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Wondersandtales

Reading plans

Choose how the stories reach you — monthly, weekly, or with the whole shelf behind them.

I keep the plans few because the work is already the complicated part. You can try one finished story a month at no charge, take every Sunday instalment, or add the annotated archive if you want the drafts and the longer pieces as well.

See the sampler Compare the three

Work on the desk
Sunday work, ready to send

Three plans

Each plan is a way of receiving the same stories. I do not change the prose to match the price. What changes is how often a tale arrives, and whether the earlier work stays open to you.

Free

The Sampler

SGD 0. One story a month, sent as a web page and an e-mail. There is no archive on this plan.

  • Once a month I choose one finished story from that month’s Sunday work and send it to you as a complete reading, beginning to ending.
  • It arrives as an HTML e-mail and as a web page you can open without creating an account.
  • This plan does not keep earlier instalments for you; each month stands on its own.
  • I never take a payment from a sampler address, and one click in any e-mail stops the sending.
  • If you reply, the message still reaches the reading desk in Telok Ayer.
  • A short content note sits above the first paragraph so you can decide before you begin.
Begin with the sampler

Most readers choose this

Weekly Reader

SGD 9 each month, or SGD 88 for a year. Every Sunday instalment, with the plate, the endnote, and a way to write back.

  • Every Sunday at 07:00 Singapore time I send that week’s story, complete from the first line to the last.
  • A single ink-and-wash plate travels with it, as an image and as a written description for anyone who cannot see the picture.
  • After the ending I add an endnote that names the record, rumour or invention the tale grew from.
  • You may write back to any instalment; I read replies during desk hours and answer within two working days when I can.
  • You keep a simple list of what has already been sent in the current year, so a missed Sunday is not lost.
  • You may pay month by month or for a year; cancellation is a link in every e-mail, and the next period simply does not start.
Take the weekly plan

Archive

Weekly Reader + Annotated Archive

SGD 16 each month, or SGD 156 for a year. The weekly sending, plus the back catalogue, the drafts, and two long stories a year.

  • You receive everything on the Weekly Reader plan, every Sunday, without a second signup.
  • The full back catalogue is available as EPUB files you can keep on your own device.
  • Annotated drafts show the Wednesday sitting and the Thursday cuts, so you can see how a tale was shaped.
  • Twice a year I send a long story that would not fit the twelve-to-twenty-minute form.
  • Archive access continues for as long as the plan is active, including instalments sent before you joined.
  • Cancellation works the same way as the weekly plan: the next billing period simply does not begin.
Add the archive

A plain comparison

The table is the same information as the cards, set side by side so you do not have to hunt. If a cell says no, I mean it; I do not hide a charge later.

What you receive The Sampler Weekly Reader Weekly Reader + Annotated Archive
Frequency One complete story each month Every Sunday at 07:00 SGT Every Sunday at 07:00 SGT
Illustration The monthly plate, with a written description One plate with every instalment, image and description One plate with every instalment, image and description
Endnote Yes, on the monthly story Yes, after every ending Yes, after every ending
Archive access No back catalogue A list of the current year’s Sunday sendings The full back catalogue as EPUB
Annotated drafts Not included Not included Wednesday sittings and Thursday cuts, kept with the finished tale
Long stories Not included Not included Two long stories a year, outside the weekly length
Reply access Replies reach the reading desk Replies reach the reading desk Replies reach the reading desk
Cancellation One click; no charge is ever taken Any time from the link in every e-mail; the next period does not start Any time from the link in every e-mail; the next period does not start

Money, without fog

Billing and cancellation in plain language

I bill in Singapore dollars. The monthly prices are SGD 9 and SGD 16. The yearly prices are SGD 88 and SGD 156. There is no third number waiting after you join.

Paid plans run month by month or year by year, according to the rhythm you pick on the form. I charge at the start of a period. If you cancel, you keep what has already been sent in that period, and I do not take money for the next one. I do not ask for a reason, and I do not require you to write to the desk first; the link in every e-mail is enough.

There is no refund of a period already begun, because the next period simply does not start. If a Sunday falls after you cancel, that story does not arrive, which is the whole of the arrangement. Sampler readers are never charged. I do not convert a free address into a paid one unless you ask for a paid plan yourself.

If a payment fails, I send one plain notice to the address on the plan and I pause the paid sending until it is put right. I do not keep retrying in silence. Write to hello@WondersAndTales.eu if a receipt looks wrong; billing questions are part of the desk’s work on weekdays.

Gift and group reading

A plan for someone else

To give a subscription, write to me with the recipient’s name, e-mail, and the plan you want, plus the Sunday you would like it to begin. I start the sending on that date and I can omit the price from the first note if you ask. You remain the person I bill unless you tell me to hand the plan over at the end of the paid stretch.

I do not print certificates or ship paper. The gift is the stories themselves, arriving on the same rhythm as any other plan. If the recipient already reads the sampler, I move that address onto the paid plan without duplicating mail.

Reading groups of five or more

If five or more people want to read the weekly stories together, write with a single list of names and addresses and say whether you want Weekly Reader or the archive plan. I apply a reduced yearly rate on that group invoice and I send one receipt to the person who pays. Each reader still receives the instalment at their own address, so no one has to forward a file.

I do not run a classroom, and I do not mark essays. What I can do is keep the group on the same Sunday so a conversation has a shared text. If someone leaves the group, tell me; I stop that address at the next period and I do not ask the others to make up the seat. Private reading aloud is already allowed under the terms, with attribution to Wondersandtales.

There is no public form for this, because the list has to be checked by a person. Use the contact page, choose “About a plan”, and give me time on a weekday. I answer from the same desk that sends the stories.

How it arrives

Accessibility and delivery

Every instalment exists as a web page, as HTML e-mail, and as a plain-text version. Paid archive readers also receive EPUB files. I write alt text for every plate, and the endnote is part of the same document, not a hidden caption.

If a Sunday letter lands in a promotions or spam folder, add the sending address to your contacts and write to me if a week is missing. I will resend that instalment. I cannot repair a filter I do not control, but I can put the story in front of you a second time.

Type size follows your own browser and mail programme. I do not lock the text into an image. If you need a different format for a particular week, say so; I will see what I can prepare from the same source file.

Quiet desk details
Materials kept beside the sending list

Before you decide

Questions I am asked about joining

People ask whether the stories must be read in order, what happens if they join in June, whether a sampler month counts as a trial, and how a pause works. Those answers live on the questions page, in the same voice as this one, without a numbered scheme.

If your question is about money, delivery, or permission to read a tale aloud to a private group, you will find it there. If it is about a particular instalment, write to the desk and I will answer as myself.

Read the questions Send me the first story