How lightbulbs work
A lightbulb is how you make something here. This page is every question people ask about them, answered plainly — including the awkward ones.
The three rules, up front.
- Your plan's lightbulbs are for that month. They do not roll over — when your billing month turns, a fresh set arrives and the old ones go.
- Spare Bulbs never expire. You bought them outright, and they sit on your account for as long as it is open.
- Your monthly bulbs are always spent first. Spare Bulbs you bought in January are untouched until the month's are gone.
Those three together mean the same thing: buying Spare Bulbs can never cost you bulbs you already had.
What is a lightbulb?
It is one piece of content. You write a brief, we plan it, write it, have it edited and set it out as a document you can print — and that whole run costs one lightbulb.
One lightbulb makes one piece, whatever kind it is. A game, an object lesson and a full Bible lesson all cost the same.
We count bulbs rather than minutes or words because a bulb is a thing you can count. You should be able to look at your balance and know exactly how many more pieces you can make, without doing any arithmetic.
How many do I get?
- Volunteer — 25 lightbulbs a month, for $18.00 a month, or $180.00 a year.
- Professional — 50 lightbulbs a month, for $36.00 a month, or $360.00 a year.
- Spare Bulbs — 100 lightbulbs for $55.00, bought once. Not a subscription, and they do not renew.
Paying yearly does not change any of that. A yearly plan is twelve months of the same monthly lightbulbs — 25 a month on Volunteer, arriving month by month — not a year's worth handed over on the first day. It is one payment instead of twelve; the bulbs work exactly as they do for everybody else, and they still do not roll over from one month to the next.
Your own balance is always on your billing page — this month's, your Spare Bulbs, and the date your month turns over.
What happens to the ones I do not use?
Monthly lightbulbs expire at the end of your billing month. They belong to the month you paid for, and they do not roll over into the next one. Make three pieces in a quiet month and the rest of that month's bulbs go with the month.
We would rather say that plainly than let you find it out. The reason it works this way is that the next month's bulbs are already on their way: the month you have just paid for is always full, whatever you did with the last one.
Do bulbs I have bought expire?
No. Spare Bulbs are bought outright. They stay on your account for as long as it is open — buy them in January and they are still there in July. Nothing takes them off you at the end of a month, and nothing takes them off you if you change plan.
Which get spent first?
Your monthly bulbs, always. We only touch your Spare Bulbs once the month's are gone, so the ones you bought are never quietly eaten by a month you had bulbs left in.
The one exception is arithmetic rather than policy: if a piece costs more than the month has left, the difference comes out of your Spare Bulbs, so that you are never blocked with the bulbs sitting right there.
What happens when I run out?
You are offered Spare Bulbs, straight away — 100 of them for $55.00, in your account the moment the payment goes through. Nobody is ever told to come back on the 1st. A volunteer preparing on a Saturday night cannot wait for a billing date, and that is the case this whole design exists for.
You can buy Spare Bulbs whenever you like, not only when you have run out. If you know a busy month is coming, buy ahead.
When does my month reset?
On the same date each month, and your billing page names the exact day under Period ends. Your fresh bulbs are there from that moment.
What if a generation fails?
You get the lightbulb back. A run that delivered nothing is not charged for, and the refund goes back into the pot it came out of — a monthly bulb returns as a monthly bulb, a Spare Bulb as a Spare Bulb. Trying that piece again costs nothing.
A piece that arrives marked as still being finished is a different thing: it is real work you can teach from, so it stays charged. Asking us to refine a finished piece is a fresh run and costs a bulb of its own.
Does changing plan change my bulbs?
Yes, straight away. Move up and this month's allowance is the bigger one from the moment you change; move down and it is the smaller one. Stripe charges or credits the difference pro rata for the rest of the month. Spare Bulbs are untouched either way — they were bought, not included.
What happens to my bulbs if I cancel?
Your plan runs to the end of the month you have already paid for, and you keep generating until then. Spare Bulbs stay on your account after that — but making a new piece needs an active plan, so they will be waiting for you rather than usable. Come back on a plan and they are exactly where you left them.
Everything you have already made stays in your account and stays downloadable. Cancelling never takes your work away.
Anything else
The full wording is in the Terms of Use, and if something here does not match what you are seeing on your account, tell us — that is a bug on our side, not a misunderstanding on yours.