What are the 4 steps of the Royal Road to Patreon funnel, and where does money leak?
The funnel is chapter view, follow, Patreon click, then pledge, and the biggest leak depends on how established you are. In 2026 the median funnel looks like: 1,000 views → 80 follows (8%) → 20 Patreon clicks (25% of follows) → 5 pledges (25% of clicks). The biggest leak for new authors is step 1→2: a weak chapter 1 caps your follow rate at 3–4%, which halves every downstream number. The biggest leak for established authors is step 3→4: a confusing tier ladder or missing advance-chapter copy on the Patreon landing page. If chapter 1 is your leak, start with the chapter 1 template that converts.
Which Patreon tier structure converts best in 2026?
Three tiers convert best: $3 (2 advance chapters), $5 (5 advance chapters), $10 (10 advance chapters + Discord role). The $5 tier captures 60–70% of patrons. Add a $20 superfan tier only after you cross 50 patrons. Skip a $1 tier — Patreon fees eat it and it signals low value. For more on pricing, see Patreon pricing strategy for web fiction and tier perks that convert.
What chapter-end call to action actually gets Patreon pledges?
A specific, time-bound line beats a generic one by 5–8×. Generic 'support me on Patreon' converts at 0.2–0.4%. A specific line — 'Chapter 47 is live on Patreon right now, 6 chapters ahead' — converts at 1.5–2.5%. It costs you one sentence per chapter. Put it directly above the next-chapter button, not below the author note.
Advance chapters only sell if readers trust the story. PlotWrite tracks every rank, skill and promise in your serial and checks each chapter before you post. Works with the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for.
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How do you diagnose your funnel every week?
Pull four numbers every Sunday: weekly chapter views, weekly new follows, weekly Patreon visitors (from Patreon analytics referral source = royalroad.com), weekly new pledges. Plot the conversion at each step. The week one drops by more than 30%, the leak is fixable in 48 hours if you catch it. Most authors find out their funnel broke six weeks late.