I have to get this off my chest. I don't like kickstarter programs. Now I understand that some high profile projects are just not feasible out of pocket, things like a comic series that will cost an estimated $50,000 as well as movie kickstarters. That is all understandable. Go for it. Now I know I'm going to ruffle some feathers here, but that is not my intention. I'm not trying to insult anyone. That being said. I don't like the whole kickstarter concept. I self publish a lot of my own work (Novels). It's not cheap and I'm not a rich guy. But I would never think to ask someone to kick in to fund a project because I want to see it happen. I'd prefer them just buying copies of it when completed. But nothing I've published so far has been what I would term astronomically expensive. I don't believe it's right for me to ask a large group of people to find a project I have written. Someone said that to me last year when I was buying back the rights to 'Redemption of the Sorcerer' that I should do a kickstarter to fund it once it was ready to be released again. I ignored him. The very thought of asking others to essentially lend me money to start a project that would be paid back by copies of the book just rankled me. Again, a novel is not expensive, comic projects are. I understand about paying an artist and all of that.
God help me, this is going to sound insulting, but it's not meant to be; if you're going to produce a novel and you can't afford it, save your money until you can, because that's what I'll be doing. Every time I read someone begging people to fund his dream novel I have to move on to the next item. If your novel is good it will sell and pay for itself. The concept of asking for assurances on sales in advance is just too much of a safety net, and to be honest, to me as an author to do such a thing would just feel degrading.
Think before you kickstart.
To anyone reading this post:
ReplyDeleteIGNORE IT.
Kickstarter is an amazing platform for self-publishing, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, of course, is that it gives you a budget. Running a KS campaign doesn't suddenly prevent you from raising your own money otherwise. Why would you "wait", as Ralph is suggesting, when you could do BOTH?
Second, and this is the more important point. Kickstarter provides you with PUBLICITY. There is almost nothing more valuable to a writer - especially a new, lesser known, and/or unpublished one. The networks you'll form - and you have to, in order to make a KS campaign a success - will be of use to you during and after the campaign.
Publicity is the difference between selling your book and not. It is what separates self-publishers from those who go through the publishing houses. These days, self-publishing makes a lot of sense, because publishers (who are now hemorrhaging money) aren't putting their financial muscle behind their writers. They just don't have the funds. The MAIN advantage of going through those houses, besides credibility, is marketing muscle. If they don't have the muscle to put behind you, there's less of a reason to use them.
That said, publicity (and this means self-marketing) is the key. If you can convince a bunch of people to fund your project through Kickstarter, then you've already built up quite a base.
Even if you FAIL, a good number of people will know about you that didn't before.
No offense, Ralph - really - but you are giving AWFUL advice here. And with respect to publicity, um...who ARE you, even? I bet if you ran a Kickstarter campaign, I - someone - might've heard of you.
IGNORE THIS POST, people. Kickstart.
I'm sorry but you're wrong. Best to ignore your reply. Sorry but I don't believe in lowering myself to beg others for money. The only money I want from others is proceeds from the books they bought of mine. Don't kickstart unless its for something so big that an author cannot possibly afford to do it for himself, like a comic project or a self produced movie. As far as his wise ass comment at the end of this reply, l couldn't care less if this guy who refuses to give his real name has heard of me or not, I sell a fair amount of books every month, so guess what? more than a few people have heard of me, and that number grows every month. It just means you're not as well read you like to think, whoever you are. Ignore his advice.
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