Kick-Start Your Bookshelf | How To Find (Great) Indie Books
And We’re Off
Frosthaven, Nemesis, Avatar, 7 th Continent, Shadowrun, Exploding Kittens…
If you are a board gamer (which I am) or a tabletop role-playing game nerd (guilty) these games will sound familiar and you likely already know that they originally launched into the gaming world via Kickstarter.
As some of their very biggest campaigns ever.
And you are probably already lurking their egame selling halls looking for Your Next Favorite Game. (Hello UNDER GROVE designed by Elizabeth Hargrave who also did WINGSPAN – I have grand hopes for you…Your campaign is complete and now I’m gazing longingly at my mailbox…)
And though Kickstarter started out as a cool place to help people achieve their odd and unique projects, from Period Panties to a documentary about Spock and Leonard Nimoy’s life made by his son, Kickstarter has now become heavily known as THE place for new and upcoming GAMES!
But did you know…
That Kickstarter’s #1 most funded campaign is not a game. Or a movie. Or a strange, yet effective, undergarment.
Nope! It is…
"Isn’t the eggnog just a little bit creamier, the ginger cookies a little snappier, the Christmas tree just a little bit brighter with the wait?"
A Book
That’s right!
$41.7 million. One book campaign on Kickstarter.
That got some people’s attention.
From readers to Kickstarter themselves.
Who are now doing a major focus on the book side of Kickstarter. Encouraging authors and publishers to launch their new titles as a Kickstarter.
And include a whole lot of fun goodies in their campaigns as well!
Now many author fan bases, mostly indie authors and not-traditional-publishing authors (see as the whys about that here) are expecting to see the next book in the series, or from a favorite author, to roll through Kickstarter. And fans are excited about it!
I can’t get enough cool fan merch, myself.
(Look, UNDER GROVE, a little board game about growing mushrooms I backed at the end of November 2023. It is now July 2024 and I still get an electric thrill when I think about the Kickstarter exclusive set of Christmas tree designed tree figurines – four tiny balsa wood and paint trees each about 1.5 inches tall - I will be getting that doesn’t come with the regular game when it is released. What!?!)
(I also love Christmas so it wasn’t a hard sell to get me giddy about it.)
(And they are really cute…)
Anyways – little fun merch that really boosts and adds excitement into what would normally be a simple stand in line, here’s my CC, slip it in a plastic bag, have a nice day sort of experience.
Or even less thrilling…
Amazon app.
CLICK.
Search for “Author.”
CLICK.
“Buy Now.”
CLICK.
Bubble mailer arrives…
…that strangely either opens like butter or you have to take a flame thrower to it to part the seam.
Wait For It…Wait For It…
It could be considered a negative that you have to wait for your book – that you don’t have that instant gratification of a store purchase.
But let’s go back to the Christmas analogy.
And that it’s July.
I can’t wait until Christmas!!!
But I have to every year. It’s that savory “Arg, I want it now” that makes it all the more special and festive and valuable when I do get it.
I think something is lost with this instant culture. The waiting. The earning of things. Value is what you put into something, what it means to you. Relationships themselves, emotions and bonding between people, are born over, what?
Time.
And with this comes a great sweeter thrill than if you simply thought of wanting something, pressed a button and had it.
Anticipation. Built-up desire. Time.
Isn’t the eggnog just a little bit creamier, the ginger cookies a little snappier, the Christmas tree just a little bit brighter with the wait?
Isn’t cool water the most delicious thing you have ever tasted when you are hot, winded, and thirsty?
Surprise, it’s Christmas
One of my favorite things is to go to my mailbox and see a key sitting on another credit card offer and an ad for $2 off Arby’s curly fries when you buy more cheesy meaty concoctions than I could ever eat.
Yep, the blessed key to a treasure that is too big for my little mail slot and could be of any size.
And then I wiggle the rusted key (salty coast air) into the lock and get it to turn.
And there inside…
A mystery box!
Is it the monthly toilet paper order? The box of printer paper I forgot I ordered?
Or is it…
Actual treasure?
That incredible book set with goodies from one of My Favorite Books from one of My Favorite Authors that I had backed months ago and I have been looking forward to getting for so long that I can’t help but squeeing in delight and do a little happy jig while sprinting home! (And sprinting while dancing a jig at the same time takes skill, especially while holding a large and oddly weight distributed box in your arms.)
(I have done that. I almost biffed it too. But I was so happy I would have just bounced off the ground - blood, parking lot gravel and all - and continued on my merry way!)
Everybody, Start Your Lurking
So jump on Kickstarter and look at what’s in there.
You may be surprised with how many of your authors are already in there.
Or how many new Favorite Authors are ready to be discovered.
And there are more and more every day!
And any moment you could back the campaign that ends up being…
Your Next Favorite Book. (Now with goodies!)
BTW - So many of you backed our Ghost of A Chance Kickstarter!
(You know who you are.)
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
More to come next week, dear readers.
I wish you joy!
Stephanie Writt
Writer, instructor, graphic artist and all around lovely soul, with a generous sense of humor (yes, I am totally writing this myself), takes delight in sharing her geeky knowledge and ridiculous joy in reading, writing and business. As the current Director of Operation at WMG Publishing Inc., she has the privilege and mischievous pleasure in writing this blog every week.
Want To Know How To Create a Kickstarte? It's Directed Toward Writers, But It Is Also FREE!
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