Some New Patreon Changes... (Please Read) (Patreon)

So, I’m changing the way my Patreon works, going forward.

Previously, my patrons have been divided into three distinct tiers: $5 (Loyalist), $25 (Captain), and $100 (Councilor) per-month tiers. I’ve been running the Patreon account for only a few months now, but I’ve been able to notice a few things, about what draws Patrons in, and encourages them to stay. The greatest draw that my Patreon offers, is the monthly “Patreon Exclusive” -- this is a unique multi-variant piece that I create, only for patrons in the $25/month tier and up, and it’s not released anywhere else. As a result, the $5/month tier can end up feeling a little lacking, even though it offers a one-month Early Access to public pieces that I do.
Unfortunately, the Early Access piece is becoming too much for me to handle. With a monthly Patreon Exclusive (with variants), plus multiple commissions, it gets hard to make the time to create an Early Access piece that I’m truly satisfied with. Tack on my main job, and all of my other responsibilities, and the fact that the $5/month tier simply doesn’t draw in the majority of patrons, and I become increasingly unlikely to be able to produce the kind of content that I’m truly satisfied with. As a result, starting January 2020, I’ve decided to retire the $5/month “Loyalist” tier until further notice. I truly am thankful for all of the patrons who have provided their support at this level, and it has been so much fun to provide you guys monthly early access at new content -- I just know that if I were to continue with things the way they are, I wouldn’t be able to sustain the high-quality that I am determined to put out. As Ron Swanson says, “Never half-ass two things -- whole-ass one thing.” This change will allow me to take on more commissions more frequently as well, which is something that there’s been a demand for, but I haven’t had the time to do. The tier might return in the future, with some big changes, but that’s for another time.

The way this will work, is that, come January 2020, I will delete the $5/month tier. This will make new patrons unable to join at that tier, and, if you are at the $5/month tier, you will be set at a “No Reward” status on my end. I’ll be sending out a message to all of you guys, to remind you to officially cancel your billing at that time, if you hadn’t done it yet.

My public pages on DeviantArt, Instagram, and Twitter, will feature all regular content that I do, including commissions (but excluding Patreon Exclusives). If I have the extra time to do a piece that isn’t a Patreon Exclusive, or a commission, it will go up on my public pages as normal.

The months of November and December 2019 are still on track to get their Early Access pieces, so you still have some content coming, and some time.

For now, the $25/month “Captain” tier will remain the same, and so will the $100/month Councilor tier. There may be some changes coming at a later date, but the details have yet to be finalized.

In closing, I want to say thank you all again, for being such great patrons, and I encourage you to reach out to me at any time if you have any questions about how this works, or if you just want to chat!

~Empirical Smut