Jeff Seymour, Patron of the Arts

In the old new always days, very rich people gave artists money to make art. I've always thought that sounded awfully nice. Nice to be on the rich-person-giving end, I mean. Every once in a while (twice, in the last two years, actually), I come across an author whose submission is so freakin' good that I would pay them outlandish amounts of money to write more, just so I could read it, were the funds available, and then that submission fails to get through an acquisitions board. Those are sad days.

But there are other ways to be a patron of the arts, even if you're poor broke desperately hoarding your resources for one reason or another.

I'm a huge fan of Clarkesworld Magazine. Have been for years. They publish such. good. fiction. The stories aren't always perfect from a technical standpoint, but they almost always sweep me up and carry me away and make me think. The rate of success that magazine has at doing that is, frankly, astonishing.

So a few months ago I signed up to be a patron of Clarkesworld, via this thing called Patreon. Mostly I did it because I wanted a print copy of the magazine, and mostly that's the enjoyment I've gotten out of it. I've thought of it more like a subscription.

But today I read perhaps the best Clarkesworld story I've come across yet ("Five Stages of Grief after the Alien Invasion," by Caroline M. Yoachim), and I realized, with pride, that I helped make it happen. See, the August issue of Clarkesworld is noticeably bigger than the previous issues have been. That's because they've taken their Patreon money (my money!) and used it to buy more stories. Maybe Caroline Yoachim's was one of them. Maybe it was in the magazine because I (and a few dozen other people) are chipping in $10 every month.

So now I will call myself Jeff Seymour, Patron of the Arts, proudly. Because despite being a starving tinypotatoes writer and editor, I am wealthy enough to help make the publication of great art possible.

And my God, how awesome is that?