Next week is my spring break, which means that I have time to work on a few projects that are for the job I want, rather than the job I have. The most pressing of which is getting my proposal ready to submit to Kickstarter.
I fully intend to self-publish my novel Birthright, and the subsequent books in The Technomage Archive series. Unfortunately, self-publishing can be an expensive business, and the American economy just ain’t what it used to be. So I figure Kickstarter is a great place to go so that I can pay for all those luxuries necessities a self-published/indie author doesn’t get from a traditional book contract.
The one thing I want is for this book to be done professionally. I will not put out a book that looks “self-published.”
I’m working with a very talented local artist for cover art/design, and I have to pay someone to edit/copyedit the book, someone to format the manuscript for Kindle and other ebook formats (as well as for print editions!), someone to help design a new author website/blog, and other such expenses that add up.
On top of that, one of the great things about Kickstarter is that project backers get prizes and rewards for being so awesome as to help out artists. So I wanted to ask you guys, what kind of rewards would I have to offer to get your support?
This is what I have drafted so far:
- $5: Name in acknowledgements
- $10: ebook copy of the finished book in the format of your choice (and all previous rewards)
- $25: signed paperback copy (and all previous rewards)
- $50: signed and personalized hardcover (and all previous rewards)
- $100: ebook copies of all previous draft versions of Birthright (and all previous rewards)
- $200: name a character in the sequel, Lineage (and all previous rewards)
- $500: A unique, Technomage Archive-universe story written just for you, focusing on the character of your choice from Birthright. This story will be yours to do what you choose. Post it on your blog, burn it and use it to chant voodoo curses in my direction, or lock it safely away so that it becomes a valuable one-of-a-kind artifact after I’m killed in the inevitable zombie apocalypse. The choice is yours. (and all previous rewards)
So how about that? Any of that stuff sound good?
Can you think of anything else that you would like to see as a reward?
The only think that I could think of would be to actually name a character in the book after them… however, that might be a little more of a commitment that you want to make… yet it could be a high ticket item…
I think I will change that one. I have it set to name a character in the sequel, but I may have to change that to name it after themselves. And I have a few characters in Birthright itself that should be able to change from their current placeholders.
I’m not so sure I’d go with the donor’s name in the acknowledgments at $5. You don’t say how much you’re looking for, but given the list of expenditures, it looks to me to be in the $1000-2000 range. That’s potentially 200-400 names, which makes for a long acknowledgments section!
🙂
I had thought about that, too. I wondered if a list or pages of columns were going to be too much.
Do you have any ideas that could replace that as a $5 reward?
If the book is still in development, it might be nice to get weekly supporter-only updates.
Makes the backers feel special and at the same time adds value to the anticipation for the book. 🙂
That’s a really good idea. The book is on its last round of revisions, though, or next to last perhaps, and I don’t know how many updates there would be. That’s why I included an ebook of all previous draft editions because I don’t know how many more major updates there will be.
I should try to figure that out! Thanks!