Hemming and Hawing
in which our hero tries to decide what should be free and what should cost money
Dear Readers,
I finally won last week’s Battle Over Yonder and have been plugging away at pages for issue 2 of The Blood of Seven Queens in an attempt to catch up. I’m happy to report that I’m pretty much there, and that next week I’ll begin sharing 4 pages per week in the run up to issue 2’s release.
Those of you who have been here for a while will remember that these pages have only been shared with paid subscribers in the past. However, as I look into ways to help expand my audience, I have been considering sharing the pages more broadly.
This seems antithetical to the whole “give me money for exclusive early access” idea I’ve been running with—but then I look at some of the other artists I admire, and I see them looking at Patreon and Substack as places where people can give them money if they have money to spend, but don’t have to if they are hard-up for cash. One of the people I support on Patreon, Monica Byrne, views us patrons as subsidizing free access for those who can’t afford to pay. I kinda like that model, so I might try it.
Maybe the place where money is exchanged is if you want a file you can download to your e-reader or a physical comic book you can hold in your hands? And maybe reading it online is just free? But then why would people pay for the Patreon or the Substack if they weren’t getting anything for it?
Maybe if you subscribe on Patreon or Substack for a certain number of months and at a certain rate, I send you a print copy or a digital download in thanks for your support?
Isn’t it fun to watch me try to work these things out in real time?
Anyway, that’s what’s on my mind at the moment: all the business stuff and the marketing stuff, which I tend to suck at. Really, I just want to make my comic and find people who would enjoy reading it. The money stuff is secondary or tertiary or… fourthuary? Quaternary? What the hell would that work be? Maybe when something is the fourth priority, it doesn’t really need a word.
Okay, that’s all for now. If you have thoughts on how the pages should be shared (for all readers, for paid readers, or by some other arrangement), hit reply and let me know.
Yours,
Chris