A Creative Pivot To Stagger You

Put this idea into your list of possibilities.

I have made a decision that will surprise you. You are the first, besides my husband, to know.

I’ve decided to launch my new book using Kickstarter. This is a nonfiction book about two things necessary for great writing—the craft of it and the magic of it. It’s called Craft & Current: A Manual for Magical Writing.

Photo by Shannon Hartford, Quantum Flow Photos, used by agreement.

Why Kickstarter?

Why not find a publisher? Why not offer the manuscript to one of the fine presses I’ve worked with in the past? Or find a new one?

Why do crowd-funding?

After All

Crowd-funding feels weird. I’ve done a few crowd-funding campaigns. That’s how we all put a new roof on Cedar Grove Church, the historic building under restoration in my community.

So I thought that, like Indiegogo and others, Kickstarter was a crowd-funder for private medical bills and new school playgrounds, stuff like that.

But no. Turns out, Kickstarter has changed. It’s a product launcher, a crowd-funding app for launching products.

Indie Me

I am independently publishing this book.

To get a book into the world requires a bit of cash. I’ve hired a book designer, purchased apps, bought audio equipment for an audiobook, and designed a postcard mailer. Marketing is going to require some funds. A modicum, but some.

Having a little influx right here at the start of the book will (hopefully) cover some of these expenses. I say “hopefully” because there’s always the chance that the campaign will not fund.

❤️

This book is close to my soul. I loved writing it. The writing took years, yes, but I stretched it out on purpose too. I kept learning new things about craft, and I kept putting them in the draft. Then I had an epiphany about magic, about how necessary it is for great writing, and then I revised the entire book to add my thoughts and suggestions on accessing the mysterium.

Sometimes after you work hard on a project it will lose its gloss, but this book has never lost its shine for me. I don’t think it will for others either. I believe in the book, and I’m happy and eager to share it.

Gather

I’d like to help the book find its people.

Of course only a rare and small sliver of folks are going to want a book about someone

• being on fire for writing

• wanting to talk writing day and night

• wanting to know everything they can about writing

• wanting to share everything they know.

Of course all of us here are the book’s people—or you wouldn’t be here. And there are other people in the world like us. Where to find them?

No Charity

Six months ago I needed to purchase a scanner for our Archives. I found a new version with gadgets and upgrades, and when I clicked to buy it, the button sent me to Kickstarter. The company was using Kickstarter to launch this new digital scanner.

Kickstarter is exactly for this, for gathering like-minded people to be part of the launch of something they feel good to be part of. Something they believe will help them and help others.

I hope that fits for you. If it does, I thank you.

If it doesn’t, I thank you too.

What Next?

The Kickstarter will launch in early June and run for 11 days. I don’t want to feel stressed for weeks about sending people to Kickstarter and trying to reach a target. (On Kickstarter, if you don’t reach your goal, you get nothing.) I’ve set my target money goal at $1962, which is an amount that will cover expenses and is low enough to reach and also happens to be my birth year.

Pre-Launch

Kickstarter now has a wonderful feature. It’s a pre-launch page.

You can go to this page and click that you’re interested in the project, then Kickstarter will notify you when the project goes live.

Here’s the button.

As Well

I also decided to do a Kickstarter because of a fantasy writer named Brandon Sanderson who broke all records with a campaign in March of 2022. He promised to deliver 4 novels to his readers within a year, and he set a goal of $1M. His Kickstarter raised $41M.

I don’t have any secret fantasies of 41M for a little book on writing magic. Not even 41K.

But there’s a system of backers on Kickstarter and I’d like to try it. Some of us may be over there looking for interesting projects to support.

First

People who back the Kickstarter campaign will be the first folks to get a copy of the book. The first and the fastest way to get the manual will be through Kickstarter. It will be months before I upload it to Amazon, if I ever do.

And the price will be the same on Kickstarter as anywhere else.

You just get it first and fast.

Now

Have you done a Kickstarter? Did you meet your goal? Any to-dos or not-to-dos? Have you ever backed a Kickstarter campaign?