A Question About Crowdfunding

[Loh]

Last year, I completed the manuscript for Guards Gone Wild!, a memoir of my adventures in Singapore's private security industry. It was submitted to 4 publishers based in Singapore. As of today, my manuscript has been rejected by all 4 publishers.

Singapore being a small country with an even smaller literary market, it is blindingly obvious that it would be a futile waste of time to hang around and wait for fresh and receptive publishers to appear on the scene. Therefore, I have to self-publish. To do that, I will need to raise the necessary fund through crowdfunding.

This is the first time I am doing crowdfunding and so, naturally, I am not 100% sure about how I should go about doing things. If there are any self-published writers here who went through the crowdfunding route, please offer your advice and guidance. Thank you in advance.

And here's my question:

What do people want in return when they contribute to a crowdfunding campaign?

Originally, after talking it over with friends, we thought it would be a good idea to offer a free (and signed) copy of my book to any Singaporean donor who donates at least S$10 (the intended selling price of my book).

But now, I have just received the price estimates for various essential services related to the publication of a book, such as cover design and layout and copy editing and so on and so forth, and the total cost comes up to S$6960! And at the end of it, I get 500 printed copies.

500 copies. That makes our 1-free-signed-copy-for-every-$10-donation offer mathematically impossible. Because if $6960 is needed, then that would mean 696 ten dollars are needed and that means after giving away all 500 copies, I will still need to come up with an extra 196 copies to give away. And how am I supposed to do that?

I could make it if I offer a free signed copy for a $20 donation but then, that would make it look like I am overcharging them for the book.

So if giving away free copies to donors is no longer feasible, what can I do for the kind people who would be donating to my crowdfunding campaign?

[Tabatha]

Hello Teck, I have just been signed to Unbound, the literary crowdfunding publisher in London. All the money raised through pledges (with rewards) goes into the traditional book publishing process. Afterwards, it is distributed by Penguin Random House. No fees at all and a 50/50 split down the line.

You should give them a go. Tabby :)

[Eustacia]

Are you talking to Patridge when you're getting those quotes? Because Patridge is a scam (they're owned by Author Solutions - David Gaughran has a lot more information: https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/). Please don't buy a package from them.

Instead, look for editors and cover designers. Launch an ebook version first (most stores like Amazon and Apple take a cut rather than upfront payments) and you can probably self-publish without too much cost/the need to crowdfund.

You could check out the Writer's Cafe - they have a directory of freelance editors and cover designers (plus reviews and threads on marketing and publishing and all that): http://www.kboards.com/index.php?boar...