In this episode of the CrowdCrux Crowdfunding Podcast, we talk with Justine Schofield, the development director at Pubslush, about what authors need to do to have a successful crowdfunding campaign for their fiction or nonfiction book project.
Unlike other categories like technology or publishing, authors have their own set of challenges when managing the preparation and launch of a crowdfunding campaign.
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fulfillrite, Kickstarter and crowdfunding reward fulfillment services.
Transcript
This podcast episode is sponsored by Fulfillrite – Kickstarter and crowdfunding reward fulfillment services. If you have a successful crowdfunding campaign, you’re going to have to ship out rewards to your backers; I recommend using Fulfillrite. You can check them out at the Fulfillrite.com.
Salvador: Hey guys! Welcome to the Crowd Crux Crowdfunding podcast, my name is Sal or Salvador. We’ll typically air these episodes on Fridays and we talk about everything you need to know to an awesome crowdfunding campaign. If you have any questions or comments you like to reach out, you can always find me on twitter my handle is @sbriggman.
Today, I’m going to be talking with Justine who is the development director at Pubslush. Pubslush is a niche crowdfunding platform that focuses solely on publishing projects and authors so where Kickstarter or Indiegogo will include many different types of crowdfunding projects like technology projects and gaming projects. Pubslush just focuses in on publishing projects.
Justine will give us some tips and bits of advice for authors to raise money online for a new publishing project. Thank you so much for coming on Justine.
Justine: Oh thank you so much for having me today Salvador. I’m really excited chat.
Salvador: Awesome!
I’d like to get started by asking you how an author’s experience might differ with Pubslush when they’re raising money versus more well-known platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo?
Pubslush vs. Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo
Justine: Of course that’s a great question to start of with, and probably is the question that we receive the most from authors that are interesting using our platform, so there’s a lot of key differences between Pubslush and the other platforms out there.
Of course, you just touched on the biggest one which is of course we are niche platform, we focus on literary projects and majority of those projects are authors who are looking to raise funds to publish.
With that being said, because we do you have a very focused platform that caters to the publishing industry, we’re really able to cater all of our features and programs of our platform to the audience directly so we have a lot of options for our authors that the other crowdfunding platforms just simply can’t have because they cater to such wide variety of projects.
One of those that is really beneficial to authors is that we offer a flexible funding model, it’s similar to the model of Indiegogo where even if you don’t reach your overall goal you’re still able to keep the fund that you raise, the only difference with us is we have the flexible funding model at our low 4 percent platform fee.
For those are unfamiliar, Indiegogo has that flexible funding model, but if you don’t reach the overall goal, they then charge 9% which is a lot of the funds that you raise. So we know that our authors really are trying to raise these funds to produce a high-quality book and they need all the funds that they can get, so we keep that 4% platform fee, should you reach your goal or should you not, it’s the same across-the-board.
We also have much more community elements our platform because we do have a very focused audience obviously; we have a lot of readers, publishers industry professionals on our platform, and we are working very hard and especially in 2015. We’re going to have a lot of some more features coming out that really caters to our commuters, so come on our platform and stay on our platform. And we have in the past year, really built up our publisher and partner programs which actually allows publishers and partners to have brand new pages on our site. So our community platform or our community element to the platform definitely something that standout as oppose to the other platforms.
Now just very briefly to highlight a few other features, we have a very personalized hands-on service. Our author relations team is amazing and chat with all authors coming on our platform, or if they have any questions, they are always there. We do have an actual assistance program for authors who might want a little more handholding along the way, they may want some help in the marketing department, creating their rewards, things like that. So these are tiered packages that we offer, relatively inexpensive that are others can choose that can help with them in their campaign.
Sal: That’s really great. I have been watching you guys now for about two years since I got into the business and actually just been astounded by a lot of different niche platforms that have launched, but I think you guys really stand out with the community service building effort and you know a lot of these larger platforms are so hands-off and I really admire that you guys, not just handhold in terms of free content, but also offer that as a service because I most authors aren’t really familiar with how to do a crowdfunding campaign or why it might be beneficial for their project it’s been awesome to watch your growth in the past two years.
Justine: Thank you. We have a lot more coming so stay tuned.
Salvador: So if I’m an author and I just heard about crowdfunding, I don’t really know whether or not it’s a good idea for my project. What are some criteria I can use to make that decision? It doesn’t matter if am a fiction author or nonfiction author with your platform?
How do you tell if crowdfunding is right for you?
Justine: Yeah sure, so I think that a lot of people also do ask you know, what genre does the best in your platform. I will say that it’s really not genre based, it’s author based. It’s how much work the authors’ willing to put into it, how passionate they are about their project and their upcoming book and you know and how large their network is and this is something that’s true authors and true for crowdfunding in general.
You have to have a market and an audience on a network that you’re bringing to your campaign of course you know the overall goal of crowdfunding is to really gain momentum to gain support from outside network. Initially, you have to build that momentum yourself, so you’re bringing in the people whether it’s friends, family maybe it’s current readers already have that are interesting your next book coming out.
No matter who it is, it’s your responsibility to bring those people to your campaign initially, build that momentum that’s going to entice other people. So that being said, network is really big and I think that’s an important fact to point out because having an audience and established network and connection in the industry is important whether you are you going to be crowdfunding for a book, whether you’re going straight to publishing; either way especially if your self-publishing author and to a certain extent, even if you are being published through a traditional publisher, you have to have those readers in place, you have to have the marketing efforts in place in order to have your book really excel and stand out in the very crowded book market.
So that’s very important, I think. Realizing that book publishing and Crowdfunding are both a lot of work. You have to put in the time and effort, it’s not necessarily easy but it’s very rewarding and I think that’s true for being an author in general. I’m a writer myself so I completely understand that aspect of it. It’s definitely true for crowdfunding, it’s not an easy endeavor by any means but the benefits of it are obviously well worth your time and effort.
Salvador: So let’s say, I have a half-finished novel and I want to raise money. Do authors on your platform raise money for like printing costs, for a self-published book, or to continue to produce and finish the work. Is there commonality in terms of what the funds are used for?
Justine: I think the majority of our authors are just using it for publishing costs. A lot of authors might already have the publishing cost secured or publishing funds secured rather, in their fundraising for marketing cost so they can maybe get some of those reviews that cost money higher of marketing professional that can really help them excel and gear up towards their book release, things of that nature, but the majority of people have a finish manuscript in their more going towards the publication phase.
We have had a project that raised funds for a research trip to, I forget, I think it might have been France, but you know, overseas. So they did their crowdfunding project to actually secure the funds through that and they were still in the process writing; that works a little bit different than somebody who’s right in the publishing phase as well as far as the rewards go. You can do either or, but I think majority have finished their manuscript, they’re ready to publish it, they’re doing this to raise to pay for the publishing cost and also be really build that buzz and momentum for their book in the pre0publication phase.
Salvador: So one thing you just touched on right there are rewards. Are the rewards there to incentivize people to pledge and do all of your projects offer rewards? Can you speak a little bit about that?
What is the role of “rewards” in crowdfunding?
Justine: Of course, all of our products do offer rewards. The rewards are actually I think a very big part of your crowdfunding campaign. I think that’s probably the most difficult aspect that actually creating a campaign, it’s what you have to come up with, A to incentivize your readers and B thank your readers so I think they’re very important because you want to be building and fostering your connection with the supporters of your campaign.
Hopefully, turning them into readers, turning them into fans that will then spread your work. So this is the beginning phase of that engagement, and so I think what you offer them is very important but it doesn’t necessarily have to be anything like crazy and flashy, most obviously you want to offer them a copy of your book, at different tiers you can offer an e-book version, print version of the book, a sign version, those can all be different tiers. And then you know a lot of our authors offer some book swag if you will, whether it’s a bookmark or we have had some real beautiful coffee mugs go out but then there’s the people that get really creative and these are most often the rewards that are more personal and may not even cost the author very much money at all but depending on what you’re writing what your niche is.
You might have some certain areas expertise so you could either offer consultation, Skype sessions, invitations to the launch party, or experience a little bit of who you are, on top of who you are as an author of the book but you can really tie in other areas expertise might have, like for example a yoga book. We have a couple of yoga books actually and a few them offered in person or being in a Skype personal yoga sessions, so that’s something that’s really cool that might entice of supporter to support at a higher level.
Salvador: For those listening who are not aware, these are essentially tiers that are unlocked for supporters when they pledge money. If they pledge 100 dollars to your podcast project have the ability to choose from one of these rewards, so a copy of the book or you just mentioned there a yoga session via Skype and they really get people to pledge to crowdfunding projects.
Justine: Absolutely you know the lowest that you might just get a copy of the book and then at the next book, you know the Skype session and when your higher you get those two things plus something else. It’s kind of like, you know, building tier structure. The higher the amount goes more the supporters get. It really great, it excites, maybe they were just thinking of pledging five dollars and your 50 dollars reward has really cool stuff in it. They may be you know enticed at a higher level.
Salvador: If I was an author, my wheels are spinning, what you say is like a typical raise on your platform?
What is the typical amount raised on Pubslush?
Justine: That actually, I think that amount varies quite drastically actually, I think that dependent on other goals and what they you know and what there publishing goals are, some authors may just want to raise funds and publish electronically raise their fund for marketing, authors may want raise funds from their entire print run on their book.
It does greatly vary. Our sweet spot is 5,000 but that being said you know people who are successful raising 500, we have people who are successful raising over 30,000 so definitely varies and there is a lot of potential for the amount you can raise. With our flexible model platform I can say that a lot of authors come to us and they know they are publishing those book know matter what. They will set you know their goals relatively low and so that way they are guaranteed that they get the fund and move forward and every little help they get at financial risk.
Salvador: Okay, also in addition to say raising their five or 10,000 dollars and there are some cost they are going to fulfill their report the actual amount will be a little bit less. Help me understand that.
What are the costs involved in crowdfunding?
Justine: Absolutely, as a platform, we do take the five percent platform fee, there is also a standard three point five percent credit card processing fee. Then you do have to account for the cost of actual fulfilling your reward, and if there is shipment involve you have to calculate the shipping cost, but these are all things that are calculated into rewards when actually creating them.
Salvador: Okay, am an author you know I want to do this crowdfunding thing and you mentioned before that the fact I really need to focus a little bit of my own crowed, being willing to work at marketing this funding thing campaign project. Two other bits of advice you would give to authors who really want to successful and wiling to work for it?
Justine: I would say number one is planning is essential. I think probably the biggest downfall of authors who come to our platform is they find out about this platform and think crowdfunding is a really good thing and exciting for them and they jump right into it.
You know there is a lot of work that goes into it. As you know, when crowdfunding, you have limited time on the platform. Our time frame is 15 and 14 days and the author gets to choose the length of their campaign that they get, usually its 30 days for that. It’s still limited time if you’re not actively promoting and actively campaigning that entire time, you know, you are really missing out.
You need to have a marketing plan in place before even going live on crowd on platform. I suggest breaking it down weekly, if not daily. What platforms you going to be promoting on and you do you have a strong Facebook presence and twitter presence?
Focus on really knowing where you’re going to be promoting your book, and how you’re going to be doing so in an enticing way. These are all things you are going to think about before you even start the campaign, so that’s really important. Then you know in the same kind of vein as bring in your own network, I will suggest that an author has at least five to 10 people it can be very close to, can be your family, your spouse, your children and your parents or whatever the case might be.
Then, before you start that campaign you know that from your social network, you know you have a solid amount of funding in there. If you’re reaching out to your stranger network and your campaign is at zero dollars raised, then no one is going to be enticed to support that. It’s very important that you get that initial funding out there before you do any type of other promotion.
Salvador: Okay, I see. Not every campaign I have seen on your platform will have a video. How necessary is that if I’m trying to raise funds? Does it have to be a professional video production or can I use my laptop or what? Could you speak a little about that?
Should I create a video for my project?
Justine: We do highly recommend that you have a good video. Just because crowdfunding is more about personalized process and a video really adds a personalization to your campaign.
It’s a chance to tell your readers directly who you are and what your story is. What’s great about the book, what might they might like the book, and why should they support your campaign. I think those elements are really important for a video. You don’t want to go above that.
A video that’s one to two minutes is the best time. As you know, people don’t have the longest attention span these days so keeping it simple and soft is defiantly the key.
Then, you can absolutely do it on your computer, you don’t have to go out and spend money on this video. I would recommend making a little more visually engaging than you just on the screen talking, but you know that’s if you think people might be interested ,you can go for that.
Definitely incorporate music and photos. The kind that represents your book and represents your project. It should be something that is visually engaging and keep the attention of your potential supporter.
Salvador: One thing I noticed by just watching youtube. YouTube celebrities, who are just really teens, use things like jump cuts and just having good lighting, being in front of a window or something like that will make a difference in the quality of someone’s video.
Justine: Absolutely, yeah and if you Google and find some videos and clips, something like that, all that is out there. Just do some research before hands. I would highly recommend going to other projects and viewing other peoples videos and see what intrigues you and see what makes you not so interested. Learn from other people. There are plenty of campaigns out there and so see what you like personally and focus your own campaign and your own videos around that.
Salvador: Awesome, I like the name pubslush. I’ll explain that for people who don’t know.
Justine: Thank you. Okay go ahead.
Salvador: Unless I’m mistaken, editors have assistants that sort manuscripts from the “slush pile” and will pick out one that they’d like to present to the editor. It’s a cool idea to make this pile available to the masses so that they can choose the bestsellers.
Justine: Some authors are even rejected by 1000s of publishers.
Salvador: I think we are really moving into sort of model where barriers have fallen down and now we have social media platforms like Twitter and you guys where they can go to the readers directly and ask for support for a project.
Justine: Absolutely, I think that especially in upcoming years readers are going to take even more power. They really going to be the deciding factor of whether or not books succeed.
Salvador: I was reading by Tim Ferriss and he was talking about when he was trying to get his book of the ground, but for him sending a chapter to bloggers and journalist and trying to and then going on radio shows really helped out with him getting to be number one on New York Times best seller. Do any of your authors do any PR for doing the campaign or is that something they do once the project is finished?
Justine: I wouldn’t necessarily recommend doing a big press release and sending it out. I don’t think unless you have a very compelling story behind your book and your campaign is news worthy, then the odds of media outlet covering you are slim.
I would defiantly recommend researching bloggers that are blogging to your audience about your genre beforehand. You can even do a book give away with a blog.
Salvador: Awesome, this podcast definitely gives me a lot to think about. I’m sure most of the authors are listening so if they want to learn more, should they go to your website education section or something?
Justine: Yeah absolutely we have a lot of information in our website. It’s Pubslush.com. Again my name is Justine and you can reach me at justine@pubslush.com.
Salvador: Hey guys, hope you like this episode its helpful, any question hit me on twitter I will see you next.
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*NOTE: This transcript has been paraphrased in some cases and does not reflect an exact copy.
