The Reader Identity Problem
As in the previous entry, let it be known readers are belittled by corporations who label you “consumer” and think of you as cattle. Macaw House however sees the reader for who they really are. That being a person with complex needs and wants. This platform is built by artists for artists, but artists don’t create for each other, they create for the reader. If artists define what is right for their labor, then it is you who define the legitimacy of their craft.
Other platforms failed you in hosting stories without the fear they’ll go on indefinite hiatus due to near impossible workload demands for the creator. To add, addictive freemium phantom coin models, invasive advertising, encouragement of publishing low effort titles. An environment like this is only beneficial to those who seek short term profit gains. Aiming for profit over sustainability forces the individual to be seen as a number with a wallet to constantly harvest, not a person looking for great stories to read. Macaw House will not harvest you, sell your information, enforce invasive algorithms, all in the goal of not exploiting the reader. Below are detailed stages on how this platform will achieve that, in the readers perspective.
Stage 1 – Foundation and Trust
Creating a Reader First Platform
Since it is just me here, I must establish the culture of a reader first platform. A place of curated works, of quality over quantity. Every story I write must mean something other than surface level. I’d like them to be intuitive, constructive, humanitarian in nature that openly discusses the human condition. Where these stories leave you questioning your opinions and feeling empowered after reading them.
This is the stage of promise, a promise that the architect of this platform will deliver in producing self published works that inspire those who read them. To start the catalogue, I plan on publishing two short stories. One short has already been published, the other is near completion. Now is the time to experiment, see what works, what brings people to the platform. Earning trust is crucial.
Why not Allow Authors In This Stage
After the short stories, the first ongoing series will be published and monetized some time in March. This title needs to captivate you. You may wonder, “This site is for authors right? Why not allow them to published yet instead of solely relying on your works to populate the catalogue?” Allowing authors for who I cannot pay means I’ll be forced to undervalue their labor. Allowing authors to produce for free model is exactly what causes the dillution of art and the degenerative catalogue of other platforms. When you are constructing a building, you don’t just use any material around. No. You use materials that keep the building standing and durable. Materials that makes the facade aesthetically pleasing, the floor plan not confusing.
If I allow any author on this site in the beginning they would not understand the ideology and ruin it. Much like a desperate group of individuals would ruin the only lifeboat in sight as their only chance of survival. In order for this platform to come into being, I must set the culture of curated works, and dictate what gets published to make sure it aligns with the reader first ideology of the site.
Stage 2 – Monetization: Valuing What You Enjoy
Subscription Model
This is arguably the most important stage. The final trial to know if this site has what it takes to become a platform. As of now a subscription model will replace the addictive phantom currency models. Why? Because I’ll produce every month. Its much cheaper for you to pay 5 USD a month for all chapters than paying 3 USD per chapter. For example, if it takes 4 months to produce a 12 chapter series, with a subscription model the cost is 20 USD. Paying per chapter however would cost the reader 36 USD. The larger the catalogue, the more 5 USD would be seen as a fair price.
The Monetization Question
Creative works being free devalues creators’ labor. Monthly payments for monthly updates economically liberates the creator. Meaning they can create the stories you enjoy without the unnecessary stress of financial problems. The cost to read won’t be much, around 5 USD per month seems appropriate.
We must understand a paywall does not equate to inaccessibility. Paying doesn’t gatekeep you, it improves your experience. You fund a platform dedicated to providing you valuable art, instead of funding a platform for the business executives end goal. On here you do not support authors with the optional donation and patreon charity causes, or monetarily ineffectual likes and comments. You support them by participating, by being an active member of the platform and community. Free works encourages indifference and underappreciation for both readers and artists. Monetarily valuing works however is proof the reader validates the artists labor, which in turn encourage said artist to create the best works possible for the reader, further strengthening the community in all. But lets know this, many short stories and all first chapters of a series will still be free to read. Authors need the support yes, but readers need to know why they should give that support.
And to address this again, ads are not a viable option. They are an invasive tool to extract information from you, which only pays creators a fraction of what they need to survive.
Commerce
If the last phase proves this site can handle monetization, then this phase builds upon that. Some may think introducing a shop this early is inappropriate, I think not. This phase begins when the first physical volume of the ongoing series is published sometime in April. Should I only have the books avaliable on Amazon and not on the platform where its story calls home? No, this hinders both you and the author and I’ll explain why. Amazon doesn’t play nice with authors, they take more revenue from authors than resonable. The Amazon model forces authors to sell their books more than double the printing cost to make any substantial revenue.
For example, a 100 paged B&W book would need to be priced 9.99 USD in order to make substantial royalties. On my site however, that same book could be priced at 7.99 USD, and yet the author would make more royalties. Another example, a 400 paged full color collector edition hardcover would cost the reader 79.99 USD on amazon. Yet that same book would only cost 49.99 USD on Macaw House. The buyer saves 30 dollars. If someone wanted to buy a whole series of full colored collector editions, instead of paying 400 USD for 5 books, they could pay 250 USD on Macaw House instead, saving 150 USD. Do you see why a shop is appropriate at this stage?
Although books would be the main product, other products would be an extension of the store. T-shirts, hoodies, hats, shoes, mugs, metal prints, paintings, mouse pads, phone cases, even dog collars. The philosophy of products on the website is the same as the stories, quality products that are affordable. Meaning just like quality checks of stories, any product wouldn’t just appear on the store.
Stage 3 – Growth Without Mediocrity
From a Platform of a Creator, to One of Many Creators
This is the stage that makes Macaw House a true platform. By now the culture I enforced would have been cemented. A set of creators handpicked by me would publish works which reflect on that culture. Meaning the audience would finally have the ability to read curated works made by other authors on the platform.
There is a problem with growth however. I am unable to handpick every author and guess what the audience wants forever, as it is the reader who knows what they want to read, not me. Readers know what they want and what to expect when coming to the website by this stage.
Therefore, after the first authors publish their series, anyone will be able to pitch their story ideas on the website to become an author. The audience can go and explore these ideas and concepts posted by others to see if they’re interesting. With a large enough positive feedback, these ideas can turn into published series. Ofcourse the authors have the final say in who will get published. Their decision however largely depends on what you, the audience, who now understand the culture of this site, would want to see get published. Meaning 10, 100, possibly even 1000s of curated quality titles in multitudes of genres would be published without abandoning the ideology of the platform.
Ownership
With those stages being complete, the promise I gave you would come into fruition. That you the reader would be treated with dignity, how your efforts for supporting your favorite creators wouldn’t dissolve into a void. How everyone in this community would be treated not as a consumer who lives on a farm of exploitation, but as the person of which they are. Someone capable of much more than the powers that be deny. Every decision I make for this platform, I do so for the interests of those who wish to contribute on here, because they receive little to no rewards of what they contribute elsewhere.
A Vision Beyond Books
The ideological movement doesn’t have to end with just books. If it grows enough, we can use our collective might and take over other industries. The film industry, animation industry, gaming industry, any industry which abuses their power over the artist and audience. Where any creator who wishes to publish on this platform would have the opportunity to do so. And together we will succeed where other organizations have failed. Meaning all creators who publish, not just a few, but all will have the ability to live off their works. We would all together share the pool of wealth created from our works by equity, further strengthening the individual and group. Providing the means to create stories you want to tell – creative, emotional, and inspiring stories unable to manifest properly in an environment of over work and underpaid labor. No more working months on end to recieve likes and comments as the only compensation for your labor. Audience, artists, from around the world can work together and take back from those who created platforms to favor the executives motives, not the artists nor the readers. This stage is just a dream, a vision, but if the platform does grow exponentially, who knows what what ideas will become reality.