Hi everybody! Hope you’re having a great day. This post is a little long but the main, big, exciting thing is that I’m launching a NETWORK to house all the Flash Forward-related stuff I’m working on. It’s called Flash Forward Presents. You can think of it like the Flash Forward Extended Cinematic Universe. And to help make that network happen financially, I’m adding a broader membership program. If you want to learn more, here’s a video about it. If you prefer reading, scroll down for more details!
Okay, so why a network and a membership program? Well basically, I have a lot of ideas for projects (books, podcasts, animated series, TV shows, etc) about the future. That includes:
- Flash Forward, the podcast
- Flash Forward, the book, coming soon!
- Flash Forward, the TV adaptation (which is back from the dead perhaps?)
- Advice for and from the Future, a new podcast about how we can live better today and tomorrow
- Hey, Lola? A three-part audio drama
- Timelines, an experiment in future audio fiction storytelling
- A graphic novel
- A young adult novel
- A screenplay
- A six part history podcast about the future (it will make sense when you hear it, I promise)
- Short stories
- And more!
Exciting stuff right?! I’m really stoked for these projects. And they all have the same central ethos: helping people better think about and prepare for the future. Thematically, they’re aligned, and it makes sense to house them under one umbrella. So that’s the reason for the network.
Now for the more complicated question: why a membership program?
Eventually some of these things will make money in their own right, via ads or sponsorship or advances. But to get them off the ground takes a lot of time and resources — and some of them might never turn a profit on their own. Flash Forward is funded through a combination of ads and Patreon support. And that model works really well for that individual podcast.
The problem is that the Flash Forward Patreon page isn’t really flexible enough for me to use it to also raise funds for other projects. Currently, the Patreon is setup to charge per episode. So when you sign up, you’re signing up to donate a certain amount of money for each episode of Flash Forward. That’s great! It really is, and it’s been the only reason Flash Forward has been able to continue for five years. But that also means that anything that isn’t an episode of Flash Forward, doesn’t really fit into this model.
When I started thinking about this network, I considered my options. I could have changed the Flash Forward Patreon page to be per month, but doing so would mean an immediate decrease in the amount of money I’m making here. Patreon won’t change anybody’s pledge, it will simply shift their pledge from per episode to per month, which means that going from 20 episodes a year to 12 months a year entails a ~40% decrease in money coming in. And when I polled Patrons late last year about whether they would up their pledge to contribute the same total amount every year, but more technically per pledge, enough people were unsure or said they might not that it didn’t seem worth the risk.
I could have started charging Patrons for episodes of these other projects, but that seems unfair since that’s not what they signed up for. I could add a tier to Patreon for each new project, but that seems overly complicated (and Patreon has user data that shows that more tiers = less pledges because people get overwhelmed by the choices). The general conclusion I came to was that instead of trying to break the Flash Forward Patreon to accommodate these other projects, I would simply build something to go along with it.
Which brings us to the Time Traveler program! By becoming a Time Traveler, you will broaden your support out from Flash Forward, to all the other Flash Forward Presents projects as well.
So what do you get for becoming a Time Traveler? Think of it kind of like Patreon+, you’ll get everything that you get with your Patreon pledge, plus additional goodies from the other Flash Forward Presents projects. That includes:
🤖 Exclusive bonus podcasts
🚀 Behind the scenes on new projects
🌀 Time Traveler Dispatches (aka members only newsletter)
🎙 Early access to new shows
📚 Futurology book club
🔮 World building writing prompts
🧠 Quarterly videos & AMA’s
⚡️ Goody bags!
Again, you can become a Time Traveler HERE.
A few frequently asked questions:
Rose, which one is better for YOU. You are all so kind, and you always ask this, and I reject this question and deflect back to you! This is really about what you’re here for. If you’re here for Flash Forward, great, stick with Patreon. If you’re here for, and I hate to say this but it’s sort of true, the ~Rose Eveleth~ project, then the membership is probably more fitting. Really, this is about diversifying the options and income streams and you should pick whichever you are most excited about!
I’m confused, I want to support Flash Forward AND Flash Forward Presents, so now I have to sign up for two things? No! The goal is that you should never feel like you have to do both. If you remain a Patron, nothing will change for you. If you switch over, you will not lose any benefits.
Are you going to retire the Flash Forward Patreon? No! That’s not part of the plan right now. These are simply concentric circles, and you can pick which one you want to live in.
How much is the Time Traveler Club? $20 a month, and $200 a year (what a steal!)
