r/books discussion

Since the rise of the internet, self-publishing has become more common allowing people to write books on a far larger array of topics than before, many have also used crowdfunding to support their writing efforts such as this set of short stories I recently backed (mainly because it was $1 and an interesting medium and genre but mainly the $1 :P )

I think that while it is good because it allows for far more books to be written, the problem is that the books can often be of low quality as the writers forgo the use of an editor etc. (not always, but often). See: Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That's OK: How to Survive the Economic Collapse and Be Happy for an example of a good book, harmed by the lack of judicious editing - that was funded by indiegogo rather than Kickstarter but the idea is the same.

Anyway what do you think about it and the effects it might have on normal publishing and books - also do you know of any decent crowdfunding projects you want to mention?

I have not bought (of which I am aware) a self-published, crowdfunded book yet but I think it's a great idea. I have read autobiographies of some writers and they keep pounding the fact that it's really hard to get into the literary arena. Crowdfunding seems a good stepping stone for good but financially-lacking authors to put their books into the public. I do not mind the influx of bad books if it means that we get to see gems rise to the public consciousness too.

True - I mean there are plenty of awful books published via traditional means in any case :P

This is news to me though. It's great. Has this been going for a while? Crowdfunding a book, I mean.

I like this topic. I am a self-published author and have never heard of crowdfunding. I was fortunate to find a publisher interested in my latest book and am hopeful that the frustrations of anonymity and poor sales will be in the past, but will continue likely to self-publish as well in the meantime. I have been using the free services of Kindle Direct Publishing and Smashwords, primarily the former (Rusty Trimble is my author name) and it allows international eBook sales, but without some press, my success has been elusive. I will have to look up crowdfunding. Any info you can share is welcome.

Hi everyone! I have tried it for my self-published book. :)
Via Indiegogo.com because it allowed projects not based in the US.

My findings:

1) Unless you're making comics (highly visual stuff are attractive) or an established author, strangers funding a book project is unlikely.

2) Crowd sourcing is a business (their business, to be exact). Here's a Catch-22 scenario:

The site, whether Kickstarter or Indiegogo, will feature you in their newsletters and landing page ONLY if you've made money already—not while you're just starting to campaign for it. Which means...

3) Be prepared to whore yourself in all your social circles. Sorry for the word, but it's really the right one. No one will magically discover your project unless you tell (nag!) people about it.

4) It all begins with relatives and friends. Not strangers.

5) Your target goal, whether it is preposterous or too little, hardly matters. People will support a project they believe in. Of course, we're talking about a book project here. Not some high-tech contraption.

6) Indiegogo's advantage over Kickstarter: you can decide to use the funds accumulated even if the goal wasn't reached.

7) Linking to your Paypal account is better than the bank. When someone funds your project through Paypal, it appears immediately on your account. If through the bank, this will appear several days AFTER the project ends. If you need revolving funds while you're working on your novel, Paypal is the way to go.

I'll try to recall what other lessons I learned if you guys would like to know more about it. :)