Getting Started

Your first 15 minutes on Makenot.work, from sign-up to your first published item.

Not ready to commit? Try sandbox mode to explore the full creator dashboard without signing up. No account required.

Create Your Account

Visit the homepage and click Join
Pick a username (this becomes your public URL: /u/yourname)
Enter your email and a strong password
Verify your email (check your inbox)

Username tips: Use your artist or brand name. Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only (2-30 characters). Can’t be changed easily.

Didn’t get the verification email? Check spam/junk, click “Resend verification” on the login page, or contact support.

Your fan account is ready immediately: browse, follow creators, and purchase right away. Fan accounts are free.

Apply for Creator Access

To sell your work, apply for creator access:

Go to the creators page or your dashboard
Tell us what you make (20-500 characters). A portfolio or storefront link helps
Choose which tier fits your content type
Optionally, request a free trial (2 weeks to 3 months)
Submit your application

Most applications are approved within 1 business day. All applications receive a response within 5 business days.

Free Trials

Check “Request a free trial” when you apply. Pick a trial length (2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, or 3 months) and briefly describe what you want to test. No credit card required. At the end, join a tier to keep your content live or export everything and walk away.

Trial details:

Trials are available by application only. Check the box when you apply for creator access.
One trial per person. If you need more time, email support before your trial ends.
When the trial expires, the same cancellation grace period applies: your content stays accessible for 30 days, then is hidden (not deleted). Join any tier to restore everything instantly, or export your data and leave.
During the trial you have full access to all features of your assigned tier, including publishing, selling, and receiving payments (Stripe connection required for payments).

Stripe availability: Receiving payouts requires Stripe, which supports creators in 46+ countries. Check that list before applying if you’re outside the US/EU/UK.

What we look for: Anyone who makes original creative work: music, writing, software, art, video, courses. No minimum audience or sales history required.

“Original creative work” means work you created or have the rights to distribute, including covers, remixes, and adaptations with appropriate licenses. Fan fiction is allowed where the rights holder permits derivatives. AI-assisted work is welcome with proper AI tier disclosure.

Applications are rejected only for content that violates our acceptable use policy.

Connect Payments

Once approved as a creator, connect Stripe to receive fan payments:

Go to your Dashboard
Click Connect with Stripe
Follow the Stripe onboarding flow (legal name, date of birth, tax ID, bank account)
Complete identity verification (Stripe requirement)

Payments go directly to your Stripe account. We never hold or touch your revenue. See Payouts for timing, schedules, and currency.

Create Your First Project

Projects organize your work: albums, podcast feeds, or product lines.

From your Dashboard, click New Project
Enter a URL name (e.g., my-album, which becomes /p/my-album) and a title
Choose a category (Music, Podcast, Software, Blog, Art, etc.)
Add a description

Create Your First Item

Navigate to your project
Click New Item
Choose an item type:

Type	Best For
Audio	Songs, podcast episodes, sound effects
Video	Films, tutorials, courses, music videos
Text	Articles, stories, documentation
Digital	Software, plugins, files, images

Set a title and price (free, fixed, or pay-what-you-want)
Choose your generative AI tier: Handmade, Assisted (with disclosure), or Generated
Upload your content or write your text

Publish

Publish your item: go to the item’s settings tab and click Publish Now
Your project is public by default when created. Items appear on it as you publish them
Share your link: /u/yourname

First 15 Minutes Checklist

Account created and email verified
Creator application submitted (or creator access granted)
Payment account connected
First project created with title, slug, and category
First item created with content uploaded and AI tier declared
Item and project published

Things to Know

You are the merchant. Payments go directly to your Stripe account. That means chargebacks ($15 dispute fee) come from your balance, not ours. A $5 refund is always cheaper than a disputed charge. See Payouts for details.

Stripe is currently the only payment processor. If Stripe doesn’t operate in your country or suspends your account, you can still manage content and export data, but you won’t receive payments until the issue is resolved. See Receiving Payouts for supported countries, payout schedules, and troubleshooting.

This is a one-person operation. Source code is public, all data is exportable, and fan payments are held in your Stripe account (not ours). Support responses happen during business hours, not 24/7. See What We Guarantee for the continuity plan.

The tier fee costs money whether you sell or not. An earn-back credit program is on the roadmap (expected no later than January 1, 2027). Use the pricing calculator to compare what you’d keep here versus percentage-cut platforms.

Moderation appeals are reviewed by the founder. Independent review is planned once the team grows. See Appeals for the full process.

What Kind of Creator Are You?

The two decisions that matter most early on are how to structure your projects and how to price your work.

Musicians

One project per album or EP. Audio items for tracks, ordered by track number. Project cover art propagates to tracks that don’t have their own. Use tags for genre and mood. A “Singles” project works as a catch-all between albums.

Pricing: Pay-what-you-want with a minimum works well for music. Free streaming with paid downloads is another option.

Podcasters

One project per show. Audio items for episodes. Your project RSS feed (/p/project-name/rss) works as a podcast feed; submit it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Use chapters for timestamp navigation.

Pricing: Most podcasts are free. Use memberships for bonus episodes or early access.

Software Developers

One project per product. Digital items for releases with versioned uploads and changelogs. Enable license keys if your software needs activation. Blog posts for release notes.

Pricing: Fixed price with free updates via versioning. License keys for per-seat or per-machine licensing.

Writers

One project per book or series. Text items for chapters (member-only while in progress, then bundled as a complete work). Blog posts for newsletter-style updates.

Pricing: Memberships for serialized content. Fixed price for complete works. Free blog posts to build audience.

Visual Artists & Photographers

One project per collection or series. Image or digital items per piece. Tags for style, medium, and subject.

Pricing: Fixed price for high-resolution downloads. Free previews at reduced resolution.

Game Developers

One project per game. Digital items for builds (versioned uploads). Blog posts for devlogs. Use download codes for press and review copies.

These aren’t rules. Experiment, see what works, adjust. You can always restructure later.

Teams & Bands

If you create with other people, there are two ways to set up on Makenot.work:

Shared account. One account for the group, one Stripe account. Simplest when the group shares finances and publishes as a unit.

Individual accounts with co-authors. Each member has their own account and Stripe. One person creates the project and adds others with revenue splits. Each member can also create independent projects.

You can start shared and transition later: create individual accounts, add them as co-authors, and splits track earnings going forward.

Your First Week

After your first publish:

Fill out your profile. Bio, avatar, header image, links. See Profile.
Set up security. Enable two-factor authentication and save your backup codes. See Security.
Share your link. Post your profile URL, project URL, or direct purchase link (/buy/{item_id}) wherever your audience is. Purchase links are minimal pages optimized for social media and link-in-bio; fans buy in one step without an account. You can also point your own domain at your profile.
Set up RSS cross-posting. Connect your RSS feed to social media or newsletter tools. See RSS.
Fill in metadata. Good titles, descriptions, tags, and cover art make your content discoverable. See Metadata. Per-file size limits depend on your tier.
Check your analytics. Dashboard shows revenue, play counts, downloads, and per-project breakdowns. See Analytics.
Understand how fans find you. Published work appears on the Discover page, searchable by tag, content type, and keyword. See Discovery.
Join the forum. Say hello at forums.makenot.work.

Building Your Audience

Makenot.work uses Discovery Through Exploration. Fans find your work through search, tags, follows, direct links, RSS, embeds, and mailing lists. Every recommendation traces to a choice the fan made. See Discovery for the full list of channels.

Bring your existing audience. Post your links where your fans already are. The platform handles selling, hosting, delivery, and payments; the marketing is yours.