Important Announcement
Hello my lovely subscribers! I hope the summer has treated you well.
I wanted to check in, and also to have an open and frank discussion about the future of my Subscribestar. It’s hard to believe that months ago I was scrambling to get this place up and running after Patreon terminated my account with no warning.
The state of the world, and payment processors, has brought difficulty to many artists online. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that this happened to me before things got extra dicey out there. I don’t wish this on any of my peers in the field. That being said, I’ve come to a point now where I have more or less rebuilt what I had on Patreon, and the freedom that Subscribestar offers versus Patreon has made the change well worth it!
Despite the fact that I’ve managed to get my presence in the macro space back on track, there are some concerns that I have been ruminating on over the last few weeks. Some of you may have noticed my uploads have been inconsistent with what I usually manage to do. Those of you who commission me regularly may know me to be more timely with finishing my work. I don’t leave anything unfinished, and I always ensure the best quality I can manage–and I’m VERY lucky that the crowd I’ve found is patient with me.
The fact of the matter is, I’m burnt out.
Earlier this year I suffered the loss of one of our cats, and that on top of the constant barrage of bad news on every single corner of the internet has made for a rough time. That’s not even including more personal issues I’ve had to tackle. None of this has helped foster a creatively stimulating environment, and so all the time I have to do art has been dedicated to work projects only, leaving no time for anything self indulgent or self fulfilling. And, in this line of work, being able to chase your own fancies is paramount to keeping creatively fueled.
I’ve thought a lot about what this means, and how I can make changes to the Subscribestar that allow me to do more work I personally want to do, without sacrificing some of the things I think make this project special. One of my favourite parts of this project is that it’s collaborative. I love being able to hear what your votes are, your suggestions, and make them happen. It’s genuinely lovely and despite being a cliche I love making people’s deepest desires come true. So collaboration is non-negotiable as far as I’m concerned.
But I also want to do more of what I want to do. I think when I have the reins, I produce some of my best work. I also make MORE work, because I tend to work faster, and then more output means I can actually share more of my stuff with the outside world, rather than keeping my work sequestered entirely behind a paywall.
So I think the answer really is to remain collaborative–just, shifting the balance to afford me more freedom.
So, onto the changes that I feel will help make this possible:
Effectively immediately, I’ll be making changes to our tier system. As of right now, our main tiers on offer are “Dollhouse Tier”, “Matchbox Tier”, and “Bottlecap Tier”. I’ll be combining Dollhouse and Matchbox going forward. This new tier will be the “Mason Jar Tier”. Price-wise, it will be a midway point between Dollhouse and Matchbox, at $7.50 USD. As far as my prospective output, the number of projects I’ll have on display will actually be relatively the same. If you’re a Bottlecap Tier member, things will pretty much mostly be staying the same for you. Otherwise, I’ll outline below how things will go:
- Every month, as I’ve always done, I will have a theme. All paid tiers will be able to cast suggestions in a poll. Bottlecap Tier members (and Micronaut Tier members) will have first dibs on voting in the poll for someone exclusive to their tier. The day after, Mason Jar Tier members will cast their vote on who they want to see. Rather than 3 winners, there will be 2 winners.
- Additionally to the main themed poll, I’ll be doing my Dealer’s Choice poll, populated with my own choices. The winner of this poll will be featured in a picture that will be an exclusive to Subscribestar. Bottlecap members will have early access to the picture for three months, after which the piece will be accessible to Mason Jar members. After three more months, I’ll release it to the public.
- In addition to that, I will have a fourth piece which is entirely up to me (macro related of course). This will be my social media piece that is intended to send out into the world. I will have early access for this piece for a week.
As you can see, I’ll still be putting out the same number of works. I’m just going to be assuming a TOUCH more creative control.
“How do we prepare for these changes?”
As mentioned, the Mason Jar tier will be available immediately, and new members will no longer be accepted into the Dollhouse and Matchbox tiers. I’ll be leaving the Dollhouse and Matchbox tiers up for the next thirty days, so as of September 9th they will be de-activated. This means you have until September 9th to switch your account over to the Mason Jar tier, if you are in either the Dollhouse tier or the Matchbox tier.
I recommend checking to see when your billing date is, so that you can wait until your payment goes through if it hasn’t already before making the switch. I’m not trying to swindle you here, and I’d hate to double charge you as a result of overhauling things. Those moving from Dollhouse will, of course, be able to see Matchbox works upon entering the Mason Jar tier.
I know that this might be a lot to process. I know for myself it was a lot to reflect upon. I hope that you can see this as an opportunity for more work in the future, and that you understand that I have to do what will ensure I continue to grow (ha) as an artist. If you have ANY questions or concerns about the upcoming changes, please feel free to contact me via the Subscribestar messaging system.
Thank you for listening, and your continued support!
xR