tl;dr - should I start a Patreon?
So, I'm thinking of starting a Patreon. Readers have suggested it before, but I've always been reluctant because of the commitment: it seemed like a lot, promising to write something for people paying every month, and not wanting to let them down or leave them feeling short-changed if the words weren't flowing.
What I'd forgotten was how much I love an audience, and one that is invested enough to give feedback. I think most writers want that.
Often, posting stories on Tumblr or sites like Nifty feel like shouting into the wind. A few people generously take the time to write and say what they thought, but mostly you have no idea how things are being received. I've given up on more than a few stories because there's just no way of knowing whether anybody actually cares about a new part getting posted or not.
I have no idea what a "fair" price for a monthly Patreon would be. Or, for that matter, what's reasonable to promise in return to any backers. Like I said, I don't want to leave people feeing like they're paying too much for too little. At the same time, over-promising seems like a shortcut to stress, and that doesn't really help when you're trying to write compelling filth.
One idea I've been kicking around is that, when people join for the first time, they get a copy of "Jock Auction" (which has, as you might know, been unavailable for some time, since publisher Loose Id voluntarily shut down). Then, if they wanted to stay on as a backer they could, and I'd post new chapters to different stories, workshop new plots/books/etc, and generally make this whole thing a conversation somehow.
Basically, I'm open to suggestions. Do you back any erotica authors on Patreon (or another site I might not have heard of)? What seems a reasonable price, and a reasonable reward in return? And really, am I naive to think that, with all the free erotica out there, there's anybody that's truly willing these days to pay for it?
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