Patreon: How Useful is it for Writers?

Patreon


Patreon
can loosely be described  as a mixture of Wattpad and Kickstarter or IndieGoGo.  
If you are not already subscribed to Patreon and supporting artists and writers – or if you, as a writer, haven’t used the site to  upload chapters of your next novel, short stories, or blog articles, check out their site.
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“Through Patreon, fans have given
over $100 million to creators.” 

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On Patreon, the creator sets creative goals to achieve and fans pledge monthly contributions to help the creator reach those goals. Patreon takes a 5% fee from a creator’s pledges.

Writers can use the site to get funding, build a team of supportive readers and grow their writing careers. It’s NOT a get-rich scheme, the most I have seen anyone I personally followed/read receive around $600-$800 a month, but the majority of writers income range from $80-$300. And it may start slowly, once you upload your first chapters, short stories, or blog posts. Promoting your Patreon presence helps a lot to achieve financial success. Let all your social media friends and followers know about, and mention each new upload on your page – as you would do with your website or blog.
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However, it’s a nice supplement that you otherwise wouldn’t have, it creates an audience, and best of all: Beta Readers. It’s a way to start a financial independent future. Plan longterm!
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Read their useful  guide to starting writing projects, where they list a number of successful Patreon writers, including bloggers, short-story writers, podcasters and magazine publishers.  Release a chapter or a blog article at a time.  Anything from a poem a week to a quarterly magazine could find a home on Patreon.

Nicole Dieker, a writer at Patreon, advices in The Write Life: “What if you’re a brand-new writer?  You might not have a lot of readers yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t set up your Patreon page and get started.  Consistency in update releases, consistency in quality, consistency in audience engagement; all of these give your page a ton of validity and success, and foster a dedicated community of patrons.  Stick to a schedule of writing, whether it’s once a week, a month, whatever works best for you as a creator. You can also reblog your Patreon writing on your writer’s website or on a social blog site like Tumblr or Medium — with a link back to your Patreon page, of course!”
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Patreon, like Kickstarter, gives creators the opportunity to offer rewards at various levels of pledge support.  “The most common mistake is a soft launch, which means, telling no one and assuming that the patrons will just come flying in.
Patreon recommends launching with a plan “fear not: we give you a plan!” and having one major objective: make sure every one of your fans knows that you have a Patreon page.”

Get supplemental, but consistent income for your creations, from fans who pay you on Patreon.  Give your patrons special rewards like exclusive content or behind-the-scenes peeks of upcoming work.

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