88 Cups of Tea is creating a podcast and an online platform
39
patrons
Hello Hello Dearest Storytellers!
Thank you so much for getting us to this point of a MEMBERSHIP model where members will now lovingly be referred to as SUPER STORYTELLERS! It's been a long time coming and I am ecstatic we are finally here. I am honored to be at a place where our community would love even more access to 88 Cups of Tea as a lot of time and thought went into every single tier to make sure they are all meaningful for both me and for you. Check out my doodles of my favorite animals paired with my favorite things over in the tiers! This is a fantastic platform to deepen our bond as a community and allow me opportunities to show you more of my world "behind the mic" and how podcasting, especially the editing process, is very much like an art form. Every cut, every tweak, every silence is intentional, shaping the experience for you Dear Listeners-- a form of storytelling in itself.
Here's a screenshot of me using "Patreon Lens" to share my thoughts and commentaries exclusive to our "Silkie Chickens with Balloons" tier and higher. These mini videos are a lot like Instagram Stories and also expire 24 hours after they're posted which make them even more fun with the time sensitivity!
Here's a screenshot of my LIVE recording for the intro and the outro of Kwame Alexander's 88 Cups of Tea podcast episode!
Down below is a screenshare to show our Super Storytellers Patreon members what goes on during the editing process. In this specific screenshot, I'm editing Holly Root's episode and explaining a bit of the process while I'm at it. This is also a great glimpse for upcoming episodes where you'll get to hear parts of the conversation days before it's released!
A heartfelt thank you to our Storytellers who encouraged me to set this up and I'm sending over the warmest air-hugs to our Storytellers who've been contributing financially BEFORE any of these rewards were even available! How did I get so dang lucky to be blessed with angels in our community?!
In case we have some newcomers, did you know we started as a podcast 3 years ago? Many thanks to our Storytellers, 88 Cups of Tea has now grown into an online platform for writers who look for guidance in their writing journey and connection to a community. 88 Cups of Tea is a space that provides year-round conversations around the life of a writer, with topics ranging from overcoming rejections and writing struggles, to querying tips and crafting characters, and more. All of our content is delivered through podcasts, featured essays, daily check-ins in our private Facebook group, and the occasional newsletter and social media posts. I am incredibly proud 88 Cups of Tea is now known as the go-to for writers looking for a nurturing and supportive environment. It is my personal mission to encourage, inspire, motivate, and entertain each Storyteller that stumbles into our community and it's been the wildest ride. Our beautiful community has not only filled my heart hearing about the progress of your dreams, but as I reflect back on the 3 years, this journey unexpectedly pushed me to grow and evolve as a Human. I've become more humbled, more empathetic, and I feel so proud of all the hours and the time I put into 88 Cups of Tea. To see it grow into what it is today fills my soul with genuine pride knowing that I've *earned* this community. Thank you for that feeling, it is truly unlike anything I've ever felt before and the only word that comes close to describing it is magic.
To my listeners who've been with us since the first day-- Thank you. Thank you so, so much for your constant support and for hanging out with me for all these years. (Can you believe we made it past the 3-year milestone?!) Y'all are the true rockstars and MVP's and I will forever be grateful to you and your endless love and support.
To my new listeners-- I am so happy our paths crossed and thank you for hanging around and growing our community together!
Thank you, to each and every one of you Storytellers, for joining our Super Storytellers membership to bring our community even closer together and, truly, thank you for supporting 88 Cups of Tea with wings to fly!
Much love,
Yin
Producer & Host
88 Cups of Tea
How does this work?
If you love the content here at 88 Cups of Tea and are genuinely curious and excited for exclusive access to my world "behind the mic", select the tier you'd like to be a part of every month. And don't worry, you can always edit or cancel your membership at ANY time.
Tiers
Quokkas with Lashes
$3.88 or more per month
- MONTHLY CURATED ROUND-UP OF TOP 3 PODCAST EPISODES. At the end of each month, you'll get a curated monthly round-up of my favorite top 3 podcast episode recommendations from the many that I listen to! WOOHOO FOR PODCASTS!
- BEST AUDIOBOOK RECOMMENDATION OF THE MONTH. Get access to my favorite audiobook pick of the month!
- EXCLUSIVE MEMBERSHIP-ONLY VOTING/POLLS. Your decisions directly shape 88 Cups of Tea including, but not limited to, topics you’d love to see covered in our 88 Cups of Tea featured essays and articles, upcoming content and merchandise, etc.
- REQUEST TO FEATURE YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR AS A GUEST ON THE PODCAST. Our private Facebook group members get to jump in with their requests, but members at this tier and higher get *priority* picks. Though nothing is guaranteed, I can promise to ALWAYS do my very best to get your top pick on the show!
- DANCE ALONG WITH 88 CUPS OF TEA! Boost your mood with access to 88 Cups of Tea’s Spotify playlist to brighten up your day and give yourself that extra pep in your step with our curated playlist of over 7 hours of catchy and uplifting tunes that represent our vibe and energy!
- WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? Tell me what topic(s) you would really love to hear discussed in our upcoming podcast recordings Ex: Would you love to deep-dive into the querying process? Are you struggling with plotting? Would you love to hear stories about how guests are able to work on their writing while holding down a day job? More real talk about finances as a writer?
- EARLY ACCESS TO TICKETS FOR FUTURE LIVE EVENTS.
Silkie Chickens with Balloons
$8.88 or more per month
- EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS Guess what? ANY TIME I finish editing an episode, YOU will get access to the file. Depending on how my schedule looks for the month, this mean as early as 2-3 weeks in advance. If I'm super busy that month, I may upload the interview a few days before the air-date. No matter what, you'll get to hear all upcoming episodes before any one else does. These files are just the interview itself-- no intro/outro/jingle music is added.
- EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACCESS! Get access to behind-the-scenes footage, pictures, factoids, and other fun stuff that you can’t find anywhere else! Look out for the posts I'll be sharing through Patreon Lens, it works a lot like Instagram stories and the videos/pics disappear after 24 hours. Y’all know I don’t usually post videos of myself on our Instagram stories, but for my Super Storytellers, you’ll get members-exclusive content like my honest thoughts and commentaries about the recorded conversations. You'll also get access to a sneak peek of my podcasting process including the EDITING process with some screensharing, and more through Crowdcast!
- ACCESS DELETED AUDIO. Listen in on exclusive deleted audio from the recorded podcast conversations! I almost always delete the very beginning pre-chat where the guests and I hop on the recorded call. Curious about what we say when we first “meet” each over our recorded call? You get access to select clips of our “first Hello!” Additionally, you’ll get access to deleted audio from the conversation and hear some fun tidbits that were cut from the final edit. You’ll also find random outtakes where I test for audio or I’m interrupted by a sneeze, sirens, construction, etc. (Whenever possible)
- MONTHLY BOOK HAUL/UNBOXING VIDEO! Access to dedicated book haul/unboxing at the end of each month! Do you ever wonder whose books have been sent to us to consider for the show? Due to limited space on the podcast, we can’t interview every author that is pitched for our podcast which means our community has no clue which wonderful authors and books have been sent our way. This monthly book unboxing recording will give you a behind-the-scenes look! [Over 6 months ago, I stopped posting book unboxing videos in our private Facebook group due to time constraints. Those instead go here.]
- Members at this tier will receive all previous tier rewards as well!
Snails with Mail
$18.88 or more per month
- JOIN IN ON A LIVE INTERVIEW! Once every 2 months, I will record a podcast episode through Crowdcast and allow EXCLUSIVE access for members at this tier or higher to *see* me and the guest having a conversation with each other! I'm going to play around with Crowdcast and see if there's a function that allows for you to leave comments in real-time during the live interview, it would be fun to feature questions from 2-3 of you at the end of the interview, though I'll have to make sure the podcast guest is comfortable with this first and be respectful of their time. Fun possibilities with this feature! The public will ONLY get access to the *audio* version of this interview as an 88 Cups of Tea podcast episode which will be available weeks after the live interview. Sustain your membership at this tier or higher and you might have access to more live interviews (dependent on the guest's scheduling.)
- WELCOME BOX FOR STORYTELLERS! Receive 88 Cups of Tea’s member-exclusive storyteller themed welcome package for this tier and higher. Includes a curated selection of my favorite things and a custom 88 Cups of Tea merch-- can’t tell you, it’s a surprise! Must be current member of this tier for a minimum of 3 consecutive months to redeem your box.
- TRAVEL WITH ME THROUGH HANDWRITTEN POSTCARDS! I know most of you love traveling or would LOVE to travel one day soon. Traveling is a part of my lifestyle and I usually head out of town at least once or twice a year. Whether it’s a roadtrip or a flight somewhere, I’m going to snailmail you postcards from the road so you can have something tangible from my wanderings! [Be sure to give me your mailing address!]
- EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEOS OF ME RECORDING THE INTROS/OUTROS FOR EPISODES! Oh good lord, I’m a bit nervous about this one ‘cause I make a LOT of weird faces while recording the introductions and the endings that bookend the podcast conversations. Honestly cringing at the moment just writing about it haha. Members at this tier and higher get access to see my over-the-top facial expressions during the recordings and you also get access to see me at my most vulnerable (AKA...I make a TON of mistakes...every...time. The deleted outtakes are endless!) There will be video recordings of these for the intros/outros of 2 podcast episodes each month (total of two videos per month), must be active member to access.
- MONTHLY HANGOUT WITH PRIZE DRAWING! Get access to exclusive 45-minute live video through Crowdcast where we chat about our real lives in real time and get to know each other, and catch up. I hear that Crowdcast has the ability to let me invite you on the screen to see each other during the live group hangout! I'll have to play around with this feature and see how it works but sounds SO COOL :D If you're shy, don't worry, I will not randomly select you to share the screen! A special bonus-- there will be a monthly prize drawing during this hangout where one lucky winner will receive something fun and different each month like a package of books that have been sent to 88 Cups of Tea, 88 Cups of Tea merch, etc!
- WATCH PARTY!!! WOOHOO! Each month, I’ll host a live watch party of videos (a curated list of videos of the month that I love-- think cute dogs), or a Netflix show, or a movie. Depending on how much time I have, this can range from 15 minutes of videos to over an hour of a show/movie. In case you have no idea what a Watch Party is (no worries, I just found out about this too), I cue up something for us to watch together in real-time and we all get to add our commentary in real-time too, as if we’re actually watching those videos/movies together in the same room! I'm going to try out the Crowdcast tool for this one and try the screensharing option. Really excited about this! I'll put out a poll asking you the best day/time that works for you, and we'll go with the one that gets the most votes.
- PRIORITY ACCESS TO FEATURE YOUR LISTENER-QUESTION FOR UPCOMING RECORDING WITH GUEST. In our private Facebook group, storytellers are able to submit their question for me to ask during the recorded conversation. We often run out of time and aren’t able to feature all questions in the interview. At this tier, your question is guaranteed to make it into the episode (needless to say, the question must be respectful to the guest) Be sure to join the private FB group to submit your question! (https://www.facebook.com/groups/88cupsoftea/)
- 25% DISCOUNT ON ALL MERCH IN OUR SHOP! Look out for the fun merch rolling out soon! https://gumroad.com/88cupsoftea
- Members at this tier will receive all previous tier rewards as well!
Narwhals for Y’all!
$188 or more per month
Tea with Yin over Skype! Time is my most valuable and limited asset! 45 minute Skype video hangouts happen once a month for active Patrons to redeem. What can we talk about? Your life! Your goals, your writing, your stories, school, food, your relationships! Have your own podcast or thinking about starting one and would love to pick my brain? Feel free to redeem this Skype chat as a consultation session to ask me your Q’s and I’ll share what I know. We'll find a day/time that works best for the both of us. [For U.S. members at this tier, I’ll snail mail you a sample of my favorite tea of the month so we can steep and sip the same cup of tea during our Skype call!]
Members at this tier will receive all previous tier rewards as well!
Goals
39 of 88 patrons
I'm so excited to gift y'all Super Storytellers with a downloadable custom 88 Cups of Tea themed wallpaper that I'm in the midst of collaborating with my sister (a graphic artist/illustrator, one of her many talents) who is getting ready to launch her Etsy shop!! YAY FOR SISTERS LIFTING EACH OTHER UP!! We'll make it available for you to use on your phone, ipad AND laptop :D
1 of 3Hello Hello Dearest Storytellers!
Thank you so much for getting us to this point of a MEMBERSHIP model where members will now lovingly be referred to as SUPER STORYTELLERS! It's been a long time coming and I am ecstatic we are finally here. I am honored to be at a place where our community would love even more access to 88 Cups of Tea as a lot of time and thought went into every single tier to make sure they are all meaningful for both me and for you. Check out my doodles of my favorite animals paired with my favorite things over in the tiers! This is a fantastic platform to deepen our bond as a community and allow me opportunities to show you more of my world "behind the mic" and how podcasting, especially the editing process, is very much like an art form. Every cut, every tweak, every silence is intentional, shaping the experience for you Dear Listeners-- a form of storytelling in itself.
Here's a screenshot of me using "Patreon Lens" to share my thoughts and commentaries exclusive to our "Silkie Chickens with Balloons" tier and higher. These mini videos are a lot like Instagram Stories and also expire 24 hours after they're posted which make them even more fun with the time sensitivity!
Here's a screenshot of my LIVE recording for the intro and the outro of Kwame Alexander's 88 Cups of Tea podcast episode!
Down below is a screenshare to show our Super Storytellers Patreon members what goes on during the editing process. In this specific screenshot, I'm editing Holly Root's episode and explaining a bit of the process while I'm at it. This is also a great glimpse for upcoming episodes where you'll get to hear parts of the conversation days before it's released!
A heartfelt thank you to our Storytellers who encouraged me to set this up and I'm sending over the warmest air-hugs to our Storytellers who've been contributing financially BEFORE any of these rewards were even available! How did I get so dang lucky to be blessed with angels in our community?!
In case we have some newcomers, did you know we started as a podcast 3 years ago? Many thanks to our Storytellers, 88 Cups of Tea has now grown into an online platform for writers who look for guidance in their writing journey and connection to a community. 88 Cups of Tea is a space that provides year-round conversations around the life of a writer, with topics ranging from overcoming rejections and writing struggles, to querying tips and crafting characters, and more. All of our content is delivered through podcasts, featured essays, daily check-ins in our private Facebook group, and the occasional newsletter and social media posts. I am incredibly proud 88 Cups of Tea is now known as the go-to for writers looking for a nurturing and supportive environment. It is my personal mission to encourage, inspire, motivate, and entertain each Storyteller that stumbles into our community and it's been the wildest ride. Our beautiful community has not only filled my heart hearing about the progress of your dreams, but as I reflect back on the 3 years, this journey unexpectedly pushed me to grow and evolve as a Human. I've become more humbled, more empathetic, and I feel so proud of all the hours and the time I put into 88 Cups of Tea. To see it grow into what it is today fills my soul with genuine pride knowing that I've *earned* this community. Thank you for that feeling, it is truly unlike anything I've ever felt before and the only word that comes close to describing it is magic.
To my listeners who've been with us since the first day-- Thank you. Thank you so, so much for your constant support and for hanging out with me for all these years. (Can you believe we made it past the 3-year milestone?!) Y'all are the true rockstars and MVP's and I will forever be grateful to you and your endless love and support.
To my new listeners-- I am so happy our paths crossed and thank you for hanging around and growing our community together!
Thank you, to each and every one of you Storytellers, for joining our Super Storytellers membership to bring our community even closer together and, truly, thank you for supporting 88 Cups of Tea with wings to fly!
Much love,
Yin
Producer & Host
88 Cups of Tea
How does this work?
If you love the content here at 88 Cups of Tea and are genuinely curious and excited for exclusive access to my world "behind the mic", select the tier you'd like to be a part of every month. And don't worry, you can always edit or cancel your membership at ANY time.
Tiers
Quokkas with Lashes
$3.88 or more per month
- MONTHLY CURATED ROUND-UP OF TOP 3 PODCAST EPISODES. At the end of each month, you'll get a curated monthly round-up of my favorite top 3 podcast episode recommendations from the many that I listen to! WOOHOO FOR PODCASTS!
- BEST AUDIOBOOK RECOMMENDATION OF THE MONTH. Get access to my favorite audiobook pick of the month!
- EXCLUSIVE MEMBERSHIP-ONLY VOTING/POLLS. Your decisions directly shape 88 Cups of Tea including, but not limited to, topics you’d love to see covered in our 88 Cups of Tea featured essays and articles, upcoming content and merchandise, etc.
- REQUEST TO FEATURE YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR AS A GUEST ON THE PODCAST. Our private Facebook group members get to jump in with their requests, but members at this tier and higher get *priority* picks. Though nothing is guaranteed, I can promise to ALWAYS do my very best to get your top pick on the show!
- DANCE ALONG WITH 88 CUPS OF TEA! Boost your mood with access to 88 Cups of Tea’s Spotify playlist to brighten up your day and give yourself that extra pep in your step with our curated playlist of over 7 hours of catchy and uplifting tunes that represent our vibe and energy!
- WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? Tell me what topic(s) you would really love to hear discussed in our upcoming podcast recordings Ex: Would you love to deep-dive into the querying process? Are you struggling with plotting? Would you love to hear stories about how guests are able to work on their writing while holding down a day job? More real talk about finances as a writer?
- EARLY ACCESS TO TICKETS FOR FUTURE LIVE EVENTS.
Silkie Chickens with Balloons
$8.88 or more per month
- EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS Guess what? ANY TIME I finish editing an episode, YOU will get access to the file. Depending on how my schedule looks for the month, this mean as early as 2-3 weeks in advance. If I'm super busy that month, I may upload the interview a few days before the air-date. No matter what, you'll get to hear all upcoming episodes before any one else does. These files are just the interview itself-- no intro/outro/jingle music is added.
- EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACCESS! Get access to behind-the-scenes footage, pictures, factoids, and other fun stuff that you can’t find anywhere else! Look out for the posts I'll be sharing through Patreon Lens, it works a lot like Instagram stories and the videos/pics disappear after 24 hours. Y’all know I don’t usually post videos of myself on our Instagram stories, but for my Super Storytellers, you’ll get members-exclusive content like my honest thoughts and commentaries about the recorded conversations. You'll also get access to a sneak peek of my podcasting process including the EDITING process with some screensharing, and more through Crowdcast!
- ACCESS DELETED AUDIO. Listen in on exclusive deleted audio from the recorded podcast conversations! I almost always delete the very beginning pre-chat where the guests and I hop on the recorded call. Curious about what we say when we first “meet” each over our recorded call? You get access to select clips of our “first Hello!” Additionally, you’ll get access to deleted audio from the conversation and hear some fun tidbits that were cut from the final edit. You’ll also find random outtakes where I test for audio or I’m interrupted by a sneeze, sirens, construction, etc. (Whenever possible)
- MONTHLY BOOK HAUL/UNBOXING VIDEO! Access to dedicated book haul/unboxing at the end of each month! Do you ever wonder whose books have been sent to us to consider for the show? Due to limited space on the podcast, we can’t interview every author that is pitched for our podcast which means our community has no clue which wonderful authors and books have been sent our way. This monthly book unboxing recording will give you a behind-the-scenes look! [Over 6 months ago, I stopped posting book unboxing videos in our private Facebook group due to time constraints. Those instead go here.]
- Members at this tier will receive all previous tier rewards as well!
Snails with Mail
$18.88 or more per month
- JOIN IN ON A LIVE INTERVIEW! Once every 2 months, I will record a podcast episode through Crowdcast and allow EXCLUSIVE access for members at this tier or higher to *see* me and the guest having a conversation with each other! I'm going to play around with Crowdcast and see if there's a function that allows for you to leave comments in real-time during the live interview, it would be fun to feature questions from 2-3 of you at the end of the interview, though I'll have to make sure the podcast guest is comfortable with this first and be respectful of their time. Fun possibilities with this feature! The public will ONLY get access to the *audio* version of this interview as an 88 Cups of Tea podcast episode which will be available weeks after the live interview. Sustain your membership at this tier or higher and you might have access to more live interviews (dependent on the guest's scheduling.)
- WELCOME BOX FOR STORYTELLERS! Receive 88 Cups of Tea’s member-exclusive storyteller themed welcome package for this tier and higher. Includes a curated selection of my favorite things and a custom 88 Cups of Tea merch-- can’t tell you, it’s a surprise! Must be current member of this tier for a minimum of 3 consecutive months to redeem your box.
- TRAVEL WITH ME THROUGH HANDWRITTEN POSTCARDS! I know most of you love traveling or would LOVE to travel one day soon. Traveling is a part of my lifestyle and I usually head out of town at least once or twice a year. Whether it’s a roadtrip or a flight somewhere, I’m going to snailmail you postcards from the road so you can have something tangible from my wanderings! [Be sure to give me your mailing address!]
- EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEOS OF ME RECORDING THE INTROS/OUTROS FOR EPISODES! Oh good lord, I’m a bit nervous about this one ‘cause I make a LOT of weird faces while recording the introductions and the endings that bookend the podcast conversations. Honestly cringing at the moment just writing about it haha. Members at this tier and higher get access to see my over-the-top facial expressions during the recordings and you also get access to see me at my most vulnerable (AKA...I make a TON of mistakes...every...time. The deleted outtakes are endless!) There will be video recordings of these for the intros/outros of 2 podcast episodes each month (total of two videos per month), must be active member to access.
- MONTHLY HANGOUT WITH PRIZE DRAWING! Get access to exclusive 45-minute live video through Crowdcast where we chat about our real lives in real time and get to know each other, and catch up. I hear that Crowdcast has the ability to let me invite you on the screen to see each other during the live group hangout! I'll have to play around with this feature and see how it works but sounds SO COOL :D If you're shy, don't worry, I will not randomly select you to share the screen! A special bonus-- there will be a monthly prize drawing during this hangout where one lucky winner will receive something fun and different each month like a package of books that have been sent to 88 Cups of Tea, 88 Cups of Tea merch, etc!
- WATCH PARTY!!! WOOHOO! Each month, I’ll host a live watch party of videos (a curated list of videos of the month that I love-- think cute dogs), or a Netflix show, or a movie. Depending on how much time I have, this can range from 15 minutes of videos to over an hour of a show/movie. In case you have no idea what a Watch Party is (no worries, I just found out about this too), I cue up something for us to watch together in real-time and we all get to add our commentary in real-time too, as if we’re actually watching those videos/movies together in the same room! I'm going to try out the Crowdcast tool for this one and try the screensharing option. Really excited about this! I'll put out a poll asking you the best day/time that works for you, and we'll go with the one that gets the most votes.
- PRIORITY ACCESS TO FEATURE YOUR LISTENER-QUESTION FOR UPCOMING RECORDING WITH GUEST. In our private Facebook group, storytellers are able to submit their question for me to ask during the recorded conversation. We often run out of time and aren’t able to feature all questions in the interview. At this tier, your question is guaranteed to make it into the episode (needless to say, the question must be respectful to the guest) Be sure to join the private FB group to submit your question! (https://www.facebook.com/groups/88cupsoftea/)
- 25% DISCOUNT ON ALL MERCH IN OUR SHOP! Look out for the fun merch rolling out soon! https://gumroad.com/88cupsoftea
- Members at this tier will receive all previous tier rewards as well!
Narwhals for Y’all!
$188 or more per month
Tea with Yin over Skype! Time is my most valuable and limited asset! 45 minute Skype video hangouts happen once a month for active Patrons to redeem. What can we talk about? Your life! Your goals, your writing, your stories, school, food, your relationships! Have your own podcast or thinking about starting one and would love to pick my brain? Feel free to redeem this Skype chat as a consultation session to ask me your Q’s and I’ll share what I know. We'll find a day/time that works best for the both of us. [For U.S. members at this tier, I’ll snail mail you a sample of my favorite tea of the month so we can steep and sip the same cup of tea during our Skype call!]
Members at this tier will receive all previous tier rewards as well!