Making An Alt Account (and some money thoughts)

Hello lovely readers! It’s been a hot minute, I hope all is well! Spring is finally here, and I don’t know about you, but I’m relishing in the lovely weather we’re having at the moment.

As I’m sure you’re very aware, we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis. Everything but the wages are going up, and people in good paying jobs are finding themselves in poverty..

I could go on but that’s not the crux of today’s post. Nevertheless, it’s this current crisis that has my thoughts going to “is there a way of making a little extra money doing what I love?” I only work part-time at the moment, and whilst that currently lines up with my lifestyle, I’m very aware that it could change at any moment. I even wondered about picking up a few more hours at my job, but I already hate it there; I fear my recent mental health stability would just tank again if I spend any more of my time there..

So naturally my thoughts go to monetising my writing..somehow. I mean, I’m still sitting on a poetry collection (Dear Hypnos, I’ve talked about this before!) that I could just publish at any time. I’m aware that I won’t make a great deal of money of it, but still, it’s an option I’m not utilising for whatever reason..

I’ve also been thinking about Patreon. This has been suggested to me many times, but I initially waved it off, thinking I had nothing to offer. Also with my turbulent mind, there would be no guarantee of producing quality content at a consistent pace.

However! I have since started doing weekly poetry readings on my socials, which people really seem to enjoy. Some of my poetry errs on the more spicer side and, whilst I have read some of those out, some of them are maybe a little too spicy for that!

And it was THIS thought that lead to today’s pondering: What if I made an alt account for my spicier content? Part of this stems from the fact that whilst there are a lot of people who enjoy my spicier poetry, there are also those who don’t, and prefer my gothic roots. So, by going down the alt account route, I can split my content and satisfy different audiences.

But where does Patreon come into it? Because, and I need to make this very clear: I don’t want to put all my content behind a paywall. I have no right to demand money for something I have previously provided for free, and I don’t want to! I love doing my weekly poetry readings as a bit of fun.

But! The other day I uttered the phrase “I probably shouldn’t read this one out..not for free anyway..” So I thinking..for the poems that go a little too hard for socials, I could offer them on Patreon..under an alt account, for reasons..

I know very little about Patreon at the moment, I need to do some research. So this idea (if indeed I go through with it) won’t be happening for a while.

Now to address the cons of this idea:

Well, firstly, I’d like to point you back to how I started this post. We’re currently in a cost of living crisis! How could I possibly ask people for money when we’re all struggling? I try my best to support my fellow authors where I can, but there are times when I simply can’t. And I’m not owed support in return.

Secondly, and this is more of a conscious thought, but because of the atrocities happening in Gaza at the moment, I can’t help think “there’s a literal genocide going on and you’re asking for money? Wow..” I almost feel like I’m not allowed to pursue this idea with all that’s going on in the world.

And lastly, there is literally no guarantee that this idea would even work. Are spicy poetry readings even a thing that’re sought after? Would you pay money to see me read some poetry out? (I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!)

I mean, even if I don’t branch out into Patreon, the spicy alt account has been on my mind for a while, so I may still go through with that. Who knows, I may have made it already!

So..yeah. Those are my thoughts. I’d love to be able to make a little extra money doing what I love, but right now, I have a whole lot of cons stack against me. I may also breach this question out to my socials and get some more opinions.

I think that’s all for today! I’ll be sure to post again should I get myself on Patreon.

Soph, signing off!