We made it! The Kickstarter campaign for Dark and Broken Things was a success! In fact, we blew past the original goal with time to spare, set a stretch goal with a new incentive (an exclusive digital short story called The Boarder), and hit that as well! All in all, I thought it went very well and I’m extremely pleased.
First, I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who contributed, and an extra bit of thanks to those of you who went above and beyond, pledge-wise. It makes me smile to know I have some truly ardent supporters in this journey. I appreciate it. You’re the best.
Next, as someone who just used crowdfunding for the first time, I have a few observations on the process. I thought I’d share my insight in case any of you were watching and hoping to glean something from my trials and errors. One, your network is hugely important. I’d heard this before, but it’s really very true; a huge percentage of the contributors came from Facebook and via the mailing list. Two, have some “stretch goals” in mind, should you reach your initial goal early; I didn’t and had to improvise. Three, an amazingly small amount of people, percentage-wise, go for the cheaper rewards. In fact, the average pledge amount ends up being around $50. I wish I’d offered more rewards between $50 and $150, as I got quite a bit of feedback inquiring about pledging at that level. Lastly, don’t assume that everyone knows what Kickstarter (or crowdfunding) is and how it works. If there was one thing I would do differently, it would be to try and educate my audience more at the outset. I found that several people didn’t realize they were getting something for their pledge, saying that they’d buy the book when it was released. Still others admitted that they just didn’t understand it and it made them nervous. I think a little education and expectation-setting would’ve gone a long way. I assumed people knew what this crowdfunding thing was, and that assumption was somewhat incorrect.
As for the status of the project now, surveys have been to the contributors, and a large percentage have already returned them. I am in the process of recording the audiobook, which is also acting as a final “polish” pass on the manuscript. Past that, the book will be formatted for digital and print. The covers and collateral is all being designed. And we continue to make progress on the website, as well. All good things!
Thanks again! It’s been an interesting process. If you have any questions, feel free, as always to contact me.