JMS now on Patreon

[Jan]

Decided to go ahead and start a separate thread for happenings that are appropriate to share and any discussion. Will move other posts from the Twitter thread here.

[Jan]

Yes, folks, JMS has indeed joined the ranks of Patreon and it looks interesting. Already available for everybody is his first audio script from 'City of Dreams', "The Damned are Playing at Godzilla's Tonight". To check it out, https://www.patreon.com/syntheticworlds/posts

And can I just say that I *love* the Synthetic Worlds logo?!?

[Jan]

Agreed. LOVE the logo. Not sure how I feel about subscribing and how much I should spend, especially at this time.

Yeah, I can relate. But...after apparently 5 years (which seems to be when I registered with Patreon for some reason), I've made the jump. I wish I could afford the Writer's level but since I'm only really interested but not in any way an aspiring writer, that's just not gonna happen. I did got with the Support Clusters (fourth level), though, because I figure I waste at least that much every month just not thinking about it and this just looks like a lot of fun.

[Ubik]

Not for me either. Whilst it'd be kinda cool to get a look into the creative process, I think given the fickle nature of projects never emerging, and embargos on talking about most projects that go to production, I'm unsure it'd be all that interesting. Like the B5 movie, I wish I'd never know it was a possibility, only to be slowly let down over time.

I am also highly dubious of fans having input into the creative process. Fan service is perhaps the worst thing to happen in Hollywood.

[Satai with Punsch]

This is very interesting. I am tempted to pitch in as I am a long suffering B5 fan, but it might be hard on the economy. I'm of two minds regarding this and similar things. I've been annoyed that some of the later B5 things, like the encyclopedia and some of the DVDs have been silly expensive. And this is leaning towards the same direction. But, at the same time I think it might be good with these kind of new ways an author can both create content and support them self without being tied up to big production companies that never have the authors or the fans best interest in mind.

[Ubik]

But, at the same time I think it might be good with these kind of new ways an author can both create content and support them self without being tied up to big production companies that never have the authors or the fans best interest in mind.

Given JMS has, in the past, outright rejected crowd funding projects, not sure that's the best reasoning to support this. Support it if you have the free cash and want what is being offered. I feel projects will emerge regardless of his Patreon subscribers. Always felt like it was a better platform for self published creators like cartoonists as they can share new pages every week and sketches. In that case, you are supporting a finished comic a page / a chapter at a time, and you are actively supporting a self published comic (for example).

On most projects for a studio or publisher, which seems to be JMS' current way of working, you are embargoed from sharing until it's out there... So, I feel like you'd get some cool past snippets from released work (Sense8, B5, etc), but I can't see that it would enable new content beyond short stories published directly to Patreon. That could be a thing though. I still find a paid writer with publishing deals having a Patreon a bit against the spirit of Patreon. However, JMS is pretty open about what you get for your cash, so subscribe (or not) on that basis. I guess this one may be of more relevance to writers seeking to learn from another writer?

If people dig it, who am I to judge? I'm sure there'll be some cool content if you are a fan of his work, and you can of course cancel at any time!

Again, not for me!

[Jan]

Given JMS has, in the past, outright rejected crowd funding projects, not sure that's the best reasoning to support this. Support it if you have the free cash, but I feel projects will emerge regardless of his Patreon subscribers.

Given that two things he's mentioned so far as being possible even with social distancing and that might be done for amounts raised via Patreon are audio drama and some animation, I think I have to disagree with that assumption.

[Ubik]

Given that two things he's mentioned so far as being possible even with social distancing and that might be done for amounts raised via Patreon are audio drama and some animation, I think I have to disagree with that assumption.

I may have mis-interpreted, but from what I read on the subscription tiers, I got the impression he was sharing scripts from past audio dramas and animation, not producing new ones. However, I am not signed up, so happy to be corrected. New audio drama is pretty affordable, animation arguably less so, but could be done on a budget.

I see no solid creative output confirmed as a direct result of subscription as yet. Let me know if it changes, as that might be of more interest.

[Jan]

I may have mis-interpreted, but from what I read on the subscription tiers, I got the impression he was sharing scripts from past audio dramas and animation, not producing new ones. However, I am not signed up, so happy to be corrected. New audio drama is pretty affordable, animation arguably less so, but could be done on a budget.

I see no solid creative output confirmed as a direct result of subscription as yet. Let me know if it changes, as that might be of more interest.

He's shared one of the scripts from City of Dreams but has also mentiond new items there and in animation. As for seeing any "solid creative output confirmed as a direct result of subscription as yet...", I'm reasonably sure that nobody would have ever thought that they would in (checks) less than 5 days, now, would they?

[Ubik]

He's shared one of the scripts from City of Dreams but has also mentiond new items there and in animation. As for seeing any "solid creative output confirmed as a direct result of subscription as yet...", I'm reasonably sure that nobody would have ever thought that they would in (checks) less than 5 days, now, would they?

I was more thinking along the lines of what a cartoonist would do, i.e. you get access to one new inked page a week, for this tier, etc. These usually form part of the Patreon tiers for creatives in that field. Just an example. This is clearly more for the hardcore fans wanting that extra insight into his work and process. But, i'll be intrigued what comes out of it in terms of exclusive (new) content. Currently, it's too nebulous for me to throw cash at it.

[Jan]

Thanks for clarifying. My feeling is that the first step will be figuing out what his base income will be before he can look at potential projects. Already he's had to change the billing due to people gaming the way he had it set up with first of the month billing. I'm betting that audio drama will be the first thing(s) we'll see simply for the ease of doing so.

In case anybody wonders, I'm still giving some thought to starting a whole thread for the Patreon due to the nature of the different tiers being locked and unavailable unless you've subscribed to that tier (though he can set things to being available to all tiers if he likes). We'll see...

[nottenst]

Haven't made up my mind yet. On the surface, the levels here seem more expensive than other Patreons I'm supporting. One thing that was inserted a little after the first time I saw it - "Includes Discord benefits" for $10/month and higher. What benefits are those? A separate chat server where he regularly posts or what?

Currently 204 patrons at $5,694 per month total.

[Jan]

One thing that was inserted a little after the first time I saw it - "Includes Discord benefits" for $10/month and higher. What benefits are those? A separate chat server where he regularly posts or what?

Yes, Discord is a chat server that's just gotten set up. It looks like it can have both text channels and voice channels so he may use it for a number of things. Except for the initial set-up, it's quiet. JMS said he'd set chats up and give people notice so they can schedule.

And speaking of last night, there was quite a long discussion about Copyright last night. Not threaded so no link. But worth checking out if you're interested.

[Triple F]

Yes, folks, JMS has indeed joined the ranks of Patreon and it looks interesting. Already available for everybody is his first audio script from 'City of Dreams', "The Damned are Playing at Godzilla's Tonight". To check it out, https://www.patreon.com/syntheticworlds/posts

And can I just say that I *love* the Synthetic Worlds logo?!?

Now don't shout at me, but I don't have a twitter account so can't ask directly. Is there any reason given why he's doing this via Synthetic Worlds rather than Studio JMS. I noticed a tweet earlier where he includes this.

if you want to help Synthetic Worlds grow into an entity producing all kinds of cool stuff in every medium, check out the Patreon page.

But that kind of cross platform multi-media approach to creating stuff was what was being described as the purpose of Studio JMS. I know Synthetic Worlds is 100% his own company set up back in the 80's, and Studio JMS was a lot more recent and probably had others involved. Is Studio JMS basically dead, or is this a seperate thing with different goals.

[Jan]

Now don't shout at me, but I don't have a twitter account so can't ask directly. Is there any reason given why he's doing this via Synthetic Worlds rather than Studio JMS. I noticed a tweet earlier where he includes this.

I'm assuming for bookkeeping (or tax?) purposes. None of my business (though I've always loved that logo).

But that kind of cross platform multi-media approach to creating stuff was what was being described as the purpose of Studio JMS. I know Synthetic Worlds is 100% his own company set up back in the 80's, and Studio JMS was a lot more recent and probably had others involved. Is Studio JMS basically dead, or is this a seperate thing with different goals.

Maybe because it had/has others involved? He did mention that with plans to do audio dramas and perhaps animation, that it feels like returning to his roots.