Let's Be Patreonest Here...

                Patreon, for those of who haven’t heard of it yet, is an awesome service rolled out several months ago where people can pledge financial support for creative types they enjoy, and in exchange they can see benefits to the page, sneak peeks, or receive other special benefits. If you haven’t checked it out then I highly encourage you too, there are wonderful and artists on there. Even if you don’t back one, you’re bound to discover something new you like.

                Now that we’ve established what Patreon is, let’s talk about how it impacts this post. Many of you have written to me over the past months asking if I intended to set-up a Patreon page for DrewHayesNovels. After looking over the site and what they try to do, it’s very tempting, but there’s a significant issues that I’ve hit every time I think about pushing forward on something like this:

                I am already at capacity for writing, which means no amount of pledging would allow me to up my posting schedule. As you know from the donations and bonus chapters, I don’t believe in taking money without providing something to make it worthwhile, so a Patreon where I just “Thanks!” isn’t something I’d be okay creating. However, more content is the number one request I get as far as site additions, and with the current SP/Corpies load along with my standalone books, I just don’t have the ability to write more. I’m already usually backlogged as it is.

                So then, with the main incentive I could offer now gone, I’m putting this blog up as a town hall sort of meeting. You’re the readers, you’re the ones who support me by taking the time to read my writings. It only seems fitting that you be allowed to tell me what you’d like to see from me as far as Patreon rewards. If everyone is happy with things as they are, then Patreon isn’t a good fit for me and that will be that. If, on the other hand, there’s a lot of stuff you guys would like to see from me, then I’ll seriously look into creating one.

                I’m largely going to let you guys run the show on this in the comments, but just to set the tone I thought I would throw out some successful incentives I’ve seen other Patreon accounts offer that their readers seemed to enjoy:

• Ad-Free/Less Ads on Sites: Some people don’t care for ads, and removing them improves their reading experience.
•  Podcasted Readings: Want to hear SP in audio form by the author? Yeah, me neither, but someone might!
•  Author Q&A’s: Via Skype or Youtube or some such audio/visual voodoo, I would answer questions or just shoot the shit every (week/month/quarter)
• Sneak Peeks: See behind the scenes chapters and drafts of new projects before anyone else.
• Bear-Fighting: Okay, I haven’t technically seen this one yet, but with enough vodka I can pretty much be talked into anything. Just put boxing gloves on the bear or artificial claws on me, that’s all I ask.

                Discuss amongst yourselves whether this is stuff you care about, or suggest totally different and cooler options. I might be popping in here and there to ask for clarifications on certain things, but for the most part this is your show. Tell me what you want, and I’ll let you know if I can pull it off.