Crowd Funding for Indie Authors

                                                                         By Rebecca Bruner

Independently published authors face two major hurdles to success: financing and book promotion. Professional quality publishing packages for print books can cost thousands of dollars, and without a marketing plan, your book is still likely to become just another title floating through cyberspace on the endless tides of Amazon.com. Crowd funding provides authors with the means to both raise capital to underwrite the costs of publishing, and at the same time, build an audience by raising awareness for their book projects.

What is Crowd Funding?

Crowd funding is a way for groups of people to sponsor projects and products that they feel strongly about. In exchange for their pledges of financial support, crowd funding investors are offered “Perks.” A perk is any product, service, or benefit that the supporter will receive in exchange for the money they pledge.

If you stop to think about it, non-profit organizations, including local churches, have always been subsidized by the donations of people who feel strongly about their mission. The same basic principle operates in crowd funding, except that the donors receive tangible perks in exchange for the money they invest in a project.

Kickstarter and Indigogo

Two of the most widely known crowd funding platforms are Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) and Indiegogo (www.indigogo.com). These platforms have slightly different emphases. Kickstarter focuses on raising money for creative projects. Indiegogo has a broader focus and is therefore less exclusive about what kinds of projects they will take on.

If you are a fiction writer, and you have no plans to crowd fund anything other than fiction, Kickstarter may be right for you. If you plan on crowd funding any non-fiction projects, Indiegogo may be the better choice.

With both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, setting up a campaign is free. However, these sites obviously have to make money to stay in business. They do that by taking a percentage of the money raised through the crowd funding campaigns hosted on their websites (this can be anywhere from 4-10%). It costs nothing to set up a campaign, but once the money comes in, the host site will collect their share of the donations. Learn more about the specific costs associated with Kickstarter and Indiegogo by visiting their websites.

Fixed Funding vs. Flexible Funding

Another significant difference between these two major crowd funding platforms is that Kickstarter only allows for fixed funding campaigns, while Indiegogo also allows for flexible funding campaigns. A fixed funding campaign is an all or nothing proposition. Your supporters pledge money toward your project, but if you do not meet your goal, you don’t receive any of that money. Your supporters pay nothing, and you get nothing. End of story.

With a flexible funding campaign, you receive all the money pledged toward your project, whether or not you meet your funding goal. However, for campaigns that fall short of their funding targets, Indigogo charges higher fees.

The main advantage of a fixed funding campaign is the motivation it gives your supporters. If they want your book and they understand that it won’t be published unless you get enough pledges to reach your goal, they will feel a greater sense of urgency about getting their friends to support the project too. This may be a little easier if you are writing non-fiction, because people may be quite passionate about your topic, even if they have not yet read your book. It’s somewhat more difficult to inspire the same kind of passion in fans who haven’t yet read your fiction.

Resources for Learning More

I learned about crowd funding for authors when I attended an evening session presented by Thomas Umstadt Jr. from Author Media at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference last spring. He explained the basics of how to use crowd funding platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo to finance independent publishing projects.

Since then, Author Media has produced “The Ultimate Crowd Funding Course for Authors” http://www.authormedia.com/products/ultimate-crowdfunding-course-authors/. In this course, Thomas Umstadt Jr. and author Mary Demuth discuss all the phases of a crowd funding campaign, drawing heavily on the lessons they learned through Mary’s highly successful campaign for her book, Not Marked: Finding Hope and Healing after Sexual Abuse. Mary raised about 250% of her original $10,000 goal and pre-sold approximately seven hundred copies of her book in the course of her crowd funding campaign. I highly recommend this very helpful and comprehensive resource. After listening to it, I felt very well prepared to design a crowd funding campaign of my own.

My Own Experience

Right now, I am working to set up a crowd funding campaign for Welcome, Earthborn Brother, my science fiction novel for young readers. I’m planning to launch this campaign on Indiegogo by the end of March. I made the decision to do this for two principle reasons:

      1.  To raise money— Writing is my day job. Publishing independently puts all the costs of book production on the author’s shoulders. I simply don’t have the money for all those essential up-front expenses, like professional editing, layout, and cover design. I can’t afford to spend so much getting Welcome, Earthborn Brother published that I have to sell thousands of copies just to recoup my initial investment.

      2.  To promote my book—I see crowd funding as a great marketing tool. Unlike independent film makers or visual artists, authors have it pretty easy when it comes to figuring out what perks to offer our supporters. We can offer them copies of our books! In exchange for different donation levels, I plan to offer copies of my ebook, my print book, and autographed copies of my book. Because nearly everyone who invests in the crowd funding campaign will receive the novel in exchange for their support, I will be enlarging my reader base automatically. I’m hoping people will get so excited about Welcome, Earthborn Brother that they will spread the word to their own friends and social networks, encouraging them to invest in this campaign, too. I think it’s a fantastic promotional strategy.

Why Indiegogo?

I decided to use Indiegogo for two main reasons:

      1.  The first reason is that I also write non-fiction. If I should decide down the road to crowd fund a non-fiction book, I know that Kickstarter is not open to projects of that kind. In some ways, this campaign will be an opportunity for me to learn the ropes of crowd funding through Indiegogo so that if I need to create a bigger campaign in the future, I will understand how it all works.

       2.  The second reason is that Indiegogo allows for both fixed funding and flexible funding campaigns. Since this will be my first experience with crowd funding a book, I’m not completely certain what to expect. That’s why I wanted the option of creating a flexible funding campaign.

 I’m quite excited to see how all of this will work out. I’m planning to run this campaign throughout April, 2015. If you are interested in following the progress of this venture as it unfolds, please check out my blog at www.rebeccabrunerauthor.com.

 

Blog Hop - How I Write

by Dana McNeely, President
Christian Writers of the West

I’ve been asked to participate in a “blog hop”. The assignment is to answer four specific questions about my writing and tag three other writers who will answer the same questions on their blogs. (Because I got so excited, I got four writers!) Be sure to see the links at the end to their blogs – each of them has had some exciting things happening in their lives lately. Thanks to my friend, Laura McClellan, for challenging me to dip my toe into the blogosphere! Laura writes wonderful women’s fiction and is a practicing lawyer. You can find her answers to these questions at her blog, Where Life and Grace Collide .

What are you working on?

I’m working on a couple things. First, I’m editing a historical fiction based on the Old Testament prophet Elijah and the boy he raised from the dead. The biblical account is intriguing but brief, forcing a curious person like me to ask questions. What would it have been like to die, go to the other world, and come back? What happened in his life before Elijah came to stay with him and his mother? What was his mother like? What was the “great sin” she spoke of when she railed against the prophet “Why have you come? To remind me of my great sin and slay my son?” Lots of ideas came to me and I wrote a book to answer my own questions.

Second, I’m planning my next book, which will feature a character with whom I fell in love while writing the ‘Elijah’ story:  While staying with her uncle, Miriam, a strong and independent young girl, spends her time roaming the countryside around Jezreel trapping birds to sell.  One day, when checking her traps, she witnesses the stoning death of her uncle, Naboth.  So, I have a character, a setting, and an inciting incident. I also have a love interest – Dov, a big bear of a soldier, also from the previous book.  And I’m asking myself those questions again!

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

The tone of my writing may be different from some biblical fiction. I loved ‘The Red Tent’ by Anita Diamante and ‘The Dovekeepers’ by Alice Hoffman. I also read a lot of fantasy, dystopian, and magical realism. That has to bleed into my work.

How does your writing process work?

I struggle to overcome confusion and chaos! I’m not naturally organized, so I superimpose process on myself, similar to the way I do my day job. But in writing, I start with a character and a question. I write lists of questions and possible answers, make timelines and charts, draw maps. I read and collect tons of research books (ask my husband!) I love Scrivener, and use it to write from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. and, after my day job, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. two or three evenings a week.

I’ve developed rules to keep myself on track. For example, my morning time is strictly for writing – not planning, plotting, or Facebook. I do those in the evenings. I’m trying to teach myself to be a better planner – I wrote the first draft of the book I’m editing by the seat-of-my-pants, and the rework has been a painful learning experience I’d rather not repeat. So I’m doing up-front planning for my next book.

All these rules to keep me focused are especially important lately.  This month I was pleased and humbled to learn I’m a semifinalist in ACFW’s Genesis contest in the Historical Fiction category. You’ll see below that Christian Writers of the West is well represented in the Genesis and other writing contests.

Tag, You’re It! 

Tanara McCauley is a semifinalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Contest in the Contemporary category. She’s active in CWOW and volunteered for the second time to help coordinate our Arizona Rattler Contest.  She’s currently finishing up her second novel. In a few days, you’ll find her answers posted at  Tanara's Blog, where you’ll want to explore some of other her heartfelt writing.

LeAnne Bristow is a kindergarten teacher who also writes contemporary romance. She loves stories about the “bad boy” who finds his way to God...usually through a Godly woman. LeAnne is finalist in the Fab Five Writing contest (Wisconsin RWA) and is also a semifinalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Contest in the Romance category.  In a few days you’ll find her answers at LeAnne's Blog, where you may also want to look around for “bad boys”.

Rebecca Bruner is a passionate Bible teacher, author, and speaker. Her favorite author is C.S. Lewis. She writes in several genres including nonfiction, Biblical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. She recently won a scholarship to the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference through Kathy Ide's Promising Beginnings Contest. Her husband and two nearly grown kids keep her very busy, but she loves every minute of it. In a few days, check out her responses at Rebecca's Website .

Tina Pinson was a winner on Seekerville’s Perfect Pitch Contest.  She has also completed the following novels. Winds Across the Rockies, To Carry her Cross, When Shadows Fall, Shadowed Dreams, To Catch a Shadow, A Shadowed Trail, This Shadowed Land, and The Shadow of Her Smile are serial about the civil war and the Oregon trail. Then Came Grace, a contemporary story about a future Sept 11 type tragedy. Trail of the Sandpiper-Betrayed, Trail of the Sandpiper-Rescued and Trail of the Sandpiper-Avenged,  a WWII series about a missionary and spy. Learn more about the prolific Tina at Tina's Website and read her answers in a few days at Tina's blog.

 

Rebecca Bruner Wins - Promising Beginnings Writers Contest

Congratulations to our own Rebecca Bruner, winner of the Kathy Ide "Promising Beginnings" writing contest. Her prize was a full scholarship to the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.

We asked Rebecca to tell us a little about the process that led to her win. Here's what she shared...
  

I began working on the manuscript for A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God's Battle Plan back in December, 2012. The main premise of the book is that marriage is not just a nice human convention, but an essential element of God's battle plan against evil. While the enemy tempts husbands and wives to fight against one another head to head, God wants to train us to fight back to back, covering each other's weaknesses with our unique areas of strength. 

 

I had originally given it the working title of Fair Warriors. When I attended CWOW's annual mini-conference in January 2013, I pitched my idea to agent Steve Laube. He gave me several helpful suggestions, including the idea of changing the title to make it more descriptive and precise.

 

At the CWOW event, he talked a little about the Mount Hermon conference which he was planning to attend. He explained that at Mount Hermon, it would be possible to pitch non-fiction book proposals to agents and editors. I knew I had too much work to do on my manuscript to have it ready in time for the 2013 conference, but I began dreaming and praying that God would make it possible for me to go to the 2014 conference. I also began inviting other writer friends to think about going along with me.

 

When I got word through CWOW about Kathy Ide's "Promising Beginnings" contest, I knew I had to enter. The first prize was a full scholarship to the Mount Hermon 2014 conference. Since I really wanted to maximize my odds of getting that scholarship, and there was no limit on how many times you could enter (so long as your submissions were either unpublished or self-published) I sent in three different entries, two were fiction and one was from my non-fiction work in progress.

 

The whole time I was hoping and praying that I would win, but I knew that if there was another writer who needed to be at that conference and would be unable to attend apart from winning the contest, then I needed to allow God to make that call. I had to leave it in His hands.

 

When I got word from Kathy Ide that my submission from A Wife of Valor was the top non-fiction entry, and the overall runner up, I was both encouraged and disappointed. I was happy to know that my work had done so well when compared with approximately 150 other submissions, but naturally a little disappointed that I didn't get the scholarship.

 

In her email, Kathy mentioned that there might be other partial scholarships available from other sources. I wrote back to her asking for more information about them. When she responded to my email, she told me that the first prize winner had conflicts that would prevent her from attending the conference. As a result, I would receive the scholarship. I was elated. It was such an incredible gift from God, and such a dream come true!

 

My membership in Christian Writers of the West has been very instrumental in this entire process. Despite the fact that my book is non-fiction, as I polish my manuscript I am even employing techniques that I learned at our most recent mini-conference with C.S. Lakin to help set scenes and make the personal stories I include more vivid. I am very blessed for all that I have learned and for the community of writers I have become a part of through this group.

 

All the Best,

Rebecca D. Bruner

A Fresh Voice for Timeless Truths

www.rebeccabruner.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/rebeccabrunerauthor

 Thank you for sharing with us, Rebecca. Your story is an inspiration to all of us who are working toward publication.  We're celebrating with you!