You have been making things for years.
Almost nobody around you has really seen them.
The Salon is the paid membership of Serapex. I match you with a writing partner, we meet live twice a month, and you finish one piece every month.
I Who it is for
Most of the time you are also doing it alone.
The people around you are kind about it. They ask how the newsletter is going. When you try to explain what you are actually building, you can see somewhere in the second sentence that you have lost them. So you stop explaining and keep working by yourself.
Alone, every new idea looks like a fresh start, and the pile keeps growing in different places.
It is spread over years, notebooks and half-finished projects. What makes it add up is the way you see, and that is very hard to find on your own.
Your partner reads what you make and tells you what keeps showing up in it. Nobody can see that for you, and you cannot see it alone. You meet once a month on a call, and each of you sends one piece before it.
I pair you by reading what you tell me when you join. After three months I ask each of you privately whether you want to continue. If one of you says no, you both get a new partner, and nobody has to explain why.
In the open session we work on whatever stops members from finishing and publishing. In the review session I go through one member’s work and brand in depth, in front of the room. Your work can be next.
Every session is recorded, so you can catch up when you cannot make it.
That is the only thing the room expects from you. An essay, a chapter or an episode all count, as long as it is finished and it is yours. Every finished piece goes back onto the pile, so the next one starts from more.
Finished pieces go up on the wall inside. Once a month I link members’ work in the newsletter and feature one piece in depth.
You can join in any month and stay as long as the work needs you there. With every piece you see a little more clearly what your work is about, and that is when it starts to add up.
III Why it is called the Salon
Salon des RefusésPalais de l’Industrie, Paris
That year the jury of the Paris Salon refused thousands of paintings. The refused painters showed their work anyway, in another part of the same building.
That room became the Salon des Refusés, and Manet hung there. The members of this Salon have refused something too. They will not turn their work into content for an algorithm, because they would rather build something that carries their name.
IV What it is not
My essays and the podcast stay free, so the membership pays for a seat in the room.
There are no modules, no progress bar and nothing to complete.
The room has a few quiet places for the work. You come when you have something to bring.
I will not promise you subscribers or money. The room is built around finishing work that carries your name.
V Membership
Every membership comes with the same seat in the room. The only difference is how you pay, and whether you start with a private session.
Stay as long as the work needs you there.
$35/month
Cancel at any time.
A full year in the room, for when you know you are staying.
$300/year
That is $25 a month. You save $120.
A year in the room, starting with a private session with me.
$650/year
Includes a session worth $350.
VI Where the room ends
For most people, the room is enough. For some, the stall is not in the work at all.
You can have a good partner and come to every session, and something still stops you at the moment the work would have to meet a stranger. A room full of people does not reach that.
That is what the Synthesis Room is for. It is ninety minutes, one to one, on what is really in the way. The Founder membership includes one session.
VII Questions
One partner call a month and the time it takes you to finish one piece. The two sessions are live, and you join when you can. If you miss one, the recording is waiting for you.
You join through Substack. The room itself is a private space on Circle, where the sessions, your partner thread and the wall are kept. The sessions run as video calls.
No. You need work in progress and the willingness to finish one piece a month.
Write to me and I will find you someone new. If you have to miss a call yourself, tell your partner early and find another date that month.
You keep the price you signed up at and you get the full Salon. You paid before there was anything to promise, and this is my thank you.
A year in the Salon and one private 90-minute session with me. Before we meet, you fill in an assessment and I read your work. It is the same session I offer in the Synthesis Room.
Yes. You can cancel a monthly membership at any time in your Substack settings, and you keep access until the end of the month you paid for.