ABOUT VERSE ZINE & FUNDING
WHY DOES ZINE-PATRON EXIST?
Everything on Verse Zine is editorially selected. Nothing appears on the platform until it meets a standard we set and enforce — the same standard whether the work is fiction, poetry, a screenplay, or an article about creative process. There is no open submission queue. There is no algorithm. If it's here, someone with taste decided it belongs here.
That's the first gate. The second one is yours.
Most platforms make greenlight decisions behind closed doors. Verse works differently. Once a piece of work is on the platform, readers help decide whether it continues. When you spend a credit on a funding goal, you're telling Verse — and every other reader — that this work deserves more. Your credit is a signal. Enough signals, and Verse greenlights the next installment.
This is not a donation. It's not a preorder. It's an act of judgment — applied to work that's already earned its way here.
Learn how Zine funding works.
WHAT KIND OF WORK IS ON VERSE ZINE?
Verse Zine publishes across formats: fiction, poetry, screenplays, song lyrics, and articles about craft and creativity. Some work runs in series with funding goals. Some is standalone. The library is growing, and the formats will expand — but everything on the platform is held to the same editorial standard, and everything is built to be read, not scrolled past.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I SPEND A CREDIT ON A FUNDING GOAL?
Your credit counts toward the goal's funding threshold. Once spent, it stays counted — it doesn't expire, and it can't be moved to a different goal.
Each goal needs a certain number of credits to clear its threshold. When it does, Verse greenlights the next installment. Until then, the goal stays open and every credit already spent on it still counts.
You can spend one credit per goal. That's the limit — the system is designed so that a work continues because enough different readers backed it, not because one person spent more.
DOES FUNDING A GOAL GUARANTEE A NEW INSTALLMENT?
Clearing the threshold means Verse has greenlit the next installment. That's a real commitment — but it's not a preorder with a release date. Creative work moves at its own pace, and we don't promise specific delivery timelines.
What funding does guarantee: the work has been approved to continue — and barring something unforeseeable, it will.
HOW LONG DO GOALS STAY OPEN?
As long as they have to.
Goals don't run on a countdown. They don't close after a month or a season. The work stays up, the goal stays open, and readers can back it whenever they find it — whether that's the day it launches or years later.
This is deliberate. We know great work doesn't always find its audience immediately, and the system is built to let that happen. A goal with three credits today might have thirty a year from now. The door doesn't shut.
IF I CAN ONLY SPEND ONE CREDIT, HOW ELSE CAN I HELP A WORK CONTINUE?
Share it. Send the link to someone who'd care about the work. Post it. Talk about it. There's no limit to how many people you can bring in, and no deadline to do it.
The funding system rewards breadth of support — a wide base of readers who each felt the work was worth backing. That's more valuable than any one person spending more, and it's the kind of support that tells us something real about whether and when the work should continue.
WHY AREN'T CREDITS REFUNDED WHEN A GOAL DOESN'T FUND?
Because your credit wasn't swallowed by a rapidly expiring campaign. The goal stayed open — not for days or weeks, but for as long as the work remained active. The chance to rally support behind it was real, and so was the time to do it.
A spent credit is a signal. It was counted, it contributed to the goal's progress, and it remained part of that total for as long as the goal was live. That's what you spent it on — not a guaranteed outcome, but a real stake in whether the work continues.
If the work never clears its threshold, your credit was still counted and the opportunity was still there.
WHAT HAPPENS IF A WORK NEVER REACHES ITS GOAL?
Not every work will clear its threshold — and that's expected. The library is curated for quality, not guaranteed popularity. Some of what we publish will resonate immediately. Some will take time. Some may never build the support it needs.
A work that hasn't reached its goal isn't pulled. It stays in the library, the goal stays open, and credits already spent on it continue to count. Readers can still find it, back it, and share it.
Credits spent on unfunded goals are not returned. The goal stayed open, the chance to rally behind it was real, and your credit was counted — even if the outcome wasn't what you hoped for.
CAN I USE THE SAME CREDITS FOR ZINE FUNDING AND ROYALTY FREE DOWNLOADS?
Yes. Your Zine-Patron credits work across both sides of Verse Zine. You can spend them on funding goals or on royalty-free image downloads — or both.
The difference is in what you get. A credit spent on a download licenses that image to you permanently, under our royalty-free license. A credit spent on a funding goal is a signal of support — it counts toward the threshold but doesn't grant you a specific deliverable. Both are valid uses of the same credit, and you decide how to spend yours.
Credits & Plans
WHAT ARE THE ZINE-PATRON PLANS?
Zine-Patron plans give you full access to everything on Verse Zine, plus monthly credits you can spend on funding goals or royalty-free downloads.
- Access ($0.99/mo) — Full reading access. Your free monthly credit still applies.
- Backer ($4.99/mo) — Full access + 1 credit each month. For readers following more than one series and wanting a little more say.
- Scout ($9.99/mo) — Full access + 2 credits each month. For readers drawn to what might break through next.
- Exec ($14.99/mo) — Full access + 4 credits each month. For readers shaping more of what comes next.
All paid plans include the same reading access. What changes between tiers is how many credits you have to spend.
WHAT CAN FREE MEMBERS ACCESS?
Free members can read pilots and any content placed outside the paywall. You also receive one free credit each month, which you can use to back a funding goal or download a royalty-free image.
To read full series beyond their pilots, you'll need any paid plan — starting at $0.99/month.
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY UNUSED CREDITS AT THE END OF THE MONTH?
Credits roll over from month to month while your account remains active and in good standing, up to these maximum balances:
- Free Plan: 6 credits
- Access Plan: 6 credits
- Backer: 12 credits
- Scout: 18 credits
- Exec: 30 credits
- Starter: 66 credits
- Pro: 126 credits
- Max: 246 credits
Once you reach your plan's cap, new credits stop accruing until you use some of your existing balance.
If your account is terminated or your subscription ends, any remaining unused credits may be forfeited.
WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF CREDITS?
The best option is to upgrade to a higher-tier plan. Each plan includes a larger monthly credit allowance, and when you upgrade you'll receive the benefits of your new plan starting with your next billing cycle.
We don't currently offer one-off or top-up credits outside of subscriptions. If that changes, we'll update the details on our pricing page.
CAN I CHANGE MY SUBSCRIPTION PLAN?
Yes.
You can upgrade to a higher-tier plan at any time. We'll charge you the difference between your current plan price and the higher plan price for that billing period and immediately add the extra credits associated with the new plan.
You can downgrade to a lower-tier plan or to the Free Plan. The change takes effect on your next billing cycle and won't take away credits you've already received.
DO YOU OFFER REFUNDS?
In general, no. All payments are non-refundable, and we do not offer partial refunds for unused time or credits that have already been issued or spent. Credits spent on funding goals are also non-refundable, as explained in How Funding Works above.
If you believe there's been a billing error, reach out and we'll review it with you case by case.
HOW IS MY PAYMENT INFORMATION KEPT SECURE?
All payments are processed through Stripe via our membership platform, Memberstack. We do not store your full payment details on our own servers.
Reading & The Library
DO I NEED A PAID PLAN TO READ?
Pilots and select content are available to all members, including free accounts. To read full series beyond their pilots, you'll need any paid plan — starting at $0.99/month with the Access plan.
All paid plans include the same full reading access. If you have any active paid plan on Verse Zine — including a Royalty Free plan — you can read everything in the library.
CAN WORK BE REMOVED FROM THE LIBRARY?
We have no plans to remove work from the library. The system is designed so that everything stays available and goals stay open — giving readers the time they need to discover and back work at their own pace.
Accounts, access, & Support
HOW DO I CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION?
You can cancel at any time through your account settings. You'll keep access to your plan benefits and credits until the end of your current billing period, and your subscription won't renew afterward.
To cancel:
- Click your profile image (or the default avatar) in the upper-right corner of the site.
- Choose Account / Plans to open your membership settings.
- Click the blue Manage subscription button to open the billing portal.
- In the portal, click Cancel subscription, then confirm on the next screen by clicking Cancel subscription again.
You can restart your subscription at any time in the same billing portal.
IF I CANCEL, DO I LOSE ACCESS TO THE LIBRARY?
You'll keep full access through the end of your current billing period. After that, if you have no active paid plans on Verse Zine, you'll return to free-tier access: pilots and any content outside the paywall, plus your free monthly credit.
Any royalty-free images you've already downloaded remain yours permanently under our license, regardless of your plan status.
CAN MY ACCOUNT OR FREE CREDITS BE REVOKED?
In rare cases, yes. We may suspend or terminate accounts, and revoke unused credits (including free credits), if:
- you engage in harassment, abuse, or bad-faith attacks toward Verse Zine, our creators, or our customers, or
- your account or IP address is associated with fraud, abuse, or automated attacks as detected by our payment and fraud-prevention partners.
Termination may remove future access to your account and any remaining credits.
WHY CAN'T I ACCESS THE SITE OR MY ACCOUNT FROM MY NETWORK?
To protect our service and customers, we use third-party tools to detect bots, fraudulent traffic, and abuse. If your IP, device, or network is flagged, you may see blocks or restrictions even if you're trying to access the site in good faith.
If this happens:
- Try a different network or device, and
- Contact us with details so we can investigate. We can't guarantee we can override all third-party decisions, but we'll do our best to help legitimate customers regain access.
WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE A QUESTION?
You can reach us at nathan@subcreation.design for:
- technical issues,
- funding or credit questions,
- plan or billing questions, or
- feedback and feature requests.
Privacy & Data
WHERE CAN I FIND YOUR PRIVACY POLICY? DO YOU SELL MY DATA?
We only collect the information needed to run your account, process payments, and improve the service. We do not sell your personal data.
For full details, please refer to our Privacy Policy, linked in the site footer and during sign-up.
