Changes are coming to my Patreon! New projects & Tier Level Changes (Patreon)

Hi lovely Patrons!

I wrote my previous update; you wonderful humans generously shared your time and opinions with me to talk over my fledgling ideas; the time is here now to announce what's shifting.
This follow-up covers the following news:

1. The manner in which I create & distribute my writing is becoming focused around 2 big projects;

2. There are tier level changes on the horizon;

3. I've got some special offers for folks wanting to jump up to new tier levels (that's at the end!); and 

4. I've received a GIFT from a mysterious benefactor .... ! ... which benefits YOU, too!
 

As a brief recap ... 

As I’ve found my stride with my writing, my pace of creation, and how I want to consume art, it’s become clear to me that hard-copy, hold-it-in-your-hands writing is what makes my heart sing and my eyes sparkle. My writing ‘pace’ is erratic and wonderfully bipolar; it comes in tsunamis, not a steady stream. I like neat little packages of writing. I like physically holding a sheaf of papers in my hand and going, ‘Here! this! I wrote this!’

While Patreon exists as a platform for beautiful humans like yourselves to support the artists whose dreams, visions, nightmares, and musings you love to see, it still exists in the digital world. Try as I might – no matter how many times or how many ways I attempt to reassure myself – it is very hard to shake off the yoke of feeling the need to constantly create content when working on a digital platform. I’m going to blame it on growing up through the rise of Instagram. 

SO – this Patreon has two new, clear purposes: 

1. An essay collection / zine (working title: “Writing the Circus” that finds fascination in the intersections between circus and critical disability theory, gender weirdness, trans identity, other art forms, etc.  It will exist first and foremost in hardcopy, but will be archived in digital form here on Patreon exclusively as well. 
    
2. A short story collection of narrative non-fiction / creative non-fiction, focusing around the central theme of my trials, tribulations, and triumphs as a contemporary circus artist living, performing, and creating around the world  (ETA: December 2020 / January 2021)
   

How do these new goals break down by tier?

Following in the footsteps of a writer who I respect immensely – Clementine Morrigan – I’m dividing my content (and its corresponding patronage pricing) by digital vs. real-world material. There will be $5, $20, and $30 tiers available to join, moving forward. 

First and foremost:

• The $1 tier is officially being retired. 
  • as of June 1st, the $1 tier will be no more. If you’re still in the retiring $1 tier when it’s deleted, you’ll still be my patron, but you’ll be a “no benefit” patron, and won’t have the same access as you currently do.  Be sure to select one of my other Tiers before then!  
    
• $10 tier patrons, don’t panic! I’ve “sealed” your tier – it’s no longer available to join – but as my thank you for your early support you will receive the same digital benefits as the new $5 tier, as well healthy discount codes if you wish to purchase hard copies of any of the resulting written magic coming your way. 

New Tiers Description: 

• The $1 tier is being phased out 
  
• $5 / month tier!
  • receives digital copies of all works-in-progress for essay creation, access to the resulting the “Writing the Circus” digital copy, discounts on finished copies of the collected short stories, and the chance to buy the limited run of the other hard-copy material (available to higher tiers) that are part of the creation process for this last, big  goal. 
    
• $20 / month tier!
  • Access to all digital content (writings, videos, photos that appear nowhere else online); receive a copy of “Writing the Circus” in your mailbox every 3 months – and a polaroid and/or postcard from me on the months in between!; an issue of the final hardcover collection of short stories at cost (ETA: December 2020 / January 2021)
    
• $30 / month tier 
  • Access to all digital content (writings, videos, photos that appear nowhere else online); a copy of “Writing the Circus” in your mailbox every 3 months; copies of each section of the short story collection as it reaches completion (I’m calling these ‘novellas’, or, ‘chapbooks’); AND a signed 6” x 9” hardcover copy of the final collected short stories, + 4 additional copies at cost if you’d like to send them to friends. Oh – and a personal polaroid and/or postcard every month that there’s no zine or short story chapbook coming your way. 

Special offer alert: 

• If you’re a $1 tier patron and …
  •  upgrade to the $5 tier by May 31st, I’ll be mailing you your own personal polaroid and hand written letter with my thanks to you for being such a wonderful patron
    
• If you’re a $10 tier patron and … 
  • upgrade to a higher tier by May 31st, you’ll receive a free copy of the finished hardcover collection of short stories – and each of the 4 novella/chapbooks that precedes it / will make up the final tome. 

Some NEWS! 

In an immense show of generosity, a patron amongst you who wishes to remain anonymous has privately donated the cost of the PRINTER, PAPER, and INK for start-up materials  for the above mentioned quarterly essay collections / zine. THANK YOU, AGAIN, SO, SO MUCH, MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR! 

I’m already hard at work writing away on several topics that I’m eagerly nerding out about, like … 

• the visual metaphor of a given circus discipline 
• exploring the line between subhuman and superhuman through the acrobatic body (critical disability studies theory)
• and moreeeee. 

I’m hoping to have a rough draft ready by June, and the first zine mailed out before midsummer … fingers crossed!

Here’s how to select a new Tier: How do I edit my membership?

Thank you all for being along for the ride so far. 

With all of you supporting my writing I've had the space to let my ideas evolve, mature, and distill into a clear vision. I love that there are some clearly defined, big goals that I've set for myself. It's thanks to you that this is happening and I'm deeply grateful <3

Have questions? Thread them in the comments!

Stay strange, stay wonderful, & stay safe. 

xoxo

Ess