Patreon Feedback - Please let me know what you like! (Patreon)

Please answer this super short survey!! >>> https://forms.gle/PkUSPToGGtJzJ7KD9 <<<

More explanation below!!!

Here is a reminder of some of the rewards that have been given at every level :) At the bottom are "group" rewards that are unlocked on a semi-monthly basis. This is the current reward table:

And this is the current description!

Sorry the prices are weirdly described in $CAD... they are $1, $2, $5 and $10 respectively.  

"Aaa what's happening..."

Yesterday I shared a review of the past five years of work. In that period of time I've also really improved my personal approach to health, and made some career moves. I'm really happy with my current job :) 

Throughout the pandemic, I've spent a lot of time reflecting. I realized that I want writing and art to be a bigger part of my life. Creating is foundational to who I am, and I want to make as many amazing things as possible with my time here on earth!

I finally feel like I know what I want to create:

1) "Solarpunk" Fiction. This is the type of science fiction that imagines our society surviving and thriving, having adapted to a new climate. It's the opposite of dystopia/apocalyptic fiction, and right now in fiction there aren't enough people imagining what sustainable flourishing actually looks like. I feel called to this work. "Good Bones" (the short I'm working on now) will live in this genre. Some of my older works touched on these themes.

2) Gentle Tech Explainers. I want to become a "science communicator" - an ambassador for the good parts of tech. I want to make more comics like Shenzhen Fast. I think there is still space for explaining tech concepts in a cute and approachable way. 

3) also draw many cute cats along the way :). (Like I'm doing with career zine). I am just... happiest drawing silly-looking cats, no matter what. 

To achieve that goal, I need to improve my marketing :( I now feel pretty confident about what I'm making and how I'm running this Patreon, but I need to be better at explaining it. I need more focused and clear communication of what I'm doing, and get better at "selling" works in general (outside of Patreon). I think that this will require some tweaks to Patreon. (You'll also notice some tweaks on my other """"channels"""")

What I've LOVED about Patreon

• Having a consistent place to post "works in progress" and get feedback
• Having a more private space, where I can have more 1:1 interactions with awesome people. More space for vulnerability and nuanced thought.
• Sharing all sorts of different stuff (other social media channels tend to freak out if you're       inconsistent)
• Having a space to experiment with fun short-run merch or other short-term projects 

What Patreon has enabled for me

The money I make here allows me to have way more impact as one smol bean! I'm able to hire help and leverage my time so more of my work sees the light of day.

• Hiring support (flatters, colourists, designers, admin assist, editors...)
• Investing in timesaving  things: higher power software and tools, brushes, and even paying for things like cleaners so I have more capacity to draw and create!

The support you give here makes a real and tangible difference, and I can't thank you enough. That's my main motivation for tweaking the offering: to see if I can get more people to join us!

I want to ensure that this place still remains fun and high value for all of you!

I've done a bunch of research and so far it seems like it helps to have fewer, clearer Patreon benefits, and fewer tiers.  I want to be able to clearly explain to people what they can expect by pledging, and meet or exceed their expectations :)

So, depending on your feedback, I'd like to merge some of the tiers. This is my proposed structure:

• "Testers" $2, (Combination of Early Access/Sneaky Peaks.) 
• "Lab Techs" $7, (Combination of Behind the Scenes and Lab)
• NEW: Co-LAB-orators $25 (More of an "angel investor" level for those who want to be more deeply involved.)

This isn't an announcement, this is a conversation :)

Please let me know what you think in the survey and in the comments below! Does this direction (Solarpunk/Gentle Tech Explainers) make sense to you based on what you've seen? Thanks for reading all of this!!!!!!