Quick Thoughts - Selling Out

So I've started a Patreon. The good news is that I've already achieved my first goal, which was to keep doing what I've been doing here at Quick Sip Reviews (*pause for cheers*). The…other news is that it's a weird, strange thing to go from doing something for free to asking people to give you money for it. Suddenly there are all these…ethical questions and doubts. Not that those weren't there before. There is a strong urge in reviewing to be impartial. Objective. And…that's a whole big complex thing that I want to try and think about today.

So when I started reviewing I was something of a non-entity. A published writer maybe, but not pro and with very few connections to SFF as a field. And for reviewing I feel that's sort of the easiest place to be in. I didn't know anyone so my opinions about their works weren't biased by my knowledge of them as people. My opinions of publications were based solely on what I saw and could afford and not what I was sent for free or what published me personally. Now, over a year and a half later, things are a bit different. I have been published more. I do know more people in SFF. And now I'm taking a step further and asking the world for money so that I can continue to run my little review site. But then, the amount of time I spend on QSR has increased as well, as has my ability to make some money doing other writerly things, like producing fiction. I love reviewing, though, and don't want to stop—but, essentially, my need to have a place to live outweighs my desire to review.

So what to do? My decision was to start a Patreon. If you like what I do here and want more of it, I encourage and am incredibly grateful to anyone who contributes. But I also understand that the largest portion of patrons will be writers who I have probably reviewed (and probably, if they're giving me money, that I've reviewed positively). Of course (and as I've seen some people complain about my reviewing style), about 95% of my reviews could probably be considered positive, so maybe that's not so big an issue as I thought. But I do see the appearance of corruption, and the slippery slope that corruption can be. Yes, I get free copies of certain publications. Yes, I get published by certain publications. Yes, I am a fan of certain writers as people and interact with them online (and sometimes in real life). Yes, I am now accepting money from certain writers (and non-writers) for my work as a reviewer. What does this mean for you as readers of my reviews? What does that mean for my own integrity and ethics?

Please believe me when I say that I struggle with these questions every day I write or review. In the back of my mind, every sale I make is suspect because I am a reviewer and because I'm not sure how much unconscious bias I get for being more "out there." Do I get preferential treatment because maybe editors or first readers or anyone else might be familiar with my work? Do publications fear that if they reject me I might give them a negative review? Would other writers be unwilling to call out my shit in general because I have a venue, because I might retaliate with negative reviews? I have actually come across a conversation on Facebook where a writer had a complaint about my reviews and was cautioned away from confronting me about it because I might react…poorly. And that's on me. All of this is on me. It is paralyzing at times, and might be part of why I escape into writing smut (because smut really doesn't care about me or my SFF reviews). But I feel that if I'm going to be a reviewer then I have to try to earn people's trust. That I have to try and be proactive in how I handle criticism and seek to improve. And how can I when I'm now taking money?

Here is part of my philosophy when it comes to writing and reviewing. I want to believe in people. I want to believe in stories and approach them openly and without reservation. That's not to say without bias. I am not and have never claimed to be objective. I don't think people can be. But I do try to be honest. And I do try, even when a story is deeply and personally upsetting or offensive, to believe that the author was acting in good faith. That won't stop me from reacting genuinely to the story, or from trying to write down my thoughts about the story. For all that people say I'm enthusiastic about everything, there are stories I cannot be very positive about. But positive or negative, I try to examine my reactions and provide as detailed an analysis of a piece as I can in the time and space I have. In essence, I try my best to always act in good faith and try to expect that people do the same in return.

This is, perhaps, naïve or lazy on my part. And if it were all I did to avoid corruption I would agree with that sentiment. But I also try to be as aware as I can be of what people are saying about my site and my reviews and my writing, and I try to approach all of that criticism as openly as I can. I am not perfect or above anything. I want to encourage anyone who finds anything that I do questionable or troubling or problematic to talk about it. To me, if possible, or to someone else. I should have a place where people can leave anonymous feedback about the site and I apologize for not having done that before. I will continue to try and improve. I am truly grateful to anyone who decides to support me and QSR monetarily. It will not mean I will only give you positive reviews. It will not mean I will review more of your work. Just as a publication accepting one of my stories can't expect I will suddenly review all of their issues. Or like what I do review.

But this isn't something that will ever "go away." I think I will always struggle with these questions and doubts. And really, I think I should. Because corruption and influence are things that people should always be mindful of. I will strive to be as transparent as possible and I'm hoping to change as little as possible about what I'm doing here. But there will be some changes. I will be putting up a Thank You! page to show my appreciation for my patrons. I will probably be running some ads along the side of the site. I am selling out. But I will also still be here, providing as good of reviews as I can manage. So thanks for reading!

All the best,

Charles Payseur

Quick Sips - Lightspeed #74

Rarely do I find an issue of Lightspeed Magazine as thematically linked as I do with this month's original fiction. The stories are mostly about cycles, about progress, about comfort and change and perspective. The stories are also about stories, about the narratives we use to change the world and the narratives we tell about the world that keep us stuck in destructive patterns. There are AI and science summer camps and gods and stones. The issue shows a hunger for change, and many different ways that it can be achieved. It's a compelling collection of stories that I'm going to get to reviewing! 

Art by Galen Dara

Quick Sips - The Dark #14

I'm actually super glad that The Dark Magazine is out so promptly at the beginning of every month. Not so that I can get it out of the way but so that I can have the entire month to recover. Once again The Dark more than earns its name with two stories about artifacts. In one, the artifacts are postcards from a sister. In the other, they are bits of scrimshaw. Both sets of artifacts tell a story, and both stories are in turn interpreted first by someone within these tales and then by us, the readers. The effect is to both create distance from the events, from the traumas described and eluded to, and to obliterate that distance by deconstructing the way that we interpret those artifacts. It's a pair of complex, layered stories, that hit with the vengeance of a storm and have left me a bit adrift in still waters and both glad I have a month's respite before the next issue and hungry for more. So let's get to those reviews! 

Art by Ben Baldwin

Quick Sips - Unlikely Story 12.5 - The Journal of Unlikely Observances

The latest offering from Unlikely Story is out, and this time it's The Journal of Unlikely Observances. The call for this issue included a list of elements, a certain number of which had to be in each story. Water fights. Resurrections. Celebrations. What comes out of those guidelines is a very fn and mostly joyous issue. Now, full disclosure, I have a story in this issue as well, and as my custom I will not be looking at it here. But that still leaves a bunch of stories to see and experience and love. Stories that touch on what it means to live and be free and imagine a different world. Stories that touch on death and rebirth and cycles and history. Stories that I should really just start reviewing! 

Art by Linda Saboe

Quick Sips - Fantasy Scroll #13

As if deeply understanding the shit that has been world news of late, the most recent Fantasy Scroll arrives to lighten the mood. Mostly. There is a definite sense of fun to a lot of the stories in the issue, and as always with the graphic series Shamrock. But more than that there's also a great momentum to the issue, moving from light and funny to more serious themes. Even at its darkest and more bleak, though, the issue's stories know how to hold onto the light, onto hope, and in the midst of some truly frightening events happening around the world, the issue is a pleasant distraction and a nice mix of genres. So time to review!

Art by Todor Hristov

Quick Sips - Terraform June 2016

This month's Terraform shakes things up a bit with a return of graphic fiction as well as three stories that use form and voice to very good effect. These are stories about travel and about reaching. In each of the fiction stories there is a feel of people wanting an escape. From a place they can't relate to, from overcrowding and colonial guilt, and from the constant threat of violence and death. The stories confront the reader with how these various situations effect family, effect ambition, and effect life, prompting the reader to examine how the characters respond and how it's possible to respond. Is reconciliation possible, or escape, or even life? These are serious stories that still manage to hold onto moments of humor and comedy. And without talking them to death, I'm going to get to reviewing! 

Quick Thoughts - Patreon GO!!!

Well, it's officially been a year and a half since Quick Sip Reviews first started, and in that time…well, I actually don't have the numbers on it but I'm guessing in that time I've read and reviewed over a thousand pieces of fiction alone, and hundreds of poems and nonfiction works. That's…a lot. In some ways it surprises me every month that I'm here still doing this, because the hours get a bit long and sometimes these stories reduce me to small puddles of feels just wanting to take time to recover. But I try to brush myself off and get back to it, because there's work to do and because I want to give back in some small way to a genre and to a form that has given me so much.

And I do want to be doing this. Part of me struggles with that, with the idea that because I want to and because there is a need, or at least a desire, for reviews like I'm doing, I'm obligated to do so, and to do so without compensation. That the work should be reward enough. And in some ways it is, if I had all the time. Unfortunately, I do not, and so I've decided to give people the option of contributing to Quick Sip Reviews (and maybe a side project or two) by setting up a Patreon. I want to keep doing what I'm doing here. For years to come.

I want to talk a bit about the different goals and rewards, so that you might get a bit of an idea of what I hope this Patreon might help me do and what you can expect by supporting.

Goal 1: Four Review-Posts a Week.
That is, four reviews of complete issues every week (or in the case of some publications, a month's worth of stories). Which I am technically doing now, but which I want to keep doing. This level of funding is enough to keep me going basically as things are now. I'll probably still slip in a fifth review-post many weeks, and I will continue to do my Quick Thoughts on the weekends.

Goal 2: Liver Beware! You're in for Drunken Reviews of Goosebumps! (Patreon Exclusive)
I've mentioned the desire to this before and figured this would be the perfect platform to do it, because it would allow me to add something to my plate. I learned to read on Goosebumps! and have been itching to go back and reread the entire series. I actually have them all collected from thrift stores and from my own childhood collection, and there are so many that I could do one a month and it would be lots of fun. Drinking! Nostalgia! Probably being disgusted at a treasured part of my youth! WOOO!!!

Goal 3: Smutty Sundays
I love smut. I write it and I read it and I want to be a better resource for SFF smuttiness, and especially queer smut. This goal would allow me to take some time to buy and read more SFF romance and erotica, which unlike more traditional SFF isn't normally available for free online. This would primarily be reviews but I might want to pair this with other features. Because SFF smut is amazing and I want to talk more about it.

Goal 4: Quick Questions
If I hit this goal I will invite SFF short fiction writers to the blog to talk stories and craft and drinks and everything! Probably the interviews wouldn't be incredibly long, but I feel like they might be illuminating for people who want to think more about short fiction and poetry and nonfiction and the genre and hopefully it would also be fun.

So that's what I'm thinking for the Patreon. I welcome any feedback or things that you as readers of this blog might want to see. For a year and a half now I've been very fortunate to be able to read and review so many amazing stories. Thank you to everyone who has made that possible and super extra thanks to anyone who decides to support me via Patreon. Thanks for reading!

All the best,

Charles Payseur