My Patreon... is Ending!

Jan 3

Note: This was originally posted to my Patreon account in two parts ([part 1], [part 2]). I am copying the text here just to preserve it.

Part 1

I know this is going to seem very sudden, and I apologize for that!
I didn't want to make a long, drawn-out ordeal about it though, so I figured one quick post with all the information in one place would be the best option. 👍 I'll try to make this as brief as possible!

To quell any fears: Nothing drastic happened to provoke this change, and I'm not ending it for being "unsuccessful" or anything. Quite the opposite, actually!

You guys have been with me through two successful Kickstarters, the launch and re-launch of my website & store... the re-re-launch of my website and store 😅, a bunch of conventions, and the making of so many projects, products, and artworks!

After my years here, it has become clear to me that I am not the type of artist that can create in a way that is marketable and consistent. I am consistently creating, but my creations are not consistent, if that makes sense.
Perhaps this is something my followers like about me, but it makes it difficult to pin down a particular "brand", cultivate a specific audience, or promise reliable rewards when my interests, methods, and crafts are constantly changing.

Therefore, the only thing I felt I could reliably offer my Patrons was the behind-the-scenes exclusivity: Tutorials, WIPs, process videos & GIFs, etc.

But the thing is, I don't like keeping my work exclusive. I never did, but it was relatively easy to manage when I had a month+ backlog of art to fall back on. Now that that backlog is gone, I find myself struggling to provide that exclusivity to Patrons alongside the need to keep my social accounts active.

At this point, I believe the things I have reserved exclusively for Patreon would be better suited as free content, and the time and energy I dedicate to Patreon would be better utilized in pursuing projects outside of this platform.

Though I know some of you are happy to continue supporting me regardless of any special Patron benefits, I am personally uncomfortable with the idea of receiving subscriptions without being able to provide a service.
I would be happier ending my Patreon page and asking you to continue supporting me through [shop]/[etsy] purchases or [ko-fi] donations ✌

What's Next?

All current paying Patrons have the month of January to digest this news, and anyone who does not manually cancel their subscription will have it force-reset to the "free" subscriber tier when I delete my patron tiers at the end of the month.
Anyone with unredeemed benefits (lineart bases, art requests, etc) can still redeem them, just message me! ♥
Everyone is welcome to continue following me at the "free" tier if they wish, and any posts I make from here on out will be unlocked/public.
I may go back and unlock some previous WIPs and tutorial posts as well 👌
My Patron [Lineart Bases] will be uploaded for sale on my website, Etsy, and Ko-fi stores.

You can continue staying up-to-date on all things KiRAWRa in multiple ways:

Sign up for my [email newsletter]!
Follow me on: [Twitter] • [Bluesky] • [Instagram] • [Facebook] • [DeviantArt] • [FurAffinity] • [etc]
Join my [Discord]!

I truly cannot thank you enough for your support over the years here on Patreon. Please don't think of this as an end, but rather a continuation of everything you've helped me achieve! ♥
It is possible I may find another use for Patreon in the future, but for now I have no further plans for this account.

Part 2

Notice about charges !IMPORTANT!

February 18
Hey all, I mentioned [last month] that my Patreon would be ending, and that I'd be deleting my tiers in order to cancel everyone's current pledges.

Apparently, this is not how Patreon works. After deleting all my patron tiers it simply kept everyone's pledges the same, labeling them as a "custom" pledge.

After talking with support, I have been informed that there is no way for me to force cancel a patron's pledge, or move anyone to the "free" tier.

Thus, Patreon went ahead and charged everyone who was still subscribed, for February. I did not expect nor intend for this to happen, so I attempted to send refunds, only to be met with the error "You don’t have enough funds in your creator balance to refund this patron" because the money had been transferred out of my account already by the time support got back to me.

After looking into this more, there doesn't appear to be any way for me to actually ADD any money to my creator balance. So uh, this whole thing is kind of a mess and not going the way I had hoped!

I can't cancel anyone's pledges, I can't move anyone to the free tier, and I can't refund any of the money it charged current subscribers.

Support confirmed that if I want to stop charging patrons entirely, I have two options:

1. Continue "pausing" the billing for my Patreon manually, every single month indefinitely. Since the entire goal of quitting Patreon was to remove it as an obligation, this kind of completely defeats the purpose, and is not realistically something I can do.
2. Un-publish my Creator page. This, again, is not something I want to do. I want to leave my Patreon posts open and available for free now, and un-publishing my page would make all of my content inaccessible.

So the only option left for me is to leave my Patreon page up, and ask anyone who does not wish to be charged to please either cancel your subscription, or move yourself to the Free tier. Otherwise, Patreon will continue to bill you as normal.

If you choose to remain a paid patron, please be aware that I have no plans to create or post any further patron-exclusive content, and this account can be considered inactive. I WILL remain active on my other social accounts, so your money will still be used to fund my artwork and creative ventures, I just won't be posting about it here on Patreon or offering direct rewards.

To stay up to date on what I'm doing outside of Patreon, consider these options: