The first milestone for the Patron campaign for the Hermetic Library, hopefully the first in a journey of a thousand miles in good company with many adventures, is to be able to announce Magick, Music and Ritual 10 as the Hermetic Library Album from the Anthology Project for 2014

Please do consider joining the ranks of the remarkably attractive, erudite and welcome Patrons interested in supporting the work of library and reaching the initial campaign milestone, but you might be wondering what else beyond the initial goal can the Patron campaign accomplish with the help of more people …

I think there are three things to talk about here. The first is milestone goals for new activities everyone benefits from, the second is a menu Patron-exclusive rewards, and the third is different levels of patronage supporters can pledge. The matrix of how these three connect will be worked out over time, but feel free to get in touch if you’ve any thoughts or ideas that occur to you which I’ve not mentioned here. After all, part of being a Patron of the library is the community of practice we create together!

I have a number of ideas for future milestone goals, and if we manage to reach the initial goal I can add these, and perhaps others we can think up together. Here’s a sample of what I’ve been thinking about, and feel free to let me know what you think; but these are some examples of the things I think we could accomplish:

• No more ads on the site or blogs
• More book reviews
• More art & letters
• Reintroduce the book club … or, maybe, actual physical book club?
• Interviews with authors, artists, practitioners and researchers
• Audio updates, interviews and specials to the Hermetic Library audio pool
• Videos on the Hermetic Library channel
• Community discussion forum
• Honoraria for articles, essays, arts and letters
• Honoraria for video classes from teachers and instructors
• Honoraria to interns for more additions and improvements to the site, and reportage on the blog, than I can do alone
• …

Beyond the actual milestone goals, which create benefits for everyone, there should be specific and exclusive rewards for people who become Patrons of the library. Obviously, the first reward is that Patrons will be getting gratis download codes for at least one of the already released Hermetic Library Albums, and once the initial milestone is met, there’s also another gratis download code for Magick, Music and Ritual 10 for every Patron. But once the initial milestone goal is reached, I want to expand the variety of options and rewards for Patrons. Here’s some of what I’m thinking for the future:

• Gratis anthology album download each year from the back catalogue
• Gratis access to each new anthology release, whether album or journal
• Possible gratis physical editions of albums and journals from the Anthology Project
• Tchotchkes sent periodically in the mail for those that would like them, such as your very own actual Hermetic Library Patron Card and so forth
• Access to a private Patron discussion forum for feedback, updates and early access to content, such as new material and videos, which you can discuss and offer feedback on
• Privately published, special small press printing of works from the library and guest artists, poets and authors, in fancy collectible limited editions for your personal library
• Invitation to a monthly video conference with the Librarian and other top patrons where we can talk about the site and anything of related interest
• Invitation to video conferences for personal follow-up Q&A sessions with select presenters, authors and other people of interest from the Hermetic Library video channel or Anthology Project
• …

Of course, there will always be the basic $1/mo level of patronage with spiffy rewards like gratis download codes to anthology releases, but I also expect to spread all the various rewards across a variety of reward levels, with a few limited to a small number of Patrons, such as: Basic Patron, Friend of the Library, True Fan/Subscription, High-Income/Organizational, and perhaps even a very exclusive Community Advisory Board.

If you appreciate the Hermetic Library site, or follow along with any of the blogs, tumblogs and social media related to the library, then please consider becoming an active Patron. Of course, there are a variety of ways you can help support and participate in the work of the library, but adding your voice as a Patron to this new campaign will be very much appreciated. Plus, this is your chance to help make Magick, Music and Ritual 10 happen in 2014!

Meanwhile, if you have any questions, comments or want to talk about the anthology project, feel free to contact the librarian!