First off, a most sincere Thank You! We are so grateful to have a place to call home, somewhere to pursue our mutual interests, somewhere to be with friends. We all have that – thanks to your generous efforts.
We, the undersigned, are interested in feeling even more a part of what we proudly consider ‘our’ community. We currently support the site with our presence, our fiction, and our comments aimed at encouraging others. We are interested in taking our support of the Storyboard for Naked Fiction (https://nficstoryboard.com/) up a notch.
Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t interested in playing a role in managing the site. That seems to be well in hand. Instead, we’d like you to consider allowing us to participate in the costs of the site. We know it is not free and we feel there is no reason for all the costs to be borne by one individual. It is our belief, that by spreading the financial costs of maintaining the site across those who volunteer to participate, that the future of the site – of the community, our community – can be ensured into the foreseeable future.
Indeed, this storyboard is your site, your creation, your baby. And it’s wonderful. Maybe, by allowing us to take part more fully, your creation can continue to thrive and grow. It’s of course up to you, but we’d love to see the site remain free and open (and advertising free). We feel that a number of people (not just the undersigned) would step forward, voluntarily participating financially in a site that we’ve grown to love. We imagine that it wouldn’t be just writers, but readers as well, that would want to play a larger part.
In short, it is wonderful that you have put so much into supporting this community, that you’ve come all this way by yourself, paying all the bills. What we are asking is for you to consider sharing that responsibility with us. Potentially, there could be a way for those who are interested to sign up and contribute monthly, annually, or even on a one time basis. There are quite a number of examples of sites on the World Wide Web that are user supported. And, if we are successful at raising funds for the site, perhaps there are feature enhancements that we would all benefit from.
If it’s another sort of support that you need, not just financial help, then we are open to discussing that as well.
Sincerely (in alphabetical order),
Arthwys, Blair, Cave, and ReaderMan
I’ve been under the weather the last few days, but this open letter was just a beautiful pick me up to start my day. Thank you Arthwys, Blair, Cave, and ReaderMan.
It feels surreal that it’s been nearly 2 and a half years since I got the small courage and inspiration to create this site. The ASN site closing was heartbreaking news, so many great authors, so many great stories, so many great discussions and comments, just lost.
I wanted to do something to at least help preserve the spirit of Indian Outlaw’s site, some place for the community to go, even if temporarily, to keep our little niche alive. I set off without knowing what I was doing, just wanting to beat the deadline before the ASN site went down. I wasn’t known in the community, was a silent background person that mostly just read, as that is where I am most comfortable, but I felt like it would just be too great of a loss if I didn’t try…something.
I had a false start when my first attempt at a site ended in disaster, as I couldn’t even get the domain to point to the host. Got frustrated but stayed determined to at least get something created for the amount of time and effort I put in.
Started over with a new host and domain, and somehow over 2 weeks of trial and error (lots of errors), lots of coffee, lots more googling, and lots of Outkast’s Aquemini in the background, I managed to pull together what we have now.
It still has bugs, it still looks basic, but 2 years later, I’m just thankful that it’s functional and allows us to have a small, cozy, active community.
I mean, we have 450+ chapters and 2,500+ comments posted. This is far, far, far more than I could have ever expected when I started this place. And I’m thankful for everyone that has made this place what it is in the short time that it’s been around.
It does cost to keep the lights on. And that there are members of this community that want to share in the cost really means a lot to me. I’m humbled and honestly don’t know what to say other than thank you. And that anything I receive would 100% be put back into the site.
I support a few small content creators on Patreon, so that is a platform I am familiar with that can help small communities financially. I see “$1” tiers and “$3” tiers and “$10” tiers on there often. But these are usually monthly payments. Perhaps I can set something up there? Or does anyone else have any other platforms?
I hope that you continue to feel better. And you should feel good about this website. It’s amazing! We can actually edit stories and post them in a series and the search is very good for finding things. I didn’t know we had that many comments and chapters posted, that’s awesome! All the more reason to let some of us give back.
This whole community thing, the way I see it, coming together is how we really make it into something. It’s like buying a latte once a month – for the community.
A couple of us have experience with Patreon so that seems like the easiest way to make this happen. I hope that’s what you end up going with.
Thanks Kinsey!
Hey Kinsey,
First off, I thank you. I can’t say that enough. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
And, second, I’m delighted that your reaction to our ‘open letter’ is consistent with the spirit in which it was conceived and presented. This site — a friendly place for so many to call home. The vibes I get from my interactions here are always uplifting. I’m ready (my credit card at hand). I look forward to voluntarily supporting something that I believe in, a group of people who are generous with their time and talent.
I’m not trying to rush you, I just want you to know that there are people out here who admire you and are grateful for the effort you’ve put in on our behalf.
For me, an automatic monthly ‘subscription’ will be perfect. As soon as you get something set up, I’ll sign up. I expect there will be quite a number of us. Maybe our combined contributions won’t cover the full cost of the site, but it will (hopefully) be enough so that keeping ‘the lights on’ begins to feel like a shared responsibility. If a percentage of us all pitch in a token amount,it will surely allow you to focus on building the site, not just paying for it.
Your Friend and Colleague,
Blair
I really appreciate the kind words Blair. Thank you.