You knew this day was coming eventually. Today I’ve joined the legion of content creators out there thumbing their fingers for whatever spare change their dear fanbases have in their pockets. I’m now milking the juicy lifeblood of my devoted fans like a fattened, capitalist leech. Have I no shame?!
Sorry about the imagery! In all seriousness, Patreon is a great platform for fans to give their support and for creators to offer them something special in return. It’s probably provided more jobs and financial stability to more people than any other site out there.
I was reluctant and skeptical at first, but seeing how other interactive fiction authors have done it has given me a lot of confidence. With student loans and life and everything else, every little bit counts—but I’m not asking for handouts here. I wanted to make sure the rewards were something worth spending your money on.
The Rewards
Polls: My approach to polls would mostly be centered around gathering information about my fanbase. I’ll ask questions about their favorite elements of SoH, so that I can—subconsciously, at least—cater to that a little more while retaining my vision for how the story unfolds. There will also be polls to decide who I write about in my…
Side Stories: …monthly side stories! These will center around a particular character voted by fans during the previous month. For the first month I’ve gone ahead and written a story about Hatch that takes place not long after the events of Book 3. It’s titled “Hatch’s Harem”, and is as tantalizing as it sounds!
These stories are going to force me to develop the world of Hyuga and figure out where all the characters are going and what they’re doing. It’s a challenge but I look forward to it!
Early Access to Book 4: I know there are a lot of fans out there who would love getting their Hyuga fix on a month-to-month basis. So for every month leading up to Book 4’s release (estimation: early 2019), I’ll post another Early Access chapter from the book. These chapters will be fully scripted and feel like the real thing.
They won’t be copyedited so they’ll be a bit rough around the edges, but they should be playable all the same. If you know my method you know I usually work in seasons—doing all my writing first, then all my editing after that, then scripting and finally playtesting. Early Access forces me to do a little bit of everything each month, but it’s a nice change of pace—and its work I’d have to do anyway!
Goals
I think the best way to design goals is centered around the concept of making the end product better. The product in this case is Samurai of Hyuga Book 4, and with your help I hope to pack the pages with art. Check the goals on the patreon page for more details!
Conclusion
The best part about Patreon—besides the money—is that it allows me to constantly produce for my fans. It’s very hard to cultivate and grow an audience when you only interact with them during book releases. It takes over a year to make one of these things, and the simple truth is that a creator needs more steady engagement than that.
So I’m going to give this Patreon stuff a go! Thanks for the read and I hope you consider becoming a patron!
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any thoughts about opening up a discord server? I’m sure many people would flock to it. Me included!
I think it’s a great idea! I’ve put up a discord link over on patreon. Hopefully it all works the way it should!
Anything for this series. XD
Question
The short stories will they only be available to Patreon or will they be released on your site a month or two after they are released?
I haven’t thought about the long-term plan for the short stories yet. Right now they’re just meant for patrons to enjoy and to help force me into some worldbuilding. I may release them in the form of a collection in the distant future, who knows!
lol even reading these little things that you post from time to time are really great to read I don’t know if I’m a fanboy or if you are using some sort of black magic to charm us XD joke aside it’s probably because your writing feels so alive like I’m actually listening to you even and when I’m inside your soh serie I’m literally breathing your story keep up the hard work and when I’ll get my hand on masami-chan aka ma-chan again and if or even if I don’t have her as my waifu get ready for some cash
You just made my day! There’s no magic I know of at work here—all I know is that I write my best when I’m being absolutely honest. ‘Breathing in the story’ is such a great phrase that I might have to steal it from you! Seriously though, your words are very kind. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, so breathe easy my friend!