That's right - change of plan. On my last Sometimes podcast, I said I was going to wait until I 300 patrons at Patreon until I resumed the Blood and Smoke podcast. Well, I got impatient. So I had a think about it and realised I was putting the cart before the horse somewhat. Surely the smart thing to do is put the content people want at the site, and then encourage them to sign up to go and get it, right? Right; that's what I thought.
So, I recorded an episode. To make the writing and recording more manageable for me, the story content of the podcast isn't as long as the first 6 (which are now also archived at Patreon), but it's quality, not quantity that counts, right? Right; that's what I thought.
The first six episodes are still free, but to get your ears on Episode 7, you have to sign up to become a $1 a month or more patron. In UK Sterling, that's 67p. That's less than a Mars bar a month!!
So go on, do the right thing and help fund me into self-employment. My work is flourishing since I started this Patreon thing, and if we want it to continue, then this Patreon thing must continue to grow.
And it will, right? Right; that's what I thought :-)
I salute you!
Spent ages writing - or rather re-writing - a scene in U&F 4. I had to change a character from a man to a woman. I thought it would be a fairly quick process, but oh no, none of the man's actions or dialogue worked anymore, nor did his partner's reactions to him / her, and so I had to re-do the whole thing - or the whole thing so far, anyway. But it's all good news as the scene is more to my liking now ... which is nice.
Oh yes, and as you may have noticed, I said "his partner". I'm writing police procedure ... which is also nice - and enlightening too.
If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, Zombie movies or the We're Alive podcast, you may be interested in my take on the genre, which has now started from my Creations Page at Patreon.
My story is called After the Plague. I started it in 2012 and gave up on it because I felt there was no point in trying to break into an already saturated market. But when my Patreon campaign started, I thought it might be a nice perk to share with my $3 and over patrons as a little something extra.
The response has been so positive that I've now re-booted the writing project (in addition to writing U&F) and have now posted a second episode of the story at Patreon.
The long term plan is to complete this first story, called simply Hotel, and then move on to a second story set in the same apocalypse (the original title for the project was Scenes from a Zombie Apocalypse, but I thought that was too much of a mouthful). The stories are interconnected and will all come to a kind of collective finale ... or at least hiatus, depending on how popular the podcast is.
If you can spare $3 (£2.02) a month (a month - think about it, you'd lose that down the back of the sofa and not even notice, it's less than most coffees in Starbucks) then head over to my Patreon page today and sign up for After the Plague, and know that you'll also be funding the creation of U&F 3 and 4 (and U&F 4 will only be available from here and Payhip anyway, so you may as well get in early). You won't regret it, chums! Huzzah!!
As referenced on my last podcast (Reanimator: Part One), I've now started a Patreon page. So if you want to give me a dollar a month, you now can (think of the dollar you lose down the back of the couch and the difference it makes to your weekly finances).
This one's for genuine altruists rather than people who want big things fast: don't expect me to pull a novel out of my hat as soon as 3 people sign up to give me a buck a month wink emoticon However, you will get access to podcasts earlier than my main feed, exclusive audio bits and bobs (like outtakes and bloopers), and a Patreon content feed to which I'll add stuff that I won't share elsewhere.
There are three tiers of patronage, so you can sign up for the basic $1-2 a month; the $3-4 a month (which right now includes U&F Disturbing the Devil); or the $5 and over category for the seriously amazing superfans out there.
Patreon - it's there if you want it, chums. Get on board and I'll love you forever.
Link: www.patreon.com/mikebennett
