Publishing for profit... of others

[oneagainst]

A few comments recently have suggested publishing some of my stories, that someone might pay for the next installment, etc. or just to support the effort. I have a day job, so the money isn't the question, but after [I forget who] posted the Ted Talk link in a recent thread about "letting people give you money" - the synopsis is that those who consume the content might want to give a hat tip or a gesture of thanks to encourage an author - it occurs to me that there is scope to maybe include a link to a charity donation page, as opposed to a Patreon (or suchlike).

If someone reads Alena's Game and then pops a couple of dollars to a cancer charity, then I'd be a happy bunny. What do people think about this? Has it ever been done? How would it be done?

 

[bumpercars]

This is basically how I do commissions - I have people donate to a sexual assault prevention non-profit and then forward me their receipt.

I imagine it'd still be doable for tips as well - just put a link to a donation page in your author profile. If you want it to be more personal you could ask them to message or comment when they donate, and you could thank them.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That’s a nice, positive idea.

Em

 

[lovecraft68]

This is a good suggestion.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If someone reads Alena's Game and then pops a couple of dollars to a cancer charity, then I'd be a happy bunny. What do people think about this? Has it ever been done? How would it be done?

As soon as you set up links from this site to another, where money is involved, I think it would set up a whole range of issues that the site would not want to touch with a barge pole.

I know that some contest winners ask the site to donate their prize to a charity, but that's limited and completely within the site's control.

Uncontrolled transactions would require a whole financial overlay, because of internet commerce law and regulations.

 

[bumpercars]

As far as I know Literotica doesn't mind if your author profile points to a commercial site.

I don't see how the charity would know what site was linking people to them or why they would care, unless you're asking for donations to The Sisters of Perpetual Chastity and Also Web-Sleuthing.

 

[lilshymynx]

There are a few authors I've seen that have notes in their bio to donate to a charity in lieu of them having a Patreon, etc.

@GinnyPPC and @AwkwardMD come to mind right off, but I know I have seen others.

 

[oneagainst]

I'll check them out. No, not the Sisters of Chastity, but yeah, it would be nice to feel like I'm helping. Who quotidian have thought being bad could be so good. I'll do a recce and post back my findings

 

[Bramblethorn]

As soon as you set up links from this site to another, where money is involved, I think it would set up a whole range of issues that the site would not want to touch with a barge pole.

I know that some contest winners ask the site to donate their prize to a charity, but that's limited and completely within the site's control.

Uncontrolled transactions would require a whole financial overlay, because of internet commerce law and regulations.

I think the idea here was just to point people to a charity website, not to process donations through Literotica.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think the idea here was just to point people to a charity website, not to process donations through Literotica.

You might be right.

 

[oneagainst]

You might be right.

Yes, exactly. Asking Lit to set that up would be a bridge too far. I'm thinking a link in the author profile works OK

 

[oneagainst]

Wow. This is harder than I thought. I'm just looking at AU charities and come up against the T's & C's of the funding pages. Lit would definitely contravene brand guidelines due to obscene content. Ideally, you'd be able to set up a page, post a link and everyone benefits.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Could you post an example? I've never seen such a thing with us charities.

 

[oneagainst]

Us charities or US charities? It seems you can post a generic donate link but you can't set up a specific fund raising page. Maybe I'm over complicating it... would just have been nice to track if donations were made.

 

[lilshymynx]

Trying to go directly through the charity for a campaign like that is tricky. You are partnering with them in a way and so there's a lot at stake for them if someone sees your campaign somehow and raises a stink about it. Your easiest bet is to do something like Ginny and AMD have done and just name the charity in your bio or include their generic donation link like you mentioned.

If you do want that additional information, just so see how much folks donated, you can always go with a 3rd party donation processing service like Tiltify or Donorbox (not recommendations, just names I recognized off google). That way you'd be free of any issues with the charity itself, but able to provide a direct donation link and see how much has been given. The drawback to services like that, however, is that they take a small cut of the donations as their fee. Donorbox, for example takes a 1.75% cut of donations from what I can see on their site.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Oh, now I understand the issue. Yeah, I would just say something in your author profile. Maybe encourage people to send you a message when they donate, if you're curious?

 

[oneagainst]

Trying to go directly through the charity for a campaign like that is tricky. You are partnering with them in a way and so there's a lot at stake for them if someone sees your campaign somehow and raises a stink about it. Your easiest bet is to do something like Ginny and AMD have done and just name the charity in your bio or include their generic donation link like you mentioned.

If you do want that additional information, just so see how much folks donated, you can always go with a 3rd party donation processing service like Tiltify or Donorbox (not recommendations, just names I recognized off google). That way you'd be free of any issues with the charity itself, but able to provide a direct donation link and see how much has been given. The drawback to services like that, however, is that they take a small cut of the donations as their fee. Donorbox, for example takes a 1.75% cut of donations from what I can see on their site.

I'm not curious enough to lose 1.75% of someone's donation just to get visibility. Direct link for the win, I think...!

Oh, now I understand the issue. Yeah, I would just say something in your author profile. Maybe encourage people to send you a message when they donate, if you're curious?

Have done! Thanks everyone... let's see how this goes... my profile page

 

[AchtungNight]

Donate to OTW in my case. Lit is fine too.

 

[GinnyPPC]

There are a few authors I've seen that have notes in their bio to donate to a charity in lieu of them having a Patreon, etc.

@GinnyPPC and @AwkwardMD come to mind right off, but I know I have seen others.

Since I saw my name here, I'll chime in.

Yes, a direct link is the best approach in my opinion. It simplifies the transaction to between the reader and the charity. And it is done in a way that the charity has set up for a normal process in their operations.

If anyone is interested, the charity I refer people to is Mary's Place in Seattle, a shelter trying to make sure no child sleeps outside. My wife and I have supported them in many ways over the years.