A few years ago, you may remember, I had a podcast called Erotica a la Carte.
I offered up polls for listeners to fill in, which picked out a bunch of ‘ingredients’—actually plots, characters, scenes—which I then used to write stories. They were all erotic speculative fiction.
I had a blast doing it. It pushed me to write stories I might never have thought about, and it created a sense for me of community and interaction, that I hadn’t really experienced in any other way in writing.
Eventually the selections and ingredients began to dry up, and I packed Erotica a la Carte up in 2012 after three seasons. But I missed those things I discovered there.
Then along came patreon.
If you’re not familiar with it, let me explain. William Shakespeare had a patron (a man of high status and full pockets) who paid for his living expenses and in return got his name put on poetry—even some written in his own name. The patronage model is as old as creatives.
Now, not many people these days have enough cash to keep a creative in food and housing, but the internet had made it so that all of us can contribute a little to it. Basically, crowdfunding patronage.
Patreons contribute as little as a dollar per month, and then in return get access to a variety of rewards. Creatives get to fund projects, eat, and generally survive.
I thought about what I could use this new platform for. Every creative needs money, and as a full-time one it scores pretty highly, but I wanted a direction for it.
Erotica a la carte provided it.
So my patreon was born today. I’ll be using that original formula of polling listeners/readers, but I am expanding it to all kinds of speculative fiction. I could end up writing horror, fantasy or science fiction. I’ll be taking patreons to new places, and myself too!
The first poll will go live on the 15th of June, and the first story at the end of the month. It’ll be an evolving process too, as I see how things go, what the community want, I’ll add new goals and rewards.
I’ll hope you’ll join me and see where we can go.