Looooooooooot! (Maybe) [Poll, plans and update]
I've been holding off on making another post like this, honestly, since I already have several and it makes things feel bloated (honestly considered deleting old ones, but lazy). But this is an Important one, so I figured I should do this now.
We've gotten a bit of a Lull at the Hospital, but its still yet to be seen if I'm going to be dragged back into it or not.
That being said, I've got an announcement that is sure to make (at least some of you) happy.
On the Advice of several Readers, Friends and Family, I've been thinking about setting up a combined patreon for [Interstellar Weapons Platform] and [Parasite King]. Personally, I still don't think they are of the quality to actually ask for donations for them. But at the same time, I've already spent about $300 on Grammarly, and that's not sustainable.
But then someone gave me an Idea.
If I set up a Patreon, not only could I continue to support the use of Grammarly and bring you not crappy chapters, I could even save the excess and, eventually, pay for PROFESSIONAL Editing.
So after some thinking, I've decided to leave it up to you readers. Keep in mind that this message and Poll will be on both Stories, as well as both Royal Road and Scribble Hub, in an attempt to reach as many people as possible. So I'll take the results with a grain of salt, hahahahaha!
Most importantly, this will give me more motivation to write more, since I'm being "paid" now.
With that in mind, here's how it's going to go. I'm going to give you guys a list of possible tiers and options, and you can vote on which ones you would be most willing to see and use.
As for the Professionally Edited Chapters, I'm bouncing between simply releasing them as normal Patreon Chapters, or as "loyalty" chapters. That way the people who've actually supported are able to get access to them before anyone else (They WILL eventually be released free, as an update/rewrite).
It DOES cost about $1,000-$1,200 USD per 75,000 words to have something Edited to the degree that I am comfortable with. So feel like the people who have made a continued effort towards that goal should have priority.
That being said, here is some information/details about what would happen.
- Regardless of the actual Tier Setup, Professionally Edited chapters would see several goals.
- A transition to more traditional dialogue (something that's been requested several times)
- Improved flow and corrections to some loopholes I might not have caught.
- Minor tweaks to story and progression, as requested by readers through polls and suggestions.
As for the Tiers themselves, this is what I am thinking about.
- Option 1: Slow and steady. [This one is to support Grammarly, and slowly build up towards edits] (Keep in mind that the Edited Chapter time frame will start counting at soon as someone starts to their support, but won't be available until they are actually done. So say that it takes 10 months to pay for the first batch of chapters. $1 tier would still need to wait 2 more months before gaining access, but $3 and $5 will have access as soon as they come out. At the same time, a $5 who only started supporting on the 10th month, would have access at the same time as the $1 who started support 10 months ago. This is a little unbalanced, I'll admit, but what it results in, is that everyone roughly pays the same for edited chapters.)
- $1 - 1 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 12 Months.
- $3 - 2 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 4 Months.
- $5- 3 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 2 Months.
- Option 2: Quick edits [This one is designed to quickly build up funding for the Edited Chapters]
- $2.50 - 2 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 4 Months.
- $5- 3 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 2 Months.
- $10 - 5 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls and early access to Edited Chapters. Become a "Sponsor" in Parasite King! Backers at this Tier will be entered into a Monthly drawing. The Winner will be able to help design a Sponsored Quest. Don't worry, the same person won't win twice in a row. So everyone gets a chance.
- Option 3: Combined + Super Supporter Option. [This one is still up in the air, since I am not totally sure how Patreon handles something like this. But its something to look into.][AGAIN! To any potential Super Supporters, I keep none of the donations here. Every cent (minus taxes) goes directly towards editing and publishing]
- $1 - 1 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 12 Months.
- $3 - 2 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 4 Months.
- $5 - 3 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls and early access to Edited Chapters at 2 Months.
- $10 - $10 - 5 Advanced Chapter, access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls and early access to Edited Chapters. Become a "Sponsor" in Parasite King! Backers at this Tier will be entered into a Monthly drawing. The Winner will be able to help design a Sponsored Quest. Don't worry, the same person won't win twice in a row. So everyone gets a chance.
- $50 or $100 (limited) (One time)- For the Dedicated Reader who want's to make a big contribution to the
- Paperback copy of your choice. This is were the price discrepancy comes in. If I set it to $50, I'll have to send out orders in batches of 15-20 to cover the cost of printing. Meaning it might be longer before you actually get your order. If I set it to $100, then I can send orders Individually. I'll leave this up to you guys; If this option is chosen, I'll put up another Poll for these kinds of details.
- All Advanced Chapters.
- Access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls.
- Double Votes on all polls. Entry into the Parasite King Sponsor drawing (limit still applies though). Since this is a 1 time payment (unless you want more), Double votes will carry over to the $10 tier.
- ($100) Design a minor Character! I'll work with you to design a minor character for the novel of your choice. (who I might end up killing off horrible, no promises! HAHAHAHAHA!).
- ($100) Design a Monster/Creature!
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- $1000 (limited) (One time)- Want to brag about how you paid for an entire batch of chapters yourself? Then this one is for you. I honestly don't expect anyone to actually do this, but its there if you want to do so. If you have any ideas for more things to make it work the price, leave them in the comments!
- Hardback version of both Novels, as well as a copy of the next Book.
- All Advanced Chapters.
- Triple Votes on all polls. 5x entry into the Parasite King Sponsor drawing (limit still applies though). (On the very off chance that more than 1 person takes this pledge, backers at this tier won't be win again until either 3 votes or all other $1,000 backers have one. If enough people get entries through other tiers that other people still have chance to win, this rule will be void). Since this is a 1 time payment (unless you want more), Triple votes and Entries are permanent. Even if you go down to $1 (or stop supporting), you'll retain your Drawing and Voting rights.
- Design a major Character! I'll work with you to design a major character for the novel of your choice.
- Design a major Boss Monster or Powerful Named Creature! These creatures will be semi-permanent (either as an Individual or a race) and will play an important role in the story.
- Access to (poorly made) discord with T2 polls.
- + More things if I can think of anything, hahahahah! Any suggestions? What would you expect to see for something like this?
- $1000 (limited) (One time)- Want to brag about how you paid for an entire batch of chapters yourself? Then this one is for you. I honestly don't expect anyone to actually do this, but its there if you want to do so. If you have any ideas for more things to make it work the price, leave them in the comments!
LASTLY! If you have any suggestion for OTHER options or Benefits, feel free to post them in the comments and let me know.