It's been a rough week on both the home front and in the world.
The FIL is in the hospital with a broken hip. Putin is ordering hospitals and theaters blown up. Omicron is sweeping through Asia.
And I'm trying to write the second book in what is supposed to be a lighthearted fantasy series.
I've been doing my best to stay off the news cycle, but it's hard to avoid everything. Family and friends have been calling and texting in their efforts to distract themselves. Last night, my sprinting partner and I ended up talking publishing industry gossip because both of us were worn out from our week.
And I can't help but wonder about the adage, "Those that forget history are doomed to repeat it."
My grandparents were all born in the '10's and '20's of last century. My oldest grandparent remembered the Spanish Flu and WWI. They all lived through the Great Depression, and it severely affected their views on money and food.
And they were all adults, married with children, when WWII broke out.
The other night, DH and I had to explain the nuclear war drills when we were in grade school. At GK's birth, I thought he wouldn't have to worry about that shit.
Boy, was I wrong!
I find myself watching repeats of Friends. The '90's seem to be the one relatively stable time in my life. Which means only two of my grandparents ever saw any stability in their entire lives. Except the '90's was when their health really went downhill. They both passed in the next decade. So maybe their view may be a lot different than mine.
If you feel the need to do something to help Ukaine (and I don't mean harassing refugees by proselytizing them), may I suggest World Central Kitchen?
World Central Kitchen #Chefs for Ukraine - https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine
A lot of people I've talked to who have done Kickstarters said that it takes two-three days for the folks at Kickstarter to approve a campaign. So, I'll have an extra couple of days to meet my goal.
Soccer Mom of the Apocalypse is a brand-new, four-novel series about four suburban women who are tapped to be the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
You can get these books early through my Kickstarter Campaign.
Plus, backers will get the prequel novella Apocalypse? Not Now! with the minimum pledge of $1.00. The novella and other swag will never be offered again.
This week, I've been busy finalizing my very first Kickstarter for my new series Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse! I'm so excited! The official launch date is March 15th, but the preview page is active! Click here to check it out!
Today, I need to redo my video. Statistically, a personal appeal will more likely to get your project funded. And the current video is the...well, I'm not sure, but I did over a hundred takes over the course of three days last weekend. I admit me and cameras are not friends. The people who critiqued my previous video tried to be kind, but I sounded like a hypervetilating hippo.
And that was the best take out of over a hundred.
I know some folks are almost as excited about this series as I am, but I won't be putting up the preorders on the retail sites until after the Kickstarter ends on April 5th. Also the prequel novella Apocalypse? Not Now! is only available through the Kickstarter. So if you want your books early plus the exclusive novella, think about supporting my kickstarter!
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!
DH already volunteered to sponsor and host a family. We have two spare bedrooms. I'd planned to use one for my OOAK dolls. So I haven't unpacked any more of my material, thread, and Barbies and Jem dolls in desperate need of a makeover.
We figured out what needs to be removed, and we'll borrow the spare full-sized bed from my father-in-law's Victorian, so there will be two beds in the sewing room for extra kidlets.
Surprisingly, I've managed to get quite a bit done as far as writing and publishing goes despite being a news junkie.
The last thing I need to do for my upcoming Kickstarter is my introductory video. I hate being photographed or filmed, but this is a necessity. And first, I need to dye my hair blue. Electric blue.
I love being a blue-haired grandma!
But with indie publishing, the only real question is whether the reader likes your story. And the only way to know that is to get your book into the reader's hands.
Which means you have got to try different marketing techniques.
The big issue is that a particular method will work for some people and not for others. And the only to know if a particular way will work for you is if you try it. That's why I'm getting ready to launch a Kickstarter next week.
I've supported 29 Kickstarters over the last eleven years, ranging from a spoken word artist to a stuffed animal that would be perfect for Adorable Spawn's woodland-themed nursery. My own Kickstarter is an experiment to see if I can attract new readers by promoting an entire series at one time.
If I don't fund, I know I've tried my best. I'll do a post-mortem to figure out where I went wrong. Will I try again? I won't know until after the post-mortem.
My bigger fear is the Kickstarter is too successful. I can handle sending out a hundred packages. What happens if I have a couple of thousand packages? I'll be scrambling for some help.
But I won't know what will happen until I try it. And that's what life is all about.
