Jay Speyerer and I started This Awful Awesome Life with the intention of offering additional content for subscribers on Patreon. After he passed-away, Patreon moved to the back burner.

Patreon is a membership platform based in the United States that provides business tools for creators to run a subscription content service. It allows creators and artists to earn a monthly income by providing exclusive rewards and perks to their subscribers, or "patrons." (Wikipedia)

When I worked for local magazines as a writer/content coordinator, I quickly learned paying advertisers demanded a say in who and what we featured. The corporate owners of the magazine chain weren’t receptive to featuring businesses that weren’t also advertisers. Instead of providing interesting and informative content for local communities, I was tasked with writing articles about advertisers and helping the publisher convince businesses to advertise while throwing in as much interesting content as our designer could fit in between ads. I also wasn’t allowed to pay writers for articles. This Awful Awesome Life was to be my escape.

Though Jay had experienced similar difficulties, we decided to offer advertising until we established a readership base. We agreed to offer sponsors/advertisers an inexpensive way to reach customers and a worldwide platform to do so. What we found is that businesses are anxious to be featured but reluctant to pay for advertising. And, as much as advertisers lamented the cost and limitations of traditional print advertising, they were suspicious of our low rates and oblivious to the advantages of having an easily accessible live link to their website in their ad.

In three+ years, This Awful Awesome Life has almost tripled in readership. We have readers all over the world. We’ve worked to provide diverse content and stay true to our mission to feature exciting new authors, artists, and other creatives.

One of our goals has always been to pay talented writers, photographers, and artists for their work. If we do not generate a reliable revenue-stream we cannot do this. When I first started writing, I traded income for exposure, but there comes a time when you must stand up for the value of what you do. I would never expect a doctor to provide free medical care or a plumber not to charge for installing a new kitchen sink.

Another goal is to expand the type of content we offer. I’d like to expand our content to include a podcast with an interview series and videos.

We selected Patreon because its platform allows us to set subscription tiers and keep them affordable. They handle processing subscription payments which will free me up to work on improving content instead of chasing advertisers and collecting payments. They also offer an additional layer of protection to safeguard your payment information.

We’re still working out the details, but we’ll keep you posted. Thank you in advance for helping us to achieve our goals for This Awful Awesome Life by becoming a subscriber.

Thanks,

Fran Joyce

Editor and Publisher

This Awful Awesome Life