at the end of another month And Erin is still having to BEG for sufficient funds to keep the doors open.
I've done all _I_ can do to help her and so have a lot of others for whom effusive thanks will never be enough.
It comes down to all of the rest of us to do our best to alleviate this never ending shortfall that causes ulcers and other stress caused ailments that plague Erin, Piper et all.
If I must, consider this a plea on bended knee to HELP. Just ONE DAMNED DOLLAR from each one of you would add up to more than enough to defray the costs of keeping Top Shelf online and improving for months to come!
C'mon folks. You can't even buy a cup of coffee or a soft drink for a dollar! Even a bottle of WATER is more than a buck!
Again, many, many, many thanks to those who have opened their wallets and their hearts to help keep this wonderful place open for business and pleasure. It simply could not be done without the help you have, so graciously and unselfishly given.
Erin opened this great site and has kept it going because for her it's a labor of love for her. She loves all of us, despite our immeasurable faults and inevitable squabbles, but she can no longer do it all by herself. You, We are needed to keep her from descending into the pit of pennilessness.(sp?)
Bills MUST be paid. Equipment MUST be upgraded and maintained. Technical assistance MUST be found and paid for. Without all of those things and many more, this wonderful place will simply vanish like so many others have, and we will all have lost the place where we can be ourselves, The place where we can showcase out talents, where we can be entertained by the great storytellers and be comforted by words of care and advice from our peers and friends.
Please, please, please do what you can? Like I said earlier, just one dollar from every member would fill the coffers for at least a month, if not two!
Thank you for reading this and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped in the past.
Catherine Linda Michel
Comments
What she said!
Plus remember is almost Christmas
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
I contribute when I can
but those of us mere mortals really have no idea of the detail when it comes to running this site.
I'm sure that donations might be more forthcoming if we knew how the money was being spent.
Samantha
I've done this before
Expenses:
Servers, Co-located and leased with premium grade connectivity: about 1700 a month;
Office expense: We rent a small office in Toms River and a mailbox nearby in Brielle: about 550
Internet and partial phones: about 650, CA, NJ and England, we need hi-speed reliable commercial internet
Software leases: about 150 this is mostly for the software to manage multiple servers
Bookkeeping: 200 a month
Partial salary for Piper so she doesn't have to look for other work: 2000
Medical insurance for Piper: 250
Miscellaneous: 200 a month
Paying down debts and server replacement budget: 2000
======================
$7700
Advertising, leasing out some server space, DopplerPress and my credit make up the difference and cover directly some expenses not listed above.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Debit card easy peasy
Link to pay online made so easy $10.00 on the way, after medical bills this month that is all that is extra. Promise to do a little better next month.
Catherine I had posted in the past for $5.00 as that would not hurt that much, But like you say $1.00 helps. I always but a buck in the bucket for kids collecting for the sports team in front of Wal-Mart
HUGS
Patreon
Is there any chance Erin can set up a patreon account for bigcloset? While it's not likely that it can get $5000 a month, it helps a lot in making those who want to help but won't go out of their way to help support bigcloset. I think the problem is not that people don't want to help, it's just that people don't want to spend extra effort to help.
Basically, it's not about asking people to support, but making it easier for people to support.
With patreon, these people can just set aside probably $2 a month and forget about it. Patreon will charge their credit cards, bank accounts or paypal account monthly without the account owner having to click a button other than when they first set it up. I come from novel translation community and you won't believe how many of the translators have their own patreon drives and many of them receive more than $200 a month from translating 4-5 chapters within that month. Some of them get more than $500 and those who run their translation service as a company even get more than that, despite it being illegal. I think with a site such as bigcloset, it's not unreasonable to expect $500 a month at least.
As for the sexual content of bigcloset, there's no need to worry. Patreon doesn't approve of such things, but they don't talk about it either. Fenoxo, the creator of a popular adult game Corruption of Champions make $32,475 a month. His game is as sexual and as lewd as anything can be. It's not banned, Patreon only doesn't feature it despite how much money it's making. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=121401
I don't know the stats for bigcloset, but even if those who can pay for it pledge $1 or $2 a month, the end result would still be quite a sizeable sum, don't you agree? As for reward, you can just open Hatbox for the pledges and you can conduct competitions from time to time.
Patreon, giving it a try
Well, here goes:
Become a Patron!
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Patreon
Just to inform that you will still need to promote your patreon page and it will still take months before you see anything substantial. Those I know had to wait for about half a year before they meet their goals, some never met their goals.
Also, just an advice. You have too many levels. Possible patrons will feel wary over the kind of privilege they're getting and that would be detrimental to your campaign. Platinum, thorium and unobtanium levels are also too expensive and will serve to discourage possible patrons. Old-timer bigcloseters probably won't care about it and just give the minimum $1, but those who only come across it may find it hard to stomach.
My suggestion is:
$1 - For those who just honestly want to support bigcloset and doesn't care about rewards.
$3 - Same with #1, for those who want to give more support than $1
$5 - Same with #1 and #2, but with Hatbox access. I don't think this would be a problem, seeing as they're paying it every month.
$10
$20
$50
Even this may feel a bit overwhelming to new patrons, but since you're giving doppler press books at $50, I think it's ok. Additionally, you may want to put a 'credits' page in bigcloset, for those who have gone above and beyond in supporting bigcloset, which can also be a patreon reward. Also, you need to put a link on your patreon page that links to bigcloset website. Yeah, I know, something you can easily google, but some people can't be bothered googling it but they can still be possible patrons. You just need to make it easy for them to verify that you're not trying to scam them.
It's just an advice, based on successful patreon drives in novel translation community. I myself will run patreon drive next year to support my game development.
Thanks for the advice!
I'll leave it the way it is for the moment. Things are busy around here. When I get around to promoting it more I'll do more.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
You've got $10 a month from
You've got $10 a month from me for the foreseeable future. :-)
Thanks, hon
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Oh God, I wish I could.
At this point, after my sudden illness, I am not working, and relying on a relative who is on disability to feed me, and give me carfare to see my doctors, oh and paying to keep my internet up(I hope).
All I can spare right now is a prayer for the site and everyone involved tucked in with my other prayers.
~Hypatia
And yet...
Here we are, assuming that the Nov. 27th 'kitty' update is accurate, showing the monthly goal met and a surplus carrying into December. This seems to be the case more often than not. And this with a monthly 'ask' of $5K, up from $1K when I first started reading here. The money requests keep coming, even when the goal is met.
The expenses Erin lists are business expenses. Janglewood LLC is a business, with BC being a part of its income stream. The funds donated by BC readers fund the expansion and pay for expenses not directly related to the operation of this website. The monetary requests to 'keep BC operating' seem a bit disingenuous in that light. Think I'm wrong? Read http://www.qnez.net/#gallery. Hobby website to enterprise scale.
I'd honestly have no issues with BC being run as a business if it were presented as such, with the monies raised forthrightly presented as business income/profits. I'm reasonably sure that's how the tax agencies would consider it. I'm also certain that I'll be burned in cyber-effigy by some of the BC faithful, and that's OK. I also know many of you have the same thoughts/questions/reservations that I have.
I'm not questioning the original good intentions involved in creating and operating this website. I just think that it morphed into something that it wasn't originally meant to be, and some candor was lost in the process.
I'll be interested to see if this post sees the light of day, assuming that I'm not banned for speaking out.
Sorry, hon
I honestly do not understand your point. And yes, we do pay taxes and BC is organized as part of Janglewood LLC which is a business.
How else would we be able to run it? What is the alternative? It sounds like you are complaining about something but I honestly do not understand what it is that is bothering you about what we do here. You want us to stop? Stop what?
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
My point
...is that the $5K+ you ask for each month is presented as necessary to keeping BC alive. There's no way that it costs that much to run this website. Witness whateleyacademy.net, the Whateley Academy website. They're off your servers now, and have been for awhile. I've yet to see a solicitation for funds there. The bulk of the money raised here goes to fund the expansion and operation of Janglewood, a business that you've built on the donations of good-hearted contributors. What I feel to be disingenuous is the way that the donation requests are couched, as if all the money raised goes toward the operation of this website, and that its collapse is imminent if you fall short of your goal. I'm sure all wish you well in your business ventures but I feel pretty confident that the gifts put forth are given with this website in mind.
You asked what I want you to stop. What I'd like is for the appeals for cash to be presented in a more forthright, less televangelist-like manner. 'Mama wants a new server' tugs at the heartstrings less than "...this wonderful place will simply vanish like so many others have, and we will all have lost the place where we can be ourselves, The place where we can showcase out talents, where we can be entertained by the great storytellers and be comforted by words of care and advice from our peers and friends.", but it's more accurate. This website is important to many and I certainly don't want to see it go away. I do, however, question how many of your contributors would pony up each month if the appeals for cash were represented as profit tools rather than the quasi-charitable donations that many perceive them to be.
Nice
Nice that you know so much about our operations and finance. That you are wrong is not your fault, I suppose. The scale of what Whateley does, does not compare to what we do. BigCloset is the single biggest thing that consumes the hours of both mine and Piper's days.
Our pleas for help are true and the fact that you cannot conceive of this is not our fault. But the words you are quoting are not ours, they are the words of one of our fans making a plea for us.
Profit? It is an illusion. I go deeper into debt every year, and Piper lives pretty much hand to mouth because of spending all her time keeping BC running and we can't afford to pay her a living wage.
Your point is that you are right about something you have never attempted and know nothing about and that we are liars. If someone gave me $35,000 right now, I would still not be out of debt. So much for your profits.
We could convert to a non-profit organization instead of a business but to be frank, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO BE A NON-PROFIT. It would actually require another full time person to keep up with all the paperwork required to be a non-profit. The fact that we are organized as a business seems to be what offends you. Sorry about that, but there is no other way to do it and be within the law.
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I'll drop money in PayPal in the morning,
But because I don't have a credit card, it will take a week or so to transfer it over to there.
Once I have the money in the PayPal account, likely some time the week after next, I'll drop $20 US to you folks.