Options!
Just in case
Hey everyone, another update from the world of Blake Wex...
I guess I’m a little panicked, but I prefer to be prepared.
As you may know, Substack’s policies on adult content are anything but clear, and if it’s not Substack, it’s Stripe (the payment processing company) that can cause a lot of problems for NSFW content creators.
So far, so good, smooth sailing for me, and I’m really happy with how things are going: the number of followers and subscribers continues to grow, and the number of paying subscribers is also increasing. Which is really more than I could have hoped for.
So I wouldn’t want all the work I’ve put into my writing to disappear one day just because some busybody decided it goes against their conservative values, and I’ve been looking for a parallel platform. The self-publishing site I tried: Smashwords is good, but it doesn’t seem to offer the same opportunities for interaction and the same versatility for users. So I decided to opt for Patreon, which isn’t actually all that different from Substack, but is much clearer from the outset about its policies. Substack will remain my first choice and my go-to home, but from now on, you will be also able to follow my guys’ adventures following this link
The pros of Patreon are that I know where I stand and I feel safer. The cons are that safety comes with much stricter rules regarding the visuals. So my page looks pretty boring! I’m trying to resolve this issue with their help-centre because right now I can’t even use an image of a mountain for my thumbnails! Apparently mountains are too hot to handle...
Anyway, if you use Patreon, from now you can find me there too. And I hope Substack will continue to let me do my things. Because I really like it here. Cheers, Blake.
Thanks for all your support.
Blake
Blake, this is such a smart and necessary move. Your point about the "busybody" and "conservative values" hits the nail on the head—it's not about the content, it's about the arbitrary gatekeeping. I went through the exact same panic after Buy Me a Coffee suspended my account without warning. That moment of "my work could just vanish" is terrifying.
It pushed me to do exactly what you're doing: diversify. I've just set up a SubscribeStar page for the same reasons you chose Patreon—clearer NSFW policies and a payment processor that doesn't flinch. It's exhausting to have to build a backup home, but it's the only way to sleep at night. Your line about mountains being "too hot to handle" is both hilarious and depressingly accurate. This is the absurd reality we're navigating.
Substack is home, but it's a rented apartment. Having your own land elsewhere is crucial. Huge respect for being proactive. I'll definitely check out your Patreon. We have to stick together and share these survival tips. Onward.