What are you making?
Why is it important to you?
What inspired you?
Why is it important to the world?
Why support the project?
What exactly will the money go toward? (Transparency in the cost and funding goals can be key.)
What are the funding tiers & perks?
Want to see some examples? Review this module for links to all of my crowdfunding videos.
You’ll want to have pricing tiers at every level.
For example (here’s what I used):
$15 Ebook (or Digital Bundle)
$29 Limited Edition Signed Hardcover (+ Digital Bundle)
$58 Buy a Book + Donate a Book
$125 Book + Original Art
It’s worth considering a traditional publisher will take 2-3 years to publish a book.1
My first book was completely written when I crowdfunded. I had proof editions of both Discover Your Creative Ecosystem and Your Creative Ecosystem the Companion. I fulfilled orders 6 months later so they would arrive before Christmas. In retrospect I wish I’d given myself more time to refine some minor issues in the printing and proofing process. There’s always a delay before proofs arrive and everything felt a bit rushed at the end.
It’s so important to give time and space to the publishing process itself. For authors we can feel like the book is “done” once we’ve written it, but there are so many little steps that need to be taken care of to bring a book to life.
Moving forward I will always give myself at least one year between crowdfunding and the projected date to fulfill orders.
Why do we expect ourselves to publish faster with fewer resources, collaborators, and experience?
Before you start working on a crowdfunding campaign the most important thing is that you need to have a strong foundation and belief in the why behind your work. Being rooted in the reason that you’re bringing this project to life makes it so much easier to fundraise.
You are not asking for money for yourself.
You are asking for collaborators to help bring an important project to life. Framing it like this makes it so much easier to do the work that you need to do to have a successful crowdfunding campaign.
I talk more about finding your why in my self-publishing course that is specifically about books but it’s probably applicable to other projects so if you want to take a peek at the why module replace “book” with whatever you are crowdfunding.
Indiegogo (flexible goal)
Kickstarter (all of nothing)
You can watch my crowdfunding videos here or click through to see the full campaign pages on Indiegogo.
Discover Your Creative Ecosystem Indiegogo Campaign
Indiegogo (flexible goal)
Kickstarter (all of nothing)
You can watch my crowdfunding videos here or click through to see the full campaign pages on Indiegogo.
Discover Your Creative Ecosystem Indiegogo Campaign
How it Feels to Me Indiegogo Campaign
Entwined: an Anthology of Creativity & Motherhood
And, for educational purposes, here is the failed Project STIR Kickstarter.
I can see now that the goal was too high, but I could have completed one of the films I had planned with the amount I raised (and didn’t get.)
People discover books through web search instead of browsing bookstores now. To help your book’s discoverability you want to use keywords (the words people might use to search for a book like yours) is as many places as possible.
Without sounding like a robot.
Consider using keywords in:
If you want more strategic support for SEO marketing I’d highly recommend taking a course from Leonie Dawson.
Their course 40 Days to a Finished Book (affiliate link) includes practical tips on SEO focused on how to become an Amazon Bestseller. I also recommend their Marketing without Social Media workshop (affiliate link) is full of creative ideas to market your work outside the algorithm.
Considerations for your first book signing.
Square Up (for credit card payments)
Brandon Sanderson on developing an author signature.
John Green, How to Sign Your Name 150,000 Times.
There are a lot of feelings that come up with publishing a book. You’ll want to create a support system to work through them.
I’ve heard several published authors recommend having a therapist on hand during and after your book launch.
You can hear Cait Flander’s talk about this on Claire Venus’ podcast Sparkle on Substack. Cait also helpfully reflects on how you don’t have to say yes to every opportunity and how important it is to say “no” and protect your energies during launch.
The book tour process for traditional publishing is outlined in depth in:
Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book by Courtney Maum
ARC “arc” Advance Reader Copy
Galley (historically something specific, but now often used interchangeably with ARC)
Both ARCs & galleys are uncorrected proofs that are not in the final form factor the book will take. They are sent out to reviewers and should never be quoted or sold for profit.
Printing physical ARCs can be a big investment. Consider going green and sending out ebooks or audiobooks when possible.
You’ll want to make things easy for your reviewers by setting up a Goodreads and Storygraph page before sending our ARCs. This doesn’t mean you need to read reviews. But making your book’s page means potential reviewers will be able to find your book (and its cover) to review it. I have accounts on both, but I use Storygraph to track my personal reading. It’s vastly superior and also a black owned small business.
Another reason to send out an ARC (pdf or print copy) is to ask your colleagues to write a quote or blurb. Or to leave a review on a platform like Amazon. It’s a good idea to do this before publication. You can even add blurbs to the book. Sometimes these are used on the cover and other times are included in the front of the book itself.
How to Get ARCs (a reader’s perspective)