My new WIP novel, "The Battle for Control"

So there's this new novel I've been working on for a couple of months now. The original working title was "Crackers and Justice", but when posting on this site, I'll refer to it as "The Battle for Control" since I don't think the first title is particularly good. I'm currently around 20,000 words and 6 Chapters in, so I don't think I'll be able to accumulate enough points to post everything until I review a ton of other work first.

The basic premise is this: in the near future, the United States of America has devolved into an anarchic society where numerous insurgent "Clans" have sprung up and wrestled power away from the Federal Government. While agencies like the FBI are still active, and larger cities still have colleges and schools, the true power rests with whatever Clan happens to be in control of the local area. As a result, it's a lot like the Wild West, where hitting the right targets and killing the right people could shift the power dynamics completely, something like how the Mafia operates.

My protagonist is a guy named Benny Lloyd, a psychology student who also has aspirations for screenwriting. After finishing his psychology major in college, decides to travel to L.A. after winning a screenwriting contest. There, a number of unexpected events acquaint him with the Black Legion, a group of assassins founded as a Black Ops program that try to diminish the influence of insurgent Clans and restore America to a constitutional republic.

After moving to L.A. permanently under a pretense to work with the Clan, Benny's life is further complicated when he's pursued by the enigmatic Anastasia Maples.

Anastasia is my second main character who has POV scenes as "Side B" sections of each chapter from the third one onwards. Unlike Benny, she's highly experienced with warfare and has a massive body count. She's the right hand woman of Marvin Donnell, a sadist and tyrant who wants to conquer the United States and set up his own dictatorship. Though they're working together, Anastasia has a very low opinion of the man, since unlike him she has a very pragmatic, and even kind side to her. She enjoys going to war and sadistically dominating her enemies, but she's also a very compassionate and loving leader to her own Clan who she calls the "Jaegers". Finding a man to love has been a lifelong dream of hers, and upon meeting Benny, she's convinced he's the right man for her and goes out of her way to woo him.

Benny can't resist her charms and ends up falling for her too, not knowing the full extent of her line of work since she's reluctant to share too much with him. Neither does she know the full story behind Benny's own work. But despite Anastasia's genuine hopes and reassurances, a peaceful resolution between Benny's and her goals seems ultimately impossible, because they are pursuing completely incompatible end goals. What choices will they make? Will they choose love, or will they choose their ambitions? How does one decide what is truly important for them, and what sacrifices need to be made?

I'm thinking of posting some of the actual stuff I've written after I've gathered enough points to do so. In the meantime, you can let me know what you think about the basic synopsis and outline I've laid out here. My novel, as it currently stands, borrows a lot of elements and influences from my favorite anime, as well as procedural shows and dystopian stories.

Furthermore, there is one more thing I'd like your feedback on. In order to solidify my transition into a writing career, I've also started a Patreon where I'm accepting commissions from interested people. I did this just a couple days ago, and I've gotten two friends to pledge to me, so I wonder if any of you have done the same, and if so, how did you grow your platform? If my Patreon really takes off, I could use it to finance a number of ambitious projects that go beyond the creative writing I'm currently doing.