000 UTCKeep the patreon going with either option 1 or 2A. The selling point for me is the 2 weeks early delivery of books I want to read. Certainly 3 dollars a month would work as that would be $6 a book for bi monthly issues and the extra dollar would be worth it for 2 week early delivery. I'll keep reading regardless.
Michael Strong
2024-08-20 17:58:44 +0000 UTCI would have no problem with you going to the "Subscription" model and I totally understand the creative process does not anhere to any preset timeline. Your are one of my favorite writers and I intend to continue to support you.
Michael Murakami
2024-08-20 15:29:44 +0000 UTCI would prefer you keep the patreon going if you can. Happy to pay monthly rather than by the book. Most creators I support on patreon use the monthly model and don't always have content every month
Malachy NG
2024-08-20 01:10:35 +0000 UTCDo what you gotta do to support your creative process. If it were a vote, and I know it is not, I'd vote for monthly Patreon as a simple way to go and knowing that virtually everyone here says no need to feel stressed on a particular production schedule. But I'd probably go wherever I can get this access (early reading and occasionally more direct messaging). Oh, the Text to Speech is really helpful for me (my eyes read very slowly). If you scrap it all I'm still likely to check my email specifically for new book announcements every couple of weeks. Do what you gotta do...we got you.
Jonathan Amundsen
2024-08-20 00:15:18 +0000 UTCThough monthly would be easier on my wallet.
Jonathan Amundsen
2024-08-20 00:07:04 +0000 UTCFor real. Honestly, the current price per month would less than one sandwich at a fast food restaurant. If it was half that it would be even more affordable. So if a book was late or not quite every couple of months it is not a big deal. I'm very budget conscious at the moment and I still think you are not giving your books as much credit as they are due. Certainly, Patreons are likely to be those who already understand the value of your work, so we maybe much less price sensitive than the general public ... But do not confuse the optimal price point for volume of sales on Amazon with your actual value offering. Not every book I've gotten from Amazon was worth the time to read it. And many others were not worth talking about afterwards, but that has never been an issue with your books.
Jonathan Amundsen
2024-08-20 00:06:01 +0000 UTCYeah, my other Patreon created is a YouTuber that does investigative reporting and may or may not release a video in any given month, but the Patreon is monthly. Other Patrons have also been very supportive of him when he has stuff going on personally and doesn't produce a video for a couple of months.
Jonathan Amundsen
2024-08-19 23:47:25 +0000 UTCI will buy your books whichever way needed. Option 2b is fine with me, as long as there's a heads up notice. Thank you for asking, and especially for your wonderful stories!
Patti DeLang
2024-08-19 23:39:24 +0000 UTCYeah, actually, that ability to use text to speak is huge for me. I really don't have free time in my calendar, so the TTS is a big help for me as I walk or drive. If I cannot use the TTS then I basically lose a day of productivity during the release week. That can be a drag.
Jonathan Amundsen
2024-08-19 23:33:26 +0000 UTCMonthly is fine with me. I want to support your great writing and find this an easy way to do that. I do like the different levels model as a way to get an advanced view of the next book.
MARK FRINK
2024-08-19 23:11:59 +0000 UTCMaybe moving to an alternative of patreon would maybe be an option, I just love the ability to directly support an author I love without supporting amazon and them being DRM Free and Early are a really nice bonus!
SaltySolomon
2024-08-19 21:47:41 +0000 UTCi have been happy with my patreon subscription since it makes it easy to get a drm-free epub that i can use with text-to-speech and listen to. however, if that's not going to be possible going forward, that's life i guess. Do what's best for you.
NA1
2024-08-19 21:16:30 +0000 UTCGo for the monthly subscription. That is how many if not virtually all Patreon contributors work and what most Patreon supporters are used to. I, as others here have stated, view Patreon primarily as a way of providing support to authors and content creators whose content we enjoy and which comes with secondary benefits such as early access and private messaging. I think you are too focused on the secondary benefits.
David Abrams
2024-08-19 20:08:46 +0000 UTCWould prefer the monthly or dropping. Patreon is convenient because I support multiple artists/writers, and I have zero interest in adding yet another website I have to deal with. But ultimately I'm doing it just as a way to get you a bit larger piece of the pie, so I'd only recommend doing the monthly if that made financial sense relative to the alternatives.
Allan Shampine
2024-08-19 18:24:27 +0000 UTCJust as a note, a publisher can tell Amazon to make the book available without DRM.
Phillip Walker
2024-08-19 18:18:17 +0000 UTCI know that this is information, rather than asking our opinion, but I've never let that slow me down. I tend to view it as primarily as the name implies, a method by while I can act as a Patron for favored artists. Another author has tiers where subscribers can subscribe at different levels per month with him posting chapters of upcoming books on a weekly basis. Then, when the book comes out the subscriber can purchase it via the normal channels (or better yet, pre-order it). I have found I like that model. Fans pay what they are comfortable with on a monthly basis, get a preview of new works by a favored author and then purchase the new work in a final, easily readable format when it comes out to the general public.
Phillip Walker
2024-08-19 18:15:47 +0000 UTCMonthly is fine. I still buy the books again on Amazon to make sure I have them in my library.
Thurman Jamison
2024-08-19 18:15:22 +0000 UTCI’d prefer option 1 or 2a to option 2b but will continue to buy and enjoy your books regardless.
Susan McKilligan
2024-08-19 17:57:46 +0000 UTCI only read via audio, but sub here to get an epub to archive alongside the DRM-removed Audible files in Calibre. I basically buy each book twice, or once for series I don't follow. I wouldn't move to Amazon (if there's even a DRM removal on Kindle books anymore) for the archival bit, so I wouldn't buy the books twice, but other than that it's not affecting my access as I have to wait for audio anyways.
Anan
2024-08-19 17:34:03 +0000 UTCThanks for keeping us updated. Any early access to your work is appreciated, regardless of how I pay for it.
Mike L.
2024-08-19 17:32:13 +0000 UTCNo problem with paying monthly or yearly (even if you do not release monthly, not even every 2 months) or buying via your website, or whatever solution you’ll come up with, but will NOT buy anything digital (ebook, audiobook,…) via amazon including their kindle
A terrestrial being
2024-08-19 17:27:28 +0000 UTCI don't really mind moving to a monthly sub. I really don't have a problem if you miss the every 2 months schedule if you need more time to finish a book.
John Yuen
2024-08-19 17:19:32 +0000 UTCI’m with you whatever you choose! I subscribe here so you make more per book and because Amz is slow about sending out new releases emails. I usually get notified 2 weeks after you release
Amy Parrish
2024-08-19 17:17:56 +0000 UTCI'm here to hopefully give you more direct monetary support, so whatever works out best for you, I'll be there. Is there not a similar company that you could move to that would fit your needs? I don't know that's out there as patreon alternatives these days, but they can't be the only one doing this kind of thing.
Dan Burke
2024-08-19 17:16:06 +0000 UTCI use Patreon to send a signal (via my money) that I appreciate your writing and will back whatever you create, period. So whatever you choose to do, I'll continue to support you.
C
2024-08-19 17:12:16 +0000 UTCFrom my perspective, 2B is the absolute worst option. I'd be happy with a variant of 1 that puts the risk on subscribers instead of on you guys.
Brendon Towle
2024-08-19 17:10:09 +0000 UTCI love getting the books early, and that more of the money goes to you instead of the evil empire, so I'd definitely pre-order directly from your site if that were an option. But writing this number of books seems like a huge lift without the complication of setting up a pre-order site. So, really, whatever works for you. Either way, just let us know where and when we can order.
Martha Shields Gallagher
2024-08-19 17:07:09 +0000 UTCI am also subscribed monthly to Terry Mixon, I read as he writes his own Books and ARC some others.
Stephen Brewster
2024-08-19 17:05:21 +0000 UTCWhatever works best for you, but I’d be okay with paying monthly.
Nameri Verdstela
2024-08-19 17:03:04 +0000 UTCSame here.
Thomas Hochstein
2024-08-19 16:51:42 +0000 UTCI don't know this would be allowed by patreon's Ts&Cs; but would it be possible to keep Patreon as-is on a monthly basis; and then have a discount code that allows your subscribers to get the ARC version of the book from your website for those 2 weeks prior to Kindle Unlimited release?
Bernard Tao
2024-08-19 16:47:03 +0000 UTCI have a subscription to support you, as opposed to notification and etc. So, I'm happy to move to a monthly system.
Aaron Jacobs
2024-08-19 16:44:35 +0000 UTCI mainly started my subscription here to support you more directly vs other marketplaces like Amazon. Happy to continue as long as there's a method to do so, either via Patreon Monthly or your own Preorder system
Justin Chiao
2024-08-19 16:42:00 +0000 UTCAs I do not use Amazon, I would strongly prefer one of the first two solutions. I can understand the difficulty with rolling your own solution. As such, I would accept a price of 2 months per book, even if once in a while it turned out to be 3 months (to mitigate the risk to you). i would hope you can work in the background on a better answer. PS: I really enjoy your books. Thank you for writing them.
Joel Halpern
2024-08-19 16:36:30 +0000 UTCI would prefer a lower monthly cost instead, you’re one of my favorite authors so it would be a pleasure for me to continue supporting you even if it’s a smaller monthly cost.
Cameron Craig
2024-08-19 16:31:29 +0000 UTCPersonally I am happy with whatever subscription or payment model you are forced into, as long as I get all the novels, and have some kind of chance to report typos! It's too bad that Patreon is going this way, although I do understand why they're doing it; the per-creation billing model was always kind of open to abuse, and I bet there have been plenty of unscrupulous jerks who abuse it.
Paul Zagieboylo
2024-08-19 16:29:18 +0000 UTCYour publishing discipline is so amazing that I have no issue with a monthly and/or annual charge.
Alec Blair
2024-08-19 16:28:12 +0000 UTCFrom my perspective, what I most care about is showing support and doing it monthly vs. per book (your option 1) works perfectly fine for me.
Leon
2024-08-19 16:25:50 +0000 UTCIf you move I will follow. If you stop this I’ll be sad but I’ll deal. If you go monthly, I’ll stick around. I don’t like any of the choices they’ve left you with as well as the status quo, but. Can’t force them to keep it, alas.
Kyrielle
2024-08-19 16:25:50 +0000 UTCI subscribe to C.E Murphy also and I just take what I get as it arrives, I don't care if it's one book a year or 4. She also provides Patron specific content like sharing her writing process, doing Pico reviews of books and movies and sometimes asking for writing prompts that she'll use for a short story that may turn into something in the future. It's a lovely way to feel connected and part of her work. I'd definitely stay subscribing to you for something similar.
Tiffiny Quinn
2024-08-19 16:23:48 +0000 UTCPersonally, and I can only speak personally, I’m ok paying $5 per month recurring and getting a novel every 2-3 months, as long as I get it early. :)
Zach Hunter
2024-08-19 16:22:20 +0000 UTCJust let me know what you decide and I will move if needed
Dale thompson
2024-08-19 16:21:46 +0000 UTCI’d heard from others that Patreon has been playing games; especially due to Apple. If you do take this down, I will understand but will miss the direct messaging. Any update on the next Kickstarter book?
Phil
2024-08-19 16:21:33 +0000 UTC
