[MeiLinMiranda]

So it looks like my latest Kickstarter presale may fund in a single day. I asked for $1500, and 19 hours in I'm at not-quite $1100. Twenty days to go, too. Last time I asked for $1500 and raised all of it in three days (over the course of a month it raised $5250). Best way to do a Kickstarter: barebones goal. You can always raise more, but you can't raise less.

 

[vrabinec]

No clue what a Kickstarter is.

 

[lorelei]

Could you explain what Kickstarter is for those of us who don't know? Why would people give writers money? Will they get it back?

 

[dalya]

Okay, this does not apply to the Opening Post, because some Kickstarter projects are really awesome, but this satire is about the bad ones:

 

[MeiLinMiranda]

Kickstarter is a way for writers, game designers, artists, clothing designers and foodmakers to raise seed money in exchange for whatever it is they're offering. Essentially, it's a presale. We don't have access to Amazon's presale system, so this is a way to do a presale without them. Your fans get what they want (your books) and you get money for book production. It's neither a loan nor a donation. Don't attempt it without an existing fan base.

I've kicked several books and graphic novels/comics, two or three films, several musicians (including Amanda Palmer, and the Polyphonic Spree), an artisan salt maker (jobs for the Oregon coast), two or three games and a food cart. in exchange I've gotten music, films, books, ebooks, games, comics, two drop dead gorgeous card decks, a little tin of really delicious salt, a bag of goodies from the new grocery store in my neighborhood, and my favorite food cart.

 

[KM Logan]

Can we ask for a link to your project or would the mod's consider that spammy?

 

[J.R. Thomson]

Would love to see a link to your project

 

[Monique]

Okay, this does not apply to the Opening Post, because some Kickstarter projects are really awesome, but this satire is about the bad ones:

This x 100.

 

[vrabinec]

Kickstarter is a way for writers, game designers, artists, clothing designers and foodmakers to raise seed money in exchange for whatever it is they're offering. Essentially, it's a presale. We don't have access to Amazon's presale system, so this is a way to do a presale without them. Your fans get what they want (your books) and you get money for book production. It's neither a loan nor a donation. Don't attempt it without an existing fan base.

I've kicked several books and graphic novels/comics, two or three films, several musicians (including Amanda Palmer, and the Polyphonic Spree), an artisan salt maker (jobs for the Oregon coast), two or three games and a food cart. in exchange I've gotten music, films, books, ebooks, games, comics, two drop dead gorgeous card decks, a little tin of really delicious salt, a bag of goodies from the new grocery store in my neighborhood, and my favorite food cart.

Oooo! I volunteer! Who wants to kickstarter me?

 

[George Berger]

[X] Thread about Smashwords.
[X] Thread about Select.
[X] Thread about evil literary agents.
[X] Thread predicting the death of publishing of one form or another.
[X] Random thread completely unrelated to writing, ebooks, et cetera.
[_] CAPS LOCK WEDNESDAY.
[X] Thread about Kickstarter.
[X] Duplicate thread.
[X] Thread announcing something "new" that's been around for months.
[_] Thread for all the fanboys and fangirls to squee about how awesome DWS is.

C'mon, folks, we're 80% of the way to singularity!

 

[41413]

The Onion is hysterical, as always.

Is Kickstarter really useful for authors with a backlist? I would think that it's a lot easier and faster to fund your books with money from prior sales. It's not like indie publishing costs a ton of money.

ETA: Congrats, MeiLin. I'm sure that feels very rewarding.

 

[tensen]

Oooo! I volunteer! Who wants to kickstarter me?

Which are you asking for? A boot to the head, backside, or jewels?

 

[tensen]

So it looks like my latest Kickstarter presale may fund in a single day. I asked for $1500, and 19 hours in I'm at not-quite $1100. Twenty days to go, too. Last time I asked for $1500 and raised all of it in three days (over the course of a month it raised $5250). Best way to do a Kickstarter: barebones goal. You can always raise more, but you can't raise less.

That is awesome news.

Although you can raise less. It just ends up being $0 received. I think the success rate on books is quite low.

And have you considered using Indiegogo? That one allows you to receive money even if you didn't achieve your goal. (Not that you need to, since you are close to your goal in one day.)

 

[MeiLinMiranda]

Here's the link. I'm obviously going to fund; I'm not here looking for kicks, man. I just offer it for reference. I'm a staff pick today.

I don't use Indiegogo because Kickstarter's discoverability and reach are better, at least IMO. It's a great option for non-US people since Kickstarter is US only.

Putting out a backlist, sure, you could use it for that. You can ask for as much or as little as you need, though you're right, putting out a backlist title is relatively inexpensive. My major expense is a development editor, which you don't need for a backlist release. If you did the Kickstarter as a package--something like a package deal of, say, three backlist novels--it might make a lot of sense.

As for success rate on books, most of my friends who've done them succeeded but it's because they've done the work and built a fan base first. The one who didn't was a first-time writer with nothing to show anyone and no readers. IE, she shouldn't have run a Kickstarter.

Vrabinec, I kick people all the time. Ask my kids. If you put up a project, and it's something I want, I'd happily kick you.

George, happy to contribute to the singularity.

 

[41413]

Putting out a backlist, sure, you could use it for that. You can ask for as much or as little as you need, though you're right, putting out a backlist title is relatively inexpensive. My major expense is a development editor, which you don't need for a backlist release. If you did the Kickstarter as a package--something like a package deal of, say, three backlist novels--it might make a lot of sense.

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm asking why an established author would kickstart a new book instead of funding it with prior sales of her last books. Even a new book isn't very expensive to produce, including edits.

 

[thaliafrost]

Under my real name, I had a successful kickstarter last fall. I raised about $650 for a writing/publishing project. I had only set the goal for $500. I was quite happy and just wanted to fund my project for once since it's self pubbed. I am enjoying it!

 

[MeiLinMiranda]

Ah, I completely misunderstood.

I use a development editor. She's very good but she's not cheap. The cover artist is very good but she's not cheap, either (painting, not photo manip). This is also funding the paperback, and I prefer to hire someone else to format the paper versions. I put out short stories and novellas on the cheap--pre-made or self-made covers, do my own formatting, crowdsource typos (I have a good beta squad)--but not my novels. They wouldn't be as good or as good-looking as I want them to be.

Bottom line: I am not established enough yet to self-fund ~$1000-1500 on a major release, but I am established enough to raise it via presale. Even if I were, my readers like the presale anyway.

 

[AndreSanThomas]

[X] Thread about Smashwords.
[X] Thread about Select.
[X] Thread about evil literary agents.
[X] Thread predicting the death of publishing of one form or another.
[X] Random thread completely unrelated to writing, ebooks, et cetera.
[_] CAPS LOCK WEDNESDAY.
[X] Thread about Kickstarter.
[X] Duplicate thread.
[X] Thread announcing something "new" that's been around for months.
[_] Thread for all the fanboys and fangirls to squee about how awesome DWS is.

C'mon, folks, we're 80% of the way to singularity!

You forgot Thread about Pen Names.

 

[Janet Michelson]

GEORGE, I DID MY PART!

 

[rubyscribe]

Aah! People who like your books, pay for your upcoming project's completion (editing, cover etc)

Nice!!!!

Not all of us have such fans!  but we're still happy campers!