Here at Fictionate, we’re always looking for ways to make the writing and reading process better for everyone. We especially want you to be able to monetize your work, on YOUR terms.
Have options like Patreon and Substack lost their luster because of their high fees and commission rates? Well, dear authors, we have great news for you.
Welcome to the new subscription service by Fictionate.Me Publishing!
Some perks of our service, besides keeping more of your royalties:
- Everything in one place. Have all of your fiction (novels, serials, short stories, poetry, etc.) housed on the same site with your own blog and newsletter on our platform, so if you’re an author without a website, this is a great place to get started. (Blog and newsletter features coming soon!)
- Sharing your work is more streamlined. If you’ve ever used Patreon or Substack, you know there can be a few steps involved just to share your work. At Fictionate, there’s no need to "post a chapter in blog", no need to "select which price tiers will see the post", no need to "update older posts to change the visibility." Everything is simplified and in one place with an easy-to-use editor feature. Share your stories with a click of a button to social media, email, etc.
- Create unlimited tiers without paying extra fees*. This means endless possibilities for content creation without extra fees for you, the author. For instance, Patreon charges an extra fee for a “pro” creator account for this service on top of the 5% commission they take out of your royalties, so their commission rates can go up to as much as 12%. Not at Fictionate.Me!
- More customization. Speaking of tiers, Substack only has three tiers for paid subscribers: monthly, annual, and founding members. Our platform offers more customization on what you can offer for your subscribers with unlimited tiers and various price points.
- Create an intimate fanbase. With the click of the Follow button at the top of your profile, readers can follow you to get alerts when new chapters or episodes drop. Readers can also click on links to your social media accounts and other published works right on your profile page. Private messaging between writers and readers is forthcoming, so you can create an even more intimate relationship with your fanbase.
Ready to get started on your new monetization journey? Read ahead for a step-by-step guide, and click here to learn even more about our subscription service benefits, and why it’s better for you, the author, than platforms like Patreon and Substack.
*Fictionate will receive a 5% commission on subscriptions only. The rest of your royalties are all yours! You’ll receive 100% royalties (minus the 2.9% credit card transaction fee) for all direct book sales not behind the subscription paywall. Fictionate.Me does not receive any commissions from your direct book sales, meaning you pocket more royalties than you would with other platforms.
Step One: Publish your content
Before you can make any subscriptions, you’ll need some works published on our site! If you don’t already have an account, it will only take minutes to sign up and have your first book or story uploaded and published for free. Click here for help creating your account and uploading your work.
Once you have published your book, you will see “My Books” on your profile drop-down menu on the upper right side of the screen. The works added to your subscription tiers will come from your My Books collection.
Pro tip: If you are utilizing short stories or flash fiction as your content, you can create one book for your stories (like an anthology or compilation) that you can add to each day, week, month, etc. That way you don’t need a book cover or file for each separate story. Click here for an example!
Now that you have your work uploaded, let’s find out how to make your subscription tiers.
Step Two: Name your tiers
To create a new subscription, click on the drop-down menu on the right side of the screen. In the menu, you’ll see “Writer’s Subscriptions”. Click on this, and a new screen will appear.
From here, click “Create Subscription” on the right-hand side of the screen. This is where you’ll create your subscription tiers, just like in Patreon.
First, give your tier a name in the “Name” box. You’ll need to plan the names of your tiers (you can only plan one tier at a time on the subscription page, FYI). They can be as simple as “bronze, silver, or gold”, or you can get creative with your titles. For instance, if you write vampire fiction, you could name them something like:
Fledgling (first tier with limited access)
Neonate (second tier, midway access)
Elder (third tier, premiere access)
For some tier name ideas, head to Patreon to find some fun ones as examples, or click here or here for some more inspiration! Think of your genre, your types of characters, etc. The more creative, the more it will catch your reader’s eye!
One of our bonuses previously mentioned is that you can create unlimited tiers for your subscribers. But if you only want to add one tier, that’s fine too! You can always add tiers later as you build up your content library.
Step Three: Pick emojis and colors for your tiers
Underneath your insanely creative tier title will be an emoji box. These emojis will represent your different tiers. Write werewolf or vampire fiction? Find ones that fit your genre for even more fun. Are you a fantasy or sci-fi writer? Use magic wands, stars, planets, etc.
Then choose your tier color. This color will show up on your subscription page. Each tier needs a different color to differentiate each one.
Step Four: Describe your tiers
It’s time to sell yourself, authors! First, ask yourself: what will reader benefits be if they subscribe to one of your tiers?
Now it’s time to write the description of each particular tier. Again, if you aren’t sure what to offer in your tier, check out our Patreon for Writers article here, where our staff writer Jillian has some great content ideas to get you started, as well as benefits of the service and tips for success. Keep in mind you only want to offer rewards that are doable and that you can keep creating on a continuous basis. Don’t offer a podcast or “meet the author” zoom meeting if you have no time to do these things.
As you are creating your tiers, you can save them as drafts, so you don’t have to publish them right away.
Step Five: Pricing
Add your price. The price needs to be aligned with the content your readers will receive. You don’t want to charge $19.99 on your first tier unless you plan on making TONS of content!
Price points start at $0.99 and go up to $49.99 per month. Your pricing should be relevant to the content offered.
When you select the drop-down menu, you will see three selections now: Free, Paid, and Subscription Only. If you want an entire book or collection that won't be available to the general public, you can choose the Subscription Only option, so your content will become exclusive to subscribers and can't be bought outright (unless you want it to be!).
Also, make sure your subscribers know what a deal they’re getting by subscribing. You can add this to your story/book blurbs. For instance, non-subscribers would pay $2.99 for a book. But with a $2.99 subscription, they could get your book plus extras like short stories, cut scenes, etc. More value for the reader means even more subscriptions!
Step Six: Add content to tiers
Under the price input, you’ll see a section that says, “Add Book”. Click on the drop-down menu, and all of your works that are published on the site will appear. Choose which book (story, etc.) you wish to add to that tier. You can add multiple books in one tier if you wish. In the “All Chapters but Last” field, simply leave it blank if you want readers to have access to all chapters. If you want the access to end at a certain point, like say at chapter 20, you’d enter the number 20. For instance, on tier one, you could offer the first 20 chapters of your book at a low price point. But for the reader to access the rest of your book, along with extra content, they’d need to subscribe to the higher tier, helping you bring in even more money. Content being “exclusive” makes your readers want it even more!
After you hit “Add”, the selected stories or books will appear from your private content library. Once you’re happy with your tier selections, click “Save” in the upper right-hand corner. Voila! Your subscriptions are now live!
To view your subscriptions to edit, go to your profile menu and select “Writer’s Subscriptions” and simply click on the tier you wish to edit. This will bring you back to the creation screen.
You’re now ready for subscribers!
Not crazy about the tier perks you created after you published? No worries. You can delete subscriptions if no one has subscribed to them yet. But once you have subscribers, you won’t be able to delete that specific tier. However, you can hide it so you don’t get any new subscribers. Alert subscribers about changes to your tiers via your newsletter.
To hide a tier, go to your profile drop-down menu and select “Writer’s Subscriptions”. This will bring up all your tiers. Click on the tier you want to hide, and at the top of the screen (under your tier name) you can toggle off the Visible button. When it’s not visible, you’ll see the message “Customers won’t see it in the subscriptions list”, so you’ll know for sure it’s hidden.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via the website, or better yet, find us on Discord and direct your question to one of the admins, who will be happy to assist you.
Happy writing authors, and good luck on your writing journey with Fictionate.Me Publishing!
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