Patronage: A New Model To Get Your Book To Your Readers?

Did you know how Charles Dickens published his novels? He serialised them – published them chapter by chapter in periodicals and dailies to make them more affordable and to increase his reader base.

Somewhere along the line, this approach lost traction and both readers and authors got more comfortable with one-shot publishing. In one of my posts, I talked about some of the established approaches to publish your book. But serialization dependent on patronage is making waves again and is another avenue for you to consider when you think about taking your book to market.

A new spin on publishing  

Serialization, or releasing your work chapter by chapter has been extensively used by fanfiction writers on sites like fanfiction.net, Archive of our Own, and Wattpad for decades now. These writers have huge fan followings, a super engaged reader base that waits for the next chapter with bated breath, real time reader feedback to improve their work, and even a potential to earn revenues through ads sprinkled through their work. Some of these writers also engage with their fans to sell fan art or merchandizing, but most do this for their love of fanfiction.

But is this approach really worth your time? Especially if you are writing non-fiction? Let’s see.

Patronage makes a resurgence

If you are looking to monetize your original work sites like fanfiction.net are not where you should be looking at. The success of fanfiction tells you is that this model is workable, but you need something that is not just for the feel-good factor. That’s where patronage comes in.

Patronage is not a new concept. It dates back to the royal court days where the rich were patrons to the gifted and paid handsomely for their services. The benefactors basked in the prestige of “exclusive rights” to some of the greatest works of their times, and the financial support set the artists and academicians free to excel in their art.

In the digital era, patronage is democratized. Today you can pay just $1 a month to access some exclusive stuff from creators across the globe. Sites like Patreon are enabling this model for artists, photographers, and yes even writers and journalists. With thousands of followers, that $1 quickly adds up to a cool sum. And what’s even better, you get an audience that engages with you over the long term. We also have patronage platforms like PenCircle that enable creators to earn a monthly income and reward their biggest fans through a tiered patronage model.    

New players weigh in   

Amazon recently announced the launch of a new storytelling option: Kindle Vella. With this new option, U.S. based authors would be able to publish serialized stories, one short episode at a time. Readers pay for each episode and authors earn as much as 50% in royalties. There are also crypto-based platforms like Mirror that are coming up with new ways for authors to publish and monetize their work. It’s just a matter of time before NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) become a norm in the industry.   

What does this mean for you?

 If you write fiction, these new models are a great way to get your work out there. You can even collaborate with the readers to create new story spin-offs! But how does this work with non-fiction? Well, more or less the same way. Most non-fiction writers end up extending their ideas through blogs, podcasts, videos etc. On a patronage-based platform, their work gets serialized the same way. You take a core idea and break it down into parts – and then deep dive into those parts bringing in your perspective. You can also look at it like people paying for a subscription to a Financial Times or HBR – some content is free, but to access core ideas readers need to pay up.

 However, more than monetizing, the benefit I see of publishing on such platforms is the regular interaction with your reader base – something that traditional publishing models fail to provide. And for non-fiction authors that’s the best value – people who are engaged with their content are more likely to buy into other services giving you that leg up in your business.

Would you consider serialization and patronage as a way to publish your first book? Let me know!

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