More Patreon Thoughts

Many thanks for the feedback and comments on my first post about this.  From them I gleaned a few things.

One, people are happy to ship a $1/month to support my writing.  That is reassuring.

The other is that this would be for my fiction writing.  The game reviews, walkthroughs, etc I post on the blog here are nice distractions, but not what people want to be funding via a Patreon.  This is also good to know.

If I hadn't checked first I suspect my Patreon page might have ended up an unholy kludge of talking about blogs, monster girl bestiaries, Japanese hentai games, half-baked game ideas, oh and did you know I sometimes write succubus porn.

Now I know it should be:

"Give me money to write erotic horror fiction featuring sexy succubi and monster girls.  I'm really good at it.  Here's my Literotica page so you can see."

The next point concerns when to go live.

I was originally planning to have the Patreon page up and running by now.  I had a rethink after seeing the excitement in some posts and also some justifiable concern in others (as I've not exactly been the most prolific on the new story front of late).  I don't want to hype things up, get people subbing, and then have that turn bad if the fifth or sixth story in a row I'm working on falls apart before I finish it and I have nothing to show for it by the middle of March.

I want to do this right.

So this is the plan.  I have two short stories on the go at the moment.  When I've finished both of them, I'll open up the Patreon.  I'm aiming to post one to Literotica's usual annual Valentine's Day contest.  The other will be a Patreon-exclusive.  This is so that when I launch, I will be launching with something.  It's also an incentive for me to stop dicking around and finish the stories I'm working on.

That's the plan for launch.  Next, for going forward.

I want to get back on Literotica (and similar sites) this year.  Last year I went for the big novel plans, failed and knocked my confidence a little, so I think a spot of rebuilding on Lit might do me some good.  And who knows, might even result in that long-awaited "Succubus Summoning 301" chapter finally getting posted.

This means taking a look at the other things I have running.

The H-space monster girl bestiary has drifted a little from its original purpose.  Initially it was supposed to be somewhere for me to park monster girl/sex scene ideas until I had a full story to put them in.  With the last few I found the opposite to be happening.  The idea started to expand into a full story in the process of writing it.  Rather than fighting this, as I was stupidly doing for most of last year, I'm going to write these out as full-length H-space stories like the ones I used to write in the past (like this, or this).

The playthrough series of Monmusu Quest: Paradox I'm currently in the middle of has proven to be more contentious than I realised.  I know some people like it from the comments, but I also know some people don't like it because they think it's taken over my fiction writing.  To be honest, me not posting any new stories for ages because there's seven or eight of them rotting half-finished in various notebooks has not helped dissuade this perception.  So my fault there.  I don't want to abandon the series halfway through because I don't think that's fair to the people currently enjoying it.  However, as part of these Patreon discussions, this would be a good point to consider what to move on to next.

One thing the series has been good for is getting me in the habit of keeping to a regular schedule.  (Yes, I broke it today for this, I know.  Writing this post was way more of an ass than I realised - I was supposed to post it yesterday for starters.)  The series even kept going unscathed during a 100-hour playthough of Persona 5, which is impressive considering my bad habit of occasionally going completely AWOL for a couple of weeks at a time on computer RPGs.  Now, if I can transfer this good habit of posting 750-1K words every Mon, Wed and Fri over to posting an original fiction series, we might be onto something.

Yes, I did try this last time with Okasare Kenny, and it didn't work out too well.  The difference there was I was trying to keep to a much more gruelling daily schedule with an idea I knew I should have kept to its original form of a series of novellas.

I think I should be able to keep to 1k word chunks every Mon, Wed and Fri without it swallowing up all my writing time and this would be something that would fit very well to the Patreon model.

So here's the feedback part.  I have a couple of ideas and - as part of a post where I'm looking to grab some Patreon bux - I thought it might be a good idea to toss them out there to see what people think.

1) Ongoing series - [4 (or more) Guys in MGQ-world]

Not MGQ world exactly (I don't write fan fiction), but a similar fantasy setting filled with sexy monster girls that are more interested in fucking the characters than fighting them.  The characters would likely be from our world (similar to the Jackson in HRPG-world stories I wrote a few years ago).  I imagine the mood will be pretty swingy on this one - goofy to start, but very dark in places, especially with the more vore-themed monster girls, but not as grimdark as say H-space.  I've been itching to go full horror-head on an MGQ-style setting for a while, and this might give me an excuse.

The advantages: I'm following on from the game playthrough series with an original fiction series in a similar setting (likely written in a similar style to what I use in the playthrough).  This should hopefully appeal to both the people that like the MGQ playthrough and people wanting original fiction with graphic sex scenes.  I also won't give a shit about quality.  This shouldn't sound like an advantage, but with me - who is way too nitpicky with his own writing - it might free me up to splurge thousands of words of fun adventure and sex on the page without obsessing over how "good" it is and locking up in the process.  Also, gamers in a fantasy world requires zilch in the way of research, removing another barrier to just having fun writing.

This is my preferred option, mainly because while thinking it up I came up with a few "meta" ideas for audience participation that would work very well with Patreon.

On the other hand, it is more MGQ-type stuff, which people might be sick of at this point.

2) Succubus Summoning

This is the option I think most people would want - me continuing Phil's adventures in bite-size chunks here on the blog.

The advantage here is obvious.  Those bite-sized chunks quickly become full chapters and then, before you know it, a full novel.  Plus, people have really really been wanting me to write this for a long time.

I think it also has the biggest danger of failing or falling behind schedule, because I do give a damn about this story and want it to be the best it can.

That said, one of my biggest problems is being nitpicky and obsessing over making a story the best it can.  Trying to hit 3 1K-word deadlines a week, every week might bust me out of that, or wreck me.  Not sure.  The thought of trying to make the series work under those conditions does scare the hell out of me, but maybe that's what I need right now.

High risk, but potentially very high reward.

3) Barry Lyle Goes Out In Fucking Style

You probably don't have a clue what this is.  It's the book I was trying to write in the first half of 2017.  An overwhelming army of succubi invade a city on earth.  Barry Lyle is a student at university when the sky turns black with demons.  After hiding for a while, he realises he has no chance of surviving and throws himself at a group of seven succubi in the knowledge that at least he'll die having his brains fucked out.  The problem: all 7 succubi saw him at the same time and succubi don't fight over food.  Barry is going to have to make a choice and the 7 succubi couldn't possibly let him make that choice without letting Barry have a taste of what they have to offer first...

This is an easy option for me.  The first quarter is mostly written, so I probably have about 3 or 4 weeks worth of updates without even having to do anything.

I don't know how strong the overall idea is.  The mood is all over the place on this one.  The setup is clearly comical, but in order to make Barry's decision to take the suicide-by-succubus option plausible, I had to show him what the other non-succubus demons were doing to the students they caught.  Those scenes... are not comical.

4) Various Mini-Series

Another easy option.  No big series, just various little ones.  I've done this before with the Jackson stories.  The reason you haven't seen the bee girl H-space story was because as I was writing it I thought this might make an interesting little mini-series about a team of soldiers trying to burn down a bee girl hive and eventually being overwhelmed sexily by various bee girl types.

This would make a decent filler option for those times when I need to take a breather on a longer ongoing series.

Those are some thoughts.  I estimate I'm about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the MQ:P series (which will return Friday as normal).  I think it will be another month or so before that winds up.  This gives me some time to get a follow-up series prepped and ready.  (If I decide to go with Succubus Summoning, having the whole first chapter done would be a must before I'd even consider running it.)

Whew, this post was a real ass to write.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Now, time to get back to that succubus Valentine's Day story.  (You are not fucking stalling out on me this time!)

Patreon Thoughts

Last year wasn't the best for me writing-wise, so I've been looking and thinking of ways to change things up this year.

Starting up a Patreon is something I've ummed and ahhed over for some time.

On the one hand, it's been around for a couple of years now and is pretty much proven as a good funding tool for creators.

On the other hand there's always that faint whiff of e-begging to it, of people seeking handouts rather than trying to produce work people want to buy.

I think the latter probably says more about my own stupid pride and upbringing, rather than being an accurate reflection on reality.  A lot of authors (and other creator-types) use Patreon nowadays and there isn't anything wrong with that.

(Although I do get a spot of the side-eye when I see an award-winning author announce their work is being made into a TV series one minute, while begging for rent money on Patreon the next.  But, to be fair, I don't know other people's circumstances, and if their fans are happy to hand over money, maximum power to all concerned.)

Anyway, this is what would I'd be looking to use Patreon funding for.

1) Smooth out my income.

I'm fortunate in that I made some good decisions in the past and got into the habit of living very frugally.  I don't make a lot of money from royalties, but between that, the occasional bit of supplementary income, and living damn frugally, I'm just about able to cover most of my living expenses.  That said, the income is not exactly consistent and varies from month to month (well, quarter to quarter).  Having an alternate revenue stream to fill in the gaps for those months when sales are low wouldn't be a bad thing.

2) Get payment for things that are otherwise difficult to monetize.

I'm talking about stories/series posted to Literotica* and other places, the H-space monster girl bestiary shorts, and - to a lesser extent - the humorous walkthroughs of monster girl hentai games** like I'm doing at the moment with Monmusu Quest: Paradox [part 2].  Having a Patreon for this type of stuff frees me from fretting over whether I should be doing work that pays bills/puts food on the table instead.

I notice a few regular writers on Literotica have their own Patreon accounts.  It doesn't seem a bad idea to be honest.  If I'd started up writing later, I probably would have had less reticence and got on Patreon earlier.

*As some have noticed, I haven't been as active on Literotica recently.  I'd like to fix that this year.

**This is more a sort of hobby, but I'm not going to turn it down if people enjoy the series enough to throw a couple of dollars my way.

3) A psychological trick to make me think I have a boss(es) and get that writing productivity back up again.

Because I know I'm my own boss, I have a bad habit of being a little too flexible on the hours I work.  It happens.  I'm writing.  The current section I'm on is proving tricky, so I think I'll take a breather, go play Playstation or something for an hour, then come back to it afterwards (SPOILER: Did not come back to it after an hour).

It's a little thing, but knowing people are giving me money every month to create new sexy succubus smut might trick my lazy ass into thinking I should stay at my desk and treat this as a proper job rather than a glorified hobby.  A more productive me means more hot succubus smut for people to enjoy.

4) A fund for commissioning art and other things.

Now this is where I'm most likely to use any Patreon money.  I've enjoyed seeing my characters brought to life by VezoniaArtz, RaidouZERO and others, and it's given me ideas to take projects further.  I'd like to push my succubi/monster girls and worlds to get the same kind of attention as KC's Monster Girl Encyclopedia, Okayado's Monster Musume or Toro Toro Resistance's Monster Girl Quest.  The thing is, the internet is primarily a visual medium.  Pictures get far more attention than plain text.

I'd like to commission artwork of the various succubi/monster girls in the H-space bestiary (and my other stories).  The internet always needs more sexy succubus/monster girl artwork as far as I'm concerned.

I'd like to reorganise my website so the H-space stories, H-game walkthroughs, etc are easily navigable rather than being buried in my blog post history.

These things require money (artists are creators and like to be paid too).  A Patreon fund might help out a lot here.  Also, it would make me feel like I was using the money to create something people would want rather than "Can uze pay my rent, plz".

* * *

That's what I'd get out of it, the more important question is what you people out there think about it.  Which is why I'm putting this out here first.

Do you think the stories I write and this blog are entertaining enough that you'd be willing to chuck a spare quid/buck my way every month, so I'd have the financial security to continue doing it?  (Or in this case fund a war chest I can use to flood the internet with more perverted monster girl artwork, hyuk hyuk.)

This would likely be the baseline Patreon reward band - $1/month for me to keep the blog running and post regular stories/chapters to the internet (here, Literotica, etc).

I did think of using the other Patreon option of $1/story or chapter, but it doesn't really fit with one of the central aims of keeping this blog going.  Also, it would require some thought on what constitutes a proper story/chapter, whereas I'd rather have them be the length that feels right for the respective story/chapter.

1$ a month (or more, if you're feeling generous.  I'm not about to say no!) should make it a more predictable outgoing.  It should also keep me honest.  If you feel I'm slacking off, just withdraw your funding.  I'll figure out quick enough. :D

Looking at other Patreons, I notice they also offer other bands/tiers of rewards.  This is where I'd welcome some input from you all out there.  What can I offer that would be of interest?

Some thoughts:

1) Exclusivity.

I don't want to lock any of my work off behind paywalls so only a very narrow audience can access it.  That will impose restrictions on where I can use the stories in the future and will probably end up biting me in the ass.  What I can do, is timed exclusives - maybe make the new stories/chapters available to Patreons a few days before they're due to go live on the rest of the internet.

Also, I usually hold back some stories as exclusives for my ebook collections.  In future I can make some of those available to Patreons.

2) Behind the scenes stuff.

Thoughts on how a story came together.  Ideas in the pipeline.  Early versions.  I'm not sure what might be of interest here, so let me know in the comments.

3) Polls.

I'm normally so scattershot this might help me.  These would be of the type - "Here are three ideas, what should I write this week?"

(That would certainly be one way to force me to get back to Phil's adventures... :) )

As I'm also planning to use a lot of the cash to fund art commissions, this is certainly poll-able.  Which H-space monster girl would we like drawn next and by who?  That might be fun.

4) Tuckerizations.

Get yourself inserted into one of my stories so you too can be killed off in a horribly gruesome sexy manner by your favourite succubus/monster girl.

This seems a decent possibility for a high-tier reward.

There will be some caveats for my own sanity.  I won't be inserting people into the story.  It'll likely just be names and descriptions hung over another character.  This gives me some flexibility if the story calls for the character to be an asshole or die in a particularly unpleasant fashion.

Those are some ideas anyway.

If you have any other suggestions for things you'd be interested in as Patreon rewards, please let me know below.

This also includes if you think this is a terrible idea and I'm being greedy arse.  That's probably worth finding out now rather than being traumatized six months later when my Patreon is only bringing in $6 a month! :D

At the moment I'm throwing it out there to test the waters.  If people are fine with it and would like to fund my various perverted endeavors, I'll see if I can get an account set up next week.

Let me know what you think.