Crowdfunding is an incredible way to finance and market a new book.
You can use the power of Kickstarter to gather together a tribe of eager readers who are also willing to spread the word about you, your mission, and of course, your book.
These are some of the top incredibly successful books on Kickstarter. Learn from their marketing strategy and how they put together their campaign.
You can look into each of these campaigns to get an idea of how they laid out their project, where they got media attention, their average pledge tier, and more.
1. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a children’s book that reinvents fairy tales, inspiring girls with the stories of 100 great women from Elizabeth I to Serena Williams.
These entrepreneurs came on my podcast to share their story raising more than $600,000 for their publishing project. Insane!
Funding amount: $675,614
Number of supporters: 13,454 backers
Original funding goal: $40,000
2. Coffee Table Book: Illustrated Summaries of Biblical Books
Coffee Table Book is a large-format coffee table book showcasing an illustrated diagram for every biblical book in the Protestant tradition.
They quickly surpassed their goal and went on to raise 6x what they expected.
Funding amount: $613,251
Number of supporters: 9,027 backers
Original funding goal: $100,000
3. Only on Kickstarter: THE LEADER’S GUIDE by ERIC RIES
The Leader’s Guide is a 250-page exclusive book + a backer-only community for new and experienced practitioners of the Lean Startup principles.
Eric Ries is the popular writer of the Lean Startup and pioneer of lean startup methodology.
Funding amount: $588,903
Number of supporters: 9,677 backers
Original funding goal: $135,000
4. To Be Or Not To Be: That Is The Adventure
To Be Or Not to Be is the greatest work IN English literature, now in the greatest format OF English literature: a chooseable-path adventure!
It was written by Ryan North, who you might know from his critically-acclaimed comic Dinosaur Comics. They raised more than 20x their original goal!
Funding amount: $580,905
Number of supporters: 15,352 backers
Original funding goal: $20,000
5. Masters Of Anatomy
Masters of Anatomy is an anatomy book drawn by animators, illustrators and comic-book artists who have worked for Disney, Pixar, Dream Works, Marvel and DC.
It brings together the work from work over 100 artists from different industries.
Funding amount: $532,614
Number of supporters: 6,974 backers
Original funding goal: $20,000
6. The Freedom Journal: Accomplish Your #1 Goal in 100 Days
If you’re ready to CRUSH your #1 goal in 100 days, The Freedom Journal’s unique step-by-step process will guide you there.
Knock over that one big domino and start a chain reaction of AWESOME in your life!
This project was created by John Lee Dumas, an award-winning podcaster who I’ve also has on my podcast, Crowdfunding Demystified. You can listen to that episode here.
Funding amount: $453,803
Number of supporters: 7,063
Funding goal: $25,000
7. Apollo 11 Flight Plan Re-Issue
The flight plan was a minute-by-minute time line of activities for the Apollo 11 mission crew. This project is reproducing this plan..perfectly.
In honor of this achievement the team has set out to produce the highest quality reproduction of the Apollo 11 Final Flight Manual that was used by Mission Control, Flight Controllers, Astronauts and supporting personnel around the globe throughout the Apollo 11 mission.
Funding amount: AU $533,333
Number of supporters: 4,100
Funding goal: AU $15,000
8. Augie and the Green Knight: A Children’s Adventure Book
Augie and the Green Knight is an adventure story about a scientifically precocious young girl in a world of fantasy.
It’s the story of a little girl who enjoys math and science and history, but who also gets up to trouble, speaks her mind, and is unapologetically strong.
Augie and the Green Knight is about 20,000 words long, and is a retelling of a famous medieval romance. The original story is about King Arthur’s court encountering a strange giant Green Knight and the quest that follows. In this book, we get to hear the Green Knight’s side of the story through the lens of a young nerdy girl named Augie.
Funding amount: $384,410
Number of supporters: 9,044
Funding goal: $30,000
9. Hello Ruby
Hello Ruby is a children’s book that teaches programming fundamentals through stories and kid-friendly activities.
Hello Ruby will be a classic journey of discovery that teaches the readers about different people working together, how problems can be solved in small sequences and how remixing and sharing helps everyone.
Funding amount: $380,747
Number of supporters: 9,258
Funding goal: $10,000
10. Golden Ratio Coloring Book
A coloring book with a collection of Rafael Araujo’s hand drawn Golden Ratio illustrations to reconnect with yourself and nature
Rafael Araujo is a Venezuelan architect and illustrator living in Caracas. For over 40 years he’s been drawing the most beautiful illustrations of nature, entirely by hand.
At an old drafting table he adeptly renders the mathematical brilliance of nature with just a pencil, compass, ruler and protractor.
Funding amount: AU$ 483,479
Number of supporters: 8,297
Funding goal: AU$ 27,000 goal
