Year Ten of Pen Addict Membership has begun!

This guy LOVES stationery!

If you asked me at the start of 2025 how many years I have been working for myself in this wild world of stationery I would have guessed maybe six? Certainly not yet to eight, right? Both are wrong of course, as January 1st, 2025 marked the start of year ten of this journey.

Thank you all so much for making this possible.

Looking back at what I posted when I first decided to make this jump is as important today as it was then, if not more so:

“Every day, we are presented with a choice on how to spend our hard earned dollars. Asking readers to part with a few of those dollars a month is a big deal. My goal is to provide members with great added benefits and to make the choice to support The Pen Addict an easy decision.”

Since then, I have:

— Published 457 issues of Refill, the monthly Members newsletter. This weekly newsletter discusses my current thoughts on stationery, my usage, the industry, trip reports, product creation, Ink Links, monthly giveaways, personal notes, and more. I’m most proud of Refill as a concept I have been consistent with, and have been able to build around since the beginning. This is the core feature of membership. Download a sample of Issue #455 here.

— Published 67 monthly Pen Addict Rating posts, where I built my own grading system and apply that to all types of stationery goods.

— Published 23 monthly Pen Addict Chronicles, where I discuss my stationery usage.

— Recorded 83 episodes of Friend of the Show, the Member’s podcast where I interview Pen Addict Members and friends and discuss their personal stationery journey.

On top of everything listed above, I offer Members an unlimited 25% discount on items in the Pen Addict Shop. This includes everything from coasters and t-shirts, to recent pen and accessory collaborations. There are a few exceptions from time to time, but more often than not, the discount is valid.

All of the content above is ongoing into 2025, and I’m always thinking about adding more.

Pen Addict Memberships are $5 per month, or $48 for 12 months. The price has been the same since 2016, and this is the only support level I offer. Every Member gets the same content - no tiers, no choices, one membership gets it all, all the time.

The Pen Addict, and everything surrounding it, is my full-time job, and Pen Addict Memberships are the main way you can support what I do. As I said earlier, it is a big deal to directly support any creator, and I don’t take that for granted for one second.

Thank you once again to everyone for your continued support. Let’s have a great 2025!

The First Ever Pen Addict Membership Drive Is On!

As someone who is traditionally poor at self promotion, not only am I taking a moment to do that today, but I’m taking it even further by offering my first ever discount for The Pen Addict Membership.

The main question I have to answer to you, and to myself, is why? The short version is: I’m curious. The Pen Addict Membership is a core reason why I’m about to wrap up my eighth year of working for myself, and spreading the stationery love. Your support of everything I create means the world to me.

As a Pen Addict Member, what do you get?

• Refill, the weekly Member newsletter. I recently published Issue #401 this past weekend, exploring a recent favorite pen of mine. Each week contains similar content, such as trip reports from pen shows and other adventures, thoughts on the stationery market as a whole, how I use stationery, plus a weekly Ink Links section with commentary, monthly Member giveaways, a recap of everything I published during the week, and more. (Here is a PDF sample of Issue #399. Formatting is better via email, or through the Member site, but you will get the idea.)

• P.A.R. (Pen Addict Rating,) a monthly grade of a stationery product. I’ve provided grades on 55 products so far - pens, pencils, paper, ink - based on my own usage.

• TPA Chronicles, a monthly recap of what I have been using, and why.

• Friend of the Show, a monthly(-ish) podcast where I interview other members and discuss their stationery story.

• Discounts to The Pen Addict Shop.

• Full archive of published content.

And who knows what else I will come up with!

Part of the Pen Addict 100 Project I am working on.

Membership is always growing and changing, so I figured, why not bring more people into the loop? Currently, the two Membership options are $48 for an Annual subscription, or $5 for a Monthly subscription.

From today, through Friday, December 1st, I am offering 20% off the Annual Membership option with the code ITS20OFF. You can also click through this link to apply the code directly.

Existing members won’t miss out, either. Use the same code to extend your annual membership and receive the same discounted rate.

While I am experimenting with discounts, I have taken 10% off all pens in The Pen Addict Shop during this same time period. While 10% on its own is great, Pen Addict Members currently have a 25% off shop code listed in the newsletter, which is valid with the additional discount. If interested, simply log in to your Member account, click “Posts” on the sidebar, open Issue #401, and scroll to the bottom to find the current code, and have fun!

The Pen Addict X Benu 15th Anniversary Pen, found in The Pen Addict Shop.

To recap, this is a limited time discount that I am running for this week only, on both The Pen Addict Annual Membership, and selected items in The Pen Addict Shop. Let’s see how it goes, and thank you for your support!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

The Pen Addict Membership - Join Today!

It’s been a while since I’ve run a bit of self-promotion here on the blog, but I wanted to take a few minutes to share the latest content addition for Pen Addict Members.

Beginning the first week of 2022, I added a new weekly post for members where I am building out a rating system for stationery goods. Called simply “Pen Addict Rating” (P.A.R.), I rate pens, pencils, paper, ink, and more on a personal scale. These are my grades on products, related to how I use them. I think it adds good perspective to my product recommendations, which I post publicly on the blog and on the Top 5 Lists, and how those things can differ. My rating scale:

To read a sample of a recent P.A.R. score, I have updated the Members Page with a PDF download of a recent post on a classic ink, Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai.

On top of this new content, all of the usual content is still publishing regularly. Refill, The Pen Addict Members Newsletter, anchors the offering. Each Saturday, I publish a lengthy email of content and commentary, and it has become the highlight of my week. I cover recent news, product development, how I use things, and general stationery fun each week. With 314 issues in the books, it is at the core of the membership offering. I have uploaded a recent sample issue on the Members Page as well.

There are no ads in any of the Members published content. I do offer discounts on several items in the Pen Addict Shop as an additional members benefit, usually in the 25% range on select products. Members get priority on new releases, and the discount, like with my recent Ajoto collaboration, often saves you more than the annual membership cost!

Did I mention “Friend of the Show,” the Members podcast? There are currently over 60 episodes for you to consume, with more on the way throughout the year.

There is also direct email access, Member Q&A, monthly giveaways, and more to come.

So, what’s the ask? $5 per month, or $48 annually to support the site, myself, and the team who publishes reviews each week. Try it out for a month, or subscribe for a year. All the content is available no matter your choice. There is even a PayPal option, which you can find details about on the Membership page.

The Pen Addict Membership program is in its sixth year, and continues to get bigger and better. Thank you all for your support, and I look forward to much more fun coming down the pike!