C-C-Changes (Patreon)

That whole Patreon debacle, where Patreon implied with its actions that $1 contributors were not its focus and shouldn't be the focus of its Creators was... actually based on a real problem. Which is that... $1 pledges do cost a lot. This is not something I really thought about until someone asked me what my transaction fees were like and I realized my total transaction fees are... higher than all my $1 pledges combined.

Not only that, but if I lost all my $1 contributors, it would be less than 10% of my Patreon total.

And also, given the way Day Hobby is imploding, I need to be sure of my exit strategy. Soon.

*pause for long, pained moment*

Now, as an artist, one of my core values is "you don't shut people out, because access to art is important." But as Business Manager showed up to tell me, I cannot run a charitable enterprise if my goal is to eat. I get to choose between three options: "run a charity," "pay bills," and "clone yourself so you can put as much energy into things you give away as you do to things that pay your bills."

As option 3 is not a real option, I am left with unpalatable choices.

Here, then, is what's going to happen.

• The $1 patron level is still going to get stuff: the lunch bags, news updates, and the monthly progress post. As well as my gratitude. Many people have pointed out this is already more free content than most people give away at $1 so I'm going to try to stop feeling guilty about it.
• In addition to access to the Discord server, the $5 level will now include the additional content: my sales analysis posts, any future freebies, sneak peeks, and worldbuilding/business stuff.

Existing freebies will still be available to everyone, because I think taking away stuff is awful. But future freebies will go only to the $5+ folks.

In addition, there will be a future pledge level that gets you game goodies. But obviously that won't be available until the game is. Jaguar, get drawin'.

To mitigate these changes, the Grant Fund will now be giving out $5 grants instead of $1 grants. If you want the extra content and can't afford it, please apply to Grey using the info from this post. We have quite a few grants to give out; please use them if you want them. (Likewise, if you'd like to give money to the grant fund, you can contact Grey.)

In addition to the changes above, you will be able to earn Discord access by volunteering on the new fansite! I am looking for people to fill these roles:

• Community  Mods: This team will ride herd on comment threads/forum posts.
• Content Management: These people will be in charge of finding or providing new content for the blog, maintaining the handful of pages with info (like the list of Jaguar Fan Etsy stores/shopping sites), and making sure the content that gets posted is appropriate.

If either of these teams looks like a good fit for you, send me a message and we'll talk!

I think for most of you, things won't look much different, which is my hope. The $1 content is pretty baseline. $5 will get extra stuff, on top of what I already do. Hopefully that will provide a cool incentive for people to move. If it doesn't, I will once again rethink my strategy, because that's a thing that you do when you're trying to find the path that makes the most sense for you and your customers. *nods*

Anyway. Whether you choose to stick with me at $1 or move up to $5 (or tap out completely), I want to be sure you know how much I appreciate each and every one of you. You're already the top half percent of the top half percent of fans, just by being here, and there are no words for that awesome. I am hoping that one day the economics of microtransactions scale better! But until they do, Business Manager is adamant: I should be a better steward of my time and effort. No one is served by burnt-out jaguars. Toasted fur does not smell good. >.>

*hugs for all!*