The quick n’ dirty facts:
I’m overhauling my CSA/Patreon/Ko-Fi reward tiers to better support my work and get you the best bang for your buck. Previews of changes will roll out in the coming months, with new tiers going live on December 1st.
Existing members/subscribers don’t need to do anything! You’ll automatically be grandmothered into the new tiers!
The long and clean details:
The whole point of the Heliopause CSA, my Patreon, and my Ko-Fi accounts, are to offer a steady (if small) stream of financial support so that I can focus on the long game of producing art and stories—rather than the short game of chasing after the latest hustle or working overtime at a conventional job. They’re also a way to motivate me to work on those long-game projects, since I want to keep CSA members and subscribers flush with updates, WIPs, behind-the-scenes and more.
Ideally I want to make it as easy and simple as possible for people to join and participate, and as efficient as possible for me to fill these rewards—thereby giving me more time to make the art and stories y’all are here for.
To this end I’m going to streamline the tiers I offer so I don’t have to spend as much time on the back end managing who gets what reward. I’m also taking this opportunity to update the pricing on those tiers to better reflect their value and the rising impact of merchant fees.
What’s gonna change?
As of October 10th 2023 I have retired the Heliopause Analog Shares. For anyone wanting to get physical rewards through the CSA/Ko-fi/Patreon, you’ll want to buy a Major Digital share or subscribe at the Valdellunian tier—read on to see why.
On December 1st 2023 I will publish the two new tiers that will replace the existing tiers/share types. These will be:
- The Fellow Explorer tier starting at $5/mo
- The Antellonian tier starting at $13/mo
Fellow Explorer will be an upgrade to the existing Fellow Traveler/Retro Ally/Minor Digital share, containing all the digital rewards I currently offe—and perhaps new ones to be introduced in the future! That includes all the digital rewards currently exclusive to the existing Valdellunian/Major Digital share. Because micropayments of $1 are getting more and more eaten up by payment processing fees I needed to raise my base cost, but since the cost of delivering digital rewards doesn’t scale (10×0 is still 0), I figured that adding more rewards would sweeten the sting a bit.
Antellonian will be an upgrade of the existing Valdelluna/Major Digital share, and will replace the now-defunct Analog shares. It will also be an extension of the new Fellow Explorer share, containing all the same digital rewards, PLUS physical reward items. These will be generated differently from the method I used for Analog members, but will still include art, prints, stickers, and paperback books.
A complete list of rewards and subscription options including annual discounts will be available on or before December 1st, so you’ll have plenty of time to contrast and compare.
On December 31st 2023 I will retire/unpublish the Fellow Traveler, Retro Ally and Valdellunian tiers on Patreon and Ko-Fi, and I will retire the Major/Minor Digital shares on Heliopause. To be clear: December 31 2023 will be the last day you can subscribe at these levels.
On January 1st 2024 the new Fellow Explorer and Antellonian tiers will become the only two paid tiers I will offer on Heliopause, Ko-fi and Patreon.
So what’s gonna happen to existing members?
This depends on what tier you’re subscribed to come January 1st. In ascending order of complexity:
- If you’re an Analog member: your rewards will be delivered through the end of your term, but you will not be able to renew your Analog membership. If you wish to continue to support me at this level, consider becoming an Antellonian member.
- If you’re a Fellow Traveler, Retro Ally, or Minor Digital member: you will be automatically grandmothered into the new Fellow Explorer tier. You will continue to pay whatever rate you are current at come January 1st. Yes, this means that even $1 Fellow Traveler members will receive all the upgraded rewards. Even though this is a major discount, considering my Fellow Traveler subscribers are also my oldest subscribers (some of y’all have been with me since long before even Patreon!) I feel like you deserve it.
- If you’re a Valdellunian or Major Digital member: you will be grandmothered into the new Antellonian tier. Since much of the digital extras that made the Valdellunian tier special are moving into the Fellow Explorer tier, the bonus for Antellonians is getting the physical rewards (books, prints, stickers, and other merch) added to the digital rewards.
It’s worth noting that if you’ve been thinking of supporting me through the CSA/Patreon/Ko-fi, now is a great chance to join since you’ll also be grandmothered in to the new plan come January 1st!
Once again: current members as of December 31st 2023 will automatically be upgraded to the respective new tier on January 1st. If this is you, this means you don’t have to do anything to keep getting the rewards you’re currently getting, and you’ll start getting new ones, too! If it’s not you… maybe now’s the time to join?
If you have any questions, pretty pretty please just get in touch! This is a pretty big change, but my goal is to make it a positive one for all involved. If you don’t feel that’s the case, let me know and I’ll do my best to fix it!
Thanks for coming on this adventure with me, and I’ll see you around the internet!
G