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Follows on from this and this.

I need to do a worldbuillding or ficlet post to break these up. ;-D

Before I start I want t give a shout out for another weblit crowdfunding project. MCA Hogarth has a Kickstarter Campaign in progress for Spots the Space Marine.

I've been reading this post about perks on the IndieGoGo blog and it got me thinking about my perks again. The two insight posts it links to are also very useful.

So here's the list I have so far:

$1 - My eternal gratitude, regular updates on the project and a personal thank you email.
$5 - As above plus a code to get the ebook half price when it is released.
$10 - As above plus a copy of the ebook (your choice of format) a week before release. Your name in the manuscript credits.
$25 - As above plus a copy of the raw manuscript by email as soon as all edits are finalised.
$35 - As above plus a handwritten thank you card with a piece of character art on the front (this one depends on the price of commissioning such a piece)
$50 - As above plus a signed copy of the paperback posted two weeks before the official book launch date.
$100 - As above plus the right to name a minor character in the book. (Author's choice; character may not reflect namesake personally if you choose a name I'm already using for a major character I'll tell you and ask you to pick another).

Do you think that's enough? Do I need any perks above $100.

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Note: The Internet ate the original version of this post after 5 hours of me looking up figures, checking prices and doing currency conversions. It was longer.

Following on from this post.

Costs

In the comments to the previous post [personal profile] anke notes that a lot of people like it if you know what you're doing and that having a break down of costs. This is a good point, so I thought I'd poke around a bit and see what I could find out. Meilin put up an update on her Kickstarter listing hers so I'm using that as a reference.
  1. Story/Development Editing - I haven't spoken to any editors yet. I'm rather shy so approaching new people is intimidating, but it's got to be done. If anyone has any recommendations I'l be glad to hear them. I'll likely want to get sample edits from several to find the best person for me. Meilin lists her editing costs as $1500 and having poked around Google that seems about right. If I can't raise enough for that an intelligent copy edit is the next best option. This combines a heavy copy edit with a sort of light develomental edit and is somewhat cheaper. No doubt it would improve things but I'd always know it wasn't the best it could be.
  2. Cover Art - Meilin had an artist do her cover and lists the cost as $400.  I've seen cheaper options - usually stock based - which are still attractive and high impact. I've also seen much more costly options. I'm pegging this at between $200 and $500. I'd really rather not do this myself. I'm making my own cover for the first Dragon Wars ebook and it's stressful.
  3. Final Proofreading - I suppose I could do what Meilin does and ask for beta readers to do this. But I'd rather hire someone. A professional proofread or light copyedit can cost between $400 and $600. Or I can hire an English student or unemployed graduate to do it. I'm also getting the first arc of The Dragon Wars Saga ready for ebook release and wanted to get it proofread for any errors that I and my beta reader [personal profile] inventrix might have missed.  I have a friend who offers what might be termed semipro copyediting services at a very low price and I knew his grasp of grammar/punctuation was up to the task, so I hired him. Cost me less than $70 and he did a bang up job. He should probably charge more. For Haventon I'd like to get an experienced professional on the job but if I don't raise enough HA wil get a call (as he already will for the rest of Dragon Wars).
  4. Internal Layout - I can certainly do this myself, but equally I'd rather not. It's tedious and time-consuming. Meilin lists $300 for typography. I'm not sure if this is for both ebook and print or if she does her own ebooks. I need to cost this up myself.
  5. Printing Costs - Unless something astounding happens with the campaign or I win the lottery a long offset print run is out. This leaves the options as Lulu, Createspace, LSI or shortrun digital printer. There was a whole section in the original post on the advantages and disadvantages of each of these. I will write a post about this at a later date but the last option is my favoured one.  Allowing for an initial print run of 50 and a better than POD paper and cover stock I'd need about $325 for this if my page count estimate is correct and I use this printer and assuming my page count guesstimate is right. I will go POD if I have to but while cheaper for me I'll make less profit per unit and the book will cost more.
  6. ISBN block - We can't buy single ISBNs in the UK and a block of 10 costs £118.68 (about $190).
There are other incidental costs - some of which might raise eyebrows (Passport fees and a ticket to the Amerian Embassy in London for example (it's a tax thing))  but these are the major ones I can think of right now.

So all things considered perhaps a starting target of $2000 to cover the developmental edit and cover art with any extra going to the other stuff would be reasonable. What do people think?  I could make a little graphic to show what's been covered so far.

Perks

Regular reader Giom popped up in comments on the previous post to say he would donate :-D. He also mentioned that he's not really into print books and would rather the raw manuscript was the $25 perk. This got me thinking perhaps at $25 I can give peeps a choice of the manuscript or a signed print copy and at $40 they get both. Thoughts?

[personal profile] inventrix suggested stickers as part of the perks. This isn't a bad idea. Or maybe I could commission postcard art or bookmarks. She also suggested allowing higher level donators to name a lesser character. Meilin did this as well and it's certainly possible.


Publicity

Thanks to everyone who said that they would signal boost.

I've been wondering about doing a blog tour - similar to the book launch ones that some authors do - but pitching to crowdfunding blogs. Again thoughts?

--

I did have a bunch off useful links but I think I'll do a seperate link post.

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Introduction

IndieGoGo, for those of you who don't know, is a crowdfunding platform similar to Kickstarter but with two massive advantages from my point of view.
  1. Unlike Kickstarter it's not all or nothing - so even if you don't fund fully you get whatever you raise minus fees.
  2. It's open to UK peeps whereas Kickstarter is US only. I am, of course, a UK peep so this is kind of an important consideration.
So, I'm thinking of starting an IndieGoGo campaign in April (the new tax year for the sake of my sanity). However I suspect success requires planning, so here's the first of what is likely to become a series of planning posts. Signal boosts and comments are welcome (and indeed requested) as raising awareness before the campaign is also important.


Background

The project I am planning to do a campaign for is "Haventon Born" which is the first book of my Paranormal Fantasy weblit series "The Haventon Chronicles" which is posted on my website every Tuesday (I'm currently in the middle of chapter 8). The version on the site is not a first draft by any stretch (4th or 5th I think) and it's already gather quite a few readers who I see in my stats every week. I would eventually like to release it as an ebook and possibly even a print book. To make the release attractive to those who've already read it for free on my website it will also contain an exclusive short story - Moonlight and Memories - which is set in the same continuity. Before that I'd like to get both a professional story edit followed by a professional copy edit. A book release would also need cover art and layout work. These things cost money which I do not have. having watched the recent success of Meilin Miranda's Kickstarter Campaign it seems like a reasonable thing to try. It costs nothing, so I have little to lose. However I cartainly have less readers than she does so I'm not sure what my chances of success are (better than if I don't try I guess).


Potential Perks

So if I'm to do this I need to come up with some cool perks for various levels. I don't want to steal Meilin's wholesale. It would be rude and I doubt anyone would pay £1000 for a Skype chat with me anyway. However I do like the manuscript idea  - hopefully she won't mind if I borrow that. So here's what I'm thinking so far:

$1     My perpetual gratitude and regular updates.
$5     A code to get the ebook half price when it is released.
$10   An ebook copy in the format of your choice available one week before the official launch. (You still get the code for the half price one as well).
$25   As above plus a signed copy of the paperback version posted two weeks before the official book launch (I've set this at $25 in consideration of international shipping costs). Mention in the credits.
$40   As above plus the raw manuscript as soon as the editing is finalized.

This is as far as I've got so far and I really need some higher level ones. Once again suggestions are welcome.

Other Considerations


Publicity - I need a plan of attack to bring people to the campaign - any campaign will languish if no one is aware of it. I also need a campaign video - something I have no idea how to go about.

Target
- I'm thinking $1500 much like Meilin's Kickstarter target. It seems like a good start towards costs.


What I Need To Know


If you are reading this could you take a moment to comment and answer the following questions.

1. Will you contribute to the campaign once I start it? (If yes, no need to say how much this is just about yays and nays)
2. Even if the answer to 1 is nay will you signal boost the campaign? (If so I would like to know where if you don't mind saying).

Wrapping Up

As I said above please signal boost this post if you're willing. More eyeballs will help build awareness before the campaign and that's very important. More eyeballs should also mean more feedback and that will help me create a better campaign and thus increase my chances of success.


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February 2018

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