Notable Nonsense has been so much fun that I’ve decided I’m going to keep doing it indefinitely! Now that I’ve sent out the first three rounds of packages, I’ve learned a bunch of stuff, and am going to make a handful of small changes to streamline and simplify things.

TL;DR Up to for anyone in a hurry:

• Quick Reminder, Notable Nonsense is the fancy patreon tier where you get things in the actual physical mail. It’s $25 per month (which includes shipping anywhere), and you can always change your membership whenever you want).
• Now that I’ve decided to keep doing this, I’m going to leave signups open all the time (rather than opening and closing them each month). This means if you’re subscribed when I pull addresses to ship that month’s packages, you’ll get a package. I’ll always let you know a couple days before I pull the list so you don’t miss out.
• I’m going to ship things whenever it works out best for that month’s package (rather than in a specific week each month). I’m getting cool stuff made for us, and the production timelines on that are sometimes unpredictable. This gives me more flexibility to make more interesting stuff.
• Speaking of making cool stuff, sometimes I may double up and do an extra fancy package that covers two months of subscriptions. If I’m going to do that, I’ll always let folks know some time in the first month (and I’ll do my best to have a way for anyone who only joined us in that second month to upgrade to the extra fancy version).

Longer version for anyone who wants to know more:

Ok doing these packages has been So Much Fun! We started with the gauge cards in February, then the scissors in March, then the notebook paper in April and May, and June’s new little treat is literally on the fedex truck on the way to my house as I type this. I’ll show it off tomorrow! (And if you want to see what was any of those earlier packages or see them going out, you can do that over here where the posts about this project are compiled.)

Now that I’ve proven to myself that the logistics on this are manageable (the lovely people at the post office have been a tremendous help!) and you folks have proven to me that people really do like this (because you people are also all lovely and tremendously helpful!), I’m going to make a few little tweaks that will make it easier for new people to join us and for me to dream up cool things to make for everyone.

• The biggest change is that I’m going to leave signups open all the time (rather than just for a week at the beginning of the month). When I started this, I thought folks would want to come and go from month to month, and I worried about keeping track of who was signed up for what month. But instead folks have come and stayed. And I’ve been getting more and more questions from people who want to join at other times of the month. So having the membership open all the time will make things easier for everyone. This means anyone who is a Notable Nonsense member when I pull the addresses for that month will get that month’s package.
• I’m also going to ship packages whenever works best for that month’s mailing (rather than aiming for a specific week of the month). I’m having so much fun making cool stuff for us. But some of those things come with longer lead times (because I’m doing things like working with international manufacturers to get brand new products made just for us). So saying ‘yup, it’ll go out whenever in the month works best’ lets me have the wiggle room I need to make cool things and not panic about a deadline.
• And occasionally, we might double up and do an extra fancy mailing with two months’ worth of stuff in it if I’m doing something really cool (or if we run into exciting production drama). I’ll always let folks know that’s happening some time in that first month. And I’ll do my best to have a way for anyone who is just joining us for the first time that second month upgrade to the extra fancy one if they want to.
• The thing that makes this work is lots of communication!
  • I’ll always show off that month’s package for a while before it goes out (so you’ll know what you’re getting).
  • I’ll always announce a day or two before I pull the mailing addresses for each month (so everyone will have a chance to sign up before that month closes).
  • I’ll always announce if we’re going double up and do a fancy mailing (because I don’t want anyone feeling upset if it seems like we’re skipping a month).
  • You can always always always change or cancel your membership anytime you want (I won’t be mad, you don’t have to explain, totally always do whatever works best for you and your needs in the moment).
  • And I’m always around to help if someone has something weird happen ([email protected] is always the best way to get me).

But yeah, so far this has been seriously the most fun thing I have ever done for my business. Ever. I am having SO MUCH FUN dreaming up new things to make for us (these embroidered postcards, my god, I cannot WAIT to see what you do with them…I can barely drag myself away from playing with them enough to do my job).

And I think these handful of little tweaks will make it easier for folks to come play with us and for me to keep doing this moving forward. Now…come back tomorrow to see what’s going out in June’s packages!