One of the hot trends
with entry level
and mid list writers
is Patreon,
crowdfunding for artists.
Some artists
are earning BIG money
on Patreon.
The top artist
earned $95,000 a month
last year.
But that’s because
that artist is well known
in their community.
They have spent time and money
on marketing and brand awareness
and content.
Patreon works well for them
because they don’t have
other easier venues
to offer their art
to paying consumers.
Writers, however,
DO have easier venues
to offer their art
to paying consumers.
Patreon isn’t offering writers
a built in readership.
Writers have to bring
the readers to Patreon,
not the other way around.
And many writers are finding
if they spend the same time and money
on bringing readers to a site,
they’d have the same or better results
bringing readers to a bookseller site,
a site these readers already use.
Kickstarter,
crowdfunding for start up businesses,
has the same challenge
for yet-not-known brands.
“Most of the time,
for most projects,
Kickstarter isn’t the answer
to the question you’re asking.
That’s because
it could more accurately
be called Kickfinisher
–you build a following first,
over time,
and then Kickstarter is
the moment in time
that those followers show up
for your work.”
Kickstarter and Patreon
can be very effective.
But, while you’re an unknown,
you WILL have to bring
new customers to them.
They won’t supply customers.
So think about
whether or not
their site
is the ideal place
to direct your customers.