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Patreon Payment Switch Announcement, Explanation and Rewards
8 years ago
Firstly I apologize to everybody for the constant Patreon-related journals before it even is launched. The truth is I want to make everybody feel okay with the monetization methods I am now employing. I want to do it the best way I can and I want to make it all clear before I do something that's irreversible.
I've announced before, that my Patreon would use a Monthly basis style of payment. For those who don't know, on Pay-per-month, users need to pledge their amounts to be eligible for Patron-only posts, and the amount gets deducted from them at the start of every month -- even if they pledge in the middle of the month. The rest of the month becomes immediately free-for-all for them. The other option to use is Pay-Per-Creation, in which users run their wallets for each individual post. A Patreon page cannot set up both styles for one page simultaneously: Either all posts has to be pay-per-creation, or you pay once every month to get everything on the Patreon page which you're eligible - based on ONLY how much you pledge.
Friends with successful Patreons like Brellom (https://brellom.deviantart.com/ please watch her, she's basically a better artist than I am who does Link Rule63 instead) have suffered from an oversight of this system and has openly warned everybody about it. Patreon has seemingly selectively overlooked: People who pledge their rewards can just get to download the whole gallery of this artist, and then immediately cancel their pledges, effectively paying nothing to the artist. The ease Patreon provides to Patrons makes it so a user can just rob the bank in a matter of minutes. A lot of artists had to recede to basically police their content and PM the rewards privately to those who have stuck around after the first day of the month -- and it should not really be like this.
Very recently, Patreon launched a separate option named "Pay up Front" where the Patron would be charged for a month immediately, even if it's close to the end of the month. At the start of the month, they get charged again. In no way this is a clean solution to this big problem, but it's a cleaner one. I get that Patreon should be based on trust ethics for both the artist and the patrons, but there are high REPORTED cases of users being less than honorable in this kind of a system.
Here's the part that has to do with me: I am not eligible for Pay up Front. It's a Beta option that's given to only a handful amount of users who already have their pages running for a while and proven themselves to not fuck over the patrons. Sadly, without Pay Up Front option, it's measurably easier to fuck me over in the Monthly system, as I'm trying to sell a bundled-up comic instead of all its contents being stretched out to individual posts.
This is why I am going to go against my previous announcement, and instead put Unbreakable Bond and Unbreakable Bond Premium PDF as Pay-Per-Post instead. Unbreakable Bond will be 24 pages including the front and back covers and editorial pages, and pages will be 1240x1750 600dpi big. It's going to be distributed in a zip file. Its seasonal price (which includes September if I can release it within the month, which seems to be highly probable so far) will be 3$ and will not be available to individually purchase after a new comic gets released, and I project it happening somewhere around December.
Unbreakable Bond Premium PDF will consist of 31 pages, 2480x3507 600dpi big. The extra pages include 4 extra pages showcasing unused sketches, and a 2-page individual comic Picnic for Badnik (a remake of http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9965310/). It's going to be in a zip file alongside the other version, since people may prefer that version as it might be easier to read for some. Its October price is 5$. When a second release comes out, it's going to be 3$ - as new releases will be 5$ instead.
Everyone has their 1$ tier solely for tip jar, but due to the switch of payment systems, I'm also putting up special versions of Picnic for Badnik. Be wary that it's a two page comic and each dollar gets ONE page and you have to get two pages individually. Unlike in Unbreakable Bond PDF, these pages will be fully colored (as Unbreakable Bond is fully black-and-white only). I could do it so 1$ gets both pages, but that wouldn't be fair to those who paid 5$ for the full comic, as you could get the whole package (minus the 4 sketch pages) for 4$ in total. Not to mention, I'll put extra effort in those pages, and those pages have 9 panels each in them. Hope you understand.
This also affects my special releases in November. I still plan on sharing a Lineart+Sketch showcase of Unbreakable Bond, and I plan on putting it for 3$. It includes the cover, the PSD file, you name it. I want to make it so this version is free for those who pledged 5$ during October, but I don't want to give any hard promises on that yet as I'm not too sure if it's going to be within my power to do so or not. I'll probably have to DM it to each individual patron of the previous month and I'll definitely try doing it if it's manageable enough.
I know this means people aren't going to get any extra content over the comic for paying 3$ or 5$ a month like I initially promised, but it also means that it makes it easier not to pay me within months that I don't release any comic content. This way is more easier on me in a sense of scheduling my releases and art, but undoubtedly going to be harder on me in terms of scheduling my finances. I'd like to return to a more stable Pay-Per-Month system at a time Patreon makes it more secure for me, and I'd like to offer more goodies in return, not just comics.
This will probably be the last announcement I make until the launch and I'm sorry for speaking so much about it and not actually, yknow, launching it. I've worked out a lot of kinks so far, but not everything is ready yet.
Cya, and thank you for all your interest and support!
I've announced before, that my Patreon would use a Monthly basis style of payment. For those who don't know, on Pay-per-month, users need to pledge their amounts to be eligible for Patron-only posts, and the amount gets deducted from them at the start of every month -- even if they pledge in the middle of the month. The rest of the month becomes immediately free-for-all for them. The other option to use is Pay-Per-Creation, in which users run their wallets for each individual post. A Patreon page cannot set up both styles for one page simultaneously: Either all posts has to be pay-per-creation, or you pay once every month to get everything on the Patreon page which you're eligible - based on ONLY how much you pledge.
Friends with successful Patreons like Brellom (https://brellom.deviantart.com/ please watch her, she's basically a better artist than I am who does Link Rule63 instead) have suffered from an oversight of this system and has openly warned everybody about it. Patreon has seemingly selectively overlooked: People who pledge their rewards can just get to download the whole gallery of this artist, and then immediately cancel their pledges, effectively paying nothing to the artist. The ease Patreon provides to Patrons makes it so a user can just rob the bank in a matter of minutes. A lot of artists had to recede to basically police their content and PM the rewards privately to those who have stuck around after the first day of the month -- and it should not really be like this.
Very recently, Patreon launched a separate option named "Pay up Front" where the Patron would be charged for a month immediately, even if it's close to the end of the month. At the start of the month, they get charged again. In no way this is a clean solution to this big problem, but it's a cleaner one. I get that Patreon should be based on trust ethics for both the artist and the patrons, but there are high REPORTED cases of users being less than honorable in this kind of a system.
Here's the part that has to do with me: I am not eligible for Pay up Front. It's a Beta option that's given to only a handful amount of users who already have their pages running for a while and proven themselves to not fuck over the patrons. Sadly, without Pay Up Front option, it's measurably easier to fuck me over in the Monthly system, as I'm trying to sell a bundled-up comic instead of all its contents being stretched out to individual posts.
This is why I am going to go against my previous announcement, and instead put Unbreakable Bond and Unbreakable Bond Premium PDF as Pay-Per-Post instead. Unbreakable Bond will be 24 pages including the front and back covers and editorial pages, and pages will be 1240x1750 600dpi big. It's going to be distributed in a zip file. Its seasonal price (which includes September if I can release it within the month, which seems to be highly probable so far) will be 3$ and will not be available to individually purchase after a new comic gets released, and I project it happening somewhere around December.
Unbreakable Bond Premium PDF will consist of 31 pages, 2480x3507 600dpi big. The extra pages include 4 extra pages showcasing unused sketches, and a 2-page individual comic Picnic for Badnik (a remake of http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9965310/). It's going to be in a zip file alongside the other version, since people may prefer that version as it might be easier to read for some. Its October price is 5$. When a second release comes out, it's going to be 3$ - as new releases will be 5$ instead.
Everyone has their 1$ tier solely for tip jar, but due to the switch of payment systems, I'm also putting up special versions of Picnic for Badnik. Be wary that it's a two page comic and each dollar gets ONE page and you have to get two pages individually. Unlike in Unbreakable Bond PDF, these pages will be fully colored (as Unbreakable Bond is fully black-and-white only). I could do it so 1$ gets both pages, but that wouldn't be fair to those who paid 5$ for the full comic, as you could get the whole package (minus the 4 sketch pages) for 4$ in total. Not to mention, I'll put extra effort in those pages, and those pages have 9 panels each in them. Hope you understand.
This also affects my special releases in November. I still plan on sharing a Lineart+Sketch showcase of Unbreakable Bond, and I plan on putting it for 3$. It includes the cover, the PSD file, you name it. I want to make it so this version is free for those who pledged 5$ during October, but I don't want to give any hard promises on that yet as I'm not too sure if it's going to be within my power to do so or not. I'll probably have to DM it to each individual patron of the previous month and I'll definitely try doing it if it's manageable enough.
I know this means people aren't going to get any extra content over the comic for paying 3$ or 5$ a month like I initially promised, but it also means that it makes it easier not to pay me within months that I don't release any comic content. This way is more easier on me in a sense of scheduling my releases and art, but undoubtedly going to be harder on me in terms of scheduling my finances. I'd like to return to a more stable Pay-Per-Month system at a time Patreon makes it more secure for me, and I'd like to offer more goodies in return, not just comics.
This will probably be the last announcement I make until the launch and I'm sorry for speaking so much about it and not actually, yknow, launching it. I've worked out a lot of kinks so far, but not everything is ready yet.
Cya, and thank you for all your interest and support!
congratulations you are more ethical then anything remotely official-ish.
seriously though i'm willing to support you the best way i can and you trying to AVOID beeing screwed over is normal and fair in todays online enviroment.
Thank you for understanding. I know I will never be unscathed 100% by doing this and it's foolish to try to get ahead of it, but trying to minimize these incidents is the best thing I can do. At best, it shows my stance clearly.
such a strange and foreign concept. SO new and daring.
edit: Sass aside, seriously, i support you and your skill cuz its GOOOOOOD.