My Books 2018 + Reflecting on 4yrs on Patreon

Can I just say how amazing public libraries are?  Just the fact they exist?  Anyway, I read 67 books in 2018, and here's the three that changed me the most:

📖 The Most Meaningful Books I Read In 2018 [8 min read]

You know what else I'm super grateful exists?  You!  Awww stop blushing, you know I mean it.  You supporters literally pay for my bread and butter (well, brown rice and beans) and gift me space, time, and resources to be creatively autonomous.

Speaking of which, it's been exactly FOUR YEARS since I joined Patreon!  Might be a good time to reflect.  You may have noticed I still leave up how much I'm make a month on my Patreon page.  (Other creators I know & respect hide their income, for understandable privacy reasons.  Internet randos can be weird about money.)  I'm not doing this out of “transparency”: I'm an individual, not a non-profit/corporation/politician.

Rather, I'm doing this because I want to help other creators make an informed decision about whether to use Patreon. (or other crowdfunding platforms) 

However, the number on my page only shows my current $/mo, and doesn't show the long, bumpy road leading up to it.

Here's a graph of my long, bumpy road, starting from when I signed up 4 years ago:

As you can see, it took me 31 months to get my Patreon to just a sustainable level.  (Cost of living is high where I'm living, but I may move to a cheaper town in 2019)

For many creators, waiting 31 months may not be an option.  I was lucky in that I had savings + freelance gigs + the Knight/Mozilla OpenNews Fellowship supporting me during most of 2015 and 2016.  So, if you're an aspiring artist considering Patreon, I highly recommend having a job/freelance/stable source of income for the first few years.  And honestly the thing that pushed my Patreon to “sustainable” level was an unusual fluke.  That's the huge bump in July 2017.

And what was that fluke?  Well, here's the same graph, with my projects overlaid on top:

I launched my Patreon a week after Vi Hart and I released Parable of the Polygons.  There were a couple projects for the next year.  Then, starting October 2016, I promised myself to try to release one small project per 3 months – which I actually kept up!  First We Become What We Behold, then To Build A Better Ballot, then LOOPY, one mini-project Fireflies, and then...

...my fluke: The Evolution of Trust.

I did not expect that one to get popular.  It was half an hour long (an eternity for internet attention-spans) had relatively little interactivity (it's all buttons and sliders) and was on a fairly niche, technical subject.  And yet, that project was the tipping point that let my Patreon go from “just-in-case side-hustle”, to “holy crap, I can actually survive off this.”

As of writing, you all are generously gifting me $3,452/month.  While this feels more than enough for me, I acknowledge and understand this can't support everyone's life.  I don't have children or a mortgage.  I, gratefully, don't have any costly illnesses.  I don't even have any student debt to pay off!  (Canadian colleges are cheaper, and besides, I dropped out)  To be fair, I'm making some potentially pound-foolish decisions like not having healthcare.  But anyway, if you have a higher financial need, you may want to get “a real job” instead of being an internet panhandler like me.

Alternatively, you could draw porn and make $9,000/month on Patreon.

(Seriously, I am so tempted to start a porn patreon. Pay me $50/mo and I'll draw lewds of your polygon-sona)

Anyway, in summary:

If you're an artist, gamedev, or other kind of creator and considering using Patreon, I hope this post gave you an info-splash of useful realism!  Patreon's been a lifesaver for me personally, but I had to have 31 months of runway + have low financial needs + get a viral fluke.  Ultimately, you have to decide if Patreon (or some other crowdfunding) is right for you.

If you're one of my supporters, thank you so so so much for gifting me the freedom to make weird internet things!  If you're a fan who can't give money, that's absolutely okay, giving feedback, encouragement, and shares is incredibly valuable too!  (I genuinely mean that: feedback makes my projects better, shares are what help me build an audience in the first place)

Either way, thank you so much for sticking with me through 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018... and I'll see y'all again in 2019. 🎆🎇🎆

<3,
~ Nicky Case