Hello, friends.
I’m on a weeklong school vacation that is, as usual, perfectly timed. I’ve come to a wall in many ways and am questioning a lot of things. It was mostly a good week at the day job but the down parts there were really low. I don’t want to dwell on the past right now, though. Except to talk about this week’s writing work.
This week, I intend on talking about some changes that I’ll be making with my Patreon and my Gauthic Times newsletter. I will detail those changes below. I’m excited by these ideas.
Anyway, let’s get into it.
Welcome to the 109th installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and upcoming changes to the newsletter and Patreon.
Supporting creators is so important right now. As such, I would love if you became a paid-Patron on my Patreon.
Paid-Patrons get exclusive details about works-in-progress including the actual names of my works-in-progress and not just codenames. I also show art that I do.
The lowest tier for Patreon right now is $1 but at $5/month, we’re looking at some serious help.
If every subscriber or reader of this newsletter, or every social media follower I have, became a Patron, I could write more and pay my bills better.
The same would happen if they bought copies of my books.
You can also buy me a coffee through Ko-Fi.
Grab Echoes on the Pond if you haven’t already. If you’ve read Echoes on the Pond, please consider reviewing on Amazon or Goodreads, and wherever else books are sold and reviewed.
You can also get my collection Catalysts or my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed.
Anyway, let’s go!
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This week I got to page 629 in Project: Amusement Park. This means I have about 53 pages left to edit. Some of the editing when quickly and others were slower. Last night, for instance, I hit a part of the book that’s directly leading to the climax and everything slowed down so that I could make sure everything said what I wanted it to say.
Every word was challenged, every sentence weighed. Paragraphs added and subtracted. Some sentences got crossed out, rewritten, crossed out again, and rewritten again. Lots of lines, insert points, circles, and arrows. I’ll put an editing photo of a page from last night’s work so that you can see the dark blue pen edits compared to the typed manuscript.
It took me a while to get through that page, trying to make sure it reads well.
In other updates, that video I mentioned editing last week has been abandoned. After having some friends and Pamela watch it, I decided that I missed the mark with it. That’s fine, though. I’ll make another one with help and it’ll say what I want it to say. It’s basically a video on why becoming a Patron would be a good thing. I got the tone wrong so it’s back it.
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Paid-subscribers on Patreon get an art/comic book update here. Become a Patron and see what’s in the works!
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Looking to the horizon, I’ve decided to make some changes in how my Patreon and my free weekly newsletter, Gauthic Times, works. Right now, as I mentioned a few weeks back, the paid-Patron post and Gauthic Times are basically the same thing. The paid-posts don’t have edited titles and get a weekly look at art. Sometimes I throw in other things and occasionally do something really cool. I want to change that.
I’d like for the Patreon and the newsletter to be a little different. If Patrons are willing to dish out hard-earned money, then they should have a different experience more than just titles and bad art. I’d also like to try to get more Patrons. However, I have many subscribers for Gauthic Times through Substack, my website, and through the free Patreon tier.
Let’s talk about the newsletter first.
Gauthic Times will continue coming once a week and will see minimum changes. I will still talk about works-in-progress for the week but I won’t go into as much detail unless it’s relevant to the essay I’m writing that week. As it has been, there will be a weekly essay of opinion, musings, or whathaveyou. The changes will be minimal for the newsletter. It will also still be available through Substack, my website, and the free-tier on Patreon.
Now, let’s talk about the paid-tiered Patreon.
Changing how I handle the tiers and who has access to what not only rewards Patrons but is also a way for me to put my feet to the fire to utilize Patreon more. Right now I have Patrons in the $1, $3, $5, $10, and $15 tiers. They’re all basically getting the same thing. This will change.
The $1 tier will receive the newsletter essay the day before the newsletter and daily progress. Either at the start or end of each day I’ll post what I did for that night. These will be short and sweet. Maybe a paragraph, maybe a sentence. If I feel like adding more I will, but I’m not trying to be annoying. The newsletter essays will be posted the night before the newsletter comes out. Since the newsletter comes out on Sundays, I’ll post the essay on Saturday nights. If I’m behind on an essay, then I’ll put out the newsletter a day later.
Eventually, I may shut down the $1 tier. If I do, Patrons at this tier will be notified in advance. Right now, it may be this summer, think June. If I do. So, if you’re at the $1 tier, you may want to go up to one of the next tiers.
The $3 tier will receive the same things as the $1 but will also get the weekly art updates and comics when they’re finished. I may try to make comics a regular feature, as in not only the behind-the-scenes but the actual comics themselves. This will mean pushing myself to produce good work.
The $5 tier will receive everything in the $1 and $3 tiers but will also get exclusive weekly content and, if I do one, a serialized novel. Some of the content may be deep dives into stories I’ve written, drafts of stories, or whatever I think is cool. It may be shorter essays on whatever’s going on in my head at that moment. More subscribers at this tier (and beyond) will encourage me to really attempt writing a serialized novel directly for Patrons.
Patrons at the $10 tier will receive all of the above but will also get weekly short videos or audio recordings. These may be story readings or just me chit chatting about something on my mind. Some of the videos will be like driving with me someplace where I chat as I drive. You will also get one chapbook a year. This tier will also really motivate me to do more art and writing.
Finally, the $15 tier will get all of the above but will also get a minimum of two chapbooks a year as well as a monthly video on the creative process, done like a mini-class. Since my day job is teaching, I’m told I can be good at passing along information in an engaging, entertaining way.
I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks now and have been making notes and jotting down ideas. Those around me are probably sick of hearing about it. I really would like to take this community here to the next level so I hope these changes will do that.
I’m grateful for every reader, subscriber, and Patron I have and want them to have the best experience I can arrange. I think this will do that.
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Well, I went a little longer with those ideas than I’d meant to, but I think that’s okay. Thank you so much for subscribing, reading, and for your support!
If you’d like to see what I could do if I wrote full-time, share this newsletter with others and consider a paid subscription.
You can also tip/donate on Ko-Fi.
Of course, you could also become a Patron on my Patreon, which has a lot more information about my works-in-progress and the books I’ll be querying, including titles and some simple, non-spoiler details.
Get my collection Catalysts, my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed, and definitely order Echoes on the Pond, out now!
If you haven’t left a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anyplace else for Echoes on the Pond, please consider doing so. This greatly helps sell copies.
And maybe call your local brick-and-mortar bookstore and demand they carry it! I’ll even sign copies! Well, if they’re local to me. That means Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and maybe some of the other New England states.
Thank you for subscribing!
Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
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