Annie Bellet

I thought I would make a quick blog post explaining what Patreon is, why it is good to support creators you love there, and answer some commonly asked questions about it.

What is Patreon?

I’m going to borrow their own quote from them:

“For patrons, Patreon is a way to join your favorite creator’s community and pay them for making the stuff you love. Instead of throwing money at your screen (trust us, that doesn’t work), you can now pay creators once a month or per thing the creator makes.  This means the creator gets paid on a regular basis, and you become a bonafide, real-life patron of the arts.  That’s right-Imagine you, in a long frilly white wig, painted on a 10-foot canvas on the wall of a Victorian mansion.  And imagine your favorite creators making a living doing what they do best all because of you.”

For us creators, Patreon allows us to recieve ongoing support from people who want more of our work, while getting a higher percent of the payout than any other option available short of you showing up to our homes and handing us cash (which you should probably not do, but thank you for the thought).

One of my main goals this year is to drive more support and interest in my Patreon, which means probably talking about it more than once every blue moon. Shocking, I know.  Writing novels takes a long time, longer for me now that I’m dealing with the ongoing recovery from almost dying in 2021, and it is nice to be able to show some work in progress, to interact with peeps, and generally have a means of ongoing support and ways to share my work in the long lonely times between book releases.

What do I offer on my Patreon?  Here are just some of the benefits you can get:

*Looks at works in progress (chapters, cut scenes, outlines, cover art etc)

*Short stories and ebook downloads

*Exclusive content available only to Patreon (like the formerly Kickstarter-only Jade & Alek story, which you can get by signing up at any tier at the moment)

*Acknowledgement of your support in my book’s backmatter

*Coming along on my learning to draw/make art journey (and eventually art things like commission spots and stickers etc!)

*Handwritten cute-AF notes mailed directly to you

*Frequent updates about what I’m thinking about, working on, learning about etc

*The warm fuzzies knowing that every time I finish a book, it was done with your help keeping a roof over my head and coffee in my cup

How do you sign up?

Go to my Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/anniebellet  and choose your reward tier. Support can be month to month or you can sign up a year at a time at a small discount.

Can you cancel? When are you charged?

You can cancel any time. You are charged when you sign up, and then montly (or yearly if you choose that option) on the date you signed up (so you are not charged twice if you sign up at the end of a month, that day will just become your new pledge date).

What does my pledge do for you?

Despite the stereotype of the starving writer/artist living in a garret, we creators don’t actually do that well when we are financially insecure (we’re human, after all).  Montly support, even small numbers, adds up and helps introduce stability into what is a very unstable profession. To you the money might feel like a drop, but many drops can fill a bucket.  (and if you are not in a position to support your fav creators with money, don’t fret! We love that you talk about our work, get our books from the library, review us, etc, this is a blog post aimed that those who might have a couple bucks they can contribute also).  The most productive and creatively satisfying times in my life have been when I didn’t have to worry about where the next month’s rent was coming from, and Patreon is a part of making that reality something more than an infrequent dream we all dream about.  Your contribution, large or small, is vital to bringing more art and kick-ass fiction into the world.

So that’s my pitch for supporting me on Patreon.

If you made it this far, enjoy the kitten!