Of Oliver Twist and Porridge

So, this morning’s blog feels just a tad bit weird.

Many of my peers have gone down the path I’m about to pursue. I know this, because when I tried to invite them to the platform I’m about to join, I got messages that they were already there. And not only am I going down this road, but I’m asking for your help on how to proceed.

2017 is the year I will make the transition to full-time author. I’ve decided this. Technically, that’s not how it really works, and truth be told, most authors will tell you that the last thing you do is quit your day-job. As some of my friends will tell you, I have a tendency to do things backwards, in no small part because I have issues with authority. Long story.

One of the first things I did when I started my writing career was turn my back on Corporate America and become my own boss. There are pros and cons therein, of course, and it hasn’t been easy. It has, however, been gratifying. As a result, I have novels out in the world, a plethora of short fiction, a very small book design business to make ends meet, and plans on taking over the world with kick-ass cross-genre fiction.

However, in order to do that, I need an income. As you may or may not know, I had spent the past two years as the Booth Manager for the WordFire Bookstore that I drove around the country. Well, as of December 31^st, 2016, I no longer fill that role and, in fact, the bookstore itself has changed hands and is now under the aegis of Rabid Fanboy. Another long story.

The good news is that I’ll still be going to shows and this time purely as an author. That means I get to ignore anything going on with the running of the booth and focus on meeting new people (please come see me at the next convention near you) and selling my books… which is pretty much the point of the exercise.

The bad news is that my primary source of income evaporated with the dawn of the new year. It’s not a crisis, to be sure, but if I’m going to succeed through the lean times ahead of me, I could use your help. As it turns out, there is a platform designed to facilitate just this type of need, one which many creatives have adopted.

You may have already guessed, but the answer is Patreon.com. I’m in the process of setting up my own Patreon account, and to that end I’d like some help from you in determining what rewards I will offer my patrons. I have some ideas (see below), and I’d like your thoughts on if these look appealing. Also, if you have any suggestions, I’m more than open to anything you feel would be worthwhile rewards for folks who want to help me transition to full-time author so I can increase and improve the growing library of fiction I want to spend the rest of my life building.

Here’s what I have thus far:

1. Patron Level 1 – $3 / month
   1. Access to the Patron-only feed on QuincyAllen.com
   2. Receive the Monthly Newsletter
   3. Name listed on the Gratitude page on QuincyAllen.com
2. Patron Level 2 – $6 / month
   1. All Level 1 Rewards
   2. Free access to all short stories included in my mini-short-story collections
      Opportunities to be a beta reader and shape how my short fiction evolves
   3. Preview of one short story per month
3. Patron Level 3 – $10 / month
   1. All Level 1 and 2 Rewards
   2. Beta-reading access to current projects and short fiction
   3. Access to my complete library of “reverted” QJA short stories
4. Patron Level 4 – $20 / month
   1. All Level 1, 2, and 3 Rewards
   2. QJA Custom Lapel Pin
   3. Request and receive one 2,000-word short story per year (after 6 months’ patronage) in any of my universes, featuring you or someone you choose as one of the characters, and dedicated to the person of your choice and appear in a RuneWright LLC short story collection
5. Patron Level 5 – $50 / month
   1. All Level 1, 2, and 3 Rewards
   2. QJA Custom Hat
   3. Request and receive one custom 5,000-word short story per year (after 6 months’ patronage) in any of my universes, featuring you or someone you choose as one of the characters, and dedicated to the person of your choice. Will appear in a RuneWright LLC short story collection.
6. Patron Level 6 – $100 / month
   1. All Level 1, 2, and 3 Rewards
   2. QJA Custom T-Shirt
   3. Request and receive one custom 10,000-word short story per year (after 6 months’ patronage) in any of my universes, featuring you or someone you choose as one of the characters, and dedicated to the person of your choice. Will appear in a RuneWright LLC short story collection.
7. Patron Level 7 – $500 / month
   1. Request and receive one custom novella per year (after 6 months patronage) in any of my universes, featuring you or someone you choose as one of the characters and dedicated to the person of your choice. Will be published by RuneWright LLC.
   2. If you’re paying me $500 per month, hell, I’ll have your babies… (I’m mostly kidding)

Granted, I feel like Oliver Twist asking for more…. “Please sir, I want some more…” but with all the changes in the publishing industry and my desire to migrate to full-time author, I figured I could give some tailor-made rewards to those folks who have an interest in my writing and would like to see me up my game and productivity.

It’s a dog-eat-dog in this business, and lately I’ve felt more like a pork chop than a Rottweiler. That all changes this year. I’m hitting the deck running and coming out with guns blazing. So, if you’d like to help shape my writing career.

Please let me know what you think of these rewards either on this thread or on my FaceBook page. I’ll be setting up the Patreon account in the next week or two, so you don’t have much time to help me shape what my Patreon rewards look like.

As always, thank you for ongoing interest and support in my fiction. I couldn’t have come this far without people like you.

Q