Reviewing My Goals vs Tier Rewards

Hi, everyone!

When I started making maps for Patreon I could make a map and release it during a single evening. This is not the case anymore because of certain requirements I have set for my maps. Now a single map can take a week or even two to make. 

The reason is partially that I make the maps on evenings and I have longer periods of free-time only on one or two nights each week. If I don't get the map done in that time, it might take days before I have a chance to concentrate on making a map again. 

The other part of the equation is my workflow. For some time now, I've been tracking how much I spend time for different parts of my map making process and I've found out that the preparations for the delivery take currently a huge part of the total work. Sometimes even more than drawing the map! Honestly, I would like to invest this time in making more maps, not preparing them for release :) 

Also, I switched to monthly model to allow more flexibility in my creative work and releases, but now I realized that I have set clear requirements on what I have to do for each map for each tier. This has put me in a rigid frame or requirements and has defeated the original purpose of switching to monthly. I love to make detailed color maps with all the variations etc, but I also like to make simple and straightforward old-school maps. I also would like to publish more maps per month, but because of the before mentioned reasons this has not been possible. This is a problem of my own creation, but now that I've realized the situation, I need to fix it. 

What I'm trying to achieve by fixing this:

• More maps per month released.
• More creative freedom.
• More variation in maps and their styles.
• Less stress for me and my family.  

To fix this I need to change the tier rewards to some extent, and because of this, I have decided to adjust the rewards for each tier starting 1st of September. I will update the tiers during the upcoming weekend according to the plan below. 

Here's the plan:

• I'm going to keep the old tiers, but some rewards are going to change or switch around a bit. 
• I'm getting rid of most of the "paywalls". I would like as many as possible to enjoy my work regardless of their financial situation. Still, the Finnish law requires that in these kind of services like Patreon, supporters need to have some sort of compensation. So, there will be a compensation or special benefit for each tier, but they are likely to be more abstract and/or unrelated to maps. I.e. Special credits, discounts, etc. This is to give each tier a specific compensation, but keep things flexible for me and allow me to adjust my work based on my current life situation and ideas.  
• $10 PDF tier is going to stay pretty much as is, but it's likely going to change into a PDF collection (or collections) that I will update regularly instead of multiple smaller PDFs (tell me what you think of this).
• $15 Commercial tier will remain. Some changes are possible, but a PSD and commercial license are staying. 
• I'm adding a new $8 tier. (details TBD)

All in all, my intent is that this will result in more maps for you, and less stress for me. 

I try to keep the changes so that they are not too drastic or will cause minimal trouble to you - preferably none. If you are happy with the new tier rewards (I will let you know when they are public), no action is required from you.

Thank you! 

- Miska