Things are changing. *obvious diaper pun*

In two weeks, I'm starting graduate school.  Pudding just got a new job too.  We appreciate the support and love so much on our Patreon.  Honestly, it still stands as one of the most remarkable, unbelievable experiences of my life.  But I know we can't keep going as strongly as we are when both of us are so busy.  So I'm going to dial it back a little.

First and foremost: if we owe you something, you'll get it before the end of the month!  We have a lot of stuff written already that just needs editing and tweaking.  The 50 Patron reward should be done before September as well.  That being said...

Sophie & Pudding Patreon Patch Notes:

• $1 tier has new wording but offers the same thing
• $5 tier has votes included! (Though it always did)
• $10 tier no longer includes "looking over and editing your works", though we'll probably still do that.  We just don't want to commit to it if we don't have time to follow through.
• $20 tier Livewriting is now twice a month, rather than every week.
• $20 tier now has story commissions.
• Story commissions are COMPLETELY reworked. (This does not affect Captions.)
• $30 tier and $60 tier are removed.

How Commissions Work Now & Why We Are So Annoying

Basically, we are moving to a queue system.  Rather than writing 5+ chapters a month, we are only writing 3: one per week, plus a week to finish captions.  This is obviously to dumb down our workload as we start taking on more adult responsibility *shudders*. But we also don't want to give up writing the wonderful commissions we've already started.  So we are switching to a self-sustaining model.

What this means for you: Commissions are no longer once a month (unless we only have three commissions!).  Commissions are also cheaper per month, at $20 instead of $30.  Though if we have six commissions, that's technically $40 instead of $30 per story chapter.  But it's also two months of captions and all our other content too! ^_^ So it sort of balances out.

We also started an upgrade system for commissions.  So if it's your week to get your story, you can upgrade from 2k words to 4k or 6k if you want to get more done faster! (Technically this also saves money in the long run?) You can see details about it on our Rules & Prices page. 

"But Sophie," you say. "Isn't upgrading to 6k words in one week MORE work for you?"  Well, you'd think that.  But writing one story for 6k words versus writing three stories for 2k each is way different.  We realized with our current model that switching stories every few days was a lot more work than we thought.  It knocks us out of the "zone", so to speak.

What this means for us: No cap on commissions.  No extra work as patrons come, no less work as patrons go.  Consistency.  Predictability.  That will mean a lot in the stress-fueled days to come.

Now what?

Well, if you have any questions regarding these changes, or if you think this is unfair, PLEASE talk to us.  Pudding and I have spent hours and hours talking about this and this was the best we could come up with.  We would be open to ideas if our supporters take offense.

Next, if you are a member of the $30 tier, you should drop your pledge to $20!  I mean, if you want to stay at 30 that is completely your call, but there aren't added benefits anymore.  I'm going to try to contact you each personally to make sure you change your pledge before the new billing cycle.

And lastly: how will we determine the order of the newly formed queue?  Lifetime pledge amounts.  I figured that was the most fair.  Remember, if you're expecting an August chapter from us, you'll still get it in the coming weeks!  We have it all written down.

Thank you guys so much for sticking with us through this.  It's a huge imposition on you and I hate to impose.  But I am hoping, in the end, this is best for everyone.

With love,
~Sophie

P.S. For any clarification, please check our home page.  I changed it today!