Alan R Marble

All right folks, the most crucial step in the pre-publishing process is upon us : our Kickstarter project is now up and running!  Here's the link : http://kck.st/RyMj4y

If you haven't been following along or just are not quite sure what Kickstarter is, let me take a moment to explain.  It's a service that allows people all over to generate some startup funds for creative projects - in my case, publishing a novel!  Anyone can peruse the project, learn more about it, and then make a financial pledge to get the project moving.  If the funding goals are met before the deadline, the project is funded and the backers get something in recompense for their pledge.  Everybody wins!

We are hoping to use the service to raise $1,500.  This money would be used to help pay for some of the initial costs of publication - the purchase of ISBNs, offset the cost of licensing artwork, some initial promotional/marketing costs, and the like.  Oh, and, of course, making sure that backers get the promised rewards for their contributions!

I'd like to take a moment to make something clear - if we fail to meet our funding goals, we aren't going to fail to publish the novel.  That is going to go forward no matter what.  The difference will be that in that case, we'll hold a private pre-sale to defray some of the more urgent costs, and have to put the other stuff, like marketing, off till I can handle the costs on my own.  Again, I will repeat - publishing the novel is not contingent upon funding, so don't worry about that!

All right, we've got that out of the way, so let's get down to specifics on what this means for you and how you can help!

First of all, every dollar counts.  If you'd like to contribute to the project but aren't really interested in the rewards, you can still pledge and opt to not receive the rewards (no idea why you'd want to skip out though!)  To that end, the project accepts pledges of as little as $1.  Even that's not a donation, and there's a reward for helping out no matter how much you can offer.

A lot of folks are looking for a way to pre-order the book, and this is how you do it.  There are a few different options available (paperback or hardcover, signed or not) as well as some nifty personalized rewards for more generous pledges.  Now, I understand that there might be some concern that the pricing here seems a little higher - that's sort of true, but not really.  Yes, the cost to pre-order a paperback copy is $15 while the list price is going to be $11.99.  But keep in mind that you get other rewards too, like the e-book copy, so it really evens out.  Plus the satisfaction of knowing you're helping out :)

If you can't help out with a pledge, that doesn't mean you can't help!  Exposure is just as important to the fundraising project as money.  Whether or not you make a pledge, the most important thing you can do is share the link to the Kickstarter page with as many people as you know, and ask them to do the same.  The more people who see it, the better chance of success.

If anyone has any questions about the fundraising, please ask and I won't  hesitate to answer!  Thank you, and wish us luck!