Wanna get funding to publish your book?
In the past, we’ve covered some of the extremely successful publishing campaigns on Kickstarter. Many of these have raised six figures with crowdfunding.
I’ve also walked you through the tips and advice that I have for getting started launching a Kickstarter campaign.
With this article, I want to cover how a Kickstarter book project actually works. In other words, what are you going to need to ask for funds, how will people find you online, and what happens after you are successfully funded on Kickstarter?
There are lots of new topics within the realm of crowdfunding. If you’re a beginning author, it can make your head spin!
This article is the best place to get started – and I”ll also hook you up with some killer resources that you can use to boost your overall success.
Kickstarter’s All or Nothing Model
Unlike other crowdfunding websites, Kickstarter is an all or nothing fundraising platform. This means that you must hit or exceed your fundraising goal in order to keep the funds that you’ve raised.
Let’s say that you have a $10,000 goal. If you only raise $7,000 in the span of 30 days, then none of your backers will have their credit cards charged. You won’t be able to keep the money.
This all or nothing is a hallmark of Kickstarter and it’s one of the reasons that backers are comfortable supporting a new project. You gotta hit your funding goal to be able to keep the funds.
With Kickstarter, you should expect to see:
- 5% fee on money successfully raised + credit card processing fees.
- Fundraising goal, which you must hit or exceed.
- Fundraising duration, which is the length of the campaign.
- Rewards or perks, which you ship out to your backers.
I find that a lot of first time authors think that crowdfunding is synonymous with a charity campaign. Not true!
When you run a campaign on Kickstarter, you must also promise backers perks or rewards. These are goodies that backers will get if you hit or exceed your goal.
Perks can include things like copies of your books, autographed bound versions, having a character named after you, Skype calls with the author, and more.
Marketing and Promotion
Marketing is all about getting potential readers to take action. There are a few key ways to do this with a Kickstarter campaign. The first is the video.
Your pitch video is the first thing that potential backers see when they come across your fundraiser. They’ll use the video to get a sense of the project, what you’re doing, and why they should join.
More importantly, the pitch video is what teases the product and whet’s the appetite for the story. It makes them want to hear more.
These are some of the marketing assets that are part of every campaign:
- Pitch video (2 – 4 minutes)
- Graphics, GIFs, and images
- Copywriting or campaign text
- Storytelling to share why you’re creating this
- Social proof (media logos, credibility, accolades)
Along with these marketing assets, you’ll also want to promote your project when you go live. This is how you get attention to the page and thus increase the funding meter for your project.
Your marketing and promotion will ultimately determine how many eyeballs see your proposal. It can make a radical difference in terms of how much money you rake in while live.
Every marketing and promotional strategy includes:
- Social media. Posting updates, engaging followers, sharing your story.
- Press releases and PR. Getting media attention leads to credibility and exposure.
- Paid marketing. Things like Facebook ads, google ads, banner ads, sponsored posts on Instagram, etc.
- Online groups (free). Posting your link in online groups, communities, and places to spread awareness.
These elements form the bare bones of a sound marketing and promotional strategy. I could get way more in-depth in terms of how to do each of these effectively, but I save that for my coaching students and longer programs.
It’s extremely profitable if you get the marketing strategy right. But, that’s not all that goes into a book launch…
Reward Delivery and Shipping
Once you successfully raise money on Kickstarter (with my help 😉), you’ll then have to ship out all of the rewards you promised your backers.
Depending on how many backers you have, you might want to use the assistance of software like BackerKit. This can make everything much easier so you don’t have to deal with so many spreadsheets.
The reward fulfillment phase of the campaign can be very strenuous, but it’s really when you begin to build up goodwill in the eyes of your readers. You’ll finally be able get some REAL feedback on your work.
Backers of your Kickstarter campaign will actually be able to hold your work in their hands. They will be able to read your words and be emotionally moved by your story. It’s very powerful.
Failure to calculate the costs of shipping, manufacturing, and fulfillment can leave you “in the hole” as they say. You might not end up actually making money on your campaign. Take this very seriously.
Education and Launching Smart
Aside from your marketing, the ONE thing that’s gonna dramatically improve your success on Kickstarter is your education and training.
You can have two people trying to achieve a goal, but the one who is better educated, trained, and prepared will win out every time.
Why?
Because they have access to tactics, strategies, and resources that the other person doesn’t even know about. They’re in a completely different league.
It’s been my goal my entire life to put this power in YOUR hands.
That’s why I’ve written things like the book, the Kickstarter Launch Formula, and worked so hard to put out quality education on the topic of crowdfunding.
You can literally have all of my knowledge at your disposal. Whether it’s my one-off coaching or longterm programs, I will guide you every step of the way when launching your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign.
We’ll make sure that your book is a smash success and part of this list of successful publishing projects.
I hope that you’ve gotten a lot of value out of this blog post and if you want to receive more content, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter down below!
