Let's talk about commissions... (Patreon)

Okay, guys, this is... fuck, this is always hard. I never feel like there's a good way to do this, especially for someone like me who has such a constant, rolling schedule of commissions. I don't ever really close them down (which is part of the problem, but also sort of a necessity because it keeps my financial status from going critical), so there's no way for me to really increase my prices effectively, despite that being something i really do need to do every once in a while as my skill and demand increase over time.

But, as I state on a pretty regular basis, I'm constantly behind on commissions because I take on so many. We're almost halfway through december now, just a few months after I took some time off, and I'm already to the point where I'm 2 weeks behind on getting all my work done, and that's BEFORE I get onto all the comics projects I've neglected.

Basically what I'm getting at here is that I need to reduce the total number of commissions I take each month. However, I can't drop them too far or risk becoming too destitute to support myself.

The only problem is, I consider many of you guys in the commission tiers to be more than just basic clients; Some of you have been here for years, giving me literally dozens of commissions. You've made the life I live today possible, you've helped me through some rough times, and some of you have even supported me for nothing in return when I was having trouble. I will never, ever be able to express the gratitude I feel to each and every one of you. If I reduce the number of commissions I take, then some of you will inevitably have to go without getting work from me, even when you're willing to pay for it, while others will get to stay. there's no fair way for this to shake out if I just cut my commission numbers down and let the chips fall where they may, and I'm not willing to do something like that to you.

So here's what I'm thinking; since we're about to roll around to a new year, I'm start kinda small in january: 

First, I'm going to just cut my three-chords in half, reducing them to 5 total slots. Despite how simple they were initially intended to be, they've ended up being a HUGE time sink just because of how MANY there are. They're supposed to take me about 3 hours to do, but many have ended up taking 6-7 just because I get carried away with the details and making them look all fancy. 

Secondly, the price of the 3-chords is going to be increasing to 45$ each. This is, again, tied to the amount of time they take me to do; as it is I don't even end up making minimum wage on them most of the time, and I really can't afford to keep doing that. I think this is an acceptable increase in cost based on the quality they've ended up settling at.

This will mean that the current 30$ pledge tier will get removed entirely, and a new 45$ one will be put back in its place; the only fair way for me to handle the restructuring would be to have a first-come, first-serve policy on re-signing up for the new 45$ three-chords.

I'm hoping that just those changes will be enough to lighten my load and allow me to finish everything on time and still actually get some comics work done (y'know, the thing I actually started this patreon to do before I allowed myself to get completely overtaken by doing commissions), without putting me under too much financial strain. If it turns out this isn't enough of a fix after a few months, I'll be taking another look at my commissions to see how I can fiddle with them.

This is, however, just a suggestion; I don't want to just go and make a unilateral change on you guys like this without actually finding out what would work for y'all. I know Patreon just futzed with its whole payment method, and a lot of people are salty about that, so maybe this just isn't a good time for me to be changing around my own pricing model on top of that, or maybe you guys have other suggestions of what I could be doing in place of this idea to help me get more on top of my work load. 

I really hate having to drop this on you guys like this. It's never an easy thing to think about, and I always feel like I'm just screwing you guys over. I absolutely despise having to do this to you, and if we lived in a perfect world where time didn't matter and food/rent/internet was free, I'd never even dream of charging you guys for your art in the first place, but alas, we do not live in that world.

What I hate even more than having to drop a price change on you guys like this, however, is being behind and not fulfilling the promises I made to you guys. It's not fair: I need to take responsibility and fix it and get on top of my shit and find a method that is sustainable so that I'm able to actually get you guys what you deserve.

So, if you have ideas for what I could do, or if you don't like this idea at all, please let me know; comments are open, as is my message box; I want to hear you guys' feedback on this so I can try to find the best solution for everyone before the next month rolls around.