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(?).

 

[Sarit]

People come here looking to get published? Is this a publishing house? Sorry it's just funny. I think what would be really helpful is guidance in the self pub route. There are many vids and groups but this is such a complicated subject. Just navigating Amazon is a whole world and it's imp to do it right from the beginning in order to avoid costly mistakes.... I stumbled upon a book publicist -- over 4K starting price per month to move the needle....some can afford it and get moved. sigh.

 

[AgentPete]

I think what would be really helpful is guidance in the self pub route. There are many vids and groups but this is such a complicated subject. Just navigating Amazon is a whole world and it's imp to do it right from the beginning in order to avoid costly mistakes....

There are some constants in the self-pub area (see below) but also much that is fluid, i.e. what’s working today may not be so effective in six month’s time. Hence the need to have an active community of writers who are willing to share experiences / what tactics are currently working and what’s not. Much of the writing ecosphere believes (incorrectly) that writers are fundamentally in competition with each other. This is rarely true, but it’s a powerful myth that we need to oppose whenever we can. Litopia has a mature ethos of self-help and information sharing, so should be ideally positioned to be a natural home and resource for the self-published.

The constants / immutables are applicable to all writers, trad-published, self-pubbed or anything in-between. The most fundamental constant being, “own your reader”.

That is why we’ve been developing the Author Platform, and that’s why you’ll see it provide the bedrock for everything that is to come.

I stumbled upon a book publicist -- over 4K starting price per month to move the needle....some can afford it and get moved. sigh.

A great example of the need to share info and experiences. My default is to be deeply suspicious of all book publicists, especially those aggressively hawking their services to the first-time (i.e. inexperienced) self-published.

That being said, I have worked with some great publicists, too. But they rarely come cheap.

 

[Sarit]

I don't really see how this can work without a publicist. It's like in the film industry, no film gets into a festival without one. If you have some recommendations please share. I found this one which seems legit: Leading Book Publicity Agency | PR by the Book

 

[AgentPete]

OK, Let's talk about it in the Huddle...

 

[James Charles]

I don't really see how this can work without a publicist. It's like in the film industry, no film gets into a festival without one. If you have some recommendations please share. I found this one which seems legit: Leading Book Publicity Agency | PR by the Book

Like most of these promotional platforms, there is no upfront idea as to the cost. That scares most. Although my eBook publisher does some promotion, has a large email list and continually features their authors, in being a small operation, can only do so much. And although I run ads from time to time and promote on social media, it limits my time writing. My work-in-progress, being edited now, when it does come out hopefully in a year, I will be looking for a promotional service such as the one you mentioned, Sarit. I’ll do more research on them, as I would like to have a one-stop promotional service do this aggregately instead of doing so much myself individually haphazardly.