Who I am.

I'm Erica McGillivray. Some of you may know me as a community manager and online marketer; others as a co-founder of GeekGirlCon; and a couple may know me as a writer and pop culture, mostly comic books, critic. I've been writing stories since I could spell my name. Now I'm working on making my writing a bigger priority and focus in my life.

What's Patreon and why am I using this platform?

Patreon functions like a subscription to art. If you like what I'm doing, you can support me on an on-going basis and get access to exclusive content. Patreon's mission is to support creators for their art in every form, especially that which we often publish to the internet for free.

Recently, two major life events:

1. I was laid off from my steady, full-time job. This worked as a kick in the pants (motivation) to consider my current path and what I wanted versus what I was doing. This also means the financial support of Patrons, like you, is critical to continuing my writing.

Edit 2/8/17 - I'm happy to report that I'm employed again at the startup CMX Media. But this doesn't mean your continued support isn't needed as you are helping me succeed with life larger goals.

2. I've written over 800 comic book reviews on my blog since 2007. It's a great milestone. But those reviews were all published for free, and actually cost me money as I buy the books to support creators I love.

Expanding my reach.

Your support will allow me to expand the reach and depth of my writing and art. It will allow me to focus my energies on creation, instead of 100% worrying about only doing work-for-hire. It will give me the flexibility to control my career.

An experiment.

In the end, Patreon is an experiment. If I only meet my first goal -- to buy photo paper for a backdrop -- that's okay. I'm not going to stop creating. I just want to relieve some of the pressure and connect with my supportive community.