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Crowdfunding Short URL (set up with https://bitly.com)
Summary of Project
Answers to FAQ
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Reaching 30% is the threshold where you’ll start to see friends of friends support your project. You’ll need your biggest supporters to pledge early and help reach that 30% to show “social proof” that your project is worth backing.
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Launch Team
Hype Team
Street Squad (my 4 year old favors this one)
etc.
Here are some screenshots of the email we sent our Launch Team for How it Feels to Me. They were really instrumental in our success in reaching our goal in a short whirlwind campaign.
(Tap the photo on desktop or zoom in on mobile to load full size.)
The BINGO game sounded fun, but nobody turned in a BINGO card (even though I’m sure some people did “make a BINGO.”)
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If you’re not familiar with crowdfunding it can help to look at some examples.
Here are some successful projects you may want to study.
Don’t miss his click bait announcement video.
Yoga Card Deck
Video Game
Comic Book
Nonprofit (offering exclusive workshops for donors)
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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?
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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
What do you need to make your project?
What is the bootstrap number?
What is the number you need to make it the best it can be?
How many sales would you need to make to reach that number?
What is the cost of packaging materials and shipping?
What is the cost of any physical perks?
Bookmarks
Postcards
Art
Book Plates
Stickers
Temporary Tattoos
Zines, etc.
Ebook
Coloring Page
Workshop
Coaching or Mentoring
Zoom Event
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What seasons do you have the most energy?
What months do you have big commitments (work, family, etc.)?
When are important holidays or birthdays?
Who are you making your project for? When might they be available?
How long do you want your campaign to last?
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?
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What do you need to make your project?
What is the bootstrap number?
What is the number you need to make it the best it can be?
How many sales would you need to make to reach that number?
What is the cost of packaging materials and shipping?
What is the cost of any physical perks?
Bookmarks
Postcards
Art
Book Plates
Stickers
Temporary Tattoos
Signed Galley Page (uncorrected proof)
Zines, etc.
Ebook
Coloring Page
Workshop
Coaching or Mentoring
Zoom Event
Share your reflections or questions about this part of the process below.
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
How it Feels to Me Indiegogo Campaign
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.)
What are you crowdfunding?
Introduce yourself and share a bit about your project below.
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:
Your title or subtitle (if appropriate)1
Your book description
Image names (rename your images with keywords)
Alt text (use alt text to describe the image for unsighted viewers – don’t cram with keywords, but use those that are appropriate)
Website
Social media posts
Hashtags
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.
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For example: Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book by Courtney Maum. This title is long for my personal taste, but is a masterclass in SEO!