Changes, Changes, Changes! (Patreon)

TL;DR:  If you don't have the time or desire to read everything, just read the bold text, and you'll get it.

So, Lost in the Future is now available on Royal Road.

That meant updating the Patreon tiers to also mention the novel's advanced chapters. And that led me to review the tiers.

The D-Rank will have to go. Keeping a separate role was fine with a single novel, but two makes it not worth the trouble. It means keeping more check boxes, copy-pasting more content, separating links etc.

That said, I'm not an ungrateful jerk. Whoever is currently D-rank can remain for as long as you want, paying the same amount as you currently do. You'll have access to C-rank chapters and C-rank Discord channels (but your Discord role will remain D-rank unless you upgrade your Patreon tier).

Thank you for your support. Every little bit helps, really. I just had to make a difficult decision (more on that on the "to be completely honest" part a few paragraphs below).

Now, for the more exciting news:

We now have new Patreon tiers with new benefits!

The benefits are nothing much, but in the past, I have found myself looking at an author's Patreon page and thinking to myself: if only this dude/gal/[however they want to be called] gave me an excuse, any excuse, to throw more of my money at them!!!

Well, now I provide those excuses!

C- and B-Ranks will keep getting what they always did, and B-Ranks keep getting the latest chapter updates.

Those who want to donate more can get things like: having their names listed on every post-author note (A-ranks), naming a character (S-ranks), "creating" a character (Primordial), and having the ultimate Discord role (who knows, maybe someone will want that?).

To be completely honest (though not getting into details) my finances are currently quite messy, so I'm trying become more of a salesman.

I really, really, really don't like dealing with sales or marketing when I'm both the producer and seller. It makes me feel like a mercenary or something. I don't truly believe, deep down, that I deserve charging for just some random words on a piece of digital paper (and I say that with a heavy heart, because it sounds like a pity-pitch to me, and I suck at sharing my weaknesses, but I wanted to be honest, so I'm also conflicted about this paragraph, but I'll leave it because I want to be honest more than I want to feel good about my deep secrets, please don't think I'm making this up, really, this is tearing me apart, sorry).

I know on an intellectual level that I'm only selling my homemade product (and power to those people), and only for those who want a sneak peak on advanced chapters (I even distribute the product for free!), but it still feels weird to put a price tag on it.

Well, a man gotta do what a man gotta do.

I'm not even sure I would've made Lost in the Future public if things were relaxed. I really was writing it because I just wanted to write something I enjoy without worrying about reader feedback.

Yet, maybe it's for the better. A few readers gave me positive feedback and it makes me all fuzzy inside (as positive feedback always does!).

Anyway, speaking of marketing, I even added cool descriptions to each tier!

It's nothing much, but I look at it as putting some seasoning on top of the tasty advanced chapters and other benefits. Or maybe a cherry, I guess.

Lastly, I want to thank you all for your support.

I know changes sometimes makes people uncomfortable (I know it makes me uncomfortable). I tried to make it as painless as possible for everyone, but if you feel like you gotta go, I repeat: thank you. You were awesome to even be here for however long you did. I really, really, really appreciate you giving me the awesome privilege to leave the dream for a while.

And that's it, folks.

Happy New Year! May 2023 treat us better than 2022. And God bless.

Peace.