Spend time on the draft or the marketing?

[P.A.]

This may have been discussed somewhere I didn't see (if so just point me in that direction).

After watching the Nerdist Space Opera contest I noticed that some entries that did well didn't seem to have a full draft done. So I'm wondering if there are opinions on the following question.

With limited time, is it better to 1) complete the first draft or 2) market the concept and then complete the draft once the support is there.

Thoughts?

PT

[Craig]

Especially when you are involved with a contest, I found that I had zero time to write. Every spare second was devoted to marketing and selling just a couple more copies.
So for me the writing should either fall before any funding attempt (ideally) or after.

[Thomas]

I'm with Craig. Either finish the draft before you start a campaign or after because if you're pushing the book as actively as you should be during a campaign then you won't have much or any time for writing. For me I personally can't imagine starting a campaign without having a finished draft first, but that's a matter of personally preference really.

Now you could still list the project on Inkshares as an idea or draft without starting a campaign in the hopes of passively gaining followers, which is a thing I definitely recommend doing. That way you may get to start with a bit of a follower base instead of from 0 like I did with my first campaign.

[P.A.]

Thanks for the replies Craig and Thomas. Good advice.