Allow me to take a quick digression from the usual posting cycle to make an announcement today.
Amazingly, this project is nearing its halfway point, at least for 2021. As of today (June 22nd), I’ve written and published 50 posts out of the 105 planned for the year. This has me thinking a lot about next steps for this project, and where it will go in 2022 and beyond.
So far, the style and scope of the blog has been working well enough for me, but for 2022, I want to produce longer-form pieces with illustrative photography, documentary pieces, and many other things.
I also want to build a community around what I’m doing. Not just a passive audience, but an actively involved one.
Which is why I’ve put up a Patreon page for Somewhere in Japan.
If you’re familiar with Patreon, go ahead and click the button. If it’s new to you, though, no problem!
Simply, Patreon is a platform that allows people to actively support working artists, allowing them to do more and better work. You might think of it as crowdfunded art patronage for the 21st century.
Other artists have some pretty intense Patreon pages, with multiple tiers for patrons and things like that, but for now I’m keeping things simple and affordable. If you want to help support this project, covering expenses and giving me a bit more financial breathing room so I can concentrate more on making things, you can do that for just $3 per month.
$3/mo is about ten cents a day, and the great thing about it is that, while it doesn’t sound like it would do a lot for a working artist, it really makes a difference because of the community aspect. It scales up.
With a dozen supporters, that covers upgraded web hosting to keep the site fast, secure, and reliable. With two dozen, it covers much of my software costs as well (Adobe Creative Cloud, for example). Fifty supporters buys me film for special projects. One hundred allows me to travel for those projects on a monthly basis.
You get the idea.
I want to do good work and create interesting things for you to enjoy. I can’t do it alone, and I’d love to have you involved.
Thanks and cheers from Japan,
David
P.S. If you want to help out but can’t do it via Patreon, there are other ways you can help support the project, including things that totally free of charge. Learn more at https://somewherein.jp/support