Week 4: Amanda Palmer (www.patreon.com/amandapalmer)
Amanda is a no-holds-barred, ruthlessly honest yet compassionate and empathetic individual. Her art is raw and relatable; making everything from music to writing to statue appearances, her Patreon page charges per ‘thing’ and she pretty much does what she wants (and people love it!). She has an amazingly close-knit community of fans who actively engage and support one another online, as well as get together in person and attend Amanda’s events. It’s probably the most enthusiastically honest and supportive fan group I’ve seen.
About her work
Amanda has been around the internet for a while. She is known as a pioneer in the crowdfunding and indie industries. From touring in a rock band, performing on the street as a living statue in a wedding dress, making albums and writing books – she describes herself as a “performer, writer, giver, taker, yeller, listener, love-lover, rule-hater”. And now she can add to that list “mother” – a completely new adventure she shares with fans via blog posts and social media. She even wrote a song about it.
Amanda wrote a book called “The Art of Asking”, where she talks about the terrifying challenge of asking for help when you need it, and the struggles of being an independent artist and what she’s learned along the way. She lives a very bold life – making waves and rebounding from mistakes to channel that energy into her art.
Why she’s a Spotlight Creator
My main reason for featuring Amanda is her unique community of patrons that channel her own enthusiasm and empathy – sharing artistic endeavors, celebrating and building one another up, and saying F*** off! to the Fraud Police.
Other reasons she’s killing it on Patreon:
- HER RAW HONESTY. People are way more likely to throw money at a creator who is clearly a real person, not a mystery celebrity. Someone who will be straightforward and appreciative. Someone who shares their flaws and gets excited about every new creation. Sure, sometimes it’s a bubbling mess of emotion, but that’s the best part!
- HER COMMUNICATION. Amanda gives no f***’s about tl;dr. She will write blog posts that go on for days if she has something worthwhile to say. If you don’t want to read it all, no problem, someone will. She shares all of her thoughts, emotions, ideas, and excitement, and is constantly appreciative of her patrons. She also keeps an open dialogue about her Patreon page, to make sure people know what she’s working on and what they’re paying for. Shortly after she launched on Patreon, she was planning a last minute event and her patrons asked if it could be livestreamed, and since so many patrons were on board she was able to turn around a high quality livestream event in less than two days, funded by her patrons. That wouldn’t have even happened without feedback from her supporters – which just goes to show, you never know how your patrons will surprise you unless you keep talking to them!
Check out Amanda’s work: www.amandapalmer.net | Patreon | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
