Kickstarter is a funding platform on which an author, artist, inventor can post their project so that others can view the details – and consider contributing financially toward its completion. Many creative people have benefited from Kickstarter, and for hundreds of authors, Kickstarter campaigns have helped to pay for publication costs in advance by pre-selling books and generating interest in a publishing project. Several Red Penguin authors have already funded their publications through Kickstarter, and our successful Ukraine anthology fundraiser used Kickstarter to build an audience and raise funds for this very worthy cause.

 

If you are interested in funding your publication with Kickstarter, Red Penguin Books can help to make that dream a reality. Keep in mind that the most successful Kickstarter campaigns generally include one or more of the following:

  • A prospective author with a pre-established audience, meaning thousands of social media connections, personal contacts or newsletter subscribers
  • Subject matter that is incredibly unique and timely, unlike anything currently on the market
  • A tie-in with a non-profit or other organization which will be backing the project and sharing it with their audience
  • A book with many stakeholders – meaning, people who have either contributed to the book or who are anxiously awaiting its publication for their own benefit

If any of these describes you and your book, a Kickstarter campaign may be a perfect fit!

 

Kickstarter Campaign Set-Up:

If you are interested in funding your publication with Kickstarter, Red Penguin Books can play a pivotal role in meeting your goals.

 

Account Set-Up

Our first step is setting up the Kickstarter account, which can be done in your own name or in the name of Red Penguin Books – whichever makes more sense for you. There will be contact information and bank account tie-ins to coordinate as well.

 

Copywriting and Rewards

An effective Kickstarter campaign needs enticing text to help prospective donors embrace the possibilities of your future publication, and desire to be a part of its success. Appropriate reward levels will be created as well, to encourage donors at a variety of gift levels. Successful Kickstarter campaigns offer donors options on how to get involved at levels to suit their pocketbook, as well as their interests and desires.

 

Graphics and Videos

Words are vital, but pictures and video are what makes a web browser stop and take notice in the first place! From the feature graphics through images and videos, pictures truly are worth a thousand words. We will develop the graphics needed for your Kickstarter campaign, as well as graphics for sharing your campaign with others.

 

Kickstarter Campaign Promotions:

The best Kickstarter campaign promotions come from you, as it is your personal connection with your family, friends and personal community that will result in the largest percentage of donors. Additionally, Red Penguin Books can assist with increasing that reach through the following means:

 

Social Sharing

As a crowdsourcing platform, Kickstarter was made for social sharing. The most successful campaigns come from those who are active in connecting with their audience regularly, as it is a wonderful way to pre-sell books and defer publishing expenses to buyers. Additionally, we will share your Kickstarer Campaign with our own social media networks for additional exposure. 

 

Email List

Direct email remains the best way to insure connecting with your audience, as it isn’t reliant upon a social network determining the reach and number of impressions it will allow your post. We will use your own email list – which is the best “warm” audience there is! – along with featuring your campaign on our own email list to thousands of book lovers.

 

Alternate Donation Landing Page

While Kickstarter is a wonderful platform for increasing the funds and exposure for a publishing project, there will be people who wish to donate but do not wish to do so through the Kickstarter platform. Perhaps they find the site or signup difficult, or perhaps they prefer not to share their information with a third party. Whatever the reason, as part of your campaign program we will set up an alternate payment landing page – mimicking the graphics, text, and information on your Kickstarter page – so that prospective donors have two different options in getting involved with your publishing project. This donation landing page can be shared with your own contacts just the same way as the Kicvkstarter campaign, so that you can direct your audience to whichever donation method suits them best.

 

Please note***

No Kickstarter campaigns are guaranteed, and while our goal is certainly to increase sponsorships, from a quantitative perspective, our goals will focus upon those areas over which we have the most objective control – namely, increasing impressions. Donating to a publishing project is subjective, so we approach Kickstarter marketing in an objective way whenever possible.

 

Pricing: Kickstarter Campaign development is only available in conjunction with a Red Penguin Books publishing package. The set-up fee of $350 will be ‘rolled-into’ the campaign expenses, so that the author does not incur upfront costs.