Things have been a bit hectic around here for the last two weeks. A number of issues forced me to reconsider my business model and do some adjustment. Add to that Breanne's request for some official time off and my brain has felt like it's going to explode.
First of all, let me assure the current members of the VIP Lounge that I have no intention of taking it down immediately. The VIP Lounge will remain open for the duration of your membership and you will still have exclusive access to new posts by both Breanne Erickson and myself. Teasers and occasional full length "assignments" will continue to be posted here to the blog.
One of the bad things about the membership site is that at no point do you ever actually purchase THE STORY. Basically, you're buying a lease to READ the story. As part of our new business model, we are going to the more classic version: you buy the story and can read it and re-read it as many times as you want. We're not sure which publishing label we will use at this point, but the idea will be to release the majority of the contents in the current VIP Lounge in e-book format, so that our fans can make one small purchase and own the content. In the long run, this will be cheaper for our readers, easier on both Breanne and I to provide new content, and alleviate some of the business pressures that maintaining a subscription based website entails.
With this in mind, we are rushing to prepare Breanne's "Tales of a Nympho Humiliation Pain Slut Volume 3" for publishing and are already collating Volume 4. As for my own works, we are in the process of re-editing for e-book publishing "Sigma Epsilon Xi" as well as preparing the unpublished sequel "The Intern". We will make these available at the same time, with Sigma Epsilon Xi being offered at no cost. Free erotica for your e-reader!
We will continue to offer a "membership" only section of the website. While this will no longer contain Breanne's archive, new Michael Alexander novels or short stories, there will still be a plethora of erotica content that wouldn't fit appropriately into published e-books. Vignettes, the occasional short story, interviews, and of course any other content that we feel works well within the website will be offered. Membership will be free upon signing up for the Michael Alexander newsletter.
For those of you who preferred our original setup: that of membership to the VIP Lounge, please forgive this change. Sales were dismal and honestly we couldn't have even purchased a decent microwave oven between Breanne's cut and mine after costs. The credit card processors were pushing for single day subscription sales - at a cost of 1 dollar per day, which both Breanne and I were totally against - feeling that this would be unfair to our readers.
In summary, the good news is that a new "Tales" from Breanne will soon hit the market. The big visual changes won't happen for another four or five months... but they will happen. Until then, enjoy the VIP Lounge, the blog, the Cream of Venus, Tales of a Nympho Humiliation Pain Slut, and the Free Archive!
Yours Faithfully,
Michael Alexander
Sorry hate the new model. if it is money I would pay more for you and Bre. I love having her archive and updates. why not change what ever and have us just paypal the money to you?? as a last resort I would be willing to do this. hell I pay 10 per month for full access to you guys. just a though if it matters. best to all.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that you aren't pleased with the new business model Caz. Trust me, we aren't terribly happy with it either. The real problem was working out an arrangement with the credit card processor banks. Very few of them were willing to back us in the first place due to the nature of our product, and to be honest... some of Breanne's Assignments even violate CCBill's Terms of Use Agreement. Our next issue came from the fact that we were providing a product in essence for six months, with no refund allowed. That of course was to prevent people from paying, accessing the stories they wanted, and then opting out of the payment. One company wanted a $2,500 reserve account on hand in order to cover refunds, and this was on top of a 6.9% fee per transaction. Add state sales tax on top of that, and $15 was getting a lot closer to $10.
ReplyDeleteRest assured Breanne and I will still be writing and producing material. It will just be coming in a slightly different format, even better... you'll own your own copy.
We will also still provide a great deal of content in the members only section. Was there a particular aspect of the VIP Lounge that you feel is valuable to you?
Yours Faithfully,
Michael Alexander