Upcoming Changes

Yo yo yo, it's Varmint here with your monthly update. As always, here's your reminder for all current patrons to send me their 500-word prompts ASAP. I got most of the prompts done early last month (which made the end of January less stressful), and it was all thanks to you guys!

Now let's talk about something that's been on my mind for a while. Back in October I ran a poll for a patron-chosen story, and the winner was a Jaina Proudmoore story. Now, three months later... I'm still working on it.

This is not an ideal situation, and there are several factors to blame.

1) I tend to be too ambitious with my projects. Word counts, like rules, are meant to be broken it seems. Whenever I set a limitation for myself, 90% of the time I end up going over that limit. While this Jaina story initially started out as something simple -- "Oh, I'll just do like 3k of bondage, maybe a handjob, and a cowgirl creampie" -- has quickly ballooned into 5k+ with no end in sight.

Is this a strict problem? Not necessarily, based on feedback from my readers. The most common praise I receive on my writing is how plot-heavy and character-driven my content is. Rather than just rushing straight into the smut, I get the impression my audience likes when the characters are given room to breathe and interact with each other (and it doesn't hurt that dialogue is my favorite thing to write). That kind of stuff requires a longer word count, which equals time which equals a longer wait.

But simply shrugging helplessly and saying "well can't do nothing about that" isn't really my style. I'm an optimist, and certainly not a quitter. When I'm forced to choose, I always ask "why not both?" Why can't we have both quality and timeliness? 

2) I'm a serial procrastinator. Who isn't? When I'm not working, I love to read and play video games, and ever since I picked up this smut writing side-gig years ago, I've had less and less time for both. I'm not complaining -- I love writing smut for you all! But it is a juggling act, and I don't feel like I've given writing enough priority in my daily life.

Even if the Jaina story is, for example, 10k words, it shouldn't have taken me this long to get it done. Clearly, I need to crack down on myself a bit and establish a more firm writing schedule. I'd like to be known for my reliability. That means setting deadlines and planning dedicated time in my week for writing. Which ain't easy. My day job requires me to sit at the computer and use a keyboard all day, so doing more of that isn't exactly appetizing. But if being an artist were easy, everyone would do it. :P

So with that out of the way, what are the solutions? 

As soon as this Jaina story is finished and posted (hopefully within February) I'm going to implemented some new Patreon tiers that will hopefully address some of these issues. Let me go ahead and say right off the bat, if you are a $1 or $5 tier supporter, nothing will change for you. I'm happy with those tiers, and they will remain as is.

With the addition of new tiers, I'm going to start offering biweekly stories of 2-3k in length. Just like in October, the content of these stories will be decided by patrons in a poll.  But the options on these polls won't be decided by me. Higher tier patrons ($10 and above) will be able to not only vote but also submit suggestions to be included on these polls. 

The goal is to curb my reckless word count use by staying within strict guidelines while also having a firm deadline to finish a story in time for the next poll to get started. My hope is that, by setting a shorter word limit, I'll be able to push out more stories and, as a result, you all will be getting your money's worth through more frequent polls.

So what will these new tiers look like? Here's a rough idea (and remember these are subject to change).

$10 tier: A 500-word prompt, voting power, and the ability to submit one character (ex. Samus) to be the subject of a 2-3k story.

$15 tier: A 1,000-word prompt, voting power, and the ability to submit one character (ex. Samus) to be the subject of a 2-3k story. 

$20 tier:  A 1,000-word prompt, voting power, and the ability to submit one character and two kinks/tags (ex. Samus, bondage, oral) to be the subject of a 2-3k story.  

Character and kink suggestions will be submitted through comments on designated Patreon posts. If ever it gets to a point where there are more characters suggested than can be reasonably accommodated on a single poll (say, 15 characters submitted) then I will likely ask people to "like" each other's comments and the top five will be placed on the poll. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Again, this is all in the planning stages and won't be implemented until a few weeks from now. If you have any feedback or concerns, please let me know. I want to offer rewards that are fair for the amount of money pledged while also making it fair for myself in terms of time and effort spent. I don't expect the first iteration to be perfect, but I'm confident that eventually this Patreon can reach something that's fun and smut-tastic for everyone.

As always, thank you for your patience and your support.