Being a Better Writer: Do You Need a Kickstarter? · 6:01pm Jun 9th, 2022
Dipping back into the well of posts you may have missed over the last month, here's May 9ths Being a Better Writer! Kickstarter was all the rage there for a moment. Will it help you publish? Or is it a time trap?
You know, in a way I feel a bit sad that this post is going to be scheduled, and I’ll be “away” when it goes up, because this is a post that I would like to see the reader responses to. There’s no getting around the fact that with a somewhat topical subject like this, however, sooner is better, and so I don’t want to delay this installment of Being a Better Writer to a later time.
Really quick, before that, though, reminder that today is the last day to get a copy of Colony for free! Hit the books page and head on over to Amazon before midnight arrives!
Got it? Good! On with the post! I am going to preamble this a bit: I’ve never run a Kickstarter, even when I’ve had plenty of well-meaning advice from folks to do so. And even with the topical bit of news regarding the recent surge of books on Kickstarter, which we’re going to talk about … I still don’t have plans to run one.
So then, some of you may be asking, what qualifies me to talk about whether or not you need a Kickstarter? Well, not having run one is not the same as “I’ve looked into it, watched it, and seen how it operates, and made a decision based on both observed Kickstarters and conversations with those that have run successful and unsuccessful projects there.”
This is one of those rare BaBW posts that hits on writing related stuff, in this case marketing.
Now, some of you might be a little perplexed by that statement. “Marketing?” you may be saying. “Kickstarter isn’t marketing. It’s selling the book before it’s out!”
Well … sort of. But not really. And ultimately, success of failure with a Kickstarter comes down to one thing above all others: Advertising. Which is marketing.
Alright, let’s step back before we get in too deep and ahead of ourselves. Let’s start with the most basic part of this whole conversation: What is Kickstarter and why are so many in the book sphere talking about it right now?
In other news, Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter has topped 41 million dollars.
To quote Larry Correia, "That's theme park money."
I think if I started a Kickstarter, I could collect enough money to buy a pair of roller skates, but if I keep writing...
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I saw this and had to go look it up. This is ludicrous and awesome.
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Yeah it's in the article. It's why the article was written.
5663841 Yeah, I tend to pop off in the FimFiction end of the blog before reading the whole thing. It's a bad habit caused by trying to do too many things at once at work. (like... two)
Context: The initial printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in UK was 500 copies in 1997. At the kinda-sorta-normal rate of author profit per book of roughly a dollar a book (hardback) that's beer money. 1998 saw 50,000 copies printed at the time the next book came out, which had an initial print run of 10,000. Now we're talking consider-quitting-your-job money for J.K. Rowling. (who at that point didn't have a real job, but I digress) 1999 saw the third book come out (type, lady, type) which had an initial print run of 200,000. We're STILL not in Brandon Sanderson range here. Fourth year in 2000 the initial print run is 1.5 million and that's not counting the other three books. Now, the numbers are lining up, even though I'm just pointing to the author end if the curve and making vague guesses on how much of a cut JK was getting.
Accountancy is the Holy Water to the traditional publishing world. For most of the last century, authors got peanuts because the contracts you had to sign with them were slanted...rigged...twisted... going to need another word here. Advances were the only real way an author had of ensuring that multi-million copy selling book put any money in their pockets, and beginning authors couldn't even get that. The publishing companies charged fees against royalties, found expenses in odd corners, and generally made out like bandits. An audit could find these unethical practices, but trying to audit your publisher ensured you were never going to sell another book, ever.
Thank God for Baen books and indy publishing. Viking, I take my hat off to you in salute. 🏴