Being an independant author in 2025 is challenging and getting tougher by the day. There are threats to the sustainability of writing as a career from all sides. Not only is social media tricky to navigate and use as a communication tool to reach readers who will BUY your books, it is now also much harder to use platforms like Amazon to SELL those same books.
Big tech is betraying creators with the introduction of policies that make it easier than ever to pirate and illegitimately produce books using artificial intelligence. Big tech is also turning against creators in other ways such as creating toxic environments for marginalized groups and their supporters. In light of all of these dramatic shifts in the creator landscape, many users have chosen to boycott and abstain from spending their money in one of the few places an author can truly make a name for themselves, and thus spur sales – Amazon. While I understand and support this kind of action. It hurts indie authors who have few options.
When it seemed that there was a turning of tides against Amazon, it was clear a new strategy had to be created to safeguard my own written content against the threat of obscurity and obsolescense.
I have created a Patreon account to share my written stories and my writing experience and experitise.
I hope to forge a new, more stable path forward in an environment that provides me with a way to steer the ship myself (at least for now). It isn’t a quick fix. Patreon takes time to cultivate because it is a membership site that relies for the most part on subscriptions. I am happy to say that the shop feature is a nice surprise that I wasn’t expecting when I first started investigating the platform. Having the ability to sell individual items is a welcome add-on. It takes the pressure off the need to maintain growth over only a monthly subscription model.
On my Patreon’s shop, I can upload and sell the digital assets I’ve worked on that come together to form what I’ve termed THE BIG WRITE BOX. This helpful toolkit for writers of fiction is designed to provide quick references, worksheets, checklists, etc. that get a book from start to published. I’m excited to immediately be able to offer the PLOT BOX (first of THE BIG WRITE BOX toolkits). PLOT BOX is exactly what it sounds like. If you want a toolkit to help you develop the bones of your story, you will find everything from character development worksheets to worksheets that help you develop a solid three-act structure for your story.
PLOT BOX is just the beginning. I have four more toolkits I am working on that represent all the work phases of book creation and delivery. I look forward to sharing these as I develop them. Not only do I have THE BIG WRITE BOX to share on Patreon, I will be adding a variety of additional resources based on years of writing and developmental processes that I have followed. There will be a lot of value for subscriber-members and writers who don’t necessarily want to commit to a membership, and wander over to the shop to see what’s on offer.
I believe that creating my own writing experience for fans and writer community friends over on Patreon will be more rewarding for me than watching the stagnant Amazon author dashboard day after day. I look forward to building a fanbase and sharing my stories, getting immediate feedback, and providing meaningful value and attention to detail that matters.
Please visit my Patreon and browse what is available. I hope to connect with you as a reader and share great story experiences directly with you.
