My original intention when starting to post this story online was simply to get some commentary from potential readers. I've never written any long-form fiction before this- just a few short stories for college writing classes many, many years ago. I wanted to see if I could write a novel, and if I did, would anybody like it?

The jury is still out on whether I can write it- not all evidence has been evaluated yet. After all, it's still unfinished as of this point. I'm pretty happy with the progress so far, and the reviews you guys have been posting lead me to believe that at least a few of you are enjoying reading my work in fumbling attempt to tell a story. Thanks for that.

So now we get to the question I have for all of you. Several readers have suggested I set up a donations button, but I just am not sure how that would even work. Of course I'd love a little monetary renumeration for my efforts, but that's never been my main goal here. I am not going to put the story behind any sort of paywall. But if you guys like the story enough to think it might be worth a dollar or two, I'll happily hold my hat out.

The options here on Royal Road are limited to Patreon and PayPal. In all honesty, I don't care for Paypal and worry that my story could get flagged as smut and blackballed by them and have them seize the donations. It might be a long shot, but I've seen it happen to other creators so I know it does happen. Sometimes in cases where the artist isn't even all that risque- all it takes is for a complaint or two and bam! You're toast.

Not that I think it's likely, but there are jerks out there who might post a complaint just to be, well, jerks.

Similar things happen on Patreon, but at least they give warning and don't withhold the funds. However, Patreon's model is almost entirely subscription-based, and I am not too comforatble with that model. I mean, do I ask for a monthly amount (even though my story is only likely to run for another couple of months at the most)? Do I ask for a per-post amount, which at their minimum could run up to $30 or more by the time my story is done? They take a chunk, too, which I guess is O.K. They have to make their money, too, but still... on small amounts it adds up to a hefty percentage.

Ko-Fi seems like a better alternative, since it's geared towards one-time small dollar amounts with no fees to either the reader or me, the author. But... isn't supported by RR's Donate mechanism, so I really don't know what to do.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. If you think Patreon is the way to go, I'd love to hear your ideas on tiers, how much, what incentives, so on. If you think simple one-time donations via PayPal is the correct route, tell me why that is your answer.

I really don't know what to do, or if I should even bother. Maybe the best thing I could do is publish the story as an E-book on Smashwords or something and beg you guys to buy a copy for a few bucks if you liked the story when it's done.

Thoughts? Advice? Please, let me know.

Gen