Setting up Your Book’s Kickstarter Campaign

kickstarter logoHere we are, once again! The other day, I covered some of the basics about Kickstarter. By now you should have figured out what you’re campaigning, how much it’s going to cost you, what Kickstarter amount you’ll need to reach your actual goal, what rewards you’re going to have, and how much all of this is going to cost you on the back end in fees, shipping, packaging, and production. Congratulations! You’ve made it this far, but the fun isn’t over yet. There are still a couple things you need, or should at least consider, before you make your Kickstarter campaign. So that I have something to give you as a reference, this is my Kickstarter that is currently running. Later I’ll have screenshots of the before process, but I wanted to give you the finished result to gauge by.

The Video Introduction

Do you need to do this step? Well, as Kickstarter puts it, Continue reading “Setting up Your Book’s Kickstarter Campaign”

Kickstarter to the Heart and Crowdfunding’s to Blame

kickstarter logoKickstarter is a crowdfunding site where one puts up a project, in my case a horror novel, sets a goal, chooses rewards for the backers of the project, and designs the look of the campaign page through a series of easy to figure out, fill in the blank, sections. That’s the easy part. The hard part is the frantic madness that is screaming across the internet landscape, “HEY, LOOK AT ME, I NEED YOUR MONEY AND I PROMISE TO GIVE YOU THINGS!”

Why Crowdfunding? Continue reading “Kickstarter to the Heart and Crowdfunding’s to Blame”

Writing and Underwear: More Is Better

underwear and writing - underwear hanging on a lineIt makes sense that, with financial investments and underwear, you shouldn’t try to go through life with just one, right? This sort of logic is the direction I’ve taken with writing as well. Writing, for me, has never been about making the great American novel, or trying to be the best-selling novelist of all time. It’s been a means to an end. I like to create, and this particular craft suits me. If an opportunity comes my way, there’s very little chance I’ll say no. With that in mind, I don’t expect everyone to read this article without hesitation. After all, we all have different aspirations, and some of you out there are more driven towards specific goals. Still, you should hear me out. Continue reading “Writing and Underwear: More Is Better”

Author Tips: Smart Marketing with Twitter

I don’t want to share my marketing genius!

Guest Post
by Nicholas Forristal

So, you wish to know my kung fu? No? Oh, you want to know what I’m doing with twitter these days. Fine, I guess we can discuss that.

What I’m doing takes a combination of a twitter account (preferably two accounts), a website with a solid front page, Hootsuite, and a little time. It doesn’t have to be Hootsuite, but it’s free and works really well, so that’s what I use.

If you haven’t heard of Hootsuite, it’s, among other things, a website to automate tweets. (Indies Unlimited has an article about Hootsuite that might help explain.) I have a text file full of different quotes from reviews, goofy statements and book related topics to use as tweets at any given time. With Hootsuite, using the “Past Scheduled” section under “Publisher”, it takes me all of ten minutes to set up a week’s worth of posts. That’s one post per hour from 4am to 8 or 9pm. Why 4am? The UK is five or so hours ahead of us and I do fairly well overseas. My latest book, released yesterday (at this writing), is #7 in Asian Myths and Legends and 66,813 overall. Not “OMG I CAN STOP WORKING” good, but it’s selling. Continue reading “Author Tips: Smart Marketing with Twitter”