Crowdfund Your Book
In the new era of self-publishing, crowdfunding and print-on-demand is sweeping through the publishing industry. Indie Publishers, like myself, are looking for more ways to get books in front of readers. But if you're self-publishing, this is even MORE important.Check out our IndieGoGo Campaign for an example of an Indie Publishing Crowdfunder.
https://igg.me/at/soonkitty
What is Soon Kitty?
An illustrated picture book adventure of a procrastinating kitty with too much to do and no idea where to start. With illustrations by the talented James Ishizaki and written by YouTuber Grant Uchida, the message of Soon Kitty's plight hits a little close to home for me and my dreams as a writer and publisher. It's the kind of thing you want to tape to your motivation wall.
Where to start?
- Write a good book. Make sure it's a story that sticks with you. Make sure there's tension or conflict. It can be internal, external, or both. But without conflict, most stories fall short. Also look for the strong message you're trying to send. We don't just write books to hear our words read by someone else. We write because there's something inside us that needs to be said, something that needs to come out. Find that, and you'll have more motivation to persist when you're on your 5th or 6th draft.
- Research Your Options. I'm not going to get into each here (that's a whole other rabbit hole), but you're looking at 3-4 options.
- Traditional Publishing (writing Query Letters to agents, ect.)
- Self-Publishing (doing it all yourself; hiring an editor before publishing it on somewhere like Amazon's KDP or Barnes and Nobel's Press; learning formatting or hiring for it, cover design, ect. and then marketing like crazy ex. Crowdfunding, Social Media, &/or Advertising) --I strongly recommend checking out the Self Publishing Formula guys if you want to go this route.
- Indie Publishing (looking for micro-publishers like myself)
- Or a Hybrid of these options (just be up front and read paperwork thoroughly before signing with any publisher about your goals and plans)
- Make a decision and go for broke. Start writing manuscripts like you've never written manuscripts before. A one off hit is about as likely as hitting the lottery--we still hope to hit it, but never count on it. This road is a marathon and will always take longer than you expect, more effort, and more rejection than you think you can handle. But if you're committed to doing this, then NOTHING can stop you.
