At Ream, we believe that Storytellers Rule the World.

Together we are building a new publishing ecosystem for authors — one that puts storytellers in control and our readers first.

But there’s a more important question. A question that is fundamental to the future of our industry and the world.

WHICH Storytellers Rule the World?

We all know that getting started as an author can be hard. Juggling the finances, our families, our jobs… and everything else that comes with being an author.

Even in the internet age where anyone with a computer can press publish, the time, privilege, and resources necessary to craft, distribute, and publish stories remain inequitably distributed.

That’s not okay.

In a world where Storytellers Rule — it’s more important than ever to uplift and empower those who are just getting their author journeys started.

With the Storytellers Rule the World Grant, we want to help authors overcome the barriers to getting started in their publishing careers and get to the next level.

For the 2023 Storytellers Rule the World Grant, one author will received $1,000 USD and four 1-hour coaching calls with Michael Evans (Ream co-founder and CEO and author of 12 science fiction novels).

And the winner is…

Stephanie Swann!

You can watch the video live of Stephanie winning the Grant during the Storytellers Rule the World Award Show…

You can check out Stephanie Swann’s website and subscription page here!

And here’s a bit more about Stephanie:

Always being told she is a daydreamer, Stephanie uses her gifts for escaping into a fantasy world to bring those worlds to life. Unable to write solely in one genre, she has found herself enjoying writing a wide array of books. From historical fiction to fantasy, Stephanie loves it all. Hoping to instill a love of books in her children, Stephanie spends her days reading, writing and going on adventures with her family, allowing imagination to lead the way and creativity to write the stories. Her favorite adventures are the ones where her son leads them through magical portals to new lands in discovery of the mystery that lies there.

We had nearly 100 authors apply.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t give a grant to every author who applied (we have funds for one grant this year, but hope to make this an annual program that we can expand in the future).

So how did we chose the winning author?

Here were the eligibility requirements:

• Authors who make under $1,000 USD per year in revenue from their stories are eligible to apply.
• We are open to any genre of writing including poetry, nonfiction, fiction, short stories, and more.
• You do NOT need to have a Ream account or a subscription as an author to apply.
• Authors must be above 18 years of age but can be located anywhere in the world.

*Note: we will be validating the above claims for the winner of the grant before we make an official announcement, so please be truthful!

Here’s what the judges, the members of the Subscriptions for Authors All-Star Team, looked for:

1. Authors who have a solid plan of how they will use the $1,000 USD to further their publishing career. There are no right or wrong answers here, but specific itemized budgets are preferred over general, vague statements.
2. Authors who have a clear passion for writing and desire to take their career to the next level in 2024.
3. Authors who would benefit from 1-on-1 coaching from Michael Evans.

And here are the terms of the Storytellers Rule the World Grant:

• Ream Inc shall hold no rights to your stories or intellectual property as a result of winning this grant.
• You are not required to publish on Ream or start a subscription on the platform. We want to support authors in the path that works best for them!
• Taxes will not be withheld from the grant and it is the responsibility of the recipient to pay any required taxes in their jurisdiction.
• The grant is “no strings attached”. Your plan and budget can change — Michael and the rest of the Ream Team will be here to help you. This is about as free as money gets!

If you have any questions about the grant — send them along to Arielle, directly, at ceoassistant@reamstories.com and she will do her best to get back to you as fast as possible.

This is our first time ever doing anything like this and we are excited about the possibilities with this program in the future, and even more excited to help one of you take your writing career to the next level with the first-ever Storytellers Rule the World Grant.

You all are amazing! Feel free to share this grant far and wide :).

And in the meantime, don’t forget…

Storytellers Rule the World

P.S. Are you interested in supporting this grant in future years as a mentor for other authors? Reach out to ceoassistant@reamstories.com… we’d love to chat!