As you may know, well-known crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo divide up project submissions categorically. If you are raising money for an independent film like Veronica Mars, you would list your project in the Film category. These websites function as fundraising platforms for a variety of creative and technological projects.
Despite the success of this business model, in the last 6-12 months, we’ve seen a greater number of niche crowdfunding platforms formed, aimed at building a smaller community around specific industry verticals, like gaming, music, and software.
Recently, Pubslush has emerged as a Kickstarter alternative for authors looking to crowdfund their new novel or writing project. As a crowdfunding platform exclusively for books, Pubslush aims to be a global community for book lovers and authors.
Since the company’s relaunch in August of 2012, Founder and President Hellen Barbara has focused on making Pubslush a risk free starting point for authors, where project creators maintain all of their rights and the ability to self-publish after a successful 30-60 day fundraising campaign, or go the traditional publishing route.
One major difference is that the platform takes a smaller cut compared to most websites (4% + 3rd party fees) and offers flexible funding, where project creators can keep all of the pledges gathered during their fundraising campaign, even if they do not meet their fundraising goal. Kickstarter operates under an all-or-nothing fundraising model, where in order to receive the funds raised, you must meet your fundraising goal. Indiegogo has a flexible funding option, but charges a 9% fee if the creator does not reach their goal.
In addition, Pubslush offers market analytics. “At the end of your book campaign you will receive a detailed demographic summary breaking down important information regarding your supporters such as location, age, and traffic source.”
Finally, I also like that they have a commitment to improving literacy. “Through a publishing imprint, powered by readers, Pubslush acquires high potential books from the platform, and for every book sold, donates a children’s book to a child in need.”
All of this being said, I think that the most powerful component of crowdfunding is the ability to unite a group of people from all over the world around a common interest, goal, problem, or cause. The value of the capital provided for projects pails in comparison to the opportunity to attract a tribe of individuals that are as passionate as you are about a mission. Remember, this all happens in a mere 30-60 days! The internet marking expert Seth Godin explains this phenomena very well in his bestselling book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
From their service provider partner program to their involvement in the author community, Pubslush is definitely a company to watch. They offer a promising value proposition to authors, along with the personalized attention that is lacking with larger crowdfunding platforms. Check out their video below for more information about the platform.
Welcome to Pubslush from Pubslush on Vimeo.
