Ellen Larson's Blog
December 6, 2015
Our Favorite Things at Long Trail School
August 9, 2015
The Birth of an Adventure Story
January 7, 2014
Step Right Up: It’s My Virtual Book Tour
December 14, 2013
A Journey Back to Neverland
November 15, 2013
First Reading in Tewksbury and Book Launch in Somerville
September 23, 2013
The NetGalley Gambit
September 1, 2013
Results of First ARC Giveaway on Goodreads
August 29, 2013
Goodreads Giveaway
August 9, 2013
K-K-K-Kickstarter: A Postmortem
It’s been four months since the end of my successful Kickstarter campaign. As I work now on fulfilling the rewards to the 26 doners, this seems like a good time to share my thoughts and conclusions about the Kickstarter experience.
Preparation
I heard about Kickstarter about a month before I started working on my project. A couple of author friends had used it to fund the writing of their novels (with mixed success). I wasn’t sure that made much sense—especially for someone like me wihtout a following—because you’re basically asking for income to meet your daily expenses while you write. Still I was struck by the concept, and applaud the idea of art or other projects being funded by non-corporate interests. I decided I wanted in.
I tossed around a few ideas, including seeking funding for my WIP (which I rejected early on). Kickstarter is all about raising money for tangible end products, as opposed to charities or causes, so I focused on the possibility of funding the promotion I intended to do for my upcoming book. In the end I decided that raising funds for the book trailer, which my friend Mike was making, was my best bet. I later amended this to “book trailer and other promotional materials.”
I put together what I thought was a bang-up pitch video (you be the judge) and a list of rewards. That was the hardest part; I couldn’t find any guidance as to what the cost ratio of the rewards and the pledge should be. I checked similar similar projects (not that there were a lot of similar projects) and found that most people’s rewards seemed to have little cash value. Kickstarter advices that donors like something that gives a sense of ownership of the project. That didn’t apply to me very well (or so I thought), though it did inspire me to have the names of high donors listed in the credits of the book trailer. I also offered discounted editing (my day job), with the simple intention of attracting my client list.
Kickstarter says in its user guide that it usually takes two weeks to prepare for a campaign. I took me exactly two weeks, so I thought I was covering the bases. Later I read stories about people who planned for months or as much of a year–so maybe not.
The Good Parts
I went live with the project with a goal of $3,000 and sent out emails to everyone I know on the planet, as well as all the listservs I subscribe to. I also posted the Kickstarter video and invite to pledge on all the websites I have access to (three). And facebook and twitter and I joined Pinterest primarily as another place to get the word out. All according to Kickstarter suggestions.
My relatives and oldest friends pledged quickly, though, I admit, at lower levels that I had anticipated, but still pretty good. A few writer friends who seriously couldn’t afford it kindly pledged at the lower levels. My levels were $5, $10, $25, $50, $75, $120, $250, $500, and $1,000. By the end I got pledges at all levels (3 at the $120 level and 1 each at the three higher levels). I think I contacted by email list three times over the one month that the project was up–enough to catch a few more pledges with each mailing, but not enough to generate any requests for me to cut it out.
It was fun to do the updates, mainly because I had great visual materials to play with. It was time-consuming to try to get the word out to the donating universe, but I felt it was time well spent, because I was also developing a list of contacts to promote the book itself later on. Everyone was very positive, with the exception of a couple of posts on reddit.com that eviscerated the video. Since they were the only people I had zero connection with, that may be significant. Or they may have been a couple of snarky kids looking to things to flame. Hard to tell.
In the end, I made my goal. A couple of donors had problems making their payments (credit cards that had expired or otherwise been retired), but it all worked out. A couple of people asked if they could just donate money, because they didn’t trust online financing. I said sure. Kickstarter handles the money collection through a deal with Amazon.com. In the end, Kickstarter and Amazon together took a little over seven percent, which struck me as very fair.
The Bad Parts
All that said, I realize in retrospect (!) that I made plenty of mistakes, and had a lot of false expectations. Here are the things I did wrong:
1. I put the project up under Conceptual Art. I believe this was a mistake. Even though the trailer itself is “Art,” it is being used to promote a book. I should have gone for the “Publishing” or “Books” category. I was always marketing to the wrong group.
2. Many of Mike’s and my friends live overseas. I should _not_ have chosen to restrict the project to US pledgers only (I did this because I thought it would be too much of a hassle to ship rewards overseas). Kickstarter makes it easy to leave the door open to handle unknown overseas postage. For a while, I hoped the project would fail, so that I could run it again (which Kickstarter is happy to have you do) and fix the things I had done wrong.
3. Other authors, who might under other circumstances have chipped in, questioned why I needed $3,000 for a book trailer when there are countless companies online who will make a trailer for you for under $100.00. Not to mention that many authors make book trailers themselves for $0.00. Though I tried, I obviously failed to convey that this particular book trailer was basically priceless, created as it was as a one-off by an amazing artist, frame by frame, using original art and advanced CGI. For the record, we spent significant $$$ on music rights, software, etc. Mike refused to let me compensate him for his time. In the end, I got a good budget for posters, postcards, and promo, but I don’t think the outside world every got the point. In the end, I think trying to raise money to write a book would have had a better chance, as it is at least easy to understand.
4. One person said “But he’ll make the trailer whether you are funded or not, won’t he?” Answer: Yes. I think most Kickstarter projects will be completed whether the money comes through or not–but the most famous Kickstarters are those that indeed depend on the money for success or failure. I’m not in that category.
5. It was tough doing everything alone. I don’t think I would do that again. I ran out of ideas and abilities and time. I learned a lot. I made some money (and boy did that go fast). I’m writing this report to share my experiences. But it’s not a one-person game.
6. And this one is the big one: It became clear to me early on that my campaign was not going to go viral unless I could attract people who did not know me. I spent four to six hours every day for a month trying to attract that attention. I emailed book bloggers, art sites, Kickstarter sites, and everyone I knew more often than I was comfortable doing–all to no avail. In terms of the cost of my time, I might as well have done nothing. I do not know why this is so. I suspect it is because the book trailer idea is just not that great a draw. Possibly being in the wrong category was a contributing factor. And then there’s the issue of planning ahead…
In Conclusion
Thanks to the generosity of friends, I made my goal—just barely—and am proud to have done so. The trailer is finished and I’m overjoyed with it (see below). The book is up for advance sales on amazon.com. The book launch is set for December 8th at the Somerville Public Library, 2 PM, Somerville MA.
Several people have pointed out that Kickstarter is the only crowd-sourced money raising scheme that insists that you meet your goal or you won’t get a dime of the money pledged. Others are not so harsh–but they require you to pay up front, or they charge greater fees. And by the way, you have a huge choice for crowd-sourcing these days. I might try one of these in the future–if I have help and if the project I’m funding has a clear purpose.
And here’s the finished book trailer!
April 10, 2013
Contest: Name that Zine!
I’m getting old. It’s been almost 40 years since Yankee Magazine gave me my first sale. Almost 45 years since I started sending out stories to book and magazine publishers. Times have changed in publishing. Ebooks, POD, the acceptance of self-publishing—you know the drill. But one thing has remained the same: publishers who take forever to review your submission and want an exclusive.
Here’s the story: last fall I sent a short story to a small zine that promised to respond within three months. That’s on the outside edge of an acceptable response time, IMO, but because the zine had a good reputation and seemed a good fit, I went for it, even though they ask for an exclusive. Now, this zine uses an online submissions manager, and I know from my work as editor of the Poisoned Pencil that this is a kickass invention that makes it impossible to lose a MS and reminds you with annoyingly bright colors when a submission is still pending.
Time passes. I see Lincoln and the Hobbit. I migrate to Florida for the winter.
In due course, I noted the passage of 3.5 months in my little submissions calendar, and sent the zine a note. No response. I checked the ever-wonderful Absolute Write site, and discovered that the zine had a reputation for non-responsiveness. I thought that was odd, because it’s really hard to forget about writers when you use a submissions manager. Or maybe they started to use a submissions manager because they were having trouble?
I waited another two weeks and wrote the zine again. Same same. I then took two actions, which to me marked the end of my relationship with the zine. I wrote to the owners of the online submissions manager and suggested that they drop the zine, since it would only give them a bad name to be affiliated with such a bunch of unprofessional yahoos. I then sent my MS off to another magazine. Which is how (because with age comes experience) I have learned to deal with such sadly common events. Yes, I gave up writing the polite “I am withdrawing my submission….” letter some fifteen years ago. Because the idea of “giving the benefit of the doubt” only works if you couple it with the idea of “sometimes there is really no excuse.”
But wait! A week or so later and—lo and behold!—I received a note from the zine! I have no proof, but I like to think it’s because the submissions manager folks contacted them. Here is the email:
Hello,
Sorry about the late reply. Your story is still under review, and we apologize for not meeting our 90 day turn around time. We recently had two of our editors leave for other positions, and, as we are a volunteer staff, we have been struggling to keep up with the amount of submissions we have been getting lately. I will make sure your piece is reviewed for the March issue.
Isn’t that nice? A very good excuse! Am I not duly chastened for losing faith in my fellow publishing industry professionals?
Well, some stories write themselves, don’t they. Because March 1 came and went—as did April 1, and no, as of this writing I have still not heard anything more from the nice editor. Six months—with a request for an exclusive, don’t forget, and a submissions manager that still says my submission is pending, let alone the personal note. Makes you wonder what goes on in people’s heads, doesn’t it?
The great thing about being old is that what killed you when you were 20 just makes you snicker now. As a student of human nature, I admit that I find this pretty amusing. The absurdity of it attracts me. The poignant knowledge that this has happened to ninety percent of writer for a hundred years, and yet still we submit. Lord, we’re such sheep! Thank the gods there are alternatives these days.
I was going to just out the silly zine and wait to see how long it took them to notice, but that seems so mundane. So I had the idea of having a contest, to see if you, my fellow writers, editors, and industry professionals, can guess which zine it is! Because there are so many possibilities. And to the first person who guesses correctly, I will send a signed ARC of my upcoming book, In Retrospect (for which I got a response within a week of submission, btw).
So, to all you bold souls out there, use the Comments to send me the names of zines or magazines or publishers who have stiffed you cold, and we’ll make a nice list! Tell your tale if you like. I’ll update this blog entry as (and if) guesses come in. Won’t it be fun to see all the possibilities!
BTW, let’s forgo agents for now. Because WordPress would explode.
