Carl Sells Out

Would you fund a blog written by this unsavory-lookin' guy? Okay, howzabout if I say "Please?" 

As of this week, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) is now hooked in with the popular crowd-funding site Patreon. While I don't mind doing this daily blog for free, I sure wouldn't object to seein' a little cash out of this deal. I'm gettin' older, man, and I'm going to need to see about raising some revenue. It'd sure be cool if I could once again make some money writing. If you're interested, you can join that effort right here. Patrons will also receive the blog posts via e-mail. Here's how my Patreon mission statement explains it:

"My shocking confession: I used to write for money. Freelance writing was always a sideline for me, but I had a decent run writing about pop music for Goldmine magazine, writing about comics for Amazing Heroes and The Comics Buyer's Guide, writing liner notes for Rhino Records' Poptopia! Power Pop Classics Of The '90s, and contributing to the book Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth. But I stopped; too busy, insufficient enthusiasm, too little reward. 

I missed it. I missed writing.

In January of 2016, prompted by my sense of melancholy when David Bowie died, I began a blog, Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). I set the goal of writing at least one post a day, every day.  I've kept with it, and I've been delighted with the response, delighted with the sheer joy of writing again. Starting the blog was one of the best decisions I ever made.

But I used to write for money. I kinda miss that, too.

Patreon offers an opportunity to rectify that. It gives fans of my writing an opportunity to support my work, and gives me the potential to have something to show for it. I thank you, one and all, for your interest in this, and I'll continue to offer you my daily thoughts on The Monkees, Batman, The Ramones, and others of their giddy, intoxicating ilk. A post a day, every day--that's the Boppin' way."

Catchy!

With very modest goals in mind, I've set up three tiers for potential Boppin' supporters on Patreon. If the goals are modest, then by God, so are the incentives! To wit:

FOR THOSE WHO PLEDGE AT LEAST $2 A MONTH: Gratitude! UNDYING gratitude! All this, and a personal message (via e-mail) each month, expressing the aforementioned undying gratitude!

FOR THOSE WHO PLEDGE AT LEAST $5 A MONTH:  At the hoity-toity $5 monthly level, you will receive (via e-mail) a bonus, previously-unpublished blog post. Each month's bonus blog post will initially ONLY be available to patrons, and will not be published for the public until at least one month after its distribution to patrons. 

FOR THOSE WHO PLEDGE AT LEAST $10 A MONTH: You! You generous, debonair, sweet-smellin', hot-lookin' Patron O' The Arts, you! You get each of the previous two worthless incentives, AND you get to suggest the topic for a future blog post. Now, this ain't the blog equivalent of a suicide pact--I still retain the right to opt out of your suggestion if I think it's inappropriate for me--but I'll make a good-faith effort to accommodate as many of your suggestions as I can. 

Furthermore, there is an overall initial fundraising goal with its own notably nondescript incentive: If this scam...er, patronage plan achieves its modest first goal of a mere $100 a month, I'll snail-mail a personal note of thanks AND a badly-drawn sketch of some super-hero (my choice!) to each patron. From small things, Mama....

I'm gonna be rich! I'm gonna be a MILLIONAIRE! I'm gonna own a mansion AND a yacht! I'm gonna...I'm gonna...I'm gonna be writin' for free for the rest of my days, aren't I? Damn....

But what the hell--this costs me nothing to try, and it gives theoretical fans of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) an opportunity to be involved with this blog if they choose to do so. And that first bonus blog piece for the $5 donors? It's the preamble section from my long-promised, ever-forthcoming book about The Ramones. That book might never be completed, and I will not be publishing that preamble on the blog any time soon.  But it will be available to the above-mentioned hoity-toity patrons of Boppin'.

Oh, and rest assured: this blog will not suddenly be taken over by marketing and hard sell. It will continue pretty much exactly as it has, with at least one post a day, every day, for free. If you wanna support that effort, well, I'm delighted to have ya, my friend. Delighted!

Oh. Um...I don't care how much you spend; I ain't writin' about Bob Seger.