So, why did I decide to do a Patreon instead of just accepting donations (through PayPal, for instance)?

First, let me throw a massive amount of shade: PayPal censors the type of content you can consume as a consenting adult. That’s right. PayPal is actively hostile to adult content creators. Their TOS prohibits many things that are 100% legal.

Visa and Mastercard are just as bad. And since they refuse to conduct these legal business transactions between consenting adults, they effectively censor what you can watch, read, listen to, etc.

So if I tried to take donations through PayPal, I’d be taking an unacceptable risk that they would cancel my account and steal my money. I simply won’t put my fate in the hands of a company that has a financial incentive to screw their clients.

Okay, rant over. Why not use some other payment processor for donations?

Well, let’s look at the realities of donations.

A donation is an open-ended commitment in your mind, but a finite one in mine.

Say you donate $10, $25, or even $100. How much of my work are you entitled to? A month? Two? All of it? Forever?

The problem here is that in your mind, you made a donation and now I owe you… period.

But in my mind, your donation has a value that only lasts for a certain amount of time/work, which isn’t as much as you think it should be.

So the reason I resisted donations for years is that they commit me to something we both didn’t agree to.

A Patreon or subscription model is different. It’s a quid pro quo arrangement, something for something.

You pay for a month of access to my work. That’s it. If you aren’t happy with anything about this arrangement, you can stop paying and end it at any time.

In exchange for your monthly patronage, I provide you with quality stories (I hope) on a regular basis. If I stop providing you with value, you stop paying me.

Simple. And we both agree to the terms of the arrangement. Something for something. Quid pro quo.

So that’s why I opted for Patreon over some type of donation system. It saves me from a lot of angst and bad karma, and it gives you a reasonable expectation of what you should receive for your money. Win-win as far as I’m concerned.