I’m a big fan of crowdfunding. Much to the detriment of my wallet sometimes, but ah well. In the past I’ve supported quite a few Kickstarters and I’ve also joined in some Indiegogos, and GoFundMes. Beyond getting cool things and supporting cool projects I’ve also come to see crowdfunding in the same light I see various Social Media platforms on their best day: they give me hope for the future. I think they are an important counter-weight to the growing influence of mainstream, soulless corporate control over our media, art, and politics.

Unfortunately, my financial freedom is much less than it was a few years ago, so I need to be a bit more disciplined with how I spend money on extras such as these kinds of projects which is one reason I’ve moved most of my spending in this area to Patreon. Given the by project or by month nature of Patreons I can budget myself and avoid the temptation to jump onto the newest cool Kickstarter that comes along. I also enjoy the ongoing nature of Patreon. Unlike Kickstarters that support a single creation, Patreons allow you to support your favorite creative endeavors now and going forward, which allows the people you support to have a little more stability in their financial lives, which is quite a blessing for most creative folk.

So, today I want to promote the Patreons that I’m supporting right now. Your mileage may vary but if you’re interested in the reading, writing, or watching Sci Fi, Fantasy, or Horror I’d suggest you might find some things you’d like to spend a buck or two (or more perhaps) a month on as well.

Magazines

I’m supporting three of my favorite short fiction markets.

Fireside Fiction is something I’ve supported in the past through Kickstarters. They are dedicated to providing great fiction of any genre to readers and paying the writers a fair wage. They pay very well for short fiction and for that alone I think they deserve any fan of the forms support.

Apex Magazine is one of the premiere short genre fiction markets going today. They’ve been nominated three times for a Hugo award. 4 stories they’ve published have been nominated for Nebula awards and 2 have won, including Ursula Vernon’s “Jackalope Wives” which *just* won this year’s Nebula for best short story. Oh and they do audio of some stories!

Clarkesworld one of the biggest and best genre markets. They’ve won three Hugo Awards, a British Fantasy Award, and a World Fantasy Award. And their stories have been nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Locus, Shirley Jackson, Ditmar, WSFA Small Press and Stoker Awards. They are also a very good paying market and one of the fastest responses you find if you’re out their submitting your own stories.

Writers

Along with magazines I’m also supporting a few writers directly.

Cat Rambo is a great short story writer who has recently released her first novel, to much praise. Not only does supporting her get you access to Cat Rambo stories, but if her patron gets high enough she will open her own spec fic magazine. I’m a big believer in the more markets the better so I hope she makes that goal one day.

Saladin Ahmed wrote the great book “Throne of the Crescent Moon” which one the Locus Award and was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and British Fantasy Awards. He also writes short fiction, has a very entertaining Twitter feed and writes essays on geek culture and politics to boot. His patreon is a monthly one to help support him (and thereby his family) while he pursues all his various writing endeavors. He’ll be releasing his next short story to his direct backers this month so get in on this one quick!

Kameron Hurley is a Hugo award winner and Arthur C. Clarke nominee. She is writing some of the most interesting and original fantasy fiction novels going today and her patreon is offering access to new short stories (and other perks for higher contributions). She’s already hit two Patreon milestones and as the per story pot gets bigger longer pieces of fiction (novelettes & novellas) get added to the rewards.

Podcasts

Mur Lafferty is a writer and a podcaster. I’m a fan of her’s in both arenas. Her podcast “I Should Be Writing” (for wannabe writers) is one of the things that most convinced me I could really pursue writing as a serious thing. If you are looking for motivation and information on how to navigate a successful writing life this show is a must. In recent months she and author Matt Wallace have started a second podcast called Ditch Diggers that tackles writing as a profession and gets into more of the nitty-gritty, how the sausage is made aspects of being a working writer. A must show if you’re in a career place like me where you’ve started to sell and are interested in writing as a business and career.

The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy is my favorite SF&F themed podcast. They interview writers of both fiction and non-fiction as well as journalists, filmmakers, comic book writers, video game designers, internet stars, and astronauts. They also have roundtable discussion style episodes. Along with the new weekly episodes they are producing with help from the Patreon they also have old episodes going back to 2010 and if you have any interest in anything SF&F (and H!) I’m sure you’ll be able to find episodes that cover your personal interests.

Other

Along with the above I support two other Patreons.

MEDIEVALPOC: PEOPLE OF COLOR IN EUROPEAN ART HISTORY is, in my opinion, one of the most important projects you could possibly support. In their own words: Medievalpoc is a collection of art, history, and academic resources accessible to anyone…These artworks and documentation are readily available on multiple social media platforms, including Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and Medievalpoc.org. Along with getting to see all kinds of wonderful art you are very, very likely to learn many a thing and gain some new perspectives on history if you spend some time perusing their posts. It is a project I’m very happy to support and it is one I think any writer should consider a mandatory resource for broadening our perspectives and opening our minds, if for nothing else.

Every Frame A Painting  produces video essays on the film form. Put another way, creator Tony Zhou is creating a master class on understanding film. As a huge film fan that alone is fascinating to me. As someone who might one day turn his hand to writing for visual mediums it is an opportunity to learn I can’t pass up. If you love film you owe it to yourself to check out his video essays and then to consider supporting him in making more.