Originally published at: Announcement: AG+ & AG Papergoods - Ackerly Green
In the early days of Ackerly Green, our Patreon support was a crucial key in maintaining all the things required to run the interactive elements of the company. The sites, subscriptions, apps, and the forum are all expensive to maintain, and many of you graciously supported me when I only had The Monarch Papers to give in return. But since The Monarch Papers ended, and we began selling books and merchandise, it didn’t seem fair or right to also ask for a monthly tip just to keep doing what I’m doing. What I love doing. Also, it was really hard to maintain all the monthly bonuses I wanted to offer Patreon patrons, resulting in me either being run ragged or not being able to fulfill the monthly rewards. Or both.
So I ended Ackerly Green’s Patreon. But to this day, readers email asking how they can support me and what I’m doing. They feel they get a lot out of the community that formed around The Monarch Papers (which makes me happier than you can imagine) and want to help keep the story and the home they love alive.
So that, along with my love of this community and love of creating things, led us to come up with something called AG+
AG+ is a way to enrich and deepen your connection to the community, the narrative, and also get a bunch of cool stuff all year long, while helping support AGP. AG+ is a monthly (or discounted annual) subscription that gets you a ton of perks AND gets you exclusive access to AG Papergoods which is a monthly themed shipment of hand-crafted paper items delivered to your door! Think bookmarks, stickers, postcards, buttons, stationery, and surprise ephemera from the Magiqverse! But that’s not all!
With AG+ you’ll receive:
- AG Papergoods monthly delivery service
- Access to a library of all past and future Ackerly Green e-books
- Entry to a monthly, AG+ exclusive hangout and game night where the community and AG staff will play virtual board, card, roleplaying, and party games together
- You will become part of future interactive book cover reveals
- Annual subscribers will receive an exclusive hand-crafted gift at the end of the year.
So the big questions… how much, and when?
April! And we’ve thought long and hard about how much AG+ should cost, and what we’d need to make to make it worth both your while to pay for, and ours to craft every month. So for the first year, AG+ will be $8 a month if you pay monthly, and if you buy an annual subscription, you’ll receive two free months as well as an annual, hand-crafted gift. We’ll also favor early adopters should the price change in the future.
How it works:
Every month you’ll receive a link to a private product in the Ackerly Green shop which will detail everything you’ll receive in the AG Papergoods shipment that month. All you’ll need to do is check out with the free product, include your current address, and pay for any additional expedited or International shipping (we’re also working on keeping down the cost for our non-US friends, stay tuned…)
You’ll also gain access to exclusive channels on the Discord server so that you can participate in the monthly Hangout and Game Night.
We’re also considering having a “Papergoods Swap” topic/category on the forum. It’s still in the works, but we’re thinking about randomizing some of the goods you’ll receive, and so you may get one or two things no one else receives, and others will too! You can then post your haul, and you and other subscribers can swap your rare goods if you want!
I’m really excited about this for about a hundred reasons, but I love that the community wants to be a deeper and even more supportive part of the inner-workings of AGP. It blows my mind.
I also love being able to give back to you in ways that nurture my need for creative expression outside of writing and world-building. Also, GAME NIGHT!
If you have questions or thoughts, please respond! AG+ is still a work-in-progress, and we’d love to hear what you think…