My Kickstarter campaign to professionally format, publish, and distribute The Catalain Book of Secrets went live Wednesday, October 1. I felt a mud puddle of emotions that first day: fear (what if no one cares?), gratitude (people care!), shame (I shouldn't ask people for help), exhilaration (I love this book!), self-doubt (what if no one else likes this book?), and an upswelling of love (people, you never cease to amaze me with your kindness and generosity).
The second day, yesterday, gratitude and love took center stage as the project reached 35% of its $12,056 goal in the first 24 hours. According to Kickstarter, 80% of projects that reach 20% of their goal end up being fully funded, so whee!
Then...
...my gratitude took a little off-roading into shame when a woman I am Facebook friends with but don't know criticized the campaign on my Facebook page. When I removed her mean-spirited post, she
messaged me this: "Very creative way to get money you might never see otherwise, but you and I both know that $12K is many, many thousands more than what's needed for publishing any book...10 books later, all backed by publishers, and you still need $12K to fund this next one? Honey, the self-publishing world has made it ULTRA easy for people to publish. Unless you want to fly to Hawaii, stay in a hotel fora month, and publish from there, you do not need $12 grand..."
Deep breath.
If you know publishing, you know that most of us midlist authors put the majority of our royalties right back into our books (conferences, traveling to signings, building a website, promoting, etc.), and you know that $12K is a very low number to design, print, distribute, and promote a book, so that part of her message didn't bother me (much). What got to me was her putting words to my secret shame that I was crossing the line, stepping out of the box, asking for too much, putting on airs. "Get back in there!" she was telling me. "People are laughing at you!"
Ouch.
I stewed in that for a good 24 hours, and you know what? Today, I'm grateful to her (though I wouldn't mind if she got gum in her hair). Her "putting me in my place" made me realize that I better get my big girl pants on, starting yesterday. Specifically, I have to believe in myself because the more I follow my dreams, the more people who don't follow theirs will see me as a target. And besides, not everyone is going to like everything I write or do. I have to develop my own internal compass, and I have to trust it. Forty-four years old isn't too late for that, right?
So, that is what this Kickstarter campaign has morphed into for me. It's absolutely about getting the book I love to its audience and it's about building buzz for it, but it's also about me finally claiming my writing without apology written on my face, mouth, or heart. I am proud of this book. It's everything I wanted it to be. It has magic, and I want to share that with as many people as I can.
p.s. As a side bonus, this campaign is also teaching me the art of receiving. Turns out I'm not great at it. I want to pay people back right away, before I even get the money, with interest. I am working on that. My goal is sincere thanks followed by trust that they know how important their support is to me. (But seriously, if I win the lottery...) Thank you to all who have visited my campaign, who have donated, and/or who have shared the campaign with others!
Link to Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1675834533/the-catalain-book-of-secrets
p.s. My next post will be about the true cost of self-publishing. :)
The second day, yesterday, gratitude and love took center stage as the project reached 35% of its $12,056 goal in the first 24 hours. According to Kickstarter, 80% of projects that reach 20% of their goal end up being fully funded, so whee!
Then...
...my gratitude took a little off-roading into shame when a woman I am Facebook friends with but don't know criticized the campaign on my Facebook page. When I removed her mean-spirited post, she
messaged me this: "Very creative way to get money you might never see otherwise, but you and I both know that $12K is many, many thousands more than what's needed for publishing any book...10 books later, all backed by publishers, and you still need $12K to fund this next one? Honey, the self-publishing world has made it ULTRA easy for people to publish. Unless you want to fly to Hawaii, stay in a hotel fora month, and publish from there, you do not need $12 grand..."Deep breath.
If you know publishing, you know that most of us midlist authors put the majority of our royalties right back into our books (conferences, traveling to signings, building a website, promoting, etc.), and you know that $12K is a very low number to design, print, distribute, and promote a book, so that part of her message didn't bother me (much). What got to me was her putting words to my secret shame that I was crossing the line, stepping out of the box, asking for too much, putting on airs. "Get back in there!" she was telling me. "People are laughing at you!"
Ouch.
I stewed in that for a good 24 hours, and you know what? Today, I'm grateful to her (though I wouldn't mind if she got gum in her hair). Her "putting me in my place" made me realize that I better get my big girl pants on, starting yesterday. Specifically, I have to believe in myself because the more I follow my dreams, the more people who don't follow theirs will see me as a target. And besides, not everyone is going to like everything I write or do. I have to develop my own internal compass, and I have to trust it. Forty-four years old isn't too late for that, right?
So, that is what this Kickstarter campaign has morphed into for me. It's absolutely about getting the book I love to its audience and it's about building buzz for it, but it's also about me finally claiming my writing without apology written on my face, mouth, or heart. I am proud of this book. It's everything I wanted it to be. It has magic, and I want to share that with as many people as I can.
p.s. As a side bonus, this campaign is also teaching me the art of receiving. Turns out I'm not great at it. I want to pay people back right away, before I even get the money, with interest. I am working on that. My goal is sincere thanks followed by trust that they know how important their support is to me. (But seriously, if I win the lottery...) Thank you to all who have visited my campaign, who have donated, and/or who have shared the campaign with others!
Link to Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1675834533/the-catalain-book-of-secrets
p.s. My next post will be about the true cost of self-publishing. :)
You know this, but I'll say it anyway. Your budget for this book is, if anything, conservative. Sure self publishing is cheap if all you want is to get a book on Amazon to say you did, but I've seen the cheap-route books. When amateur design, art, and editing smothers great content, books go unread. And that's not even getting into the marketing, printing, distribution...
ReplyDeleteAs for your troll, I don't know this person, but I do know that allowing other people's ignorance to feed our shame is very human and normal - ask any minority - and it takes a lot of strength to sift through the things that make us feel bad and separate out the constructive from the bullshit. So I'll just confirm for you that this comment falls into the bullshit bucket. In fact, in my opinion, this person worse than ignorant - this is troll behavior (Exhibit A: the Hawaii hyperbole). Trolls operate to meet their own weird ends (which in this case seems to be a self-righteousness high). They are not interested in truth or in you, and generally have no real internalized understanding that you are a real person with feelings. Let them live in their own bubble of negativity slime, and just use a little bleach if any gets on you.
In short, keep up the good work!
"...and just use a little bleach if any gets on you." :) This is good advice! Thank you for the support.
DeleteGood Golly. Writers shouldn't have to justify getting paid for the time it takes to write a book. (Never mind production costs...)
ReplyDeleteSigned, someone you're friends with on Facebook but don't actually know! ;>
I think I would like you a lot if I did know you. How do we make that happen? :)
DeleteDo a likie or two on my posts and vice versa...ought to start showing up. Doranna Durgin. Be glad to see you there. 8)
DeletePersonally I haven't had the nerve to do a Kickstarter, though I needed it for the current trilogy and that's delayed the work by quite a bit. So good on you for going for it!
I write all my books from a hotel in Hawaii and I would like her to know it's a lot less than $12K. Professionally publishing and marketing a book, however, is expensive.
ReplyDeleteJeezus, if everyone had a Clare O'Donohue in their lives, this world would be a better place. Any chance you'll be teaching workshops on how to be consistently unruffled and hilarious? Because I have ever only been able to manage one or the other at a time.
DeleteI have a Clare O'Donohue in my life, and I can tell you first hand - from the front it's unruffled and hilarious, but it's held together at the back with duct tape and lies.
DeleteI love you, Clare O'Donohue.
DeleteI'm the anti-clare-odonohue: missed the start of the Kickstarter campaign completely. But I'm on it now. Can I help you with the gum-haired woman by offering to put jam behind her knees?
ReplyDeleteDuct tape from the front, unruffled from behind? You're a perfect friend, Catriona McPherson. Thank you! And say hi to your parents from me.
DeleteUnruffled behinds? What diet does that require? Probably the one where I don't eat a bag of Ruffles any time I'm stressed, I'd bet.
ReplyDeleteJess, you do have an amazing collection of friends and supporters and I'll bet that's what tipped over that very sad and very empty individual. And uncouth. Seriously, calling anyone you don't know 'honey' if you're not a waitress at a Cracker Barrel in Gafney, South Carolina is just not done!
I'm so glad that your campaign is going wonderfully. CONGRATS!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right about the investment needed for travel, promotion, etc. My first novel cost less than $3,000 to publish, but I spent the next year investing all profits and income from other work into its promotion.
It's remarkable how one harsh remark when we're feeling vulnerable can feel like a punch in the gut… It happens so often amid the most important work that I've come to see it as a positive sign -- that often still feels like a gut punch. ;)