Making a living as an artist has never been easy but Patreon will be, for many of you, a total financial game-changer.
Jack Conte and Tyler Palmer join me for an empowering conversation about their innovative new approach to crowdfunding for artists…
Listen To The Podcast:
“I didn’t need a Kick-start. I needed a salary.”
-Jack Conte
Topics Covered:
- Should you sell your personal project or give it away?
- Timeless tips for growing your audience.
- The problem with paywalls.
- Why advertising is awful.
- The kinds of personal projects that don’t succeed.
- The value of failure.
- How important is social media?
-Tweet This Quote
Links Mentioned:
Music by Pomplamoose
ArtCast themes by Kangaralien
Jack’s Awesome Robot Video
Scott Bradlee‘s Patreon Page
“If you fail at something it means you’re trying and you’re growing and you’re working. And every time you fail at something you know that you’re pushing yourself – which is good. The last thing I want to do is go through a year without failing a hundred times. Because if you haven’t failed a hundred times, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough.”
-Jack Conte
Learn More:
Will Your Personal Project Make Money?
There Are Easier Ways To Become A Professional Artist
The Death Of Freelance Illustration and Why We Quit Our Dream Jobs
What Do You Think?
What are your thoughts on Patreon.com, the interview or just about crowdfunding for artists in general?
Please share in the comments below…
Ooooh snap! You have a podcast with the creator of Patreon. This is going to be great. Funny, I was going to mention Patreon to you but you were several steps ahead.
Looking forward to listening to this!
Haha… Thanks, Khuzang.
It was amazing to have Jack and Tyler on the show. Not only did they inspire with their awesome crowdfunding site, they inspire with their articulate perspectives on creativity and the new “creative class.”
I wish the podcast was a bit, longer ( 2-3 hours maybe?). I think you guys have so much to talk about being a creative artist in the year 2014 or more on Patreon. Then again, I’m aware you guys are very busy. :]
Jonathan Burton (Carbot Animations, creator of “StarCrafts”)… this guys made it big with Patreon (note that Blizzard also fully supported this guy–it’s nuts!). I also think he’s great example for a very successful “geek out” project that made a name for itself to the point he doesn’t need a day job to support himself. It’s crazy. I want to be a creator like this.
Khuzang,
I actually considered writing about Jonathan in my “Geek-out” post!
It’s a perfect example.
And yes, I do hope to have Jack and Tyler back on the show in the future.
Oh man! This is perfect timing. The wife has been bugging me to make a Patreon account since we found out about it via Jonathan Rosenberg(creator of webcomics Goats & Scenes from a Multiverse)!
I can’t wait to listen to this. First on my to-do list today!
You were one of the first people I thought of when I clicked “Publish Post!”
I just signed up – this sounds great! I’m now writing my next book (a chapter book with illustrations) and have been considering releasing 2 pages a week once I finish … then I thought I’d jump and try to do kickstarter once the book gained traction, but this sounds like a great tool to integrate at the page-every-few-days stage. But I’m not sure if this is the kind of thing that would be successful on Patreon.com. What do you think?
Many of your true fans will have your back regardless of what you do. But the book could do well. It seems like for webcomics, a donation “per month of comics” seems to do better than a “per page” arrangement. Maybe that’s because a single page feels too granular?
Yeah, I like that idea…a month of pages seems more appealing to me. My only question is what people will be paying for once the book is fully released…and I have to develop the next thing. This will take some thinking through, but it could be a HUGE opportunity!
I was thinking about how this would relate to comics that aren’t necessarily an ongoing webcomic as well but I think that there is a case you could make here to say that although your comic has a beginning and end you likely have other stories to tell.
By being clear that you are essentially offering your storytelling rather than a specific story thread I can see options for essentially diversifying your role as your patronage increased. So for your first book maybe you have the whole thing done first and then set up a release schedule and see if you can gain any traction with your first goal. This would give you time to start working on a new story but as your goals increase you could work through with say X amount each month and I will hire an inker for story B, XX amount each month and I’ll hire a colorist, xxx amount each month and I’ll hire a penciller etc..
You can essentially export out the roles that you want to, and retain those you don’t in order to allow you to tell more stories and bring some much needed pay scales into the indie market for those that have no desire to write themselves.
I’m sure there are loads of other ways of making a model that works but that’s one that immediately came to mind.
Owen – Have you seen what the Creaturebox guys have been up to? I think you could take a model like that and fund it like you’re saying and most of your patrons would probably stick around if they don’t like something because they know it will change soon…
I haven’t checked them out in a while actually, I shall have to look into it! Thanks Chris 🙂
I think you’re absolutely right, Owen. The same thing started to dawn on me a few hours after I made the comment … that what I’d be selling is not a singular story but my ongoing passion for telling many stories!
I SO want to hug these guys. This is a brilliant website and wonderful community that I can’t wait to be a part of.
I know what you mean, Nikki!
Great podcast, Chris! At least now I have an idea of possibly earning an income doing what I love. I am planning to begin some comics and try to begin a following while developing a style feel I want for the children’s book I have made for major personal project goal. I am going to use making some simple comics to get a base down for the art style I want to go with for the book and I might also get some comic series going in the process as well.
Nice! Go for it!
I JUST discovered Patreon about a month ago, but really started looking into it last week. I started watching some videos where Jack Conte talked about how this came about and what its all about- and I was an instant fan. I’ve posted on my FB that this is where things are going. I am seriously considering creating a page on Partreon now for my webcomic OUTNUMBERED and maybe more stuff I can create because of this. Good interview Chris, and a good call on getting these guys on your show!
Thanks, Tom. Exciting!
Oh man, who wouldn’t want to see a webcomic by Tom Bancroft … wait, I just though to look OUTNUMBERED up and really enjoyed it … I could picture you having A LOT of success with this, Tom!
Holy Shizzoli.. That was just amazing. Chris! Thank you for this podcast! This blows my mind about what creators can do with the Patreon!
Thanks, Santosh. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this.
Wow, great podcast yet again Chris. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to represent myself online and what kind of presence I want to have…been trying to find what I stand for in a way that I can present it to others and why they should care. I know who I am, but they don’t yet. So it’s been an interesting topic that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
I know I don’t do a comic or anything regular-release like that, but opening up something like this might be a cool way to test the waters and get myself thinking about it from a marketing standpoint. Like Jack said, if I fail, it just means I learned something.
Thanks as always for the great info Chris 🙂
Thank you, Ashley. This is why Lora and I started Paper Wings. Story is key.
Yes, Ashley! If you haven’t, you should totally check out Paper Wings Podcast. If you are anything like me it’ll change your life!
Tremendous podcast Chris. I really enjoy their perspective of being paid to do what you love by people who love what you do. It’s what you are all about Chris. This just opens up another huge opportunity for creators. Kudos to you for a great show once again. I listened to half of it at work and then downloaded it to finish up on my subway ride home. 🙂
Thank you, Isabel! Hugs.
Great podcast – so much has already been said, but I wanted to throw my two cents out into the universe…listening to Tyler talk about Stageit made me think – Is there a way to expand that concept outside of strictly musical performances? What about a tipping system for artists who live stream their sketching and painting? It would be amazing to be able to enjoy watching an artist paint and donate a bit for their time.
Crossed my mind too, Megan. So, SO exciting…
OOOH. Brilliant!
Hi Chris, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this podcast! (I’ve been enjoying all of them really) I got so many bits of wise advice here, on attitude and how to approach a project- the 0-1 percent hurdle, embracing failure etc. Thanks very much to you, and the creators of Patreon. I was even thinking about kickstarter recently, wanting to take part someday but knowing that my projects wouldn’t feel like a right or fair use of kickstarter. I feel we’re all fortunate to be artists in this age of the internet. Exciting times! Thank you
-Yasmin
Thank you, Yasmin. I’m so glad the episode helped!
Oh. My. Gosh. This is JUST what I needed. I can really envision how my graphic novel might actually support me. I can actually do what I love…and possibly get paid for it. Wow. And the words “Expect to fail” have never meant more to me. Wow. I can’t. Words. And stuff. I can’t express the awesomeness. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Chris, I’ve been meaning to ask… and I did ask Shawna last week something similar, but do you know of a community for writers working on graphic novels? I’ve been on Paperwings, but I’m looking for a writing equivalent of The Centrifuge for Magic Box. My goal is to have the first draft script done by the end of February. The thing is, I need someone to help me take a chainsaw to it. I’m worried that there are loopholes that I’m not seeing or things that don’t make sense. And I want to make sure that the story is strong.
Anyway, this podcast has been super helpful for me, especially for the future. Also. EPIC BEARD. Seriously. The beard. If I could grow a beard, that’s the kind of beard I would want.
Great to hear from passionate people coming up with such an innovative way to help independent artists support themselves. The whole talk about ad revenue was mind-blowing. I’ll definitely be signing up on Patreon once I get the buffer done on my comic.
XD I was just looking at Patreon the other day. Signed up, but haven’t started a project yet. I’m glad you guys decided to talk about this. Very helpful thank you!
Just wanted to say thanks for this podcast. Jack Conte is amazing to listen to. I love how passionate he is about creators and their creations. Really empowering.
A week ago I heard about the site. I just launched my own Patreon page, click the link on my name, and everything went super smooth in setting it up. A graphic tip people should know is that when you see the “Upload a Photo for your page” know that what shows up on the DISCOVER engine is a square created from the middle of that, which will also have a big PLAY button on it on your main page from your video. If you don’t plan your image appropriately you’re going to lose clicks that you otherwise would’ve had. And I’ve discovered that unlike Kickstarter, most of the action your page will see is not from the Patreon search engine but from your own social network, IMHO.
Chris, there are more interesting comments & thoughts about Patreon (if you care to actually read them all, kinda long) attached to this CB article.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/patreon-offers-a-new-way-to-crowdfund-animation-97852.html
This was an amazing podcast! I think I’ve stumbled upon Patreon before, but I never really knew what it was. Thank you for such a hilarious and insightful podcast, and I can honestly say that I can lower my shoulders alittle bit now, there’s more hope in the future rather than the whole starving artist prospect!
Big big thanks! You got my hopes right back up again!
Love the rant that’s around 20′. Helpful to hear the attitude of starting with a positive view of the possibility of failure.