Be the first reader.
The Cellar is Hard Shiver's patron membership. Members fund the in-development work, read it first, share in the IP upside, and join a community of readers who care about what gets made. Three tiers — Reader, Patron, Founder. Cancel anytime.
WHY THIS EXISTS
Traditional advances are paid by publishers and recovered against royalties. The Cellar lets readers — the people who actually want the work to exist — fund the advance directly, and share in what the work becomes. It is publishing's oldest model, rebuilt.
- One Hard Shiver hardcover per year — pick from the season's slate
- Early access to the digital edition two weeks before publication
- The full audiobook included
- Quarterly Colophon mailed to your door
- Hard Shiver newsletter — books we like, monthly
- Every Hard Shiver title — hardcover + ebook + audiobook
- Six months early access to the digital editions
- Patron Editions — limited-print copies signed by the author
- Quarterly virtual conversations with one author from the slate
- Access to the in-development pipeline — see drafts before galley
- 5% IP residual share on titles funded by The Cellar
- Voting rights on the next acquisitions read
- Everything in Patron tier
- One commissioned work per year — your conceptual brief, our author
- Two annual in-person Hard Shiver gatherings (NY, LA)
- Direct access to the editorial committee
- First-look IP option on one title per year
- 15% IP residual share across all Founder-funded titles
- Founder's plate engraved in the back of every funded book
The four things in the box.
The Cellar is not a subscription box. It is a membership in a publisher that asks the reader to act like a patron — and treats them as one.
The books.
Every hardcover. Every ebook. Every audiobook. Patron editions are signed and bound in a heavier stock than the trade run. The books are the artifact; we treat them that way.
The early access.
Patrons read in-development manuscripts before the editorial committee finalizes the slate. Reader feedback is collected with discipline; the work that makes it to galley has been quietly informed by what patrons saw first.
The conversations.
Quarterly virtual conversations with one author from the slate. Founder tier gathers twice a year in person, in New York and Los Angeles, with the full Hard Shiver editorial team and one or two of the authors in development.
The upside.
The Cellar funds the advance against future IP value. When a Cellar-funded title earns out across mediums — book, audio, screen, interactive, theater — patrons share in the residual. Reader doesn't share. Patron shares 5%. Founder shares 15%.
Founded September 2023. 2,418 active patrons.
The Cellar funded six of the twelve titles currently in active development. Three of those six have already cleared their advance to authors through Cellar revenue alone — the first time in modern publishing, by our research, that reader patronage has paid for the advance without the publisher fronting capital.
Things to know.
Is The Cellar an investment?
No. The Cellar is a membership; the IP residual share is structured as an extended royalty, not as equity. The membership fee is not refundable but you keep the books and the access you receive during your membership year regardless of outcomes.
What does "5% IP residual" actually pay?
Across the six titles funded by The Cellar so far, the average annual residual to a Patron tier member is approximately $84 — primarily from audio rights to date. We model the average over five years at $200–400 per Patron, but variance is large and individual titles dominate.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancellation is one click. You keep the books, the audio, and any IP residual share earned during your membership year. The residual share continues to pay out for titles funded during your membership.
Are authors okay with this model?
Yes — emphatically. The Cellar funds advance against IP upside that authors share in at 25–40%. Compared to a traditional publisher paying 10% royalty with no IP upside, the math works for authors at almost every realistic outcome. Our retention rate among published authors is currently 100%.
What does Founder commission mean?
Founder tier members may submit one conceptual brief per year — a theme, a genre frame, a question they want explored — and the editorial committee will pair the brief with one of our authors. The author always has final creative control. Founders may credit or stay anonymous.
Where do I see my titles?
Patrons receive a personalized account dashboard listing the books funded during their membership, the residuals earned to date, and the in-development titles they have early access to. Account links are emailed monthly.