Future Rewards?

Agreed. I would not want to push for something that could burn you (pirate) out, or put too much demand on you for a daily release. I like the Discord idea much better. It allows readers to chat with each other about stuff, what we think may happen, speculation or whatever, talk about our favorite parts. You know the drill. It also gives all of us a potential great channel straight to the pirate in charge! To be honest I was worried when I saw that many wanted daily stories because I've seen how quickly that can but people out, stress build up, etc. And I love this story and all of this way too much to want to see that.

Scott Carlson

Just got to your comment! I thought it was short until I hit 'read more'. Thanks for the suggestions! I do understand your comment about the numbering--I actually borrowed it from Worm because I thought it was a great way to avoid saying Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc., but I do get the problem with letters. Not sure if I want to change it; I'd mess up every hyperlink I have if I did that. Also, I am aware the beginning takes out a lot of readers. My problem is that I'm not good with revisions, and also that I do want to present that slower type of narrative. True, there's action in the story, but part of the charm is, to me at least, the quiet moments. I dunno. I know you're right, but I just haven't figured out an elegant way to fix things. If anyone's got a good suggestion of how to keep the plot intact and make it good, I'd welcome it. Also, it might be different on mobile devices and tablets, but on a computer I can see my Patreon link on the right side. Hm. Might be a problem I need to look into? I don't have a smartphone, though... Thanks for the encouragement! I hope to quit my job soon, but I'm relying on you wonderful Patreons! I will certainly do my best to improve everything, and hope to write full time by the end of this year!

pirateaba

I’m going to suggest some things that are a bit different, but I think it would help you get more readers, which would naturally lead to more people giving on Patreon. Honestly your best bet is to pursue more of these $1 and $5 givers instead of trying to get current givers to give more. So first of all, your blog is confusing and hard to navigate for a new reader. It’s kind of disorganized with a post on top, nested comments below, and then your overview on the sidebar on the overview page. It’s also a little hard to figure out where you left off as there are no chapter names, and the chapter numbers aren’t whole numbers. Worst of all is the chapter numbers going back when it is a different character, for example from 1.20 to 1.00 R to 1.01 R to 1.21. I see your reasoning for doing it but it’s too confusing! Finally, while some people are fine with only being able to read online on your blog, it will turn many people away. If you can make at least just the first volume available as an e-book in .mobi and .epub or something (also maybe with chapter titles, or whole number chapters like 1,2,3…) it would make it a lot easier to get people into the story long enough to hook them, after which they will probably deal with anything to keep reading. Second, the beginning of the story is a little slow, and you are probably losing a lot of readers who do not realize how awesome the story becomes. To be honest, I was one of them who got bored after a few chapters, and only came back to the story after hearing people rave about it and insisting that it gets better on reddit.com/r/fantasy. Maybe start the story with an interlude from a high-level and cool character with some action so that people get a teaser of what cool stuff exists in your world and what they have to look forward to if they keep reading. Also you should have a link to your Patreon page on your blog. I love your story and you write at an incredible pace even while you are working another job, so believe me I would love for you to get to the point where you could quit your other job and focus on writing full time. Best of luck!

J H

The daily story option seems appealing, but you are already going at a good pace for your story already. I don't want you to overwork yourself trying to write more and then getting burnt out!

Carter

Exactly my dilemma. Finding a way to engage audiences like Youtube would be the game-changer for all web serial writers. Maybe 1,000-2,000 word stories would work...but I'd hate to spam my main blog. Maybe I need a second one?

pirateaba

I don't think you can compare the two to your work. they had larger following and a more easily accessible platform. I want a map mostly because where the inn is in relation to Liscor has been inconsistent. as for the matter of expanding your reader base again, I'd recommend short impactful shortstories that don't need to be read in context. Standalones 1000-2000 word shorts that end leaving the flavor that people want more of this universe/world, to get them to begin the wandering inn. most of what you've done has pulled people from existing communities like top web fiction and royalroad, however i havn't seen much to pull general populous into yours, or those communities.

Tom Braider

I know, but it's demoralizing and inspiring at the same time to see someone explode like that. Mostly inspiring, actually.

pirateaba

Not necessarily; it might just stop me from burning out. It's been roughly 2 years of hard part-time work plus writing with only 3 weeks of vacation time in all of that. (As in, that was my only break besides the occasional 3-4 days off if I got lucky). I suspect once I hit my goal of getting out of my job I'll need to rest for a month. But then...? Having writing as my full time job will never mean I do updates all day every day, but I'd probably start building up buffers and doing surprise weeks regularly/release other stories like City of Mists.

pirateaba

Well, that sucks; wrote a big ol thing up, and apparently it timed out?? Basically, I think the side story could be really fun; I also think/hope they could be a less exhaustive "bonus" option than a full chapter! But what if: Every $10/month donation get's to pick a character for a side story? So if you have x12 $10/month pledges, you'll write 12 short stories of their choice that month (there would be a cap on how many of this, obviously, if needed). At $5/month, we get to read them all. Then you publish 1-4 of them to the main free blog, to give everyone a taste and to share some of the bonus material. I know you don't like doing things exclusive, but even so, this could provide a strong incentive to peeps. Thoughts to that idea?

Dustin S.

Something that I know that can potentially bring in a different group of people is good artwork (maps?). Plus it would give you a chance to change up what you're working on if you provided artwork occasionally. I want to second Colby's note, consistent on time updates is a big deal to a lot of people.

In all honesty, the only reason you got this many patreons is because of two things. 1) you are incredibly regular about chapter releases. 2) you get an extra chapter if you donate 5 dollars. That's where the vast majority of your money is coming from. Those aren't gonna move up to the 10 dollar package for short stories. People who donate for things like that are the minority. You want more money, put more chapters on the table. Tell me, if you get enough money to quit your job, would that translate to you working 8 hours a day 5 days a week to you churning out chapters?

Colby Last

To be fair, Philly D had a massive following built up over a decade to pull on.

Michael

The RPG scenarios that would strike me personally as most fun would be (i) one with Ryoka as the PC (running to make deliveries, choosing your path, avoiding or fighting monsters) and (ii) one based on managing the inn as Erin (building up business, growing the inn, playing chess, interacting with Liscor). However, what is this "Discord"? I keep seeing the word pop up. I vote for MORE STORIES as by far my top option. Actually, if there was one per day, I'd want to see half of them released to everyone (not just Patreon pledgers) in order to continue increasing your topwebfiction votes and your access to new Patreon pledgers. Nothing grows support for authors like more output (which maintains quality).

Nick Ramsey

I already give you two blue rubees a month. I'm happy with you're delicious story so far and for me that's enough.

Sage Berthelsen

That's why I haven't implemented much yet. Bonus chapters + regular chapters are pushing me, but if I do manage to work writing full-time, these goals would be doable.

pirateaba

My vote is for anything you can sustain and not burn out on. I have seen a few patreon/kickstarters that added too much as stretch goals (Erfworld for example) really backfire.

Mundane

Definitely do the daily stories. Martha Wells is making a little over $1000 a month in $1 Patreon subscriptions from her short Raksura stories, and I'd say you're pretty close to her writing level (and a lot faster).