Announcing my new membership programme

Okay! Deep breath!

If you've been reading my posts for a while, then you'll already be acquainted with my journey to being a published author, from figuring out my writing process, to finding an agent, working on my body of work, documenting my productivity in excruciating detail, getting optioned for TV, branching out into new genres, being nominated for and winning awards and more. A lot more.

The last few years have been a lot. Life-changing, in many ways.

Probably the biggest change this year has been going part time. That's been incredible. And it's also given me time to think and plan (and scheme). One of the things I really believe about the business of (wince) marketing yourself is that you should only do things you actually enjoy doing. Telling the world about your creative work is a bunch of hard work in itself, so spending time doing stuff you're bad at, or don't enjoy, is kind of a waste of time (this is why you won't find me on TikTok, for example).

And, if you're a regular reader, you've probably realised I quite like writing blog posts and newsletters. In fact, I try not to think too hard about how many tens of thousands of words I've put out on this website over the last few years. It's a lot. But I've enjoyed every second of it. I am endlessly fascinated by, and willing to talk about, the craft and business of writing, the genres I write in and the amazing things I get to do and see as a writer. And, I have come to realise, a lot of people are interested in the same topics.

Hence! I'm starting a membership programme!

Inspiration, and why I'm doing this

I have two primary goals - gradually make more of my living from the production of various kinds of words, and share as much as I can about my experiences with as many people as possible.

So, I think it makes sense to try and combine these two goals - diversifying the income I earn from writing stuff and providing more, better and deeper things to read for the wonderful people who visit this website.

I'm lucky enough to count a lot of very talented writers among my friends, and to follow heaps more online. And I've seen many of them make great successes of membership programmes of various sorts, with every possible variation of writing, physical merchandise, video, audio and more.

It's really inspiring, but it's also informative, because it seems clear to me that the ones who succeed over time do it by doing more of the things they like doing anyway. I've taken particular inspiration from the work of Craig Mod, who is very open about how he runs his own programme.

I also recently got interviewed by Hao Nguyen, who runs the brilliant How I Make Money Writing newsletter (my interview won't be out for a few weeks yet). He gifted me a year's subscription as a thank you and I've been really enjoying going through the archives and seeing the sheer variety of ways people have figured out to make a living from their words.

So I'm giving it a go myself.

Or... keep reading.

Who this is for?

If you're a fan of my work and you're interested in how I do it, this is for you. Or if you want sneak peeks, early access and exclusive content, this is for you too.

If you're a writer yourself, looking to understand the life of a working novelist, gain insights into traditional publishing, writing craft and more, this is for you.

If you're a fan of the genres I write in and you want to support new work, this is for you. Especially if you want access to subscriber-only original fiction (see 'Future plans' below).

Or, I suppose, if you just like the cut of my jib? Thanks!

What about your existing writing?

The site as a whole is not going behind a paywall. As a current free subscriber or casual visitor, you'll still be able to access:

• My daynotes
• Announcements, event roundups, occasional free craft essays
• My free monthly newsletter, The Decrypt

The one exception - I won't post a daynote on Fridays anymore. That's because I'll instead be writing a weekly newsletter called The Sitrep for paid subscribers - essentially it's a longer, more involved version of the daynote, covering the whole week (a weeknote, one might say). In fact, let's talk about what's new in that department.

Newsletters, plural?

Correct! I'll be writing four main things, three of which will be sent out as newsletters. They are:

• Daynotes - mostly Monday to Thursday (and the odd weekend day when I write something - in short if I'm writing, I'll do a daynote). These will only exist on the website and will be accessible to all.
• The Decrypt - my existing monthly newsletter, which comes out on the last day of the month. This will be available by email for all subscribers (including free subscribers) and on the website for free.
• The Sitrep - my weekly update for all paid subscribers. This will come out every Friday that I'm working on writing stuff and features more craft chat and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks of my works in progress.
• The Vector - my fortnightly craft essay newsletter, for Handler and Legend tier subscribers (see below). Longer craft, publishing and writing process pieces on the first and third week of the month (schedule permitting, but you'll get two a month).

It's a lot of words! But I like writing them. If you're a paid subscriber, you'll be able to opt-out of individual newsletters if you like and read them when you feel like it on the website. The entire archive of each paid newsletter will be available to subscribers at the appropriate tier.

The tiers, and what you get

Of course, I had to make them spy-themed.

Recruit

Free blog posts, monthly newsletters, commenting and offers. If you're already subscribed, you're on this tier by default.

£0 per month/£0 per year

• Read my daily posts
• Receive monthly newsletter 'The Decrypt'
• Unlock commenting on discussion posts
• Get subscriber offers, notifications and deals 

Operative

For the dedicated reader who wants on-the-ground intel.

£3 per month/£30 per year (17% discount)

• Includes everything from the Recruit tier
• Receive weekly members-only newsletter ‘The Sitrep’ with more craft chat and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks of work in progress
• Free 2,000 word SF short story 'Illumination'
• Free 3,000 word espionage short story featuring Jamie Tulloch and the Legends team (coming soon)

Handler

For the aspiring writer or passionate reader who wants more insight into the writing process.

£7 per month/£70 per year (17% discount)

• Includes everything from the Recruit and Operative tiers
• Receive fortnightly members-only newsletter ‘The Vector’ with longer, deep-dive essays on writing craft, publishing, creativity and process
• Signed bookplates for each new release (on request, worldwide)

 And, for the really dedicated fans:

Legend

The full operational package.

£15 per month/£150 per year (17% discount)

• Includes everything from the Recruit, Operative and Handler tiers
• Access to a quarterly Legends call where you can ask me anything you like about writing craft, publishing or my other creative work
• Invitation to Legends meetups at writing events that I'm attending
•  Signed and personalised first edition hardback of each book on release (UK only, some editions paperback only, not retrospective, eligible after 3 months continuous subscription)
• My sincere gratitude and continuing amazement at your support for my writing (including a namecheck in acknowledgements in future books)

Note that all subscribers, free and paid, will have commenting enabled - I'm experimenting with building a community here, and that means comments. I do, however, reserve the right to moderate those comments and enforce house rules. This website is the equivalent of my house, digitally-speaking, and if you take a metaphorical shit on the carpet, I will kick you out.

Future plans

I'm thinking about many different kinds of new benefits for subscribers and taking a lot of inspiration from friends, other writers and readers. If you become a subscriber, you're always very welcome to suggest things through my contact form (please add 'member query' to the subject field). But here's a few of the things I'm thinking about:

• Quarterly original short fiction in both my genres
• Name a character in a future novel
• Be a character in a future novel (and get to pick if and how you die)
• Exclusive, signed book swag around book launches (bookmarks, bookplates and anything else I can think of)
• Commissioned and signed character art prints for my SF novels (and maybe the spy novels too? Does anyone want a print of Sally Lime? Or Jamie?)
• Merch??

As you can see, my plans are in flux. If there's anything you'd really love to see me include, I'd love to hear about it.

Pushing the button

The memberships are live right now! You can sign up from the button at the bottom of this post, or the permanent ones that live in the site navigation.

I won't lie, I'm a little nervous about doing this - I know from my analytics that a lot of people visit the website, but I also know it's a big deal, especially in These Times, to ask people to directly support new writing. I will do my absolute best to make your membership worthwhile and give you as much information, inspiration and insight as I can.

If you're an existing free member, thank you for signing up and getting in on the ground floor. If you're a casual visitor who enjoys my daynotes, thank you for being here. And if you are currently hovering your cursor over the subscribe button, an extra and especially big thank you. I couldn't do anything that I do without readers, fans and fellow writers, and I hope that you'll take this leap along with me.

Onward!