CHARGE UPFRONT YOU GUYS LOOK LOOK LOOK!

Please note, if you are already a Patron and reading this: nothing is actually going to change for you, unless you want to edit your pledge. More on that in a second. 

But if you are thinking about becoming a Patron, guess what? Patreon has just introduced an option for Charge Upfront, which...does exactly what it says on the tin.

Currently, if you become a Patron, then you don't get charged right away, you start on the first of the next month. With charge upfront you pay right away, and then from the first of the next month as usual. Same with editing pledges.

So it goes like this (maths teacher ahoy!):

Jemima is a Patron. She has pledged $10 a month. On the 13th of May she decides that she would like to up her pledge to $15 a month. 

Patreon will take the extra $5 on the 13th of May, and then from the 1st of June onwards she pays $15 every 1st of the month as normal.

Juan is a new Patron. He pledges $10 on the 14th of May. Patreon takes his $10 that day, and then, from the 1st of June, he is charged monthly as normal.

(For three marks: If Jemima has $72 available, in what month should she cancel her patronage?)

ANYWAY. I'll most likely be switching to pay upfront, unless anyone has any strong objections, but the reason I'm so excited about it is that the option to pay upfront was one of the things I suggested when Patreon asked me what they could do better. 

I don't have problems with people signing up for bonus content and then cancelling their pledges, but I know it's something a lot of creators struggle with, so I'm really impressed with how responsive Patreon is to creator and patron feedback.

Not like other places I could mention (strange coughing noise that sounds oddly like "YouTube").

You can read more about pay upfront here, and let me know in the comments what you think!