And Now for My Next Trick: A Newsletter and Kickstarter!
Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. (If you could look down, you'd see the cliff face)
Earlier today I got one of those rare LJ pokes from basefinder reminding me it has been several months since I wrote anything here. (Thanks, btw)
Shortly after I posted the last audio chapter of the free, serialized podcast of my book, a former LJ friend/current FriendFace friend of mine contacted me. Was I interested in self-publishing a print version of the book through her very small press and raising the up-front costs through a Kickstarter campaign?
I was not, actually. Well, yeah, I wanted to see a print version of my book, but self-publishing means a whole lot of self-promotion, which is something I'm not overly comfortable with (read: not comfortable with) and I knew nothing about Kickstarter.
Besides, there was a nasty Catch-22 that I couldn't resolve: In order to get people to contribute to a Kickstarter campaign the book needed a professionally illustrated cover. However, we weren't going to have the money to hire an illustrator until after the campaign raised enough money for one.
Said friend/publisher also runs a writing space in MA and, as a result, knows a lot of writers and illustrators. She's managed to barter web site redesign work and managing a future Kickstarter campaign with an artist in exchange for a cover illustration.
And suddenly I didn't have any good excuses to keep saying, "No."
So, I said yes.
Several books on Kickstarter later I've learned a lot more about what it takes to run a successful Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is not the land of Magic Money. There is no, "If you launch it, they will come" miracle investors emerging out from the corn fields with the money you'll need to reach your goals. Instead, like a lot of things in life, it requires a lot of pre-planning and careful budgeting.
One of the things I read over and over was the need to create a mailing list of people to let know about the campaign. I'm not expecting everyone on the mailing list to buy a copy of the book (although it would be nice) but I am hoping people will have ideas they're willing to share about things they'd like to see in the campaign (I'd really like to see stretch goals that would add some illustrations to the inside of the book).
This is all so new that I'd really appreciate the encouragement and help.
The Pterrence Ptimes: An Occasional Newsletter
If you're interested in signing up and following along as I blunder my way through the World of Kickstarter, you can sign up by clicking on the image above or this handy-dandy link right here.
Occasional Newsletter #1 should be going out later this week, with the second one the following week.
Thanks for considering it.
- Tom