Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: thoughtful
  • Music: Glee, "Express Yourself."

I am considering doing a thing.

So here's the thing:

I am writing a lot of stories set in the history of the Price-Healy family, slowly pushing my way toward the modern day. There are also stories set in the present day, such as the Antimony-centric novella, "Bad Dream Girl," which is going to appear in the anthology Glitter and Mayhem. A lot of these get given away for free on my website, in a variety of formats, with covers and everything. I like keeping the canon centralized.

That said, unless an anthology is commissioning something, it can be hard to carve out the time for what is essentially unpaid work. I need to prioritize my time according to what I'm getting paid for (which is why, for example, the rate of "Velveteen vs." stories went up so sharply when I got a print contract). So...

How would people feel if I opened a "tip jar," with the understanding that for every X amount of dollars, I would add a story in one of my universes to the master list of Paid For Things? Those stories would still have to fit around everything else, but it would make them easier to schedule, and would also make my lights easier to keep on. The stories themselves would remain free on my website, so if you didn't want to donate, you could just stand back and wait for nature to take its course.

Thoughts?
Tags: contemplation, requesting things
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alumiere

March 12 2013, 00:08:56 UTC 4 years ago

Please. I'll even figure out how to contribute given my current lack of income. Just like I managed to buy Midnight Blue Light Special.

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:31:10 UTC 4 years ago

You don't have to do that, but I appreciate that you want to. <3

archangelbeth

March 12 2013, 00:09:45 UTC 4 years ago

Tip jar with a threshold for "this is now worth doing" for crowdfunding to improve the RL universe with acts of creativity? YES, PLEASE!

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:31:24 UTC 4 years ago

Yay!

gathersscrolls

March 12 2013, 00:11:59 UTC 4 years ago

Awesome! I'd love to contribute!

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:31:38 UTC 4 years ago

Excellent.

anne_d

March 12 2013, 00:16:29 UTC 4 years ago

I'd certainly give what I could.

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:31:52 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you.

idancewithlife

March 12 2013, 00:16:43 UTC 4 years ago

I would so put money in a tip jar.

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:32:13 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you.

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:32:26 UTC 4 years ago

Yay!

godream

March 12 2013, 00:24:13 UTC 4 years ago

Yes!

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:32:33 UTC 4 years ago

<3

lazzchan

March 12 2013, 00:31:44 UTC 4 years ago

I would certainly put money in a tip jar~

seanan_mcguire

March 12 2013, 03:32:44 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you.

deakat

March 12 2013, 00:33:15 UTC 4 years ago

I would support this thing.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 17:57:49 UTC 4 years ago

Yay!

tsukara

March 12 2013, 00:34:11 UTC 4 years ago

Personally, as it is often easier for me to justify pitching in a couple of dollars as a 'tip' when I can, I would be all for this, and would pitch in whenever I can (since I am also a firm believer in 'people getting paid for what they do' too).

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 17:57:57 UTC 4 years ago

<3

traveller_blues

March 12 2013, 00:34:19 UTC 4 years ago

I've seen it work for some authors and not for other authors. I think your best donation sources will be people who already buy your stuff (like me) and we'd love to support your art. Folks who it didn't work for were the ones who felt like they had to write to satisfy their 'subscribers' -- because they wound up with part of the fanbase that wanted instant gratification for their donations.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 17:58:08 UTC 4 years ago

That makes sense.

aliciaaudrey

March 12 2013, 00:37:13 UTC 4 years ago

I don't think it's a bad idea. I'd throw a few bucks in now and then. Like I think I've mentioned before on your blog, I consider buying a work me tossing money in a tip jar, anyway. A "here, have a few dollars so you will keep amusing me" fee.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 17:58:32 UTC 4 years ago

This makes sense!

bekitty

March 12 2013, 00:43:16 UTC 4 years ago

Absolutely. You should be compensated for your time,

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 17:58:38 UTC 4 years ago

Thanks.

wfw_sj

March 12 2013, 00:45:00 UTC 4 years ago

Definitely in favor of a tip jar!

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 17:58:48 UTC 4 years ago

Good to know!

anderyn

March 12 2013, 00:45:48 UTC 4 years ago

Greg Stolze has done something similar with supplements for his game system -- he did it before Kickstarter became a *thing" but has also used that. Basically, he would write a supplement, then tell people that he needed x amount of money to release it to the "wild" -- once that amount of money had been contributed, the supplement was made free to everyone. He did set a time limit so that if not enough people were interested, it would never see the light of publication. I contributed to several of them, but not all.

It seemed to be a fair enough system, and enough people liked it that it worked for him.

Obviously, it would be a bit different for you, since you want the money up front (and rightly so!) but I think it would work. I certainly would contribute to any stories in the Price/Healey continuity, no questions, and I'm sure I'd be easily convinced to contribute to other universes of yours.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:01:40 UTC 4 years ago

Thanks for the data point!

k_crow

March 12 2013, 00:47:56 UTC 4 years ago

I would be happy to contribute, for as long as this thing works for you.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:01:47 UTC 4 years ago

Excellent.

jenk

March 12 2013, 00:51:30 UTC 4 years ago

As long as it doesn't stress you out, yay :)

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:01:54 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you.

wendyzski

March 12 2013, 01:01:43 UTC 4 years ago

I like it, and I also like that you've already thought out ways to make it work for both you and your audience. Given that most of us are fairly poor, but there are a lot of us, plus that it seemed to work with the Velma sponsorships, I'd like to work out how to contribute even a little.

Maybe set it up as an initial x-month trial period to see if it's still sensible for you when we're all throwing money at you?

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:02:05 UTC 4 years ago

*nodnod*

autographedcat

March 12 2013, 01:03:07 UTC 4 years ago

I'm in. :)

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:02:13 UTC 4 years ago

Cool.

kk1raven

March 12 2013, 01:08:39 UTC 4 years ago

I think that's a good idea.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:48:21 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you.

kitanzi

March 12 2013, 01:13:38 UTC 4 years ago

I like the idea, especially now that I am employed and can afford to kick into it. :)

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:48:32 UTC 4 years ago

Yay!

cliodhna

March 12 2013, 01:20:28 UTC 4 years ago

Yes, yes, yes. All the yes. :)

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:48:40 UTC 4 years ago

Hooray!

slothman

March 12 2013, 01:22:55 UTC 4 years ago

I particularly appreciate the way you package stories up as epubs, for those of us with ereaders, so I’d be happy to chip in to support that.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:48:54 UTC 4 years ago

I figure it cuts down on complaining later on.

alicetheowl

March 12 2013, 01:29:16 UTC 4 years ago

Yes, please. I like the idea of being able to help you with the fun little side projects I enjoy so much. I would contribute, though I don't see myself being able to toss in more than a couple of dollars at a time.

(Apologies if this posts twice. My computer is misbehaving.)

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:49:04 UTC 4 years ago

A couple dollars adds up.

naamah_darling

March 12 2013, 01:30:27 UTC 4 years ago

This would be a fantastic way for people who are only intermittently able to give anything, and unable to give much when they can, a way to show some love.

seanan_mcguire

March 13 2013, 18:49:15 UTC 4 years ago

That was my thought!
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