Many loyal fans will support their favourite authors financially if there’s something it in for them. Simon Whaley looks at how Patreon.com can help connect patrons with authors.
Artists have often sought patrons to help finance their creativity. The Earl of Southampton financially supported William Shakespeare, and the Earl of Halifax gave Samual Johnson a job that gave him the time and funds to concentrate on his writing.
These days, we don’t need an Earl or a Duke to support us financially. Many readers who enjoy our work will make a small regular financial contribution to encourage us to keep writing. In return, they like access to exclusive content.
We only need a few patrons to support us in this way to make a real difference. Five pounds a month from one person might not seem much, but £5 a month from fifty people becomes a not-to-be-sniffed-at £3,000 a year.
There are several online services that make this possible, but one of the most popular for creatives is Patreon.com. Not only do they help creatives connect directly with readers, but they also deal with all the financial processing and content hosting.
Content Conundrums
The key to successful patronage is exclusive content. People who support us financially want something that is not available anywhere else. So what can we offer our readers?
Common offerings include:
- Early access to works-in-progress. Patrons can read rough drafts or chapters before we publicly publish. Loyal fans often make excellent beta-readers and will pay for this opportunity.
- Exclusive short stories, essays, or poems.
- Audio versions of our work. Thanks to advances in AI technology (see Audio Adaptations feature), it’s possible to create audio versions of short stories, articles, and even our novels.
- Behind-the-scenes material. Our writing process or book-writing journey often intrigues loyal fans. Share notes on character development, maps of fantasy worlds, post photos of your current writing space, or host a video of yourself explaining your personal writing process.
- Direct Q&A sessions. Host a monthly Q&A session via Zoom or Facebook Live only patrons can access. This often fosters a deeper connection between us and our readers.
- Educational content. Non-fiction writers often have more content that they can fit into their book. Share it here as bonus material for your committed readers.
Sometimes, some of the best exclusive content is the raw, unedited stuff. As writers, we’re used to honing, editing, and polishing our work to get it as close to perfection as possible. Things like deleted scenes, unedited videos, or book trailers that fail to make the grade fascinate followers more than something written especially for them.
Tier Thinking
Consider having different tiers of patronage. Three tiers are common, mainly because three are manageable, although some artists have up to five, others more. Keeping tiers simple will help with sign-ups. Too much choice can confuse supporters, who then move on and don’t sign up.
A common three-tier approach includes a low-cost option that draws in most patrons, has a middle tier which offers more exclusive content, and then a highest tier for the most ardent of fans.
The lowest tier supporters might gain access to our writing process and behind-the-scenes material. We might offer mid-tier subscribers access to all this and to our novel’s pre-production copy a month before it goes on sale, while top tier subscribers get all of that and a live monthly Q&A session on Zoom, for example. Create tiers appropriate for what you’re prepared to offer.
Handled well, tiering can lead to a greater income. As subscribers become more involved, some will increase their monthly contribution to gain access to more content.
How we price our tiers is our decision, and it’s worth reviewing what other authors who write in the same genre are offering.
When starting out, offering a free tier can be a great way to attract readers. Patreon does not charge us for free tiers, they only take a slice of any income our accounts generate. A free tier can be a useful funnel to gain the loyalty of fans and encourage them to move up to a paid tier in the future. Posting to a free tier notifies all subscribers of the update, giving us control over when and what we share.
Consider Costs
Since August 2025, Patreon’s basic plan takes 10% of any income generated by our Patreon page. There are also payment processing fees and currency conversion fees, which can have a disproportionate impact on lower-price tiers. For example, if a patron signs up to support you at £3 per month, you would receive £2.25. Patreon deducts its 10% platform fee (£0.30), along with its payment processing fee of 3.4% plus £0.35 (£0.10 + £0.35 = £0.45).
Payments from foreign-based supporters may be even lower because a currency conversion charge of 2.5% applies. There’s also a charge of £0.75 per payout when withdrawing funds from Patreon as a bank transfer. Withdrawals via PayPal cost £1 per payout.
Workload Worries
Be realistic when determining what exclusive content to offer. Don’t overcommit. Ultimately, we want Patreon providing an income that buys more time to write, not creates so much more work that it eats into our writing time. Launching a Patreon page and encouraging subscribers to sign up is a long-term prospect. It takes time to build up a following, but it’s still necessary to add content while this takes place. Potential subscribers can see a list of what they’ll gain access to if they sign up.
One way to manage content is to use scheduling tools that can programme the release of regular posts. Bundling content in advance, such as pre-scheduling a month’s worth of chapters or blog entries, can make the process smoother. Be transparent with subscribers if there are any delays or changes in the schedule.
Shopping Success
Besides regular content, Patreon also offers a shop facility, allowing authors to sell digital products directly to anyone with a Patreon account, not just subscribers. Digital products can include downloadable files, such as eBooks, PDFs, images, video, and audio content.
Patreon takes a similar slice of the price from these products as it does with subscriptions. It’s free to list items for sale on the platform. We only pay a fee when we make a sale.
Promoting Patreon
Once created, promote your Patreon page everywhere. Include the link in the back matter of every book, on your website, in newsletters, and on social media profiles.
Be clear with subscribers how their money helps you. If their income pays for your book cover design costs, why not offer them some input into the design? Make a poll of three cover designs and ask your subscribers to choose their favourite.
The best way to understand Patreon is to become a subscriber yourself. Follow those writers whose books you enjoy. Opt for the free tiers first to get a feel for what they offer.
As a platform, Patreon has democratised the patronage system. What was once something only the wealthy could afford is now something anyone can do for the price of a takeaway hot drink.
For writers, it’s about engaging with early supporters, thanking loyal fans with exclusive content, while also adding a potentially useful income stream to our writing business. It could just be the 21st-century patronage you’ve been looking for.