Update Link: Scars – Part 19

Purchase Counting Stars Alpha Draft (all payments encrypted through Stripe — can use Google Pay for purchase) Use Contact form or reply to this post if there are any issues and see below for more information.

You’ll be getting a decent amount of Scars over the next few weeks, as today and next Saturday are make up days. So Scars is getting updated today (8/27), Tuesday (8/30), Friday (9/2), and Saturday (9/3.) Then two more updates to finish up the story on Friday (9/9) and Sunday (9/11).

I have to do a bit of housekeeping at CG — I have to update the widgets with the schedule for the next two weeks, and the Recent Updates page hasn’t been touched since early August. It’s definitely something that fell off my radar. August really has been a rough month. I hyperfocused on anything that would keep my mind busy and lost track of completely everything else.

Purchasing Drafts

I played around with a WordPress plugin that would allow me to have downloads that work as a purchase. It’s not perfect, but I tested it, and it actually works.  There’s some design elements to work out, but I like it as an alternative to Patreon for drafts. Early access chapters will probably still stay on that platform for now.

All drafts available for single purchase will be priced according to the Patreon level. Counting Stars, Alpha Draft, is currently available for my Crimson Obsessed tier ($10). This is the version that is my first attempt at the story. It hasn’t been edited for typos or consistencies. One of the really awesome things about posting my alpha drafts is that it gives people a chance to give feedback on early versions. There’s an Alexis/Dante scene in Mad World, Book 4 that got added in edits because someone asked for it, and I’m so glad it’s there.

The next version will be the beta draft, which is the major round of edits (and Counting Stars will have a decent amount added). That’ll be out at the end of next month and will be priced at the Crimson Adored tier ($7). The final version, the posting draft, should be out at the end of October and will be priced at the Crimson Devoted tier price ($5). The posting edit is usually the version that you see on Crimson Glass, but I’m still finding typos and doing final edits right up until they go live.

I want to put together a mailing list for a bundle price on the next project — if you just want to pay one price for all three rounds of drafts with no second purchase necessary — let me know if this is something you’re interested in.

Where Does the Money Go

For a little transparency, I wanted to let everyone know where the money I get for Patreon goes.

• First, it pays for the hosting services. I use a VPS, which means my site never crashes because I’m not sharing resources with anyone else. The database with the comments and plugins take up a lot of resources. That costs $25.50 a month.
• Any money left over after hosting services goes into my savings account. I use that to pay the property taxes on my house, which run about $4k every year. I don’t quite make that much from Patreon, but it’s a HUGE help.
• Before 2019, I worked a second job. I went to graduate school full-time, subbed during the day, and tutored at night. It left very little time for writing. I also worked full-time during the summer. Longtime readers will remember an inconsistent posting schedule from 2016-2018.
• I quit tutoring in the fall of 2018 because of scheduling conflicts and things were really tight every month. Then I relaunched the Patreon, and made enough for gas money and some of my bills.
• In the fall of 2019, I took over my parents’ house, including the utilities, property taxes, and homeowner’s insurance. Without Patreon to provide about 80% of that money, I would need to go back to tutoring full-time in the summer.
• So if you’ve enjoyed all the Flash Fiction, the six books, and countless short stories I’ve put out since 2019, that’s due largely to the amazing community here that made it possible for me to treat writing like a second career.
• No story of mine is ever going to be behind a permanent paywall. The final edits will always be available, as they have been since I started Patreon.