To Patreon or not to Patreon?

[meloniemac]

So I made the plunge and finally got the courage to start my webcomic series - the dream is alive! However, I have a question regarding Patreon. How many of you use it and recommend it? I didn't want to launch a Patreon immediately after the start of my comic, but I've had people ask about PDFs and such since they are not familiar with this website. I think that could be helpful.

Would love some feedback on if it's a good idea to start a Patreon and what some perk suggestions may be. I was thinking about just throwing in a Paypal donate link for people who want to help support, but Patreon may be the better way to go.

Thanks for the advice!

[UzukiCheverie]

My best answer for whether or not to use Patreon is, "Either you get something out of it or you don't." Worst case scenario, you don't get any supporters on Patreon, you don't lose anything. Plus, you don't need to offer tons of rewards with Patreon; some people use it solely as a tip jar with no bonuses whatsoever, but if some of your readers have already asked about PDF downloads, that may be something you could offer. Another common Patreon perk that comic artists offer is early access to pages, but this only works if you post content regularly enough.

So I would say go ahead and try it out. If you get supporters, great; but you've really got nothing to lose if you don't. And you wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity to get supporters if a reader or two was interested.

Small suggestion though: Try and have either a welcome video or a comic strip or something telling people about your Patreon page, for both your comic and your actual page; it's a great way to inform people of what bonuses you offer, and most of the time an intro comic/video/etc. makes a great first impression for potential supporters

Another tip: Don't set up for more bonuses that you can't handle. If you want to offer something but don't know if you'd have the time or resources to pull through on that bonus, maybe make it a milestone goal instead. Quality over quantity - create bonuses you can actually pull through on, rather than offer a million bonuses that would probably get overwhelming to maintain and deliver.

[shazzbaa]

I'm relatively new to Patreon -- I launched my page about 5 months ago and I've had a really good experience! I think the biggest measure of whether it's a good idea to open up a patreon or not is how you feel, emotionally. If you don't get any patrons right away, you don't lose anything -- so will you be cool with it? If so, go for it! But if you know that'd feel like a set-back, and you'd be more comfortable waiting, it's okay to wait, too. I waited for a while before starting mine, because people giving me money was a lot of pressure -- I wanted to feel ready for it! ;u;

If you do wanna go for it, I'd recommend looking at a bunch of other comics patreons before you start up yours -- look at what's working and what isn't. You can get some really good ideas on how to present yours, and ideas for rewards that might work for you!

Here's a bunch of comic creators (of varying levels of fame) with patreons off the top of my head if you need a place to start!
https://www.patreon.com/shazzbaa (me)
https://www.patreon.com/paranatural
https://www.patreon.com/annalandin
https://www.patreon.com/shingworks
https://www.patreon.com/SanCirc
https://www.patreon.com/helvetica
https://www.patreon.com/kurisquare
https://www.patreon.com/lackadaisy
https://www.patreon.com/OopsComicAdventure
https://www.patreon.com/cubewatermelon

The other thing I'd suggest is, since you're just starting your comic and don't have an ~~ESTABLISHED FOLLOWING~~, make sure that what you're offering will be doable even if only a couple of people pledge. So, for example, if you offer to draw a monthly digital wallpaper for all your $2 patrons, that's fine if you've got 10 patrons........ but if you only get one patron at first, drawing a full wallpaper for $2 every month would suck!
So start with stuff you can offer really comfortably! Stuff like "see pages early" or "process shots of the making of the page" or "download PDF of a thing I've already drawn" are nice when starting out because they're very little extra work on your part.

Also, Patreon has a thing where you can set goals -- so, for example, you could say "once we hit $30, I'll start drawing a monthly wallpaper for all my patrons" -- and that's a good place to put rewards that you'd like to offer once you know you have a certain level of support.

[Ghostie]

This is a good topic for me to check out too... I've contemplating starting a Patreon for my regular art, but I'm slow and don't paint often. My comic, though, is something I REALLY enjoy doing. I'm kind of a sporadic poster, so I think I'd prefer doing something like a tipjar, and then extra fun tidbits for high-donators just for funsies. The whole wallpaper thing is a really nice idea for a perk! Even if I only had 1 donator for something like that, but I'd set it at least at $10 donation to start out.

Patreon has always been "the big leagues" game to me. I don't feel like I'd ever really get anywhere because only well-known "famous" people ever have successful ones, but a tipjar I think would work for first starting out. Huuurm.

[Shanny8]

Ive been debating it myself. My only knocks are A) I'm working my butt off on 2 projects already; not sure if I can conjure up enough time energy for extra stuff- trying to make the time, but when not drawing/inking/coloring, I'm try to keep my hands from falling off...and B) right now the views/subs level doesnt convince me that I would have enough wanton fans/readers to start a Patreon. I'm thinking of finishing out my 1st chapter, and evaluate things to see if my readership & subs increase to warrant starting a Patreon.

[joannekwan]

No harm in making one, you never know who will chip in a buck!
But if you want to have a tip jar with no rewards attached, Patreon's fine for that but I also recommend also having a ko-fi account. Ko-fi is your one-time donation button.

[J.Z.Castillo]

Personally, I would hold off on creating a Patreon until you have a bigger fan base. I have a Patreon page, I just gotta set it up and jazz it out, but I have decided to hold off until I am about to finish school. Hopefully by then my following would be a bit bigger, also my story would be further along down its timeline and would have more to offer. Like @joannekwan said, getting a Ko-fi is a great idea for someone who is just starting out. It's less overwhelming and could work better than having a Patreon open that might just sit there collecting dust for a longer time than expected.

Think about it this way, if you hold off on the Patreon and advance the story you will have more to offer to your patrons once you start getting them. I am speaking comic-wise, but if you want to open it to help support whatever extra art, or media content, you create then go right ahead, I think it's a good idea. I plan on using my Patreon for all my artistic endeavors, not just my comic, so if you feel like it's the right move to make right now this soon in your debut, then go right ahead!

[meloniemac]

This is amazing advice - I really appreciate how in-depth you were. I will definitely take your advice.

Thanks so much to everyone - the help is very much appreciated.

[donathinfrye]

As a counter point -- I started creating my first webcomic at the start of the year and launched a Patreon a couple months later. I took the time to consider how other people set up their patrons, I did a silent launch at first (I launched it, but didn't promote it, which basically means that no one saw it since Patreon doesn't do a good job of internally promoting its projects). I set the same backer rewards that I'm using now so that once I did start to get Patrons I'd be forced to get used to the schedule and demand of getting them their extras. In April, I did a "pre campaign" much like you would for a Kickstarter -- I wrote letters, mailed letters, press released, created online ads (take a look at Project Wonderful) in preparation for using them, created a new banner with a stronger call to action for my comic's page, basically got super on top of it. In May, I publicly launched my Patreon and it's grown steadily over the past few months. It's not a giant Patreon, not yet, but it's already enough to allow me to continue working.

So, I don't think you necessarily need a huge base before you start (high engagement has proven to be better for me than sheer numbers). You definitely want to take time to prepare, but if you research good crowdfunding practices (what works for Kickstarter often works for Patreon, just to a lesser extent) and make your reward/goal decisions smartly, you can do well.

But if you feel like you're still getting used to your schedule and aren't totally confident in your ability to add backer rewards that you'd be responsible for fulfilling from now until the end of time (or the end of your patreon at least :p) ... then I'd hold off. Hope that helps!

[Shanny8]

@donathinfrye this too

But if you feel like you're still getting used to your schedule and aren't totally confident in your ability to add backer rewards that you'd be responsible for fulfilling from now until the end of time (or the end of your patreon at least :p) ... then I'd hold off. Hope that helps!

I just started my series this year, so I'm still trying to settle into a groove as far as art schedule & real life happenings. I'm doing okay so far on the art schedule(I'll revisit this comment in October after I have to start on my print series again), but about to move to a new place around that time as well. If I can finish my webcomic [production wise] before the end of the year(like by the end of October), then I might be in a position to take another hard look at starting a Patreon.

@mrjonzap I've thought about starting one also for the fact that I want to do more than just showcase sneak peaks at future pages of my webcomic as well- I want to do other art projects & maybe facilitate some commission requests through it. I just want to make sure that the want/demand is there for my art .

@joannekwan what's a "ko-fi"?

[joannekwan]

Ko-fi is a site that generates a tip button/link for you. You can link it to your paypal and it will automatically transfer any money people donate to your paypal wallet. It's really great for people who just want to donate one time to you and not do a monthly thing.

[69Michi]

I just created my own Patreon page recently, all because I saw that I can actually qualify for some pledge from Webtoon with their upcomming Webtoon x Patreon thingy. If it's not because of this feature of Webtoon, I'm pretty sure I would hold off making Patreon for even longer because I have only just started out making :Rebirth recently and I'm not confident enough in my material that people would be willing to support me financially just yet! I mean I want to at least have even more content out, and even more reader base, before I even think about asking people to support me financially.

I guess I still do keep in account my own ability and free time to provide reward on time. Even if you are desperate for backer, don't sell yourself short like "I will do a full colored commission for all $1 backers", people will swamp to you and in a short time you are gonna be flooded.

In conclusion though, if you want you can start a Patreon. There is nothing to lose if you do have one. Maybe even just have a $1 option with a thank you, many Patreon I came across did this, it's an option for your reader that truly love your work to show you some support.

@Shanny8
Here is an example of my ko-fi:

Pretty neat thing to have!

[Shanny8]

@joannekwan @69Erocento thanks for informing me. Guess I'll check it out..!

With the announcement of the Tapastic "sneak peak" thing going on, I wasnt quite sure if I would do sneak peaks via Tap or Patreon- and readers arent going to pay for sneak peaks at 2 diff sites(though it would be a dream if they liked my work enough that they did).