Hello there, Rebel and maybe-Patron.

"SO WHAT DO YOU DO?"

I do a LOT of stuff.

First and foremost, I'm an indie author, with my biggest books being The Nightblade Epic, The Academy Journals, and my other upcoming series in the world of Underrealm.

I also direct films. I have a podcast about movies. And I have my YouTube channel—and chances are, that's how you found my Patreon in the first place.

MY PATREON SUPPORTS MY YOUTUBE CHANNELS. I have three of them:

1. My main channel, where I post a vlog every Monday and Friday;

2. VlogaNovel, where I livestream the writing process of my books;

3. Garrett's Games, where I post video game content (that one's not very active, but it's coming back soon).

Writing a book is often a lonely process, and always a time-consuming one. I will work for months before I ever hear from my audience whether the work was worth it.

YouTube gives an immediacy to my creations, and lets me interact directly with my fans in a way that just isn't possible with books, or even most social media.

But in order to sustain my YouTube channels, I need this Patreon page.

"WHAT EXACTLY AM I PAYING FOR?"

Quite simply: time.

I'm a husband and a father of three children. To be perfectly frank, I work my ASS off providing for us. I rarely get to sleep for eight hours at a time, and I never get to spend more than a couple of hours with my family each night.

(I'm not looking for a pity party, I'm just laying out the facts.)

YouTube videos take me anywhere from 90 minutes to a few hours to produce. And I usually release multiple videos EVERY DAY.

I couldn't afford to take that much time each month if there was no income from it.

And let's face it: YouTube ad revenue sucks. That's why Patreon makes a lot more sense.

The more support I get from Patreon, the more time I can spend creating great YouTube videos and writing my books.

As of January of 2016, I have hired a video editor for my channel. Editing my videos takes the most time, but is also the simplest work. By hiring that portion of making videos out, my daily time commitment is greatly reduced, meaning I can make videos more regularly.

For right now, ALL my Patreon money will be going to my editor, plus a little extra out of my own pocket. As the Patreon fund grows, I will stop having to pay my editor out of pocket.

As soon as its feasible, I will also be giving them a raise, because they're totally worth it.

"WHAT EXACTLY DO I GET OUT OF THIS?"

Rewards are something I struggled with for quite a while, and to this day I welcome suggestions on how to make them better. But here's what I have to offer.

$1 - EXCLUSIVE YOUTUBE VIDEOS: I produce public YouTube videos on my channel every Monday and Friday. But each weekend, I create two MORE videos that are only for patrons.

They go to ALL levels of patrons, even just a buck a month. You guys are the reason I'm able to make videos at all, so it just makes sense to me to give you even more content.

Typically, my Saturday video will be a weekly recap—a behind-the-scenes look at what I went through in the past week. Sundays will usually be a look ahead, and a discussion of what I'm trying to accomplish in the new week.

$5 - MY BOOKS, PLUS MY WRITING ADVICE: If you pledge five bucks a month, I consider that like a subscription to my writing career. It helps me tremendously, and so you get every book I ever publish—weeks before I make them available for sale.

You also get access to my Writer Wednesday videos. Every Wednesday I put out a special video with writing advice. Often it concerns what I'm going through RIGHT now as a writer and indie author.

$10 - THANK YOU: For those who pledge ten dollars, you'll get everything listed above, and you'll also receive for free any films I produce. I don't get to make films very often, but when I do, you'll receive a free copy (this is usually delivered via Amazon Video).

$20 - INSIDER ACCESS: I didn't want to do a higher-level reward tier at first. But people pledged high amounts anyway, and I felt simply terrible that I wasn't giving them anything extra for it.

So, for those who make a higher contribution each month, I offer insider access. I have a monthly hangout where I discuss what I did in the last month, what my plans are for the next month, and what's been going on in my life.

These people also get my films, and the other reward tiers, like my books.

And finally, these people can reach out to me any time. If they want to email, chat, or have a personal conversation, they can consider me on call. It's the least I can do to repay their generosity.

AND THAT'S IT.

That's all I have to say.

If you choose to be a patron, you're one of the reasons I can keep making YouTube content for everyone, ad-free. And I'm one step closer to the dream—making videos consistently, able to spend more time with my family, and the rest of my hours writing my next book.

Which is pretty awesome.

Thanks so much for visiting. Byyye.