Fireside Chats: Subscriptions for Authors
Fireside Chats are webinars we hosted with the Subscriptions for Authors community about the core topics that help fiction authors start, grow, and succeed in subscriptions.
Following, are the links to each of our fireside chats in chronological order. We hope you enjoy them!
September Fireside Chat: The Community Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 3-hour chat:
- Emilia’s strategy for managing her Discord and Wattpad community (it includes an AI chatbot that mimics her characters!)
- Difference between audience, community, and fandom, and how a community can supercharge your fandom
- Upselling readers to your subscription with community
- Tools and platforms for your community
- Answered questions from y’all 🙂 As always!
- Had an incredible chat about the mindset of a subscription author and why this business will be the future for many authors
- How to give your readers belonging with the power of community and why this is so valuable (especially for subscription authors)
- Building your own mini-Disney (like monetizing travel guides!)
- How Ream can help you manage and grow your community
- AND SO much more 🙂
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
October Fireside Chat: The Subscription Tool Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 2-hour chat:
- Emilia’s tech and the tools she uses to manage and grow her subscription
- An in-depth chat about promoting your subscription using your mailing list
- Chat about audio files for your subscription
- AI Discord Chatbot from Emilia Rose
- Answered questions from y’all 🙂 As always!
- Where subscriptions should be in your overall business (KU with subscriptions/subscriptions with wide)
- How to convince readers to sign up for your subscription
- AND SO much more 🙂
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
November Fireside Chat: The Subscription Marketing Edition
Read the free Subscription Marketing Guide we created to help you make the most from Anne Janzer’s book.
And here’s a quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- Author Anne Janzer’s Backstory
- The Subscription Marketing Mindset
- How to Promote Your Subscription to Your Readers
- Learnings from Subscriptions in Other industries (tech and media companies)
- When Should You Start Your Subscription?
- And lots more amazing insights with Anne!
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
December Fireside Chat: The Creator Economy Edition
And here’s a quick recap of what we discussed in the 2-hour chat:
- How authors can become independent of platforms and publishers
- Building your own “mini-Disney” for your readers
- Technology changes and the opportunities of the creator economy for authors
- Content creation to find new readers
- And so much more…
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
January Fireside Chat: The Subscription Starter Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- What are subscriptions?
- Should you start a subscription and when should you start one?
- Early access and other subscription models
- Subscriptions for Authors Manifesto
- Promoting/launching your subscription
- Remaining consistent with subscriptions
- And so much more…
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
February Fireside Chat: The Subscription Pricing Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- How pricing subscriptions are different from ala carte book sales
- How to price tiers based on what you are offering your readers
- How the top 500 fiction authors in subscriptions price their tiers
- How to change the price of your tiers and migrate existing subscribers to new plans
- A sneak peek of the subscription pricing calculator
- Pricing for physical goods including advice for international shipping
- And SO much more…
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
March Fireside Chat: The Subscription Tier Reward Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- How to decide what tier rewards are best for you
- How to make the process of delivering tier benefits fun for you and your readers
- How to study what other authors are doing for tier rewards
- Digital tier reward ideas
- Dangers and benefits of physical tier rewards
- And SO much more…
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
April Fireside Chat: The Serial Fiction Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- How to write serial fiction that gets readers hooked
- Serial fiction in multiple formats (such as audio)
- How to make a serial into a novel for publication on retailers
- How to use serial fiction to build a successful early-access subscription
- And SO much more
And for those interested in the transcript, you can find that here.
May Subscription Pop-up Event: Plotting Addictive Serials
A quick recap of what we discussed in the hour chat:
- How to use the Serial Outline sheet by K.C. York
- Plotting serials across seasons that keep readers hooked
- Using Short Arcs to make seasons more engaging
- And SO much more
You can find the link to the free Serial Outline Sheet here and you can see the transcript of this recording here.
June Fireside Chat: The Subscription Mindset Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- How the algorithm mindset can negatively impact us as authors
- The tenets of the Subscription Author Mindset
- The hurdles that block us from developing the subscription mindset
- The Sovereign Author Framework
- And SO much more
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here and the chat recap here.
July 23′ Fireside Chat: Conquering Impostor Syndrome for Subscription Authors
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- What to do when we feel impostor syndrome as subscription authors
- Confronting and overcoming imposter syndrome as authors
- An overview of an exercise + free worksheet to help conquer impost syndrome
- General questions about subscription platforms, new features, and an AMA session with the SFA Team
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here and you can find a copy of the exercise Joan Raymond shared in the chat, for free, here.
August 23′ Fireside Chat: Following Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- What is Following and why it matters for our subscriptions as authors
- Ways to grow your Following
- How to deliver benefits to Followers on Ream
- Turning your Followers into Paid Members
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here and you can find the live chat replay here.
September 23′ Fireside Chat: The Industry Report Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- The Top 100 Fiction Authors in Subscriptions
- Overall Industry Stats on the fast-growing subscription industry for fiction authors
- Showcased subscription authors from different genres from our subscription author database
Creator Economy for Authors Launch Party: September 23′
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- The author creator framework for discovery in the creator economy
- How to monetize and sell direct as an author
- Detailed Q and A covering everything from what tier benefits to offer your readers to what community software to use to connect with your fans
October 23′ Fireside Chat: The Book Club Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- How subscription book clubs are generating millions per year
- How and why you should consider starting a subscription book club
- How authors can collaborate with reading creators and book clubs
- And SO much more…
November 23′ Fireside Chat: The Subscription Strengths Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- An overview of the 34 strengths and how you could utilize those strengths for your subscription
- How each strengths relate to subscriptions and subscription success
December 23′ Fireside Chat: The Subscription Strengths Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- The questions to ask yourself when planning your subscription
- How different personas can brand and market their subscriptions
- How to build a sustainable subscription and iterative process
- Q and A with Emilia Rose and Anna McCluskey
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here.
January 24′ Fireside Chat: The Retention Edition
A quick recap of what we discussed in the 1.5-hour chat:
- What is retention and why it matters for subscription authors
- How to increase the retention of your subscription using simple, proven strategies
- Advice on maximizing your Discovery on Ream
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here.
February 24′ Fireside Chat: The Cross-Promotion Edition
In this 1-hour chat we covered:
- The principles of a great cross-promotion
- The types of cross-promotions you can run
- How to manage, grow, and measure the success of your cross-promotions
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here.
March 24′ Fireside Chat: The Discovery Edition
In this 1-hour chat we covered:
- The principles of what makes good discovery for authors
- Different reader funnels authors can use for their subscriptions
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here.
April ’24 Fireside Chat: The Email Marketing Edition
In this 1-hour chat we covered:
- The different kinds of email marketing campaigns for your subscription
- Why email marketing is so effective at growing your subscription
- What specific tactics you can use to write great sales emails
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here.
June ’24 Fireside Chat: The Reader Journey Edition
In this 1.5-hour chat we covered:
- The 5 Chapters of the Reader Journey
- The HARDEST part of the reader journey (moving readers from Chapter 3 to 4)
- How to overcome challenges in the reader journey to grow your readership.
And for those interested in the transcript you can find that here.