Patreon is forcing some big changes to the Alexandrian.
I started using Patreon all the way back in 2014. Since then, all of my patrons have transformed the site and made everything at the Alexandrian possible. It’s literally impossible for me to express my eternal gratitude to you.
Since the beginning, I’ve used a per-creation option where my patrons support each creative post I make: I think this is fair and it’s also a great way to keep me motivated in creating and sharing new work. This also originally featured micro-payments, where backers could choose to pay as little as 10 cents per post, coming together collectively support the things that we loved.
Patreon eventually removed that option, but I’ve continued using the per-creation options while patrons were able to set caps to control how much support they were comfortable giving each month.
Now, after 12 years, Patreon is removing the per-creation option. Going forward, only monthly or yearly subscriptions will be possible.
I would like to be able to tell you more about what this means. Unfortunately, despite promising for months to provide a coordinator who would work with me during the transition, Patreon has completely failed to do so. They’ve also simply stopped replying to support messages.
Here’s what I know:
- The Alexandrian “will be switched to subscription billing in November.”
- At some point during November, a switch will be thrown and the Alexandrian will transition to monthly billing.
- I will then need to “confirm the new tier prices” to “resume billing.”
- All existing patrons will then be billed December 1st. Future patrons will be charged on whatever day of the month they originally subscribed.
Here’s what I don’t know, because Patreon won’t tell me:
- Will November creations still be charged per-creation? If so, for the whole month? Or only up to the point where the switch is thrown?
- Although creators were told they would be able to consult on the new subscription tiers (since monthly tiers and per-post tiers would obviously be completely different), this has not happened. All I know is that the new tiers are being automatically generated.
- I don’t know if “confirm the new tier prices” will give me any ability to review or revise those tiers.
- Patreon has promised that no patron will be charged more than they’re currently paying per month.
My hope had been that this post would be able to lay out a clear vision for the future of the Alexandrian and Patreon. Unfortunately, Patreon has made that impossible. All I can promise is that as soon as I know more about what this transition will look like and what the new tiers (and their rewards) will be, I’ll communicate that ASAP.
To be perfectly honest, I’m stressed out of my mind by this. Patreon is how I make my mortgage payment each month. If Patreon screws this up (as seems quite plausible given their broken promises and lack of communication) and patronage collapses, I and my family could be in a lot of trouble.
At the moment, all I can say is that I appreciate your support and I will do everything in my power to make this transition as smooth as possible for all of you. If all goes well, I’m hoping that the Alexandrian will continue chugging along and we’ll barely even notice this transition.
You’ll be hearing more from me later this month as I get more information.
Thank you.
