How to Set Up Patreon for Authors
Patreon is the most widely recognized creator subscription platform — with millions of active patrons already paying for exclusive access to creators they love. Its general-creator orientation means it lacks some fiction-specific features that Ream offers natively, but it compensates with a larger existing audience ecosystem, established payment infrastructure, and more flexible content formats. This guide covers the complete Patreon setup for authors.
Patreon vs. Ream: A Quick Decision Framework
Before building your Patreon, confirm it's the right platform for your content:
If your primary subscription content is serial fiction chapters posted chapter-by-chapter, evaluate Ream (see HT26) before committing to Patreon. If your content mix includes video, audio, behind-the-scenes posts, craft discussion, and occasional fiction content alongside other formats, Patreon's infrastructure handles that breadth better.
Step 1: Create Your Patreon Account
Go to patreon.com and click Create on Patreon. Sign up with your email or Google account. Select the creator account type — Patreon has different onboarding flows for different creator categories. Select Writing or Creator as the most relevant category.
Payment and Tax Setup
From your creator dashboard, navigate to Payouts in the left sidebar. Connect your bank account for direct deposit or set up your preferred payout method. Patreon pays on a monthly schedule — patron payments process on the 1st of each month (for monthly billing) and payouts to creators happen after a processing period.
Complete Patreon's tax information requirements. US creators provide W-9 information. Non-US creators provide W-8BEN equivalent. Without completed tax documentation, Patreon may withhold taxes from your earnings.
Patreon's fee structure: Patreon Pro (5% platform fee) is the standard tier for most creators. Patreon Premium (8% fee) includes additional features. Payment processing adds approximately 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Your effective take-home on a $10/month patron is approximately $8.50–$9.00 after fees.
Step 2: Build Your Creator Page
Your Patreon page is your storefront — the first thing potential patrons see when they consider supporting you. From your creator dashboard, click Edit Page.
Profile Setup
Profile photo: your author headshot — the same professional photo you use on Amazon Author Central and your author website
Cover image: a wider banner image representing your brand — can be a composite of your book covers, an atmospheric image relevant to your writing, or a custom-designed banner
Creator name: your author name as you use it everywhere else
Page URL: patreon.com/YourAuthorName — customize this to match your author brand
About Section
The About section is your primary pitch. Write for potential patrons who don't yet know you — explain what you create, what they receive as a patron, and why supporting you matters. Be specific about your content. 'Exclusive monthly fiction content' is vague. 'A new bonus chapter in my Dragon Riders series every month, plus my monthly author letter covering what I'm working on and reading' is compelling.
Include your publication history — your existing books give potential patrons confidence that you can deliver on your promises. Link to your website and anywhere else readers can learn more about your work.
Step 3: Design Your Tier Structure
Tiers are the subscription levels patrons choose. Each tier has a monthly price and a set of associated benefits. Design tiers that deliver clear, increasing value without creating unsustainable content demands on yourself.
Recommended Tier Structure for Authors
Three to four tiers is the right range. More than five tiers creates decision paralysis for potential patrons. Your highest value tier should include something genuinely scarce — personalized signed copies, monthly video calls, or direct manuscript feedback — that commands its premium price.
What Makes Good Patron Benefits
Benefits that work well for author Patreons:
Exclusive fiction content — bonus chapters, alternate POV scenes, short stories set in your fictional world
Early access to published work — reading chapters before anyone else
Author process content — writing updates, research notes, world-building behind-the-scenes
Monthly author letter — personal, substantive, not just a newsletter repackage
Patron-only polls — influence story decisions, character names, future book choices
Physical mail rewards — postcard, bookmark, or note at premium tiers
Backlist ebook access — PDF/ePub of older titles at appropriate tiers
Benefits that sound good but create unsustainable demands:
Personalized video messages at low tiers — scale destroys this quickly
Monthly physical packages for all patrons — shipping logistics are brutal at scale
Custom fiction on request — setting this as a general benefit is unsustainable
Setting Up Tiers in Patreon
From your creator dashboard, click Memberships in the left sidebar
Click + Add a tier
Set the tier name (e.g., 'Chapter Reader', 'Inner Circle', 'Founding Member')
Set the monthly price
Write the tier description — a concise list of what this tier includes
Add benefits — Patreon's benefit system lets you create individual benefits and attach them to tiers
Set the patron limit if applicable — for premium tiers, a limited number of spots creates scarcity
Save and repeat for each tier
Step 4: Configure Your Welcome Message
From Membership Settings, set up your automated welcome message — the message new patrons receive immediately after joining. A strong welcome message:
Thanks them specifically for joining (name the tier they joined)
Tells them exactly where to find their benefits immediately — links to relevant posts, how to access the Discord if you have one, etc.
Sets expectations for upcoming content — when they can expect the next post
Includes any practical information they need (how to manage their subscription, where to ask questions)
The welcome message is the first patron experience after payment. Make it warm, specific, and immediately useful.
Step 5: Create Your First Posts
Before launching to your audience, create a few posts so new patrons who arrive see active content rather than an empty page.
Post Types on Patreon
Setting Post Access Levels
Every post you create can be set to Public (visible to everyone, including non-patrons), Patron-only (visible to all tiers), or Specific tier minimum (visible only to patrons at or above a specified tier). Public posts appear on your Patreon page and can be discovered by non-patrons — use them as teasers. Tier-locked posts are your core subscription value.
Step 6: Community Features
Patreon includes built-in community features that can deepen patron engagement:
Comments: patrons can comment on posts — respond promptly to build community
Direct messages: patrons at certain tiers can message you directly depending on your settings
Discord integration: Patreon integrates natively with Discord, automatically granting Discord role access based on patron tier — set this up if you have or want a Discord server
The Discord integration is one of Patreon's most powerful community features for authors. Patrons at the entry tier get access to a general channel; premium patrons get access to exclusive channels with more direct access to you. Discord activity builds community around your work independent of any single book launch.
Step 7: Connect to Your Email List
New patrons should automatically flow into your email list so you can reach them outside Patreon if needed — platform risk applies here as much as anywhere.
MailerLite: use Zapier to connect Patreon new patron events to MailerLite subscriber additions
ConvertKit/Kit: same approach via Zapier — new patron triggers add to specific sequence or tag
Patreon's direct integrations: check Patreon's current integration options (they expand over time) for native email platform connections
Export your patron email list from Patreon periodically as a backup — Patreon allows email export from your patron list. This gives you a portable record of your patron community independent of the platform.
Patreon subscription income connects to ScribeCount as part of your direct revenue tracking. For authors building Patreon alongside wide retail distribution and other direct sales channels, seeing your monthly recurring Patreon income alongside variable retail royalties in ScribeCount shows how the subscription baseline stabilizes your total author income picture.
Step 8: Launch to Your Audience
When your page is complete with tiers, benefits, a welcome message, and at least a few initial posts, you're ready to launch. Send an email announcement to your list explaining what Patreon is, what they receive at each tier, and why you're building this. Include direct links to your most appealing tiers.
Set a launch goal — a specific number of patrons you want in the first 30 days — and share your progress publicly. Visible momentum encourages new patrons. Authors who hit an early milestone (50 patrons, $500/month) should announce it — social proof matters.
Common Patreon Mistakes
Creating too many tiers — more than 4–5 causes decision paralysis and reduces conversions
Promising benefits you can't sustain — adding physical rewards at low tiers before understanding shipping volume
Posting inconsistently — patrons who subscribe for exclusive content and receive nothing cancel immediately
Not setting up the welcome message — first impressions determine whether patrons stay
Not connecting Patreon to your email list — losing the patron relationship outside Patreon if the platform changes
Not connecting Patreon to ScribeCount — missing visibility into how subscription income fits into your total author business
Patreon works for authors who consistently create content worth a monthly subscription. The setup is quick — the challenge is the ongoing commitment to posting at the frequency and quality your tiers promise. Design tiers around what you can genuinely sustain, communicate clearly with your patrons, and build the community that makes cancellation feel like leaving something real rather than just canceling a service.