( September 17, 2007 ) - What do da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Mozart, and Beethoven all have in common? Each received financial support from art patrons. Exploring a new approach to patronage in the Internet Age, Author David O'Neal launches his partner with a novelist web site.

Patronage involves the support, encouragement, privilege, and often financial aid given to an artist to enable the day to day practice of his or her particular form of art. Today, patronage has largely morphed into big business.

Some say that puts financial aid out of reach for many artists, especially those just getting started. David O'Neal has been writing stories since he was eight. Over the past 10 years, four of his novels have been published, and three are optioned for movies. Without regular support, relatively unknown authors like David have a lot less productive time to write.

To overcome these issues, Novelist O'Neal sought ways to support his writing without diverting so many hours away from his literary passion or risking financial disaster. His solution is to ask Literary Art lovers across the Internet and even around the world to partner with him and thus help to get his next story idea into print.

On the Internet, Donation web sites are hardly a new occurrence, yet O'Neal's approach offers a whole lot more than just asking his visitors for donations to pay a massive credit card debt or to buy some luxury item. Instead, he describes the writing to be done on his next novel, and he schedules its completion over the coming year.

O'Neal believes this new, and perhaps, innovative approach is well within the historical spirit of patronage because he seeks $70,000 for use only to support himself and his literary projects. "Getting that amount of cash from hundreds or perhaps thousands of generous art loving patrons is a really big challenge," he said.

While patronage in the Literary Arts isn't new, O'Neal's approach is. He is very specific in what he offers to do and in his request for funding. He asks you to visit his web site at http://www.partnerwithanovelist.com/. "If that's the kind of literary project that gets you excited, then partner with me, and we'll both be enhanced."

Read: Notable Historical Figures and Patronage, an article written by David O'Neal, ebook author, novelist, storyteller.