Considering a "The Dragon Wars Saga Arc One" Presale

[becka_sutton]

So in my posts about the possible Haventon IndieGoGo campaign I've mentioned that I'm prepping Arc One of my other serial "The Dragon Wars Saga" for release as well.

As I mentioned I'm doing it on a shoestring, but if I don't want to spend all my time on it it's still going to require a budget of around $300. I can handle this out of pocket but it would mean delaying the release until late May or early June (I want to put it out in April) because I can't afford it all at once.

What these costs are:

• Proofread: $62.97 (including Paypal fees) - really cheap and the guy did a bang up job. He's one of a class of what I would term semipro prepublishing people out there. (Already paid).
• Cover: $35 - again I've been bloody lucky. I was tearing my hai out fighting Gimp to make one myelf. Then I saw some of the covers Scath had created for her Katarr Kanticles Press and asked what she'd charge me to make me one. That was her reply and even when I said I needed it big enough to go on a paperback she didn't raise it. (Note: this is because we're friends and because I'm a faily regular customer of hers. Print fomat is usually more). You can see the cover here! (Already paid).
• Ebook Formatting: approx $50-$100. The thought of trying to get a file ready to go through smashword's meatgrinder is giving me kittens. I use LibreOffice and would almost certainly have to go nuclear on it. That's a whole lot of italics to put back in (bloody telepaths). Hiring someone to get it ready for Smashwords would be best. I need to check around to check they are reputable (they are on Smashword's list so 'd hope they were) but this place will do a Smashwords format for $60 and Smashwords and seperate Kindle format for $90. (not paid yet)
• Paper Book Formatting: approx $100. The two places I've looked at so far charge $99 and $129 respectively. (not paid yet)

I don't expect to sell enough paper copies to make even a 50 book print run economic, so I'm planning to publish the dead tree version via Lulu since the set up is free ad my only out of pocket is books print. Createspace is cheaper for printing but Lulu have two European Printers (UK and Spain) making the postage much cheaper for myself and for my non-us readers. I want to offer signed copies and it's no good having cheaper printing if the postage kills me. This means the only printing costs wil be for copies I need to get printed (for checking or to sell). There is a possibly extra fee here of $75 if I want the book available in Amazon etc. I wil only be buying this if/when I've covered costs on the other stuff.

 

Anyway I'm thinking of doing a presale to raise the $300 so I can get the book out quicker. As I see it I can do this one of two ways and appeal on the site or via IndieGoGo. There are pros and cons to both.

 

1. Via an appeal on my own site

Pros:

• Only Paypal Fees to pay.
• Can set the target at $300

Cons:

• Will only reach my audience and that of my signal boosters
• Will have to locate tools and run the back end myself.

2. Via IndieGoGo

Pros:

• Will give me a chance to test the waters and learn the ropes before commiting to the $2k Haventon Campaign.
• Everything I need is there - no hunting for tracking tools. Less work for in the backend makes more time for promoting.
• Chance to reach the IndieGoGo community
• If I hit target Global Reach will also be covered.

Cons:

• Minimum campaign target is $500 so more to raise (having said that I get the money anyway)
• Fees on top of Paypal - 4% if I hit target 9% if I don't.

At the moment I'm leaning towards IndieGoGo - I figure the excess if I hit or exceed target can go towards book 2 preperation - but feedback would be cool.

Either way I need Perks:
Here's what I'm thinking.

• BASIC: $3 – A personal thank you email, your name in the credits at the back and on the credits section of the website, and of course a copy of the ebook in the format of your choice. (Considered making this $5 but since I intend a price tag of $2.99 that seemed harsh).
• TIN: $10 – As above plus you will be emailed a code to get every future Dragon Wars Saga ebooks for 99c as soon as each one is released.
• BRONZE: $25 – As above except that the codes will get you the future Dragon Wars Saga ebooks for free rather than for 99c.
• SILVER: $40 – As above plus a signed copy of the paper book. (This may seem harsh but I have international postage to consider and you do get all the other stuff as well).
• GOLD: $100 – As above plus a signed copy of paper book 2 (planning a September release for that) and I will write a side-story (of not less than 1000 words) about any character in the story for you and send it to you in the electronic format of your choice. Content of said story to be decided by me. (There will only be three of these packages available because I am not made of time).

Once again feedback desired.