Written by Michael Evans on January 1, 2023, before the beta launch of Ream.
Let us set the scene.
You have been frustrated for years with endless obstacles… one big problem… that just won’t go away. In fact, it’s threatening to shut down your author business for no other reason than it doesn’t agree with the stories you share with your readers.
Then you meet your knight in shining armor.
He promises to make your problems go away. Using magical spells and his raw strength.
And after thousands of hours and an entire year of fighting those monsters… he saves you.
He creates the safe, wonderful place you always dreamt of as your home.
_________
What if I told you that story was true?
That story is Ream’s story.
Except, our knight wears t-shirts and jeans and deals in the magic of code. And he didn’t just create that home for the love of his life… but for all of you…
We will get back to that story later.
But first…
Although we encourage you to use the platforms and services that work best for you and your readers, we designed Ream specifically for fiction authors. And if you are a steamy romance author, we are co-founded by steamy romance author Emilia Rose, and, unlike other platforms, we are committed to empowering (not censoring) our romance authors.
Here’s a little peek at what Ream has in store for you and your readers:
- A social eReader that works across devices for your readers and enables your fans to communicate and connect while enjoying your stories.
- A publishing scheduler and community management tools that saves you hours each month in operating your subscription.
- A Facebook-Group like community that allows you to deliver streamlined updates to your readers.
- Automatic email updates to readers so they stay in touch with your subscription and keep coming back.
- A business model designed to win with you. We only make money when you do and charge a simple 10% of your revenue on the platform (in addition to payment processing fees).
- Offer access to bonus content, travel guides, cookbooks and more.
- Ownership of your reader data (emails) and full control over payments and refunds.
- Can sell directly to your readers or set up a Ream Managed account where we handle the VAT and Sales Tax for you at no extra cost (still just our standard 10% fee + payment processing).
- [LIMITED TIME] Concierge migration team that will help you make the switch from existing subscription platforms.
- AND so much more…
Regardless of whether you use Ream or not, we are committed to helping you succeed in subscriptions and create a happier life for you and your readers.
Doing this is my dream. Create a place where Storytellers Rule the World. Where we can empower romance authors (never censor them!) and readers. Where we can create a space that my science fiction author self of 6 years always imagined:
One where technology is in partnership with authors… not ruling over us.
But I’m getting ahead of myself… I’m definitely too excited. First, we have to slow down and take a big step back.
It’s time to tell you, my subscription author friend, the story of Ream’s founding.
And it all begins with one man… and one woman.
I promise this isn’t a romance story.
Well, kind of…
Meet Emilia Rose. She’s a steamy romance author who makes $100k+ per year in subscriptions. And a co-founder of Ream.
But before there was Ream, Emilia was in college.
Studying late nights, preparing for graduate school applications, and writing serial fiction online as a hobby.
That hobby soon garnered her millions of reads on serial fiction apps. The comments piled in, the happy readers, and the attention… but there was no way to monetize her stories on the app.
Sean Patnode, her partner at the time (now her husband), told her to start a subscription and have her readers support her. As a long-time indie game developer, he had created subscriptions for fans of his work in the past.
Except, her first subscription flopped.
She started a new penname and started gaining momentum again.
When she started her subscription again, she had zero subscribers.
And then 1 person joined.
For weeks, it was just Emilia and the mysterious lone subscriber keeping her subscription/membership chugging.
Little did she know, that the lone subscriber was actually Sean Patnode.
Months later, that one subscriber turned to thousands and she was making a run-rate of $100k+ per year in subscription revenue. All from offering early access to her serialized fiction. If you want to learn more about Emilia’s personal writing journey, you can watch this podcast.
But of course… Ream’s story doesn’t end there.
In fact, the genesis of Ream started much later.
After 3 years of running a successful subscription and being a full-time author, Emilia was tired of platforms not built for her needs as a subscription author. A majority of her readers cited bad experiences with the subscription platform she used (it happens to be one that begins with a P) as their reason for unsubscribing.
She had to spend hours each month scheduling content. There was no eReader on-site for her readers to actually enjoy her stories in a pleasurable way.
And worst of all, her stories were regularly being censored on the platform. Her account had been shut down numerous times with the company forcing her to take down stories that involved steamy scenes no more wild than Game of Thrones.
But content fit for the screens of tens of millions of people worldwide wasn’t fit for this platform and its white-tied investors.
Storytellers like Emilia, who wanted to have the power to connect with her readers, build a vibrant community of her fans, and get paid a sustainable income from writing her stories didn’t belong anywhere.
After all, they never built the platform for fiction authors to begin with.
She was ready to leave.
That’s when our hero enters the picture…
Sean Patnode has spent his days building client-side applications for enterprises like banks and hospitals for the last decade. And at night, he has been building fantastic game worlds in Unreal Engine, powered by subscription revenue of his own.
With Emilia needing a new home for her subscription, the thought hit him — why don’t I create a platform for you?
So he started, coding a rough prototype in a few months, working nights and weekends to create the site of his wife’s dreams.
That’s when I met Emilia and Sean.
Emilia and I had both been recruited as partners with the same publishing technology start-up. I had spent the last year founding and working for creator economy start-ups while attending college at Harvard. After writing and publishing 12 sci-fi novels, I was obsessed with building a better future for creative people.
I was done with platforms that exploited my mental health as both an author, YouTuber, and a live streamer of 1000 hours in partnership with a Sean Parker company (first president of Facebook).
I also knew that the very fabric of social media on the internet was changing.
It was the rise of the Creator Economy. A shift in power away from monolithic platforms to small, meaningful digital communities that are owned and led by creators. I even wrote a book about this you can read for here.
Seeing this revolution, I knew there also needed to be a change in the infrastructure we have as fiction authors to distribute, monetize, and connect with the readers of our stories.
It felt like Emilia had cracked the code.
She was an author creator of the future. She just needed the tools to make her life easier and her readers happier. And a home that would support and uplift her instead of exploiting her and her readers.
And Sean was the sorcerer of code to create this future.
We had our team. We had our vision.
And we had an undying passion.
So we set off.
Summing up the last year would be impossible. From conferences in London and Vegas to chatting with literally 100 of you in private calls. From day 1, you helped not only to shape this vision but ignite and inspire our creative souls.
We kept working, strategizing, and building.
And after thousands of hours of coding and nearly a year of hard work, Sean (our sole engineer) completed Ream.
Of course, our work is just beginning.
Only book 1 in an epic saga we hope to continue creating for all of you over the coming years.
After devoting the last year of his life to creating Ream, Sean now gets to have the love of his life be the first person to enjoy it.
And it will change her author life and readers’ lives forever for the better.
This is Ream’s love story.
And it is our love for you, for storytelling, and for each other, that makes sharing this with you one of the greatest privileges of my life.
And the best part… it’s just the beginning.
I can’t wait to invite you to create this love story with us. To create a space filled with passion and care, rather than negativity and soulless metrics.
In the meantime, we are so grateful for your interest in Ream as the new home for your subscription.
This was just our prologue.
It’s time to write Chapter 1.
Together.