Why Patreon At Any Level Is Important
You’ve probably seen just about every artist and/or creative on your social feeds talk about their Patreon, right? Maybe you’ve backed a few, or one, or none (but you retweeted/shared the post), or maybe you just let it fade into the background of your social feed.
Allison Steele of the Philly Inquirer shared an article from The Guardian by Lynn Steger Strong. Here’s the lede: “I’m not sure how or if I’d still be a writer without the help of other people’s money.” She goes on to detail how difficult it is to move forward in a creative career without help.
Her story isn’t the exception.
Have you ever thought about why creatives have Patreon accounts?
It’s simple, really: they need money. Money to pay the rent, to pay for food, to pay for supplies so they can continue to make their art.
And here’s the thing: most creatives aren’t doing this full time just yet. It’s a side hustle, something that they would love to spend all of their time on, but financially it isn’t feasible just yet. But something inside them, at the very core of their being, drives them to create and to share those creations.
Imagine a world without Mozart or Vivaldi, or Renoir, or Michelangelo. They all had patrons, wealthy members of their society who paid them to create.
But will $4 a month really help?
Yes. Undoubtedly, yes.
This is why we put up Patreon pages and try desperately to have people back us. Even just a little help each month can make a big difference. It can help them move a step closer to their goal of creating and sharing with the world, in the hopes of bringing a little joy, or thoughtfulness, or information to everyone.
So, very selfishly (I suppose), I’m here to pitch my Patreon account and hope that some more people will jump on board. Voiceover doesn’t differ that much from other artistic mediums in that a) it requires investment to get better and make a living at it, and b) it take time to build up to being able to make a living at it.
Add in the complication that there are a lot of people who try voiceover, creating a lot of competition in the beginning for the jobs that are out there. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of surviving long enough for skills to develop and the less-hearty to drop out of the race to get to the next level.
The things that I need to invest in to make things continue to move forward:
Demos (~$1,900 a pop, and I need at least two more)
Coaching (~$150 per session)
Professional organization fees (anywhere from $400-1,000) per year all in, depending on which organizations and events I’m looking to participate in)
It’s not to say that I won’t get there at some point, and I’m willing to take my time to get there, but I would be lying if I said that having a little help each month wouldn’t be a huge help. I’m excited to share my art with the world, and this would help accelerate that.
Most days, I’m working 14 hours a day. I do all of my voiceover work in the mornings (which includes marketing, sales outreach, recording, editing, auditioning, etc), and then in the mid-afternoon I leave for my other job, working as a cook in a restaurant so that I can have some guaranteed money coming in to pay the bills.
Having a little extra help each month means that I can cut back on my shifts at the restaurant a bit and focus more time on the voiceover work (and, by extension, have more time for my family…I don’t want to downplay that part).
So, from today (3/3/2020) until noon on March 16th, I’m running a special offer on my Patreon. Tiers start at $4 per month. All of my Patrons, old and new, will get some additional benefits when they sign up during this time frame:
I have a book coming out this year, a dystopian thriller called “Roads” that is the first part of a series that I’m calling “Protocol”, and when it does you’ll be included in the dedication
You’ll get early access to the the chapters and the audio files (I’m producing the audiobook version)
You’ll get the whole project for free when it comes out later this year
Once certain community goals are met, I’ll be running a monthly D&D game, and all of my patrons will be able to have access to this, as well as the Discord server dedicated to the game once it begins
I really hope that, if you can afford it, you’ll consider backing me on Patreon. A little bit can go a long way. And I would be very grateful.