BC Book Club
The BC (Brick Cave) Book Club is the official fandom site for Brick Cave Media and it's Authors.
The Original Patreon
In November 2018, Brick cave Media launched a project on the community funding website Patreon. Initially doing well, Brick Cave staff soon found a disconnect between managing the ongoing content needs of an active subscriber site and the rest of Brick Cave's business, with CSE Bob Nelson noting that the Patreon had to be managed independently from the business as a content platform from the publishing work.
In December 2019, Brick Cave began development of the project's replacement, emphasizing reader involvement and engagement. In April 2020, the Brick Cave Patreon was officially retired in favor of the new project launch, the BC Book Club.
Goals for the Service
In developing a new service, Brick Cave worked from 3 assumptions:
- The service had to build community
- The service had to be congruent to Brick Cave's publishing work
- The service had to offer an appropriate value for members that wanted to invest
Beta and Launch
The name (BC Book Club) was decided on in January 2020, and development continued through March of the same year. In March of the same year, a number of Brick Cave's active readers were asked to act as beta testers, given special access and asked to review features, benefits of membership and content on the site.
In April of 2020, the existing roster of Brick Cave Authors were provided anf the first promotional activities launched around the service.
Membership and Levels
Membership in the BC Book Club is built around three levels.
- BC Book Club Member (or Red Dragon) is a free level of membership that allows the members to engage with BC Authors and each other.
- Eager Believer (or Green Dragon) member allows members to access exclusive audio resources enables on the site.
- Investor member (or Blue Dragon) members are allowed access to all content of the site, including Video content and exclusive forum areas.