My Kickstarter Campaign Blew My Mind!

My Kickstarter campaign for Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse ended last night. The final pledge amount was $7,639. Yep, $7000 over my original goal.

I'm well aware this isn't a typical publishing campaign on the platform. Soccer Moms rode the slipstream of Brandon Sanderson's record-breaking Kickstarter for four brand-new novels.

However, this was my experiment to see if Kickstarter was a viable alternative revenue generator for my books. Adjusting for the Brandon effect, I believe my experiment succeeded in its original goal.

The work isn't finished yet with the ending of the campaign. In fact, the real work is just beginning. I'm getting the same thrill I get when gift-giving, and I really hope all these new readers love my stories.

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone Is a Good Thing!

That Kickstarter campaign for the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse series was me stepping outside of my comfort zone to try a new avenue for getting my stories out to the public.

Honestly, all I wanted was to make enough to pay my cover artist, my formatter, and my editor for helping me get me get the four books out this year.

And then everything blew up last Friday with Brandon Sanderson promoting a bunch of campaigns, including mine. Because of that attention, Kickstarter has blessed me with the "Projects We Love" label.

Once again, I find myself outside of my comfort zone. In a good way though. I'm jumping into audiobooks now rather than 2024 (which was the original date on my business plan). Darling Husband and I were considering driving out to see Genius Kid and Adorable Spawn this fall. If we do go, I'll be in the back seat, typing away on the extra projects.

It's not a question of getting everything done. I'm nervous that all these new people won't like my stuff. Yes, we writers are an anxiety-prone lot, and I am no exception.

Everything is thrilling and scary and glorious at the same time. I'm just hoping I and my work live up to expectations.

(She says while in the middle of a scene where the twelve-year-olds are trying to gross each other out.)

One Crazy Week

Last Monday, my campaign for Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse funded its initial goal of $600. The problem was I knew who had pledged the money that tipped me over the goal.

And one of Kickstarter's terms and conditions is that you don't name your backers.

The rest of the week I got a few more pledges so when I went to bed at 5 AM on Friday, my campaign was nearly at $700. I was satisfied it funded. When I stumbled out of the bedroom at 3:30 PM and retrieved some caffeine, my phone was buzzing every minute or so. While I waited for my laptop to boot up, I started checking texts, voicemail, and email on the phone. And then, the computer started dinging as I logged into various communication and social programs.

My benefactor had outted himself, and it was none other than Brandon Sanderson. He not only donated to Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse but 316 other publishing campaigns. He and his team filmed themselves doing it and loaded the video onto YouTube. They mentioned Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse by name, and they made a point of posting the link to my campaign on the YouTube page.

So now I can talk about it. But Brandon tells the story better...

DH insisted we had to watch Brandon's video during dinner Friday night instead of Jeopardy!

This situation goes to prove there is a certain amount of luck involved in this crazy business. I took a major chance with an oddball series by throwing myself on the mercy of the public. And by doing so, I was in the right place at the right time for someone I don't know to shine a spotlight in my direction.

However, I owe a bigger thank you to all of Brandon's fans who took a chance on a writer they never heard of. I hope they enjoy my books!

Brandon Sanderson Breaks the Bank

I've been studying Kickstarters for the last couple of years. It's been interesting to see what artists want to accomplish, how they appeal to backers, and what kind of rewards motivate which kind of fans. All of this was in preparation to launch my own Kickstarter with a brand-new series, Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse.

In the midst of 2020, the year of isolation and hell, sci-fi/fantasy author Brandon Sanderson launched a Kickstarter to put out a a tenth anniversary, leather-bound edition of his novel The Way of Kings. His goal was $250,000.

Brandon set the record for a publishing project with $6,788,517 in pledges. His Kickstarter opened a lot of eyes about what could be possible with a campaign, including mine.

As I was finalizing my own Kickstarter for launch, Brandon started another one call Four Secret Books last Tuesday. That's right--four brand-new novels and eight swag boxes through the twelve months of 2023. His goal was $1,000,000.

Wow! I logged into Kickstarter to see how he was doing, and the pledged dollar amount was whirling like a Vegas slot machine. People were thoroughly excited about this project. To the point that on Day 3, Four Secret Books became the largest grossing Kickstarter to date.

I have the window with his project up on my laptop as I write this. He was in the $25.2M range when I started typing this post. It'll be $25.4M by the time I hit publish.

The whole thing is blowing my mind about what's possible for writers.

Of course, the whiners and naysayers have already started their trolling and bitchfests. They simply can't imagine being this successful.

But this weekend, DH and I did some brainstorming about doing something special when A Question of Balance's tenth anniversary comes up in 2026.

Crowdfunding gives us writers a way to fund and launch IP where we get the profits. It's such an awesome time to be a writer!