My writing life has been a busy one since the release of my debut novel – The Beast. Book 2 is well underway and is due out later this year. But for some reason, one story just is not enough for my brain to tinker away at, I found my imagination wandering the streets of a small village in the Lake District, meeting new characters and powerful enemies.
The Things we do to kill a… was born.
Now it is time to let it loose on the world. But I wanted to try something different. I started my writing journey on Wattpad and loved the fact that each week I could finish a new chapter and release it. I enjoyed the interaction with my readers.
I thought about using Kindle Vella, but at the time I was working on The things we do to kill a… It was not available in the UK. Now it is, but I asked around friends and colleagues and they had never hear of it. I looked at what was available on the platform in my genres and was not keen on what I saw. By this time I had researched Patreon and liked the platform. Podcasts I listen to use it to great effect, and it has the potential to create a fantastic community around what I do. As well as this it could provide a reliable income stream.
Why should you become a patron?
The problem I have as a new author is money.
Money for a professional editor.
Money for an illustrator.
Money for a map maker.
Money for a cover designer.
Money for the many hundreds of hours spent writing, re-writing, editing. Designing covers, sending newsletters and e-mails. Posting on Tiktok, Instagram, twitter and facebook. Hunting for reviewers.
Hours spent thinking up new ideas and storylines. Reading the latest advice on marketing for authors and trying to create an audience.
It feels like a full-time job sometimes. The best and most enjoyable job I have ever had, and I want to be successful at it.
But I have a full-time job. I teach at a primary school, I mark work, I plan lessons. I worry about seating plans and friendships. I hope that every child in my class can access the lessons which I deliver and that they will learn and remember what they have learnt.
So, writing takes a back seat, marketing is squeezed into spare moments.
Holidays become a mad rush to get more writing done and the family is forgotten.
With money, I will be able to afford to pay for experts to do the editing, illustrating, map making and cover designing, freeing up hours more for me to do what I do best. Writing.
That is why I seek patrons.
Not so that I can line my pockets with gold, but so that I can spend more time writing and creating, and hopefully, in turn, you my readers will get enjoyment from what I create.
The best bit however is the community that Patreon can help create. A dischord server so members can discuss the latest episodes, and a place where I can talk directly to my audience. Q and A sessions for fans to ask me anything about what I do. Merchandise, signed books, surprise gifts, interactions with the characters, members only access to private areas of my website with extra worldbuilding around the story and much more.
Thank you all for your support.
Become a patron today:
Steven M Phillips Author 