I wrote this post a couple weeks ago, and it just came up in the queue. The Kickstarter ended up funding at over 320%, and I am working now on fulfilling the rewards. I feel like I did learn a lot, and I am still learning as I move through the fulfillment process.
As of late this morning the Kickstarter is officially over 300% funded.
I have learned several things from this experience, which I will touch on in the coming weeks, but today I want to talk about the lesson that goes with the quote I shared earlier today.
This refers to the Quote of the Day, an irregular feature of the Patreon channel, which is not normally shared here. But since I reference it, here is the quote in question: “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.”
Carrie Fisher
I finished this book last fall with the intention of running a Kickstarter for it before releasing it through all the usual channels. But by the time we got through copy editing and cover design there wasn't time to design and launch the campaign before the distraction of the holidays. Not MY distraction, but the backers' distractions.
If I wanted to be successful, I needed to take timing into consideration. So I put off the launch until spring and worked on other things. There were several other projects to take up my time, but early this year as I was planning work schedules, travel, and various other deadlines I realized I had to put the Kickstarater on the calendar or it would never happen.
I set the dates, telling myself everything would be fine. I could do this. I just needed to spend a little time going over what I had learned and applying it to my campaign.
Soooo much easier said than done! I read and re-read the guide I purchased from a friend who has run several very successful campaigns. I watched and re-watched Teachable videos from another very successful campaigner.
Pro tip: Never hesitate to access any and all resources. Both of these creators have been beyond generous with their time and experience. They are prime examples of the "be kind to newbies" advice I have given, and they both adhere to the philosophy of "pay it forward."
(Segue off-ramp, ignore if you already know this: "Pay it forward" is the idea that we can never "pay back" the help, encouragement, and advice we receive from those ahead of us on the creative path - because they are ahead of us. But while we can't pay it back, we can pay it forward by helping, encouraging, and advising those coming along behind us. Now back to your regularly scheduled post.)
But as the time to launch drew nearer fear crept in around the edges. What if I made a mistake? If my video was horrible? If I set the goal too high? If my reward levels were not right, and I lost money? Or I set them too high for the backers? Maybe I should wait and try to build up my social media followers? Did I need to have a better mailing list before we launched?
Yeah, I can do anxiety and second-guessing with the best of them!
I kept plugging along, juggling reward levels, picking stretch goals, deciding on add-ons. So much to think about! So many decisions!
Eventually though, the launch date arrived, I swallowed hard, shoved the fear to the back of my mind, and pushed the launch button.
Nothing blew up.
Nobody hunted me down and made me stop.
Nobody complained about the costs.
In fact, the campaign funded in just a few hours.
Yes, it was a low ask, which made funding easier, but that was completely deliberate. I mean, we were planning to publish the book even if the Kickstarter didn't fund. The book was written, we'd purchased the art, the cover was designed, we'd done the editing - it was ready to go, with or without the Kickstarter. Even if it didn't fund I could publish, and that all by itself was a success.
Si, in a nutshell, I moved ahead in spite of the fear. I set a goal that would feel successful, even if it was small. I gave myself permission to be afraid and DO IT ANYWAY.