Monday, 28 January 2013

On Crowd funding a novel



Crowdfunding means funding a project by asking for a small sum from a large number of people.  A review of the top five UK crowdfunding sites is here:
              Pleasefund.us 
Here are some other UK crowdfunding websites to explore: 
            Sponsume
            Crowdfunder
            Pozible
            Wefund

Crowdfunding needs careful planning. You have 60 days to raise the funds, so if you aim too high, you might disappoint people.  Sites generally take 5% of contributions but beware VAT and Paypal costs so a £11.50 contribution becomes £9 to the author.  Match rewards to the size of the contributions: a name in the book, an ebook, an invite to the launch party, a paper copy, a matching pen.  Generally the people who contribute already know you.  Not many strangers will opt in.
Create an email list and update people regularly, keep to the timetable and stick to launch date you've promised. Create stationeryand keep it with you always book preorders and give an attractive receipt.

   Some pitfalls to avoid.  
   The website lost my contribution
   Incorrect invoicing
   Failure to print names of contributors

  Ideas:
  Create a persuasive blurb
  Make a short film
  Offer an extract of the novel
  Get an ISBN 
  Make a QR code qrstuff
  No fee bookshop launch
  Fancy Dress at the launch = TV
I am hugely indebted to @MegjKingston who has personal experience of crowdfunding her soon to be published steampunk novel: Chrystal Heart
Meg's article appears here soon: Publishing Talk

Final thought:
Play with highlighters, it's fun. Sorry if it's annoyed some people.

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