Ream is a portal designed for authors to deliver content by subscription to their readers. I’ve been setting up my accounts there (one for Deborah and one for Claire) and will be launching my subscriptions in November. This makes now a good time to explain what will be happening over there.

In a way, Ream is like Patreon or Substack – or many other similar portals – in that readers subscribe to a specific tier of content provided by a creator. It might be an essay a month; it might be a chapter a week of a serialized story; it might be early access to a new book. Ream is specificially designed for fiction, though, so that (for example) it’s easy to read serialized content in order. I also like the interface. The other fun thing about Ream is that it creates a community forum behind the paywall – when you subscribe to a tier, you have access to a forum where you can discuss the story with other readers or ask questions of the author. There can also be additional content available to subscribers there, like family trees and glossaries.

There are many possibilities with a site like Ream, but I’ll be concentrating on three different strategies there.

The Book Club
I have a lot of completed content and sometimes people find that daunting. My Knights & Rogues Book Club will be launch at Ream beginning November 1. Each month, subscribers will have access to four stories (mostly full-length books) as we work through my various series. This tier is like a lending library – subscribers have access to the content for 30 days. We’ll start with the Bride Quest. (I’m kind of amazed that I have enough completed books to fill an entire year!)

The Book Box
Each quarter or so, I’ll offer a book box via Ream. The first one will be signed 25th anniversary commemorative hardcover editions of all six Bride Quest books. You’ll be able to sign up for the book box for a specified interval – this one will be three weeks in November – then you’ll be billed three times. The books will ship in the new year. It’s kind of an installment plan for the special editions, plus you’ll get your books signed and with goodies. These bundles won’t have as many goodies as the Kickstarter editions, just FYI, but will offer a second chance for readers to get the signed editions. (This one isn’t published to the Ream page yet.)

New Stories
Under this model, you’ll get early access to a story that hasn’t been published yet. It’s a first peek! The story will be delivered in installments, like a serial, then when it’s completed, subscribers will get the ebook of that story on publication. Some authors share early drafts this way, but I’m too much of a control freak for that. The story will be done before it is delivered via Ream – subscribers will just see it early. I’ll be continuing the Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction this way. In December, we’ll launch with the existing books, then The Hellion’s Heart (and the rest of the series) will be available first at Ream.

How does Ream work? From the subscriber side, you have to create an account, then you have the option of setting your notifications and preferences. When you subscribe to a tier, you’ll be billed immediately for the first month. That will give you access to the available content and community forum. That day will become your billing date, and you’ll be billed every month on that date for that subscription, unless you choose to cancel it. So, subscribe to a tier today, and your billing date will be the 18th of every month. Ream takes care of all sales taxes (which I love) so it’s possible that there will be sales tax on your subscriptions on top of the tier price. The prices are set in USD.

I’ll tell you more about the Knights & Rogues Book Club tomorrow. In the meantime, have a look at my Ream page. You can follow the page for free.

Visit my Claire Delacroix Ream page here.