Welcome Blog (for new members!)

First off, we are so very glad you've found your way to PirateCat. We're thrilled to have you here!

We understand this platform can look a little overwhelming at first glance, so we decided to create a Welcome post to help new users navigate our platform.

So, here we go!

(If you're super brand-new and looking to figure out what PirateCat even is, our About page and FAQs might help! If you still have a question you don't see answered there, please email us at giveusameow@piratecatpublishing.com so we can help you!)

What Can We Do on PirateCat, Anyway?

Excellent question. Once you're a full-fledged Crew Member, you get complete access to everything on the PirateCat site, which includes:

1. Read lots of YA fiction! (Like, seriously, loads of it.) We currently have:

• 25 full books ready to binge (in a variety of YA genres)

• 54 short stories and/or flash pieces ready to binge (in a variety of genres)

• 7 ongoing serial novels posting inside our platform (new chapters weekly)

• with more new books coming soon and new content adding regularly!

We have YA fiction of all kinds--romance, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, suspense, and more. All of our books are marked with clear content ratings, too, so you can choose the reads that are right for you.

A portion of our stories and/or bonus content here on the site are currently exclusive to PirateCat, meaning they cannot be found elsewhere. Others are available elsewhere (on Kindle Vella, for example, or as published books/e-books), but as a Crew Member you'll get everything on our site for one low monthly cost (less than a fancy cup of coffee). Trust us, that's way, wayyyy less than you'd pay for all of this content individually.... and with new content adding weekly!

We also plan to bring in more YA authors and expand our content offerings even further as PirateCat grows.

2. Comment and Chat

We've built PirateCat to be interactive, and we love when readers engage with our platform! Currently, PirateCat allows you to:

• create a Member profile and customize which notifications you want to receive

• leave comments at the end of every chapter on every story (if you want to!)

• reply to others' comments

• direct message and/or create group chats with other members/readers

• join our Chat area, where you can post on chat threads/message boards about specific book series from inside PirateCat and various other YA book-related topics, and engage on others' posts and comments as well

• "Like," thumbs-up, and/or "heart" chapters, posts, and comments

• message and/or chat with the authors of the stories via DM, commenting, or the Chat area

All of these features are fully available to Crew Members to use at your level of comfort. If you prefer to just read the books and/or lurk the comment threads, you can do that. If you're an all-in commenting champion and you want to drop your reactions on every chapter you read, go for it. We want PirateCat to be interactive--and as authors, we read every comment and respond to as many as we can--but it's up to you how much or how little you interact on the platform. Just get in there and have fun!

3. Get Exclusive, Behind-the-Scenes, and Bonus Content

The moment you sign up for PirateCat, you'll get 2 free e-books from MJ and Crystal. But the exclusive content doesn't stop there. While we're still developing some of our bonus content areas, here's what you can expect (for now and in the future):

• 2 free e-book downloads (you get this at sign-up!)

• Bonus downloads (bookmarks, character art, maps, etc.) -- This section is currently being built and will open up for Crew Member access soon!

• A Story World Encyclopedia (Worldpedia) Forum where you can explore all you'd ever want to know about the characters and story worlds of the series inside PirateCat, and where you can even leave questions or comments for the authors, too! -- This feature is still under development (we have a lot of story world info to input), but keep an eye out for its release!

4. Explore Our Blog or Join Our Newsletter

In addition to everything above, we will also have monthly blog posts updating all Members on what's been added in the past month and upcoming new content to the site. We'll also post blogs in our News and Updates section whenever we have special events or other exciting news to share with our Members. As a Crew Member or even a Landlubber, you can opt to turn on these blog notifications in your Site Member settings so that you'll never miss an update!

(Note: If you turn blog post Notifications all the way off, you will also stop receiving notifications whenever a new story chapter posts.)

We also have a Newsletter (signup is below the typewriter on our front homepage/login page here). While this newsletter is mostly for those interested in learning more about PirateCat (i.e., those who aren't yet full members), please feel free to join it if you want to receive our Quarterly newsletter about what's new and any exciting announcements/upcoming developments to our site!

Ready to dive in?

If you aren't yet a Crew Member and would like to be:

• Choose a Subscription plan on our Join page here.

• Once your subscription is confirmed, go to the PirateCat homepage to log in!

If you're already a Crew Member and are ready to Read:

• Enter PirateCat using the "Enter Here" label on the typewriter at https://piratecatpublishing.com.

• Once you're inside PirateCat, you'll see a new Menu pop up at the top: Read, Chat, News More.

• Click Read -- it will take you straight into the book portal, where you can choose a story to dive into!

If you're ready to Chat it up:

• Enter PirateCat using the "Enter Here" label on the typewriter at https://piratecatpublishing.com.

• Once you're inside PirateCat, you'll see a new Menu pop up at the top: Read, Chat, News More.

• Click Read -- then choose a story and leave comments on as many chapters as you want!... OR...

• Click Chat -- then jump into our Chat threads, make posts, comment on others, and chat to your heart's content!... OR...

• Use that little, floating Message Bubble symbol in the bottom-right of your screen to chat directly with PirateCat (that's us!), or create a new chat with any of our members. You can even make a group chat, if you want!

And of course, we're always available by e-mail if you have any questions for the PirateCat admins, or just want to reach out to us in a different way!

Well, that about wraps it up... We hope you'll dive in and explore all these features!

If there are any new features you'd like to see us add, you can post them in the "Want to See More of Something? Let Us Know!" thread in the Chat area. We'd love to hear your suggestions!

Welcome to PirateCat! We're so happy to have you onboard!

Sincerely,

Crystal and MJ

(PirateCat Owners)