News Help Your Friends & Help Litopia

[AgentPete]

Litopia needs to grow.

We were the world’s first online community for writers, and for over two decades we’ve served our members pretty well.

Innovation has always been in our DNA. We were the first to experiment with podcasting: you can chuckle to a selection of our early shows here, featuring British author Jeffrey Archer and American news anchor Dan Rather. Not to mention the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, the body who chooses the laureates for the annual Nobel Prize in Literature.

We were also the first people to demystify the manuscript submission process with YouTube’s Pop-Up Submissions… the live show that brought writers and publishers together as they evaluated submissions… starring, of course, the sublime Genius Room…!

But all that's just a taster of what’s to come.

These are uniquely demanding times for writers. So it’s time for Litopia to step up and show the way ahead.

We have an extraordinary program of innovation mapped out in the coming months.

But we need more Full Members to make it happen.

So here’s the deal – and it’s a good one.

Introduce a friend to Litopia with this coupon code:

FRIENDSFIFTY​

This gives them a massive 50% discount off the regular price of their first year’s Full Membership.

Having your friends join the Colony helps to preserves Litopia’s unique atmosphere, too.

Here’s the registration link for your friends to use:

Full Member – Yearly – Litopia

This offer is only good for the next four weeks, then it must end.

 

[Sarit]

I brought a friend over a few months ago, who introduced himself and gave a couple of critiques but never made the jump to full member. Not sure why. Having been here now for over 6 months, and loving it, but I can see from the point of view of new people that the subscription *only* gives them access to the huddle. That's the only obvious advantage. And today everyone is part of some free online group etc. I'll reach out to him again now with the discount. But hopefully with the new author platform there would be a bigger incentive. But even this will require massive marketing (panel participation, guest podcasts etc.). Just my 2 cents. For my own selfish reasons one of the things I like about the huddle is that it really feels like a huddle, small group of people I've come to know, with no drama. A safe place that's not recorded etc. A huddle with 30 people would not be the same. If you bring back pop up submissions available only to full members that would be a huge thing for writers cause it exposes their writing to the world on YT.

 

[Sedayne]

It's interesting, what @Sarit says. Perhaps there should be more features that are for full members only. If the Huddle is the only feature, then there isn't as much incentive. If my shifts change next year (as they seem set to), I won't be able to attend Huddle South, so maybe I should default to basic? Of course I won't - I like the whole 'thing' of being a full member - but I see Sarit's point that with so much brilliant stuff available for free, maybe some of it should be reserved for paying members.

Sorry, this maybe isn't the place for this debate.
This offer is so good, my husband might join.
Then we'll have trouble on our hands...

 

[AgentPete]

Re @Sarit's and @Sedayne's points... It’s a continual balancing act! I never want Basic Membership to become a broken version of Full Membership, which is what most websites seem to do.

Litopia has always been ethical / on the writer’s side of things. If we lose that, we become the same as all the other crap websites out there that try to sell you magic fairy dust for your writing, at a grand a pop... or more.

You’ll find more “added value” features being bolted on to Full Membership over the coming months. The Platform isn’t even out of beta yet, and yes, it will require major selling / explaining. I’m getting ready for that

However, the main way of attracting new Full Members really does rely on word of mouth (just like the way that books are sold). So please spread the word in your personal network, bring your friends into the community here. Even if they’re not actively writing at the moment, they’ll appreciate the unique atmosphere. Much nicer than Facebook

 

[Sedayne]

he Platform isn’t even out of beta yet, and yes, it will require major selling / explaining. I’m getting ready for that

Yes - I think the Author Platform will be big incentive.

 

[James Charles]

I belonged to another group for awhile, but it was too expensive (I'm a pensioner afterall!) and felt less accomodating. Litopia is by far more worth the money, if only for the Huddles, that provides a real sense of community and help with our craft. Many want something for nothing, and come here looking to get published(?). I, however, feel that this is a place for help with craft development. Let's put our heads together and think of more incentives besides the Huddle(?).