An Update (Patreon)

Hello everyone! I wanted to put something here as it's been too long since I last posted, frankly, and I've been whirring away behind the scenes thinking about the best way to approach this platform. Thank you all for being here, for supporting me both in follows and donations, and just being a genuinely lovely, brilliant community that I'm constantly baffled to be surrounded by. Starting up this page was scary and I think I'm still a bit scared to be honest, so I'm making some changes. The short version is...

I'll be stripping back this Patreon page to better suit my current situation.

For my paid followers, I hate the thought of offering what's a largely empty space as a return on your investment, especially now it's been a year that I've been living the solo creator life. I've made it no secret that personal life has been tumultuous, and now my mental health is compounded by changing up my medication as well as re-investing in myself by getting a part-time job. I'm in a big period of experimentation and making changes. That being said...

My work and my passion for horror, gaming, and entertainment media at large is still here and I have loads more to offer across a bunch of platforms.

I really want to stress I still exist in the same way doing streaming and social media - but I feel the most respectful thing for you and myself is to take any pressure off Patreon for now. Tiers will be consolidated into one price with no guaranteed rewards other than a fancy Discord role to show that you're my favourite. If I have any major updates or exclusives I can offer early access on, those will be posted on the feed and directed to from my social media pages, but there's no promise that will be a regular occurrence.

Realistically this choice comes as there's also been a handful of people that think a monetised platform means they can directly contact me with sexually explicit requests, which was never the point of this place. It's annoying and invasive and I have no patience for it. Patreon was originally intended as a home for YouTube support, but that's something I can re-approach when I've shaped up what's going on over there.

For total transparency, I make roughly £240 a month from Patreon.

That has massively helped with buying equipment, funding myself getting to and from London for events, and proving to myself (and my parents) that making money doing shit I love isn't impossible. Comparatively, I make about £300 month from Twitch as my next main regular source of income, and everything else comes from guest appearances on channels like NRB and CutScene, sponsored posts for thing like Phasmophobia, voices on The NoSleep Podcast, and some pocket money from YouTube for reposting my VODs - all of which have the fun "Freelance Variable" rate.

That's all to say that this isn't a decision I've made lightly, as there's real impact on my regular income. The monthly streams have been a pleasure, but I also feel I can incorporate them better into Twitch (I'm also doing all in my power to protect that schedule whilst I adjust to having less time in a new job, which this decision makes work better as well).

I hope that all makes sense and feels understandable, and most of all reads as POSITIVE! Because it is really, even if it might seem different at first glance. I feel good for knowing what works for me and being fair and clear on what people pay for.

Using different tiers for specialised rewards might become the right place for me again, depending on where creating silly little videos takes me. Right now though, I'm taking it back to basics.

In every capacity and from all the nasty black corners of my heart, thank you all so, so much for being here. I hope I'll see you elsewhere on the internet in the meantime!

You can find me everything I do and my social media pages through https://ashmillman.co.uk <3

Peace and love, blood and guts,

Ash xxx

P.S. Alternative options to Patreon I have are:

• Ko-fi, a page that can be regularly subscribed to but allows for one-off donations. This is purely for tips and won't have any extra content on it, but exists if you'd still like to support me financially for the things I put out without long term commitment (thank you!) - https://ko-fi.com/ashmillman

• Throne, a wishlist page where I put both personal treats and equipment that helps with covering games, if you'd prefer to see exactly what your money goes towards (thank you!) - https://throne.com/ashmillman