How ya doin'?
It's Christmas next week, so I'll be taking a break from blogging. I'll take the time now to wish you a very Happy Holidays, whichever one you celebrate. I hope you're able to put your cares away and spend some quality time with loved ones. I know I am fortunate that I shall be.
Since I can't do it next week, I should probably tell you now that as of January 1st, 2024, I will be starting a monthly subscription service! Sonia, I hear absolutely no one ask, what the devil is a subscription service? Thank you for asking! I'll tell you.
A monthly subscript service is just that. You pay some amount a month and in exchange you get a bunch of stuff that ordinary folks don't get. People who don't subscribe, for example, won't be getting sneak peaks at works in progress, or subscriber-exclusive art and offers etc. What you get generally is up to the whims of the person you're subscribing to, and how much you subscribe (most places offer levels of subscription options).
There are multiple platforms that offer subscription options. Most everyone is familiar with Patreon, for example. But Patreon isn't the only one out there. There are many. I did think for a long time about which to use. I explored and researched and compared for months, actually. There were two that were very closely tied.
The first is extremely writer-specific. It's called Ream, and I already know of one author on there. They love it. I did almost go this route, because it is so very directed at writers and readers. I did baulk a little at the reduced separation between the two, though. I know it really works for some authors, but I don't know that I'd be that comfortable with it.
The second front-runner, and the option I decided to go with, was Ko-Fi. I already had an account, though it was rarely used. When I returned to my account some years after I abandoned it, much had changed. Ko-Fi is no longer just a tipping site, which is how it started. It also offers so much more. Not just the monthly tiered subscriptions, but it also boasts a blogging platform, streaming integrations, a store (where I can offer things exclusively to my members and have other things that are publicly available), and there's also the option to offer commissions.
This was perfect for me, as I have many other interests - I live stream my gaming on Friday evenings, and I'm trying to get into custom book binding and bookish leather creations like custom dust jackets and whatnot (and perhaps other crafts... we'll see). The ability to have it all - my writing, my art and crafting, and my gaming - all in one convenient location and with a store made Ko-Fi too good a platform to pass up.
So, I spent a couple of months figuring stuff out. I asked people about what they'd like to see from a subscription and at what tier, and was kindly brought back down to earth with reminders about what I would be able to offer. Let's be honest, I have a terrible habit of taking on too much and then collapsing into a heap and falling terribly behind. It took a lot of thought and reckoning with my desire to please and tendency to overwork to figure stuff out.
But it's done now, and I'm just about ready to launch. In fact, I will be properly launching as of the New Year. Starting Jan 1st, you'll be able to sign up to a monthly subscription from me. Now, if you go to my Ko-Fi page, you'll note that there is so far, only one tier. This is for two reasons, mainly.
The first is that it is my dream to earn enough money from my writing to support myself; that I won't be forced into an office for forty hours a week, and have all of my time and energy drained for someone else. It's not that I hate where I work, I don't. But every time I sit at the desk, I chaff at all the hours I could be spending writing or painting or book binding. I'd have finished manuscripts so much sooner to offer to you, the reader. Unfortunately, that is not that case. I do have to spend forty hours a week at work in order to put food on my table and keep a roof over my head. Because of this, I have limited time and energy to put into my other projects - including this subscription.
The second is that I'm only starting out. I don't expect a giant influx of subscribers at all. I'll consider myself lucky to have even one! I have a terrible tendency of over-promising and then crashing, and I don't want to do that with this. So, I must start small and see how I get on. If I'm finding the workload bearable, I'll be able to offer a little bit more, but I won't know that until launch. I've set the tier's offerings at what I think is manageable while also working a full time job and three other part-time gigs, with the expectations that the exclusives on offer will be sporadic for now.
So, I only have one tier available. It's for $1.00 a month and with it you will be getting early access to all the things I offer for free, plus exclusives that are only for you. That means you'll get my weekly blog posts a day ahead of everyone else, plus an extra blog post a week especially for you. If I restart my YouTube journey, you'll be getting all those videos first before they go live to the public. There will be items in the shop that only subscribers will be able to access (and there's one there already - a three month a page calendar with my art to make it pretty. It's free and exclusive for my subscribers).
Exclusives take time and energy to create, so they'll be a bit sporadic, and so I don't feel comfortable charging anyone any more than $1.00 a month for access.
I have plans for more - perhaps a dedicated discord server, a monthly live-streamed write-in/paint night, a book club maybe, if folks are interested, first dibs on ARC copies of my books, other things I haven't thought of yet. In order to be able to deliver on those, however, I need the time to do them. And I can't have that time if I'm in the office forty hours a week. It's a terribly vicious circle, my friends!
This is new for me, and it feels a little weird. I will forever feel like I'm not doing enough, I think. But I figured I'll give this a shot. I'm a little fearful that this will be a giant flop, as most things I try usually are. But even if so, what's the worst result of that?
I will feel disappointed, but carry on as normal. Life will not have appreciably changed.
I've managed it thus far. So it's not the worst failure I've ever experienced.
May as well try as not, you know?
So... yeah. As of January 1st, I'll be offering a monthly subscription. Who knows, if it gets enough traction, I might be able to reduce my hours at the office so I can get to creating more things for you. I will say, now is the time to get in, as I'm approaching the final edits for The New Haven Incident. Subscribers will be getting that serial a full month before everyone else, so you'll be four chapters or so deep before the rest of the world gets to start the first chapter. I'll be keeping that schedule for any future serials I write. If you want to check it out, my Ko-Fi page is here. I haven't launched the subscription yet. That will happen on the 1st. Or the 31st. I haven't decided.
Before I sign off, I want to make a special mention that it's more than alright if you can't support this financially right now. There are so many other ways you can help support the creatives in your life. Sometimes just sharing their stuff or leaving a review can move mountains. Please don't offer me money if you're struggling yourself. Take care of you first. Then you can worry about other people. Don't feel guilty about it, either. I forbid it!
Alright, this was a hella long post. I'm sure you're tired of me now, so I'll sign off.
Ciao!