by Ream
In this episode, you’ll hear from three amazing authors who share their journey to subscription success. From launching tiers to engaging readers, these authors have done it all, and they’re here to show you how. Whether you’re a seasoned author or just starting out, there’s something to learn from their experiences.
#67 Episode Transcript
[00:00:00]
Welcome to Subscriptions for Authors. Meet your serial hosts, Michael Evans, sci fi thriller author of a dozen novels, and Amelia Rose, a semi romance author that makes six figures per year in subscriptions. Together, we will help you make more money with subscriptions and succeed in the future of publishing.
Michael Evans: All right, so this is the Rising Stars and Subscriptions Podcast. Now, I’ll admit we were very bad about editing this one. We should have come out with this about half a year ago but it just got into the backlog, and we’re finally catching up on it now, which means that you’re getting three amazing stories from three incredible authors who launched their subscriptions to success within the last year.
And you’ll get to learn from them. Each interview is about 15 minutes. I ask about three to five questions And I just want to thank these authors their time. I think you’re gonna love these interviews You’re gonna love learning about these authors and it’s super inspiring just to see like what’s possible When you launch a description and seeing how it can impact your author career What it does [00:01:00] to your readers and this episode will show you how they did it.
So hopefully you can learn and be able to take a step forward in how you’re doing it as well. And of course, if you want more insights on how to start and grow your subscription, check out the descriptions for others book. It’ll be linked down below. It’s totally free, at least the ebook and the audio book.
And I hope you enjoy reading it. And I hope you are able to learn something that can help you launch and be able to make money from subscriptions as an author. That said let’s get into this rising stars interview If you guys like this kind of format, let me know because we can definitely do more like group interviews or Spaces where we do like shorter bite sized interviews, but like in a theme or format Like maybe we interview three or four science fiction authors and get different perspectives on how science fiction authors are succeeding in subscriptions In you know an hour.
So let me know if that’s interesting to you if you like this format But let’s get into this first interview. It should be a lot of fun
Alex, I’m so excited to chat with you today as part of [00:02:00] the rising stars and subscription series. And I want to first, before we dive into your subscription, learn a little bit about you.
You’re author of career up to this point. And what got you to start a subscription when you did? Okay.
AR Rose: Hi, thank you for having me. I am AR Rose. I write contemporary romance that is steamy. And I’m toggling a little over into the fantasy romance genre and a little bit into darker romance.
I currently have three books published that are my own. I have a serial write published and I have another release coming out in July and I have been an author for just under a year.
Michael Evans: So exciting.
AR Rose: Just dove in headfirst.
Michael Evans: One thing you mentioned in your author bio is that you started in 2020 when the pandemic hit but then stopped.
Yes. And then started again. Yes. What? Inspired you finally like getting back into it and what made you stop?
AR Rose: So when I started writing in 2020, I was actually inspired by a movie on netflix and Something just triggered my [00:03:00] brain. And so I got some words out I got to about 14 000 words or so and then I was like i’m not good at this.
This is like bananas I’m not doing it and I just stopped I had zero confidence I didn’t know what I was doing and honestly at that point. I wasn’t a huge reader You So to even like dip my toe into writing was like, what am I doing? So I stopped even though I had a, my best friend was like, no, keep going.
It’s good. And I’m like you’re my best friend. You have to say that this is trash. So I stopped, but then Earlier last year, I slid into the DMs of one of my favorite authors and basically forced her friendship and I was like, I want to help you with your social media because that’s where my background is.
I used to own a women’s boutique and I’ve been on social media for a long time. I had a pretty successful mom blog before the boutique. So I felt like very confident with Facebook and Instagram and all that. So I forced her hand and I was like, you’re going to be my new bestie. And she was like, okay, that’s fine.
And we became friends. And then something with [00:04:00] talking to her all the time and her being an author and like me always being very inspired by her triggered that same thing in my brain again, and a scene popped into my head while I was cooking dinner and I remember just having to stop and write it out.
And then I told her, I was like, being friends with you is doing things to my head. This is what just happened. And she was like let me read it. And then I went into panic mode. I was like, my, one of my favorite authors cannot read this trash that I just wrote, but I sent it to her and she was like, That’s amazing.
You need to keep going. And so I did because what better validation than to have one of your favorite authors tell you to keep going? And said favorite author and I just released our first serial write together. So that was pretty cool.
Michael Evans: Wow. That is inspiring. What is, I’m so glad that you One slid into the DMs, one of your favorite authors.
You have to,
AR Rose: you have to shoot your shot.
Michael Evans: And then you shoot the [00:05:00] shot with your story, the biggest and best thing of all. Right now, like at the time of speaking, you. The book hasn’t been out for a year, well over a hundred reviews. That’s pretty tremendous for especially like your first series ever already doing that well.
AR Rose: Yeah. Thank you. It’s been crazy.
Michael Evans: Yeah, no, definitely. And speaking of having the sort of ask, to start to shoot your shot, you started your subscription. And what was a recent thing for you? Tell me. Why you started it when you did and a little bit about your subscription.
AR Rose: So I had been thinking about doing a subscription for a while.
I just really waited because I was not sure if I would have the content for it. Because I clearly am a quick writer. I have almost five books published in under a year and almost the fifth one comes out in July. But I was like, because of my writing pace, will I have time to do a subscription based platform?
That seems like an extra commitment that I just wasn’t ready for. But honestly, with the way that Kindle [00:06:00] Unlimited is going right now, and how crazy the marketplace is as a whole, I just felt that it was a good Move strategically, even if it doesn’t blossom into anything huge. It’s will still help me foster the community feel and get more loyal readers who are interested in more than just being a reader, being on a platform that the people who want to actually interact with me and have that kind of relationship.
Dare I say friendship. I just dove in headfirst. I will be completely transparent and I weighed my pros and cons when it comes to Patreon and Ream. Ultimately decided on Ream because I really liked your guys’s platform as a whole, how it’s for authors and readers, made by authors and readers.
That was a really huge tipping point for me. And it was impulsive. I was like, should I do this? And I was like, yeah, I’m gonna do it. And I set everything up and I was launched in 45 minutes. That’s very impulsive.
Michael Evans: Yeah, no, that’s, it shows that you don’t [00:07:00] need to like, spend hours and hours trying to craft the perfect subscription.
You just got it out there and then when you actually launched it. How did it go?
AR Rose: It was scary. It was really scary because I was like, no one’s going to do this. No one’s going to pay for this. But within the first 24 hours, I had, I think, three subscribers or maybe four subscribers if memory serves.
And then today, which is about a week and a half later ish, week and a half ish, I’m at six. So we are chugging along and I’m very proud of those six subscribers. It’s exciting.
Michael Evans: Yeah. And where did they come from? Meaning, was this something when you actually marked your description, was it like newsletter list?
I know you have a pretty big, your Facebook group’s a thousand plus readers. It is, yes. Where did they
AR Rose: come from? So I think they, I don’t know. I know two of them are personally on my team. So I have a promotional team and I know Two of those girls came from there because they are very involved and they always do want more.
And they’re just very supportive. And even though I told them, you guys don’t [00:08:00] have to, they still signed up. So that was great. The other four, I, they could have come from Facebook. They could have come from my newsletter. I’m not 100 percent certain I would guess my Facebook group because I use that lovely at everyone tag.
Michael Evans: Yeah. That’s what I was like, I don’t know why people, but. It can work. It
AR Rose: can work. I’m very hesitant to use it, but I was like, we’re doing it. If I’m going to just impulsively dive in, I gotta, see it all.
Michael Evans: Yeah, and I do have to ask you because I know you’re just the beginning of it, but in terms of the time Spending the scriptures you mentioned like it didn’t take you that long to launch it But in terms of the content that you’re producing for your subscription walk me through what your tiers are and What you’re offering in those tiers, and I guess how long you think it’ll take you to actually do those things?
AR Rose: Okay. I don’t remember. I would , I don’t remember what the tiers are. I know that the smallest one is $3 a month and that is just for like basically more of an elevated community type feel. My, those people in that will have the [00:09:00] opportunity to get their hand in the cookie jar if I need help with things.
For example, sometimes my brain doesn’t want to braid and I’m like, I can’t think of a last name to save my life. Who would like their last name in this book? So rather than always going to my team of promotional helpers that I have, I can put that in that tier and say, who wants to help me with this? Or who has an idea for a name?
Or I’ve used readers to name, like buildings and stuff in In my books and so just like little things like that where they can feel like they’re a part of the story and a part of more. Updates probably will hit the ream first before they hit the Facebook group or email or whatnot.
For example, I don’t know when this is going to air. So you guys might all get this first. But for my one year authorversary, I am putting out hardcover books of the first three books in my series that will be finishing up in July. Very few people know that yet, but the Ream subscribers will hear about that first, and then it’ll go out to the rest of the [00:10:00] platforms.
The second tier is all of that stuff, plus whatever else I said they were getting. And then they’ll also get first looks at the new books, any short stories that I write, they will get that kind of thing. Let’s say first chapter, or a prologue, or whatever it might be that tier is 5. And then the biggest tier, which is the 10 tier, they get everything.
So if I am gonna post a full short story, they’ll get access to that. If I’m gonna post a novella, they’ll get access to that. They have access right now to the first two chapters of the book that’s releasing in July, whereas the tier, the 5 tier below them only sees the first chapter. So just like elevating things and I’m honestly winging it.
I have no idea. I’m gonna throw things at them as I feel like it and just. See what happens.
Michael Evans: I, I actually think that’s amazing because, most people go into it with such a set plan and spend so much time making that plan. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how you need to go into it then, you do you [00:11:00] ultimately what makes you feel comfortable.
But knowing that you are comfortable with this, it’s actually a strength in a subscription because you get to. Figure it out together. And as it grows, you get to make the benefits make sense. And I’m curious for you right now you’re still a week and a half in, but this is a tough question to ask.
And I want you to get an honest answer. Okay. That’s worth it for you, especially because like you said, you have to put a lot of time into releasing all the books you have, trying to get Discovery and KU, which is a great thing. So has the subscription been early review, more of a distraction?
Or has it, you think, been a good thing? And you do not have to try and please me, subscriptions for authors.
AR Rose: I think it’s been a good thing. I haven’t really done too much with it. I’m trying not to overwhelm those subscribers too and get them too many emails showing up in their inbox. So I think the first, like first 24 hours or 48 hours, I posted like three times or so first explaining or first welcoming and explaining.
And then another post was like explaining the names of the tiers, because rather than [00:12:00] just giving them a really deep dive, normal name. I named them something from my books. The first one is called the Platonic Placeholders, and that’s something from my first book. The second one is called the Grilled Cheese Wizards, and that’s from the third book I published.
And I don’t think I can say the name of the third tier on here. I’m not sure, so I won’t. But that’s something from this upcoming book. I named them unique names, so I felt it necessary to explain Why or remind them as to why they were named that. But it really hasn’t been that much more.
We all take time to post on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. We’re already doing it. For me, throwing Ream in there was just another platform to post on, but also something to favor in a way and cultivate and get excited about. So I think it’s great so far. We’re only a week and a half in, but I’m very happy with it so far.
Michael Evans: I’m glad to hear that. And we’re very excited. Following your journey. And speaking of, if you want to see the hidden tier name, your description, Alex’s [00:13:00] description will be linked in the description so you can check it out. There are those who are looking to start their own subscriptions and have their own tiers and their own members like you have, what would be your advice to them from what you’ve learned so
AR Rose: far?
Not to take the words out of Nike, but just do it. Like just do it. So what’s holding you back? You just have to fill out a couple of little things and just get it going. Might
Michael Evans: as well. I love it. That is such great advice. And this has been an inspiring story. Thank you. So much Alex for your time today.
Thanks for having me.
All right, so this next interview is going to be with Nic Slater, and they are an awesome author who actually recently paused their subscription slash moved away from subscription. So what’s funny is back when we recorded this, the subscription was going great and at the beginning of growing. But decided with writing schedule, life issues, that just things [00:14:00] come up and they wanted to deprioritize the subscription a bit.
So they’re not currently actively running their subscription, but this was their thoughts on how they got started and how they originally found success. And what’s great about a subscription is that you really can move in and out of it. Whenever it works for you, so it’s not something you have to stick with forever And it’s something that some writers find is great for a year or two and they have to move on because they have to prioritize Other things other areas their career and Nic a good example of how to handle it So with that said we’re gonna dive back to Nic from the past and learn about how they got started
Nicolai. It is awesome to have you with us in this subscriptions rising star series. And before we talk about your subscription and all the awesome things you’ve accomplished, I first want to just ask you generally about your author career, what you write and how long you’ve been doing it and what brought you to where you are at today.
Nic Slater: [00:15:00] So I’ve been writing since I was five. I wrote my first fan fiction when I was six about around the world in 80 days. It’s a terrible story. But I’ve been writing ever since I was going to go to school for creative writing, but I ended up going for chemistry instead. And so I work full time as a chemist and I write basically full time on the side.
I usually write dark romance, usually poly romance LGBTQ types of stories, found family. But I really picked up most of my writing during high school and college. And now basically when I go home, that’s all I do.
Michael Evans: That’s very relatable. It’s I like how you said it basically like a full time job and it’s not.
Not my actual full time job. That’s very relatable. And for you up to this point before your subscription, where are you publishing? Were you on retailers, serial fiction [00:16:00] platforms? Share this a little bit about when you put your work out into the world. Where did it go?
Nic Slater: So I started on like Wattpad, but I’ve moved into publishing mostly on InkIt and I have Now three books out on Amazon and another one coming out in September and October.
Michael Evans: That’s so exciting. That’s awesome. And through that whole journey, starting a subscription has been one of the latest things you’ve been doing. What inspired you to start?
Nic Slater: Mostly just based on the sheer volume that I write. I saw a opportunity to provide people either with early access or specialized stories or insight to all of my drafts because I have so much and a lot of my readers enjoy that aspect of it as well.
So I thought I would open a subscription for it.
Michael Evans: Early access. It’s a great model. It’s an awesome model. And with [00:17:00] that, when did you exactly start it? Where is it gone? And also where did you start it? Because I feel like there’s multiple answers to the where question.
Nic Slater: So I started on May 15th and I started on Ream.
Inkit recently opened one maybe about a month ago. Since most of my readers were there, it’s easier for them to move to the Inkit subscription and then completely new people, I direct them to Ream.
Michael Evans: That’s awesome. I love that strategy. It makes a lot of sense. How has it gone for you so far?
You’re now at the time recording about two months in. So has it taken a lot of time to manage? What has the experience been like for you up to this point?
Nic Slater: It hasn’t been too hard cause it’s just posting double on two different sites. It has been like pulling teeth. For people who have been getting free content for so long, but a few people on the side have [00:18:00] upgraded just for the early access.
And I’m learning how to navigate being how to promote it so that people want to move over rather than I just have stuff.
Michael Evans: Yeah, that’s actually the tricky part of it, but you have paid subscribers. So I’m curious, what is work for you in that so far in terms of bringing people over? Do you have a sense of what has so far worked in that regard?
Nic Slater: Offering things that I don’t usually do free. One thing that I started doing is for any of my series, the only free book is going to be the first one. So if they want anything else, they have to subscribe to a tier or they have to wait until it goes on Amazon to get the full series.
Michael Evans: I like that, that, that makes a lot of sense.
And I’m curious for you how the discovery has gone for that first in series. How, what [00:19:00] has worked for you to start to. Gain traction to get readers on serial fiction platforms. Cause that’s always with someone who’s writing on serial fiction platforms. That’s always the next question. Like bringing, getting a reader to be a subscriber paid subscribers difficult, but sometimes just getting that reader at all is difficult.
So what have you found works for you in terms of gaining discovery for. Your fiction,
Nic Slater: 2 things 1 constantly uploading, whether it’s the same story, multiple stories I guess 3 things. The 2nd thing is interacting with all of your readers, whether it’s just post on your wall. Here’s what’s coming polls.
And then the 3rd thing is. Thing that I found is not following the crowd. So if there’s monster romance out there or dark romance or whatever That’s great. But if it’s just another dark romance story, nobody cares so I always put twists or something very weird or maybe a strange cover Out there, so that it catches their attention in a different way that’s different from everything [00:20:00] else.
Michael Evans: I like that. That’s good advice, especially because I feel like when what you’re specifically doing or your specific slant might not be the hot thing right now, there’s always that sort of guilt where you’re like, I am, is what I’m writing like a good enough idea? Is this really what readers want? But putting your own slant on it and knowing that can work is inspiring.
Now, I am curious from a expectation standpoint, if you have a hundred readers on ink and on a serial fiction platform, what has been the sort of conversion rate or upgrade rate for you? Roughly speaking, because I know a lot of authors, it’s if I get one follower, should I expect like half of them to become paid readers?
Should I expect 10%? Should I expect 1%? I know it’s still early for you, but. It’s nice to just share an expectation with people. So other people know roughly what to expect. So for you, has it been most or more of a [00:21:00] small percentage? Where has that been at for you?
Nic Slater: It’s been a very small percentage and I attribute it to the fact that they have gotten free content for so long.
I’ve been on inkit for almost two years, a little over two years. So they’ve gotten free content for so long. There’s so many authors who also offer free content. So me going, Hey. Okay. Upgrade and pay for stuff. They’re like, I don’t need to, I can just wait.
Michael Evans: That’s that, that I totally understand that. I’m glad that you, you’ve had some people come to pay, which is huge.
And that’s like a great start. Everyone has to start somewhere, but I wonder for you, did you start your subscription And start this new release strategy. Did you start it like in the middle of a series or right when you began the series?
Nic Slater: I started with all new content. So anything that was currently on in kit and going, that will stay free.
It wasn’t going to make anything paid. But everything from May 15th on would start on my subscription [00:22:00] tiers, and then eventually either move free or some of them are exclusive.
Michael Evans: Yeah, no, it makes sense. That’s I think it just takes some time because you’re in a way like migrating readers and slowly getting them to, they already valued your work because they were spending the time to read it, which is the biggest thing, but value it in a slightly different way where they’re also willing to pay for it, which is takes it takes time, which Now, looking back, because you’ve obviously been learning about subscriptions and setting up a subscription for months, and you’ve had it live now for over 60 days.
What is something that you’ve learned or something that maybe if you could look back You would do differently or just some advice that you’d give to fellow authors at this point in your journey.
Nic Slater: I guess there’s two things. One, I think I would have marketed it differently to almost people who don’t know me, who haven’t been getting free content from me.
So they could get a taste of whatever I’m offering free and then move to a subscription. And [00:23:00] then the 2nd thing is that even if there’s not immediate subscribers, they support you in other ways, whether it’s they promote you on their site or they’ll buy your book and a 15 book is more valuable than that 5 subscription because it takes 3 months to get there at the same price.
And. So they’ve supported me in different ways. I have some people who will buy my books versus they will subscribe. So
Michael Evans: it all works out in the end in that respect, subscriptions, like one way that someone could support you and be involved for you, the retailer strategy. Has that been something that you’ve also seen sales there as well, is that something that’s been going well for you or it’s
Nic Slater: not, it’s not too bad.
We don’t make a whole lot in all of the books. But. People seem more inclined to buy a book sometimes than to subscribe to a tier where you get serial fiction.
Michael Evans: Yeah. It’s in some cases just different reader or [00:24:00] even a different time. Like someone might be willing to buy your book one month and then in six months, they’re ready to be a paid subscribers of yours.
Um, makes a lot of sense. This was awesome. And one last question, just as a bonus, is do you want to share with us your tiers and what you’re offering in them?
Nic Slater: They’re complicated. But I can. Let me just pull them up, because I don’t want them off the top of my head.
Michael Evans: No, you’re all good.
And we’ll make sure to link Nicolite’s subscription, their tears, in the description. So you can find that somewhere there. You can get the link, and But I always like hearing what people have in their tears. I think it’s very inspiring for other people to hear just what’s possible.
Nic Slater: Yeah. So I looked at a lot of other people’s tears before I made mine.
I know I write like I’m on crack. So I have a lot. But my first year, It’s like early access and they get cover reveals. And then my second tier, which is Twisted Inc. [00:25:00] They, I have like short novelettes that are like twisted and taboo series. then exclusive access to horror and psychotic shorts.
And then I have the next tier, which is Soul Tree Shadows. And then there’s early access to twisted contemporary titles. And then there’s a series called unsettled and they’re just really strange erotic situations. And then I have my finalized and edited versions of contemporary titles that are going to Amazon that are on that one, and then they also get a free ebook once I’ve published it for the first installment.
And then I have the next tier, which is Mystical Seduction. And they get Twisted Fairy Tales for this one Dark Fantasy Novellas Exclusive Access to a Contemporary Poly Romance Series, and then [00:26:00] Access to a Special Fantasy Series. There’s four different ones that are coming up. And then sneak peeks for projects that are completely exclusive to the higher tier in Sinister Secrets.
And then that one has Sapphic and fantasy novellas. There’s a Monster Erotica series. There is a Mafia series. And then the secret project, all the drafts, creative process, everything that goes into that. And then they also get the free books in that tier as well as a discount on paperbacks. And then my last year, which is deviant infatuation they get personalized holiday anniversary, happy birthday cards written in the voice of a character of their choice and then themed book boxes as well.
Michael Evans: Wow. [00:27:00] That is a lot. That’s. Wow. First, yeah, I can definitely tell you’re writing a lot, but also a lot of very creative ideas and that’s all great. That’s great to hear for people listening. You might be like, Oh my God, Nicolai just started a subscription and she’s got that much going on. All authors started different phases.
That’s one thing we definitely learned in this Rising Stars series. And another thing we’ve learned is that no subscription is created the same. Even if we get inspiration from other authors, I feel like everyone has something super unique going on. And I’m very proud of you and what you’ve accomplished.
I know it’s just the beginning for you and in many ways, and I want to thank you for being here with us today.
Nic Slater: Thank you.
Michael Evans: That was interview number two. Now we’re headed to our last rising star. This was not recorded or spliced together in order, so everyone’s equally amazing rising stars, but this one is with Nicole. And Nicole, the page is beautiful. She’s rocked it out, and her subscription’s still grown since we recorded the episode.
She’s got well over 100 followers [00:28:00] now. Absolutely epic stuff. I think you’ll learn a lot from Nicole, amazing fantasy author. Your tiers are so beautiful, like perfection. So I hope you enjoy this last one of our rising stars interviews.
So I first want to ask you first, your name slash pen name, your genre, and how you got started in subscriptions.
Nicole McKeon: Yeah. All right. I’m really excited. So my name is Nicole York. I am a fantasy author under the pen name, Nicole McEwen, and I got started in subscriptions first by recognizing that the industry was changing really fast and that income was incredibly variable across all platforms and there wasn’t a whole lot of security in terms of knowing what you might be bringing in so that you could plan for future.
Investments in like new books and production costs and all that kind of stuff. So I started wondering [00:29:00] what would be a more stable, more predictable form of income, but what would also what would make up for some of the deficiencies that were going to exist as the market continued to change, not only to be a little bit.
More stacked as it has continued to be with self publishing, but as AI continues to advance and we see more people relying on that and the speed of books coming out a lot faster before long, I honestly think that bigger companies like Amazon are going to put that technology into the hands of readers who will then be able to say, write me a story with such and such in it.
And these tropes, and they will then only not only the means of production and distribution, but also the creation of. Things like books. So what can we do that then? Removes that from the equation in terms of our competition. And the only thing I could think of was me. And I’ve been an artist for the last 15 years.
I’ve been a photographer and a freelance writer [00:30:00] and photography, another job where when phones came along that had cameras in them, all of a sudden photographers became less viable. And so we had to figure out how do you stand out? And the answer always with all forms of art, once the market starts to get saturated is me, my voice.
What I have to bring to the equation. And if somebody likes me, then they’re going to be interested in what I do. And the only way to build that community in a secure place that couldn’t be taken from me, like a Tik TOK platform or Facebook was a subscription model. So I started looking around to try to see how could I get into this?
Who was giving out information? And I looked at Patreon. I didn’t. Super love Patreon just because there’s a lack of the actual community there. And as soon as I happened to come across Ream, where y’all were talking about the goal, really being developing that community where your readers could respond to you and you could respond to them and that [00:31:00] access to me would be there, that’s when I knew that was what I wanted to go through.
So first, I think recognizing the problem, starting to search for solutions and then coming across what really felt like it was the right answer
Michael Evans: to the problem. That was such like, inspiring, fascinating. I, one of the, one of the more unique answers I’ve heard to that, but I think a more relatable one because the industry has changed so much in just the last couple of months, and I think what you’re saying holds a lot more truth to it now.
And it brings me to how did it actually go when you started your subscription? And from when we’re recording to now, like how recently did you start your subscription?
Nicole McKeon: Okay. So I actually initially began on my website on Squarespace because Squarespace does have the option to have a member’s area. And I thought, okay, this is a good way for me to test it out because.
It’s already within my control. Everything is already on my website. And the barrier to entry was [00:32:00] relatively low. It’s 10 a month or something like that. And so it was easy for me to just let people who already visited my website and the current email list that I have no, Hey, I’m setting this up guys.
So if you’re interested, go ahead and sign up. This is what I’ll be putting there for you. I’ll be updating it, this many times or whatever. And that was a good. Low level, no pressure introduction, since I already controlled all of those things. And I started experimenting with how I could get people to sign up.
I think sometimes we make the mistake of looking at this process from our own perspective. What do I need from this? I need this much money. I need this many subscribers. And that really forced me to say what do they get? What is the benefit for them? What would make signing up even just to be a free member, which is what I started with.
What would make that worthwhile? What would you have to do to make every email I send you so great that you’re excited to get it? And so I was including character art and short stories and behind the scenes and then the novels as I was writing them and just [00:33:00] making sure that this was the coolest place you could go to get everything you wanted about the kind of work that I did.
And once I did that, I ended up actually getting somewhere around 75 people to come in and sign up and just to be on my website. And that was the initial test. Could I do it? Would people actually join? Would it be worthwhile? But unfortunately, even though you can monetize that and put a paywall up, there is no option for a community.
There wasn’t a way that they could, comment and I could respond to them. They could send me emails, but it was very much blocked off. So even though the content is great, they can get great content anywhere for free. They can’t have access to me in that setup. So once I had experimented with that a little bit and started looking into Ream and realizing that’s where I wanted to go, I let my list know that I was moving over there and I gave them plenty of time.
I let them know that we were going. And then I actually scheduled the launch of the subscription around the launch [00:34:00] of the first book in my newest series. And I’ll explain that funnel because it did work really well. And I hope more people do this because my ARC readers have been really excited about the process.
They’ve messaged me many of them individually and said, this was the most like fun I’ve ever had. Arc reading before. I hope other authors do this. So what I essentially did, I put out the call. I let a lot of people know I tried to tease the book really well. I did not put up any walls between. Me and who I accepted.
If you loved fantasy and you were willing to review, that was all I cared about. I didn’t care about the size of anybody’s platform. I got a whole bunch of signups. I let folks know. And then I said, if you want to come join the readers, Facebook group, I will send a digital gift for, you, you coming and being a part of everything.
So the folks who did, I got. Close to 200 people to come into my readers group that way. I sent them all individually, a sneak peek of my newest book. It was like the first 11 chapters or something like that. Copying paste and putting it, it took really long time, but it was worth it [00:35:00] because they knew I was invested in them as well.
And then once they were there and they had been getting free things from me for a while, I said, Hey, I just want to let you know. I’m really excited about building this community where I can now give you more. There’s only so much time and energy I can put into the Facebook group, but over here, like you get influence and you get input.
And when you tell me you want something, I can then do that for you. And so once I let them know, folks started going and strangely enough, the first two people who signed up for my highest tier, which was 20 a month. And then some other folks, Started following. And these are all now people who already arc read for me so that I know that they already liked my work.
It was like putting up a velvet rope, right? And so they were able to pass that rope once they had exposure to me and enjoyed my content and being around me enough that then it made it worthwhile to go and sign up there. So that funnel seems to be great. Cause it. Was right [00:36:00] in terms of prequalifying them.
I guess I should say for something like a subscription.
Michael Evans: Yeah, no, that’s, I love that. Cause we always want to, we almost asked too soon where, we hit them with the paywall and we want to ask maybe too early in the reader relationship or Hey, like you don’t even know me yet. Here’s 5 a month. I would love if you could support me.
And that sounds great from the author’s experience, but from a reader experience, it’s you need to build that trust and you build that trust. You. Put in the groundwork and building that community. And then it’s not, how long did that take you from start to finish? I’m curious. Is this funnel to build out?
How long did it take?
Nicole McKeon: Less than a couple of months, less than two months. Because when I prepared for the, putting out the arcs I already knew, I wanted it to be a high touch process, meaning I was going to have my hands on every part of this process. None of it was going to be automated. I was going to be as intimate with these people as possible.
I tried to think about their needs [00:37:00] first from an ARC Reader’s perspective. So a lot of ARC Readers, when they are sharing their reviews on social media, they’re, It’s I don’t want to say that it’s for cloud. It’s not that it’s for cloud, but they want to keep people updated on what they’re doing.
And if they want more arcs, they need to let people know. I accept arcs. I give the reviews. Here’s some examples of what I do. So if you decide to send me an arc, you can trust me with your work. So in order for them to get that. I wanted to provide, I sent everybody a link to a Google Drive folder that had a bunch of promo images in it, sized for each platform, so square things for Instagram, and 16 by 9 things, and whatever, each in a folder, it had character art, I even had, I had Music.
I actually commissioned my brother who is a musician to write a theme song for my book, and it’s outstanding. So and a media kit with like questions and answers in there. So if they wanted to be able to share things that they knew, I just wanted to make it as easy for them as possible to share and make their content look great.
So [00:38:00] They needed to benefit from this relationship. A lot of people think the arc is their benefit. And it’s that’s cool. But your book is going to cost 4. 99 if it’s a digital arc, and that’s not really enough to justify all the work that they’re going to put in to reading this and giving you a thoughtful review.
So I wanted it to be as beneficial for them as it was for me. And then I also had a. A Facebook just a chat where my arc readers could come and join the chat and we read the book together so they could say, Oh, no, this thing just happened and everybody else went, Oh, no. So the community aspect was already built into that process.
And since that funnel existed already and I know I’ll be able to repeat that for future arcs now that it’s built, I can just flip the switch and as people go through remind them Hey, you can come and join over here. Other folks are already here. So that the building of the funnel took a little bit of effort, not too long, cause it’s still relatively simple, but once it was there, it became a great slide in a way for everybody to just [00:39:00] wedge in.
Michael Evans: Oh, wow. The biggest point there that is really tough to understand when we’re working specifically with not just readers, but what I’ll call reading creators, influencers, people who are creating content online is that they have an audience as well, that just like we’re trying to build our brand and build trust, they have to do the same thing.
And not only is it about first and foremost, writing a great story that they love and want to recommend, that’s the key. But the other key is, yeah, if you can make that easier for them, like They’re not, unless you’re paying your archery, which really is not a good idea. That’s really not allowed.
No, we don’t do that. You do have to figure out a way to make it easier for them because they’re putting in work on your behalf. That’s also on their behalf too, but it has to benefit them. So by making the content, that’s just not talked about enough. It’s beautiful. And I’m curious for you now. Seeing how your description’s gone in a very short period of time, you’re already having, a number of subscribers.
You’re at a place that so many people listening would love to be at. What would be your advice to them? If I’m an author who’s just getting started, [00:40:00] how can I get to where you are today?
Nicole McKeon: Care about people first, and that seems to be the refrain. Anytime anybody asks me about this, or I try to share this process, if you approach it from a mercenary perspective, thinking of these people like slot machines that you can just put a tiny bit of effort into and get something out of them over and over.
You’re going to be disappointed because people don’t like to be treated like tools. People want to be treated like people. And if you think about your core audience, the person you are writing this book for from the very beginning, and you remember that is a person. Who has wants and needs and desires and is as real as you.
And you think about it that way, the whole process becomes a lot easier because you start to wonder what are they going to get from my book? What does it deliver to them? What emotional experience are they going to have here? If they’re going to engage with my book, what makes it worthwhile? If they want to come be part of this process, how can I [00:41:00] love on them and show them I care about the fact that they’re here and they have value and.
My ARC readers know, if they have anything, they can reach out to me, they can message me, they can do all of the stuff because I value the fact that they’re here, I really do care, and if they tell me this was problematic for me, I’m going to show up and go, cool, I will do my research and find out and adjust what needs to be adjusted, because those, that, sometimes we have a tendency of authors to think of readers as walking paychecks and not people, and those, That is, you have to get that out of your mindset, especially now with these industries blowing up, they’re becoming less and less personal.
And so the more personal we can make this process and the more people can feel like they are here and they’re valued and you care that they’re here, everything else seems to fall into line, like dominoes. So stop thinking about, Always just yourself first, put yourself in their shoes.
Ask yourself, what would make me care? What would make me want to try? What would make me show up? And then the money is just [00:42:00] a natural result of that because then they want to continue having that feeling over and they care about you and they want to support you and see you succeed.
Michael Evans: It’s such a great mindset.
I my dog sky. She was barking because there was a truck. It came. Oh, she’s fluffy. Yeah. She’s she’s loving what you’re saying too. Because I think that the toughest thing in an industry where we publish online, we get data back. We only get. Page reads and sales metrics, right? In a sense, we’re incentivized to think of our fans as numbers because it’s how these systems work.
It’s how the dashboards report things to us, but we have to transcend that. And I think having a subscription makes it easier, but having the mindset you have is essential. This was incredible, Nicole. Thank you so much for these insights.
Nicole McKeon: Absolutely. Thanks for having me. I’m excited.
Michael Evans: All right. I hope y’all enjoyed this podcast. It was kind of like three in one, three, hopefully helpful interviews about how some amazing authors got started. I’m sorry that we released [00:43:00] this like, so after the fact, we usually like to release things like pretty close to when we record them usually within a couple of weeks, but I think just the mental energy of like, batching together all this to put for production always made me be like, ah, You know, three episodes in one sounded super fun until editing the three episodes became a reality.
And I apologize for not getting this out sooner. Appreciate y’all’s understanding. We definitely still came out with a bunch of episodes, but it was wrong of me to not come up with this earlier. So in the future, we’ll make sure we don’t do that. and that probably means not recording three podcasts in one again, cause it’s too stressful for me.
but this was awesome. A lot of fun. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you want more episodes from us, can’t promise it’ll be three interviews in one, but I can promise it’ll be some awesome interviews and some awesome conversations that can help you get to the next level in your author career. Then check out our podcast.
If you’re on YouTube, subscribe, we’ll see y’all soon. Thank you so much for listening and watching. And as always, don’t forget storytellers rule the world.
I’ll be back, I won’t let you leave. [00:44:00] I won’t leave at all, I won’t let you leave.