Using Ream Promo Codes for Your Kickstarter Campaign
This is a help guide based on a post by Michael Evans in Subscriptions for Authors
How can we use Ream and Kickstarter to work together?
The TLDR: this is our policy stance on the use of Ream promotion codes for Kickstarter campaigns.
Yes, you can offer a promotion code that gives readers a discount or even a completely free subscription to Ream for any length of time (could be 1 month, 3 months, etc.) to backers of your Kickstarter campaign.
The only thing we ask is that the Ream promotion code and subscription is NOT THE ONLY BENEFIT of your Kickstarter reward tier. This means that a 1 month subscription on Ream free to every backer can be a stretch goal, or an additional benefit added in for higher tiers, lower backer tiers... anything you want. If the ONLY benefit is a subscription to Ream, then we ask that your reader pays you on Ream.
No other subscription platform or really ANY platform in general, allows you to do things like this. But we think it's essential.
Just as you can use promotion codes on Ream to offer readers who purchase from your direct store or sign up to your mailing list a month free or a multi-month discount, you can do the same thing with Kickstarter.
This is potentially a game changer for authors using Kickstarter and Ream. And it's SO simple to implement. Just create a promotion code on Ream (form linked
here
) and then send the promotion code to readers who back your Kickstarter.
Once the promotion code expires (i.e. the 3 month free subscription ends), readers can choose to stick around or leave you subscription. In early trials, we have seen over 70% of readers stick around AFTER being comped a subscription for a period of time like this. We don't have enough retention data to show how this compared at year 1 or year 2 (Ream has only been public for 10 months), but this is a great start.
Most platforms are vehement on NOT working together.
They do everything they can to trap you in their ecosystem.
Ream does the opposite. How can Storytellers Rule the World if you are trapped in Ream's platform?
This means we:
- Let authors the emails of all their customers (paying and non-paying... that's right every follower on Ream you get their email)
- No algorithms disrupting communication between you and your readers. Every chapter update and every community post goes right to your reader's inbox with piracy protection to help prevent your chapters being illicitly shared/copied.
- Authors can set up as the merchant of record on Ream, giving them ownership of their paid subscriptions so that you can transfer them elsewhere if you ever want to leave (this is what Ream Direct is). For those who don't want to handle Sales Tax and VAT (which you have to legally do if you are Ream Direct), Ream handles it for you if you choose Ream Managed. No other platform in the world for authors has multiple payout options like this.
I don't think it's even a stretch to say that Ream is the most fiction author friendly platform in the world.
And that's because we believe so firmly that Storytellers Rule the World.
To be
very clear about Ream's Terms of Service
: it is against our terms of service to circumvent our payment processing systems. This clause is to stop bad actors from creating Ream accounts to run their subscriptions but having readers pay for those subscriptions elsewhere.
The exact language used in the Ream Terms of Service is as follows:
"Authors agree to this 10% transaction fee unconditionally upon joining Ream. If authors are found to be circumventing this fee by using the Ream service to deliver Content to readers but charging them for membership fees elsewhere, then their account will be removed and suspended. To be clear, authors may not solicit payment from a Reader outside of Ream to accept membership payment for content, experiences, or rewards hosted on Ream. However, authors can link out to other sites, such as eBook retailers, for readers to purchase other goods or services from them."
Kickstarter coupons can fall into a gray area. Every other platform is explicitly AGAINST this. We are explicitly FOR IT and having Ream as an additional perk to an existing Kickstarter campaign is not viewed as circumvention to Ream.
Community is King... and trust is everything in community (and subscriptions).
Just as you trust us to deliver a reliable platform that delights your readers and makes running a subscription easy for you, we also trust you to do the right thing by Ream.
This trust allows us to give you more freedom and not "micro-manage" how you run your business. And ultimately, this freedom allows you to have a better subscription and make more money by having different platforms, revenue streams, and campaigns work
together rather than against one another.
If someone is found to be breaking our TOS we advise the author and investigate before banning anyone's account.
Instead of us making assumptions based on anomalies in the data, we will ask for more information, and then take action.
This means, that we are here to support you.
We trust you to do right by your readers, to create amazing stories, and run your business in a fair and honest way.
Ream is honored and grateful to be able to work with you and thousands of other fiction authors.
It's just our beginning.
But forever and always... Storytellers Rule the World.
If you have any questions, please contact our Support Team at support@reamstories.com.