Self Publishing Kickstarer

I saw it and I admit, it made my heart sink. I can't see the appeal of it at all. I really hope this sort of thing doesn't become a thing.

Locking this, as we have a thread dedicated to Kickstarter and my connection won't let me move this to it.

I'll merge it later in the day, when I'm on a better connection.

ETA: I'm on that better connection now, and have had time to read this thread more carefully. As it's not referring to a Kickstarter campaign for an AW member I won't merge it with our Kickstarter thread after all; I'll reopen it; and I'll send it to the Round Table, as it's not necessarily a self-publishing issue.

girlyswot said:

I saw it and I admit, it made my heart sink. I can't see the appeal of it at all. I really hope this sort of thing doesn't become a thing.

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I'm curious as to why.

I think that, like most of these sort of gimmicks, and that's really what they are, they so quickly become swamped that it's almost impossible for most people to use to any degree of success.

The last time I had a look through Kickstater there were literally thousands of people looking for funding to self publish their books.

Kickstater, and other crowdsourcing sites, rely on the person seeking funding to put in a huge amount of work with regards to a good profile, updates, decent rewards for contributors, and aside from that doing their own publicity and marketing outside of the site to drive people to site to fund them. And all that work could be for nothing because, IIRC, with Kickstater you don't get a penny of those donations until you reach your goal. So if you are £10 short then tough tit. So all that work could be for nothing.

Ain't no one got time for that.

Indiegogo lets you keep whatever donations you have earned, but for a higher fee.
(Don't worry, I'm not trying to fund a book! But I helped my son with an IG campaign for something quite different.)

shaldna said:

I think that, like most of these sort of gimmicks, and that's really what they are, they so quickly become swamped that it's almost impossible for most people to use to any degree of success.

The last time I had a look through Kickstater there were literally thousands of people looking for funding to self publish their books.

Kickstater, and other crowdsourcing sites, rely on the person seeking funding to put in a huge amount of work with regards to a good profile, updates, decent rewards for contributors, and aside from that doing their own publicity and marketing outside of the site to drive people to site to fund them. And all that work could be for nothing because, IIRC, with Kickstater you don't get a penny of those donations until you reach your goal. So if you are £10 short then tough tit. So all that work could be for nothing.

Ain't no one got time for that.

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I've backed a few things. The only book project was Ryan North's "To Be Or Not To Be", and I am very happy with the way that turned out; but it's important to realise I didn't just stumble across it browsing KS, but found my way there because I already follow Ryan's webcomic etc.

Kickstarter often seems to be a way of capitalising on existing reputations, with traffic/investment being driven from elsewhere - existing fanbases wanting to participate in projects and reward the creators in a more direct manner. In the OP's link I think it's going to appeal mainly to fans of these guys' books and their podcast - for me, who has no preexisting emotional investment in them, I have no interest at all, because what I'd get out of it is a very vaguely-defined product of unknown quality. "Some kind of book", basically. That's too much of a lucky dip to interest me.

Torgo said:

In the OP's link I think it's going to appeal mainly to fans of these guys' books and their podcast - for me, who has no preexisting emotional investment in them, I have no interest at all, because what I'd get out of it is a very vaguely-defined product of unknown quality. "Some kind of book", basically. That's too much of a lucky dip to interest me.

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Yep.

The hubby and I do a lot of KS, mostly board and card games and we've found some great stuff.

This... this doesn't appeal to me at all. It'll probably make a mint for the rabid fans but I don't see anyone outside their circle being interested. And since I haven't read any of their works I have no idea if the final product will be worth anything...

JMO, YMMV.

I can't believe people gave them money. Ah well, to each his own.

kenpochick said:

I can't believe people gave them money. Ah well, to each his own.

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That's kind of the point of a lot of Kickstarters, I guess. Allows investment to find odd niches.

Anyone else raise an eyebrow at "fiction novel" in the $89 and $99 rewards?

I've seen a lot of kickstarters fail even after being funded, so I haven't yet participated in one. I hope it works out for them and those funding it and wish them the best of luck.

girlyswot said:

I saw it and I admit, it made my heart sink.

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Mine too, instinctively, to be honest.

girlyswot said:

I really hope this sort of thing doesn't become a thing.

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I'm afraid it will.

kenpochick said:

I can't believe people gave them money. Ah well, to each his own.

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Indeed. But in a sense that's why it's there, I think? So that things that have no other realistic way to be funded can still try to be funded? Unless I've misunderstood it all (that's also possible) ...

Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt have a huge following for their Self-Publishing Podcasts and various things they've written together over the years. So in a sense, this isn't some guys sitting in their basement wanting someone to fund their first selfpublished book.

From what I understand, they started this whole thing because people were truly interested in their process as a writing team. Since their bread and butter are their blogs, they felt they couldn't do this justice and keep up with their blogs, so they asked for funding in which they give back various levels of sharing just what went into their collaboration.

Some people find that sort of thing interesting. I would love to be able to watch their creative process but sadly can't afford it right now. Luckily for them, their fans thought so, too and were able to band together in such a short time for them to have the money to pursue this.

I think this holds a much higher chance of success.

bearilou said:

Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt have a huge following for their Self-Publishing Podcasts and various things they've written together over the years. So in a sense, this isn't some guys sitting in their basement wanting someone to fund their first selfpublished book.

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Absolutely - and the fact they already have that following is a big part of why it got funded so fast. It's perhaps less likely to draw in people who don't already know who they are (which accounts for the difference between our own reactions.) I wish them well!

Torgo said:

Absolutely - and the fact they already have that following is a big part of why it got funded so fast. It's perhaps less likely to draw in people who don't already know who they are (which accounts for the difference between our own reactions.) I wish them well!

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I was astonished to see it got funded as quickly as it did, tbh.

And true, for someone who doesn't know who they are, they are less likely to be contributors.

I was just pointing out this wasn't some fly by night thing by a couple of dudes who thought 'wouldn't it be cool to get someone to pay for us to write a book hur hur' like was vaguely implied so far. A lot of thought has gone into this and they were gathering interest in such a thing from their mailing lists long before they rolled out the Kickstarter.

But I can understand why some are skeptical and how it comes off as gimmicky. I guess in a lot of ways it is and Truant and Platt know it.

Whether it's worth the money or not is certainly down to personal preference and an investment in the personalities beforehand. As much as I would love a peek behind the curtain to watch the whole thing live and as it's happening, I can't justify $89 to do it.

There are also the new EQUITY crowdfunding sites, since Obama's J.O.B.S. Act, which allows general solicitation but still with financial requirements, and I believe limits the amount you can raise in a single year to 1 million $. I haven't kept up with the progress on that, but also haven't heard much, which makes me think it's not actching fire. Funny thing is, I think people are more willing to give you money than invest in a project with some possibility, however high risk, of a ROI.

bookmaker said:

Funny thing is, I think people are more willing to give you money than invest in a project with some possibility, however high risk, of a ROI.

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Now there's an interesting observation! I'm still thinking about this one.