thebibliosphere:

And just in case anyone thinks patreon making these changes isn’t going to hurt anyone, I’ve already lost 10 patrons this month because people are boycotting the site.

The thing is, this isn’s going to hurt patreon, they can survive being boycotted in the short term. I can’t.

When I set my patreon up last year it was a lifeline, a last resort to somehow keep myself afloat through my blog while I worked to produce novel content that people might want to buy. It pays for my meds, it pays for pain management treatment my insurance doesn’t consider necessary. At one point it was just enough to pay for groceries.

The first month when I realized we’d have enough money for all of the above it was like being able to breathe for the first time in months. I cried. I cried my broken little heart out from both relief and gratitude and a worrying feeling that somehow it would be too good to be true. Even if it was only for a month, it was room to breathe.

That my patreon has remained at that level for so long, has absolutely been vital to my survival this last year and I’ve never not been thankful and humbled by your support of me. It has even allowed me to help others in times of need and pay forward some of the generosity shown to me when survival was at its bleakest.

And now it’s all at risk and it feels like the maw is opening up under my feet again. All because Patreon decided to make a monumentally dickish decision, “for the creators” without actually consulting the creators.

This is not what I want. It’s not what any of us small time creators want. And I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to stay subscribed if they cant afford it. I know that sometimes the difference between a dollar and a dollar thirty five can make all the difference when it comes to your budget. I know that sometimes it comes down to literal pennies. And there’s no doubt this move by patreon is absolute bullshit. It’s amazingly shittastic. But please dont be afraid to reach out to the creators you support and ask them how you can help, if there’s another way you can support them, or if there’s someone you can write to and complain at on their behalf.

Those of us that rely on patreon are in a weird kind of awful stasis at the moment, it’s like being in freefall without having actually jumped. And I don’t even really know where I’m going with this. Just please, stop messaging creators and telling them to shut down their accounts Right Now in protest. Some of us have no current alternative to turn to and that immediate loss of income would be devastating.

Trust us. We know this is shit, but please allow us time to figure out what we’re doing and where we’re going to jump to next. It’d be nice not to have to jump blind.