Launching a Crowdfunding Campaign -- Part 1
—Launching a Crowdfunding Campaign—Part 1—
Today marks day 30 of the campaign. 7 days remain. Likely I’ll extend thru November. It’s been a grind. The hustle is real. Scope the campaign here.
Let’s rewind a bit—to Spring 2023. I was in the latter portion of reimagining the book with Editor Amy and I was feeling pretty good. Things were coming together, characters had more of an arc, less of an authorial voice; the book felt more like a story than just a book. For me, that was a huge accomplishment. But now, I thought, how will things this go around be different? When I reignite the query journey, how can I distinguish myself from the other thousand no-name first-time-hopeful authors who are all trying to do the same thing as me? Enter Indiegogo.
As a crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo is different from Kickstarter in that it gives you the option to launch a flexible goal, i.e., you get to retain the funds you raise if you don’t hit your stated goal. As a no-name author, this option was attractive. I could launch a campaign and not worry about losing all the $$ I worked so hard to raise. If you know me well, you know that when I believe in something, I go hard; I invest 100% effort. The same was true for the campaign. So I got to work.
While continuing my work with Editor Amy, I collaborated with fellow creatives and talented artists in order to create some of the perks (products and rewards for contributing $$) associated with the Indiegogo campaign. I researched existing and successful crowdfunding campaigns on both Indiegogo and Kickstarter, specifically those in the writing and publishing sector. Luckily for me (I think) I was one of the few speculative fiction novels endeavoring to fund such a campaign. I tend to be a “write the book” vs. “read the book” kind of person. The lack of available examples in this context worked out well. I designed my campaign with the consumer in mind. What would they want to know? How much would they contribute? Would they contribute? What would cause them to contribute? I spent time with the copy, the layout, the perks, the tiered structure; I also utilized Indiegogo’s built-in Google Analytics feature to track traffic to my page. 30 days in to the campaign and I think it looks pretty good.
There’s more I want to say, but I need to run to my tutoring side-hustle in Arcadia, CA. I’ll post more on my crowdfunding experience, I promise.
Peace & love.
TJH -- 10.25.2023