Patreon, Digital VS Print Magazines, Independent Horror

Ally Boobior & Vyrus McDisco Blood Wrestling Photo By Brian Nixon

Hello there ghouls!  Welcome to another blog post from yours truly!  In this addition of Gore Noir Magazine blogs sometimes, we are going to go into Patreon and how it's helping independent artists and media.  At first I was skeptical of the format.  It didn't seem like a good way to reach the masses.  That was until I saw a few friends and artists on Patreon bringing people into their everyday process and in some cases bringing in more that $1k a month to boot.

The way I reasoned with myself to start our own Patreon was this..  Sometimes friends, family, and fans want a way to be involved and updated and they also want to be able to donate towards your dreams.  Why not just buy product you say?  Well what if they already have most of what you're making?  Or what if the art is too expensive to buy a piece every month?  Them donating $5 a month is easier than keeping up on buying product from you on a regular basis.  It's also easy for them as it just comes out of their account without them having to fuss over anything.

So I had sold myself on the idea and now we are a good 4 months in with out Patreon.  You set goals for yourself and your Patrons to help move the whole thing forward and motivate all involved.  I set my first goal at 66 and we quickly hit that..  My second goal, which I now realize was a bit too lofty of a second goal, was $666.  I know I was being cute..  But hey it could happen?  We currently sit at $83 a month which helps us pay some of our processing fees and helps go towards new products.

Issue 15

It's an uphill battle these days creating an independent magazine..  Let alone an independent horror magazine.  Add on top of that, that we are a PRINT magazine and you can see what we are dealing with.  My goal was always to move slow and not get too big for our own britches.  You can see some magazines like Fangoria having a problem with this very issue.  It would be far too easy to go full digital magazine every month but I think print is something that I'll never give up on.  What magazine can put out a coffin shaped issue if it's just digital?  Every magazine right?  But can you see it at stores and happen upon it at a friends house on their coffee table or by their toilet?  Didn't think so..

Am I silly to want to keep Gore Noir Magazine a print magazine?  Probably..  It's an uphill battle..  Right now we are in limbo with our 15th issue, which is almost done and ready to go, but we have yet to raise the money for printing costs.   We usually do a pre-order for each issue to help offset print costs and foot the bill.  As we have done with this one and I thank everyone who's helped by sharing the link to get this issue printed.  I promise that we won't be like Fangoria and go digital only and promise a print issue for over a year only to not come through.

February Patreon Giveaway Package

One of the things we've done with our Patreon is to do monthly giveaways to help give back to the fans.  It's a community effort to get something like this rolling so we're able to get lots of stickers, artworks, toys, posters, pins, buttons, hats, shirts, and everything else under the sun from awesome people like you and put together a package and send it to one lucky Patreon Patron that's pledged $5 or more.  Our first giveaway WAS TREMENDOUS!  We hope to bring more and more product into the fold and you can skip to the bottom to find our address to send product to.  We will snap a photo of the products for social media posting (advertising for you!) and time permitting we do a video of all the awesome stuff we have for our Patreon giveaway and thank all those who sent in the items.

I'm always trying to think of new ways to keep in touch with our fan base and if you message us through Facebook or Instagram, or any media to be honest, I try to respond and give you all the attention that is needed.  I feel this is lacking with most magazines.  I try to go on all of the podcasts, the local TV shows, to answer the interview questions, and talk with all of the people that come by our vending booth at conventions and gigs.  I love hearing the feedback and it helps keep the train moving down the track.  It's our motivation.

Lastly I'd just like to thank all of the people that have supported us either directly, by purchasing products, coming to our events, and becoming a patron, or indirectly, by sharing our posts, telling your friends about us and giving us words of encouragement.  We are a small independent horror magazine that loves being a part of the horror culture and making it as bloody as possible!