The Fable of the Month Club

Hey, friends. I’ve been working on an idea for quite a while. I’m calling it the Fable of the Month Club, and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like.

Once a month for a year, supporters will get to read a brand new fable-style story written by me. It’s not going to be free or publicly available. I’m using the Patreon site, which has a pay wall, so only those who’ve pledged to support me at a certain level will be able to read these special stories. You can join here.

Do I mean an actual fable? Yes! These stories will be in the spirit of Aesop’s fables, just-so stories, folklore, samizdat, myths, and other similar stories. Folklore and fables have always been an interest of mine, and I’m looking forward to exploring this form of literature. Why do the sun and the moon rotate the earth the way they do? How did a brave solider defeat a tyrant? How about a parable about farming? I plan to try a bunch of new ideas over the year.

To show you what I'm doing, I've posted a sample fable titled The Firekeeper on Patreon. You can read it for free!

Now, the fables are all quite short (a/k/a flash fiction, which means not more than a few pages long). I want readers who support me at higher levels to feel that they’re still getting value, so I’ll try to post bonus stuff each month as well. This may be a "behind the scenes” explanation of that month’s fable, an essay, or some other little thing.

Why am I doing this when I’m already a full-time writer? Well, in the case of my romance pen name, the books I write have (just!) a large enough audience to earn out and even give me a small allowance after production costs. In the case of other stories though, there’s no way I can earn anything close to minimum wage for the time invested.

That’s where Patreon comes in. The money I get from patrons will help justify the time spent away from my other writing, i.e. the stuff with a market. While I really, really enjoy writing romance and mystery, I want to keep pushing my craft in new ways. But it’s been hard to step away from my pen names in order to focus on my "Jocelyn writing". This is an experiment to see if there’s a viable path to do that.

So the short version is: you pay, I write. Think of it as subscribing to a very focused online magazine that only publishes me. I’m committing to a minimum of twelve months of stories. If the model works, I’ll keep going (though likely with a different theme after a year).

So please visit the Patreon page and sign up. There are different reward levels, as well as common goals, which will result in nice things happening for everybody if we hit those funding levels.

The official start will be September 2015. I'll try to post on or near the first of the month. In meantime, enjoy The Firekeeper for free.

FAQ
Is there a free option for the Fable of the Month Club? NO. Did you read anything up above? Jeez.

I want to support you, but I don’t want to read any romance or that other dreck you write. Can you guarantee my safety? Yes. This Fable of the Month Club project is entirely focused on Jocelyn-style writing, not that of any pen names. You won’t get romance, mystery, or other stuff with you know, kissing and feelings. Just J-style spec fic: all fables all the time!

Do I have to sign up with Patreon to read the fables? Yes. That’s how it works. Patreon is a website/service that allows creative types to post things they’ve made onto the Patreon page, and then to allow other people to view it once they pledge money to do so. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money ($1 per month is the minimum), but it’s real money, and that’s important.

I missed the first month. Can I still read the old stories? Yes. Once you pledge, you get access to everything I’ve posted, and the back catalogue will be there.

What are you going to do with all the money? Write more! Get more stories out into the world! Remember, this isn’t a Kickstarter. The idea is to fund my ongoing creative work.

Can I cancel my monthly pledges if I don’t want to support you any more? Yes. You’re not locked into anything. You can raise, lower, or cancel your pledges at any time. Patreon is very transparent and easy to use.

Make sense? Awesome. Let's do this! Join the Fable of the Month Club right now.

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