Thanks to a writer wanting to jump
into the Mentor Program…
And that is wonderfully cool! Now I get to not only help someone for a year with their writing and publishing, but I get to make the 100 paperback books I wanted to do. And still 19 days left in the Kickstarter campaign.
So now anyone who does back the project either for the books or for a lecture or workshop gets the three collections of my 100 stories. That will be a lot of reading since my stories all range from 3,000 to 7,000 words. They have to be at least that long to fill out the 24 page lower limit of a paperback book.
So now, as Kris said, I need to come up with a stretch goal, which (to be honest) was something I have given zero thought to, since I doubted this would fund.
Maybe a stretch goal could be a copy of Stories From July, another collection of 32 short stories, but also with the blog posts about each story as I wrote it included. I will give that some thought.
So anyhow, thank you!
To take a look at the workshop and lecture specials offered, not counting all the writing stuff, go to Make 100 Paperbacks on Kickstarter.
I backed this because I enjoy reading your short stories (the bonus of a cheap lecture a, well, bonus).
It’s interesting to see the difference between how you ran your Kickstarter (ran as it’s still running but now complete) and how I see the ones I’ve backed (RPGs and Playing Cards) run.
Congrats and I’m looking forward to reading your 3 collections (and whatever bonuses you decide upon).
Kenny, can you say what the difference might be and is it good or bad? Always willing to learn. Thanks!
There’s 4 Kickstarters that I’m thinking of as I’m typing this, Dean.
1) Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)
2) Crystal Hearts (a setting for Savage Worlds)
3) Monolith Playing Cards
[4) Backstory Cards]
The first two have been completed, funds processed, and a pledge manager used. The third is coming soonish.
All 4 of them had plenty of lead up to the start of the Kickstarter. It was a couple of months before when I first heard about SWADE and they said their launch date was in flux if someone else released a Kickstarter around the same time.
I heard about SWADE from the people who launched the Crystal Hearts setting (they’ve got a LitRPG web comic). They announced the launch of their Kickstarter around the same time as I heard about SWADE and it was launched a little after.
Of course I’m still awaiting, and thinking about backing, the playing cards. They do look awesome. (Like you and marbles, I don’t need any more but sometimes they look too awesome to pass up.)
Going back to the first two. Each of them had regular updates during the campaign to keep us interested and to keep it in our mind. They talked about different things even how well the funding was going and what stretch goals had been reached and what were coming up.
Even after the campaign ended I like getting updates just to let me know what’s happening about production issues so I know when I’ll get my hands on the swag–and yes I know it’s not a shop but still: SWAG! This is where Kickstarter 4 comes in, they’ve been funded a fair while and have many production issues due to cost and printing and what not.
It’s interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes and why it’s running a bit late in getting to me (not that I mind so much because us backers look like we’re going to get more cards because it’s cheaper for them to do a larger card deck than 2 smaller ones).
During the campaign I normally get a message every couple of days, unless something special occurs (like hitting a major stretch goal). Afterwards I would like to get a message every month, unless of course major news occurs.
I think the interest in backing a large-production-value RPG might be useful to you, Dean, of course you could back only to get the PDF if you’re not interested in the book.
Here’s a link to give you an idea of what tabletop RPGs are in Kickstarter (if you’re interested): https://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/category/crowdfunding/
Thanks, Kenny. Most of what you described them doing is pretty normal for Kickstarters. I am not a gamer at all even though I wrote a half-dozen gaming novels for different companies. But love the idea of licensing my work to games or doing games with some of my work, so thanks, I’ll take a look. Very much appreciated.
If I may add my two cents, I think a big difference between your Kickstarters and the other I’ve backed is that you offer many rewards in a quite different area than the main rewards.
In a magazine subscription Kickstarter, you of course expect rewards of electronic and paper versions of the magazine, maybe some high-end edition (like a hardback for a collected edition, a signed version, etc.). Plus behind-the-scene news, and maybe some higher rewards like a tuckerization. Or back-issues of the magazine (whether electronic or paper). Or bookmarks or wallpapers made from cover art, etc.
But your Kickstarters are the only ones where there are some higher rewards specifically designed for writers, and which have almost nothing to do with the main goal of the Kickstarter.
It’s a great thing for writers – I’ve myself taken advantage of these offers several times – but I guess it tends to make your Kickstarters much more successful than they would normally be, if it were only for the content of the magazine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy about the content too, but I would usually have gone for a much less expensive pledge if it weren’t for the discounted writers’ content.
You are completely right, Celine. We feel that anything WMG Publishing does is open to be in a Kickstarter campaign for any other WMG Publishing Product. And I think we are lucky that way that we have so many different things, and more things besides just workshops and such coming on over the next year or so. We’re having fun and thanks for noticing that we do that and why. It does help. In fact, without a writer wanting to jump into the mentor program with me over the next year, this campaign would still just be climbing forward.