In late 2023, I soft-launched a Patreon support page. But now the soft-launch period is over, and I want to make this news official: I have a new Patreon page.
Why Patreon?
Even though I sell my books "wide," meaning they are available to buy on all the major online retailers, gaining predictable, consistent income remains difficult at best. There are peaks when I release a new book, but that quickly fades. Advertising is much the same and, in many cases, has become so much less effective than in the past that many of those sources (email newsletters, for example) no longer provide the necessary ROI to make them a viable option. Also, writing a book can take a long time. For me, around six months. This creates very long valleys where income is on the low side. All this presents challenges when trying to sustain an ongoing business.
Patreon helps by providing a consistent source of funds to invest in everything that goes into running an author business.
With Patreon, I can provide more frequent content updates
I produce about two novels per year. That leaves a lot of time between when readers are deprived of some great, smaller form material from me. I have written short stories (The Hall of Riddles and The Assassin's Dilemma) and will continue to do so. But these do not sell terribly well on retail sites, meaning they are not always a good financial investment (covers, editing, my time all cost money). With Patreon, I can produce smaller works of fiction in a much shorter timeframe and add further benefits like letting you, the reader, choose which characters from my books to feature. Also, I can publish lots and lots of value-added content, like character profiles, which are basically professional-looking, 1-2 page sheets with character illustrations, background information, special skills or abilities, and other tidbits about select characters from my books. The first one, featuring the Assassin Without a Name, is already posted. Others will be published once or twice a month. Other content includes chapters of my current work-in-progress, illustrations that inspire my writing, information about the World of Uhl (the world I set my novels in), and information about specific locales and places in that world. The possibilities are endless.
Visit my Patreon now... a lot of the content is free
Like any new platform, I don't want to require someone to pay to enjoy the initial content. Head over to my page and take a look. I think you'll like the amount of free content there, which hopefully will give you an idea of what's to come. Of course, if you like what you see, please consider becoming a member.
Visit my Patreon now.
Join my reader's group and get The Hall of Riddles (An Alchemancer Prequel) and The Assassin's Dilemma (An Assassin Without a Name Prequel) as a welcome gift.