But mainly, what I realized was I started because I was feeling my blog was done, over, noone was reading it [which isn't exactly true, its more that people weren't commenting or interacting becasue of so many social media platforms]. I thought the Patreon would expand my readers, instead it made it smaller and there were long time readers that felt they just didn't want to pay even a small fee a month. I understand.
So what felt wierd to me was knowing my stories were being read by even fewer people and I couldn't share them publicly with some of the readers that really wanted to read them-for free. I experimented with ways to bring more people in, but really, I think Patreon is much more geared for video, and SHORT things like comics.
It can take years to build a wider audience on Patreon-they do nothing to help promote you, believe me. It wasn't the money, the 30 members I had were helping with $300 total a month which is about 2/3 of my online web fees. And I don't scoff at that. But I never did it to make money, I just thought it would bring out people who really wanted to read my work, and were willing to support it.
The other thing I realized is-my stories have also supported the farm. People read the heartfelt stories, and it engages them with me, and my work with the non profit. They might not buy a book, but they donate to the farm. That in and of itself is a gift for me.
So, I am revitalizing my home here at my first home-the blog. I felt guilty leaving it, and put much thought into it. I also like I can keep tabs on animals histories and such here.
There will be audio stories here as well which I've just started experimenting with over on Patreon.
And now, instead of subscribing monthly, I simply have a link you can go to in each post, in which you have the choice to pay something, or nothing. All content will be public. I could have done monthly subscribers again, but this way people can pay once and move on, or just keep paying whatever they read. There is no long term commitment. And everyone can read and share the posts, which is important to me.
So chalk it up to a learning curve. And to all those first 30 members-I thank you. I just posted the Pig & Bucket story to you and in time it will be made available for purchase, but those first and last Patrons get to see it now.
You can now send support for individual posts at this link, if you choose >
