Crowdfunding

a guest post by Andrea Scovel (@AndreaScovel1)

If you are an indie author who has been holding out on publishing your latest work until you win the lottery, then check out Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, Pubslush...and from what I hear, there are hundreds of other fundraising sites out there as well. I recently found out that fundraising for creative projects is a thing! 

I know what you’re thinking: “Has this chick been living under a rock for the past year?” Fair enough. However, if you’re like me and this is new to you, it’s a big deal. People everywhere are using this crowdfunding technique to earn a lot of money for their projects. I have spent this week trying to find out everything I can about this phenomenon. Especially of interest to me was, of course, how authors may use this method to publish their work.

I was lucky enough to have Janine A. Southard of the successfully funded Kickstarter project Hive and Heist answer a lot of my questions. You can find the whole interview here. I am so grateful to have had her input in my quest for fundraising knowledge. What most resonated with me about my interview with Janine, was when she said, “I know people who put projects up on Pubslush. I know people who spend their money on Kickstarter.”

Crowdfunding interview with Janine A. Southard

a guest post by Andrea Scovel (@AndreaScovel1)

How did you decide that your project would be good candidate for crowdfunding?  
Aren’t all creative projects good candidates for crowdfunding?
 
Less facetiously, my recent professional background has all been in gaming. (I’ve worked in creative content for a variety of Seattle game companies since 2008.) Crowdfunding has exploded for the gaming community, and hearing those stories inspired me to try the same.
 
Plus, there’s very little risk with choosing to crowdfund a project. If you don’t make your monetary goals, you haven’t lost anything. If you do make them, you’re financially better off. Either way, people who will be interested in your project have heard of your name and your work!
 
How did you decide what to include in your budget?
My first project: I included EVERYTHING I could think of. And then I learned that first-timers with no audience can’t expect to make a lot of money. (I see this a lot on Kickstarter, actually. There are always people asking me for advice reaching their goals, and the goal is $100K for their first picture book, and I’m like, “be realistic.”)