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You are here: Home > Forum > A Place of Safety > General Talk > Server costs - Keeping the site free
Server costs - Keeping the site free  [message #71280] Tue, 22 March 2016 01:23 Go to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



Our current model of using adverts on our other domains has started to give insufficient revenue to pay for the server. I am experimenting with donations via Patreon.

I'm not yet 100% sure how it works, and there is no compulsion to contribute. I'm interested in your opinions. The site will always be free of charge, and I don't want to add tacky adverts, either. We used to have a PayPal donation scheme years ago, but PayPal's morality police cancelled the account!

The patreon link is:

https://www.patreon.com/iomfats

Snappy, huh?

You are the best folk to give feedback on this, so please let me know what you think.

What I intend to do is to put the links on sensible pages on the site itself, possibly with a cute button Smile

[Updated on: Tue, 22 March 2016 01:24]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Server costs - Keeping the site free  [message #71281 is a reply to message #71280] Tue, 22 March 2016 11:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NW is currently offline  NW

On fire!
Location: Worcester, England
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 1558



A link on sensible pages sounds fine, and perfectly inoffensive. However, it might be better to keep such links down to a small number, and supplement it by an annual appeal, in much the same way Wikipedia does. I, for one, am more likely to get my act together once a year than I am to make occasional smaller impulse payments. It may, of course, be very different for others, especially for the large number of young-and often-broke readers.

It will be interesting to see what others think.



"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
Re: Server costs - Keeping the site free  [message #71285 is a reply to message #71280] Wed, 23 March 2016 14:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



I'm taking a quiet approach to implementation. I've released the news in today's email story announcement, and I've created a simple donation page.

I will, at some point, design a donation button.

Some of our authors, when they write for Nifty, request donations there on the pages of the stories they submit there. I may decide to ask them if they mind a donation request on their stories. I am not yet sure about that. You see, what I want to avoid is tackiness.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Server costs - Keeping the site free  [message #71304 is a reply to message #71285] Sun, 27 March 2016 18:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Smokr is currently offline  Smokr

Likes it here
Location: the burning former USofA
Registered: July 2010
Messages: 399



It's a tough corner. I got rid of the forums on my site when it got too busy and I had to upgrade due to bandwidth/usage issues. Not to mention patrolling posts and dealing with angry posters who put up something tacky or revolting. I admire your determination and fortitude in keeping this thing going.
I'd like to suggest selling donated stories in Kindle/Ebook form. Start a book store. Work with your authors and those willing can split sales on your site with you. I'd be more than willing to put my entire 'for sale' stories collections on your site and split the earnings with you. I'll even offer to put other authors' stories in HTML, Word, RichText, or OpenOffice format into Kindle/Ebook form and you can sell them here.
We can start with the First Time Stories. I'll put them into an Ebook and Kindle format, donate the books to your site, and you can sell it for a few bucks, and keep the proceeds for the site. Those who like the stories can buy them all in one go instead of waiting for them to be posted over time. Knowing you you'd insist on sharing the revenue, but consider it my donation to the site... if it sells any worth counting.
I use PayHip for sales. It's not flashy or fancy, but it is flexible and easy, and you can have the sales sent to anything from PayPal to your bank account. https://payhip.com/RaySmithsStories
A book store probably wouldn't pay for the entire site, but it could certainly help out.


[Updated on: Sun, 27 March 2016 18:45]




raysstories.com
Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #71462 is a reply to message #71280] Mon, 02 May 2016 08:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



Those who have wished to have set up regular donations which they may vary or cancel at any time. Some have done that already, which is excellent. I'm pleased that these are not vast sums of money. We're about to receive the second month's monies from Patreon in a couple of days. We have a slight surplus now two months in a row, and we're applying that surplus to future months where we might hit lean times.

We have scrupulous records of all the transactions, in and out. We will not ever make a personal profit form this scheme.

Thank you, whether you are a sponsor or not.





Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #71486 is a reply to message #71462] Wed, 04 May 2016 14:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Nick Brady is currently offline  Nick Brady

Getting started
Location: Tulsa, OK
Registered: August 2015
Messages: 7



Timmy -
I found the Patreon site awkward. I am not interested in a monthly contribution but would be happy to send you $20 from time to time. How can I make a donation to Iomfats directly without setting up a Patreon account?
Nick
Re: Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #71487 is a reply to message #71486] Wed, 04 May 2016 17:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



"Nick Brady wrote on Wed, 04 May 2016 15:54"
Timmy -
I found the Patreon site awkward. I am not interested in a monthly contribution but would be happy to send you $20 from time to time. How can I make a donation to Iomfats directly without setting up a Patreon account?
Nick

--
Before the PayPal morality police it was simple. Now it is not. I also find Patreon awkward. I hoped one could have both a monthly subscription and an occasional donation. I think one does that by donating X in month 1, and, after the source of funds is charged, turn X down to zero, only turning it up to Y when one wishes and chooses to donate.

At present we have a slight excess coming to us. I don't really want to encourage folk to increase that excess. I am honoured that you wish to contribute. What I suggest is to defer your offer until we no longer have an excess. If, then, you stil wish to contribute a small sum, of the order of a cup of coffee's worth of funds, all may have changed anyway.

I've only resorted to Patreon because advertising revenue has fallen off a cliff.

I will ask the Patreon help desk.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #71488 is a reply to message #71487] Wed, 04 May 2016 18:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



Patreon have replied. That was fast:
Quote:
This is a problem indeed- I've added the feature request for one-off payments, but that's not likely to be here before the next billing cycle, so here's what I'd recommend. 

The site is really designed for recurring payments, so that's the easiest to do, the most difficult is those one-offs. what most people do is pledge, and then after the billing is run at the start of the new month- delete the pledge.


Solving this depends on their will to do so. There is no huge technical obstacle to doing so.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #77507 is a reply to message #71462] Tue, 08 December 2020 23:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NW is currently offline  NW

On fire!
Location: Worcester, England
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 1558



So, some years later, are your costs still being covered, Timmy? I could add a quid or so to what I give, if server costs etc have gone up for you.

Nick W.



"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
Re: Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #77512 is a reply to message #77507] Thu, 10 December 2020 20:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



"NW wrote on Tue, 08 December 2020 23:42"
So, some years later, are your costs still being covered, Timmy? I could add a quid or so to what I give, if server costs etc have gone up for you.

Nick W.

--
I am so grateful for the offer, but our costs are covered with some change. The change is recorded carefully against lean times. We have a buffer

[Updated on: Thu, 10 December 2020 20:02]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Second month closes, And THANK YOU  [message #77513 is a reply to message #77512] Thu, 10 December 2020 21:28 Go to previous message
NW is currently offline  NW

On fire!
Location: Worcester, England
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 1558



That's good to hear.

N.



"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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