Shemer Kuznits is an Israeli indie author who is using Patreon to fund his writing. He was recently able to move from working 5 days a week to 4 days a week giving him another day dedicated to writing.
In terms of creative funding, I see authors, YouTubers, and podcasters making money in 7 primary ways. This episode will be a broad overview. In the future, we will have deep dive episodes on each of these ways. In short, creators can make money with merch, products, affiliate revenue, advertising, sponsorship, crowdfunding, and patronage.