When I undertook this endeavor a week and a half ago, I was in a desperate situation. And for all I knew, my honesty might simply have been greeted with derision. Which naturally some people did. “Pay your taxes!” I was told, as if in twenty years I hadn’t paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Maybe it just comes down to that, for some, asking for help is seen as a sign of weakness.
But the rest of you, the support has been tremendous. I cannot thank you enough.
At this point the total income is about $68,000, which is staggering, but unfortunately still not enough. I will definitely be endeavoring to negotiate, but I didn’t want to bet everything on it working. And donations to both Paypal and GoFundMe“>GoFundMe page have trickled down.
I do have one bit of bright news. I checked with a tax attorney who stated that, since these are considered gifts, this income would NOT be taxable. A gift is any money given by someone that is under $14,000. So that would keep me in the clear. Nevertheless, when I do start my Patreon.com account, that money will be set aside to cover taxes on anything else I earn. In fact, I could use some help on that: what would you want to see in a Patreon account? I’m unsure what you guys would want to see me provide and how much I should charge for things. So anyone who wants to provide some thoughts, I’d be happy to hear it.
As for the rest of the money, well, I have a very slight bit of breathing space: a month and a half until I have to settle accounts. At this point I’m hoping maybe some millionaire fans–a baseball player or insanely highly paid TV actor or someone–will say, “Sure, I’ll give him $14,000 out of petty cash” and this is done. In the meantime, thanks for spreading the word to anyone who will listen.
PAD
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Hey PAD
I hope you can find some piece now, it is almost close and I can imagine how hard it is.
Regards
Personally, I would love more “useless stories”, like your Quantum Leap/Beauty and the Beast crossover story. Fun, short bits that would otherwise never be able to see the light of day.
Or ideas/plots that got nixed by the publishers.
Hi Peter,
What I’ve seen writers do is offer for patrons to receive, once a month, a new short story (Seanan McGuire), a new chapter of a new novel (Chaz Brenchley), or further information about the world/magic behind an ongoing series (Katharine Kerr). Bonus awards are things like a quarter day novella (Chaz) or a video (Seanan), postcards (Matt Harding), any number of creative things.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you wrote a new chapter of an ongoing serial set in one of your current universes?
Congrats on the progress so far.
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I second a lower tier being “Useless Stories” installments from time to time.
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Have you considered doing an ongoing original creation story for a higher tier? Something that would be in small installments, maybe the quick read equivalent of a comic in purely written form, in standard storytelling or even toying with the cliffhanger serial concept from time to time? Maybe one complete story runs 12 installments. You could offer it as something that would only be seen on the Patreon for the initial run and then six additional months before an edited version is released through Crazy 8 Press. Basically the monthly book and the TPB concept.
Writers tips. Support levels for people who want critiques. That sort of thing.
I’d love to see some old scripts and reprints of But I Digress.
Hidden Earth Chronicles, Book 3
I think a good idea for Patreon might be for you to write some kind of memoir based on your experiences within the comics and/or Star Trek industry. I bet there are tonnes of behind-the-scenes anecdotes you could tell and when you’d sent out enough it’d be fairly easy to compile and self-publish afterwards. If nothing else, I’d love to hear more about the process of writing a comic long-term. The stories you dropped, the things you had to change, the personalities you clashed with and so on.
Silly thought, but wouldn’t it be great if Mark Ruffalo and Jason Momoa could pitch in considering all that you’ve done for the characters they’re portraying? Someone around here has to have a throughline to them.
How about Cowboy Pete’s TV/Movie Roundups returning on a semi-regular basis?
I’ve always enjoyed reading the Cowboy Pete reviews, but they’re written for fun. I’d hate for Mr. David to be thinking, “Oh, drudge, I have to watch *this* stupid show again,” or something similar.
Or I could be partially or entirely wrong. I have no claim to telepathy.
New Fallen Angel stories. I miss that entire world.
I just chipped in again. Fingers crossed that everything sorts out soon! C’mon, Clarance… shouldn’t Uncle Billy be barging in with the basket of money soon? Where’s the telegram from Sam Wainwright?!?
BTW, the GoFundMe link in the body of the text of this blog post seems broken. (I’m guessing there’s a broken opening or closing tag.)
As far as what I would love to see on Patreon… to the extent that you’d be able to remember and have anything to add, I’d love to see “Director’s Commentary” on old material you’ve written (especially your comic work). I think the format would work especially well for comic books. I know you’ve offered behind-the-scenes anecdotes on various story arcs, but nothing so nuts-and-bolts as “Page 1: I always try to start with a splash, so with this I’d hoped to…” or whatever. (Not every page/panel would need commentary, but it’d be an interesting look at the craft.) And it should be fairly straightforward to write; you’d just be reflecting on what you’ve already done — which can include insight into what you’d do differently nowadays, what worked out better than expected, etc. — rather than trying to come up with all-new material. (If you found them fun and quick to write, you could even break down into scheduled weeks: an issue of Star Trek the first Friday, an issue of Hulk the second, an issue of Aquaman the third, an issue of X-Force the fourth, etc.)
Just an idea. Regardless, hopefully this sword will no longer be hanging over your head soon!
A section for WWPADD. Take some form of pop culture, TV shows, movies, comics or whatever form you feel like tearing into, and tell us what Peter David would have done to make it better.
Kind of your very own What If? segment.
PAD!
The sort of thing I (think) I would enjoy.
-Love the Director’s Commentary idea from Mr. Marsh.
-Behind the Scenes – stuff like the research material, unpublished fragments, lessons on the craft/business
-Scripts/samples
(an opinioned) Word of warning! Patreon is a content driven site, and it can be a time suck. Some creators have started out strong, and then just fizzle (I patron 1 who has posted nothing in 2 months, not even an update explaining why the lapse). There is some magical happy medium where Patreon supports you as artist versus it is the job.
You have a wealth of material to build from…so maybe a theme each month. Post a script, then some behind the scenes, then some commentary, updated 1x a week. At first you’ll look light on material, but after a year or so you’ll have a good selection (and get into a rhythm).
Wishing the best of luck!
more psi man books
I’d love that as well, but that was unfortunately a work for hire deal. He doesn’t own the rights to that one.
I just wanted to echo what others have said and encourage you to do some short stories. I think it fits the patreon model well and would ove to get something I could read in one sitting.