Anyone tried crowdfunding?

Baz@rr

Hi all,

I'm trying to raise money for a comic-book project I've written, and was wondering if anyone had any experience of crowdfunding?

For those who don't know, crowdfunding is where lots of people online donate small amounts of money which is then used to fund some sort of project, usually an artistic one, but not always. In return for their donation, they quite often get 'perks' - exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the work in progress, goodie bags, a 'thank you' in the finished product, etc, etc. Some people have great success with it, but others never raise a penny. I suppose, like everything, it's the work you put in that makes the difference.

There are a few sites out there - Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and now Unbound, a UK-based site which is just for books, and which just funded Terry Jones' new book. Just wondered if anyone had used them before? My own project is on IndieGoGo. It has been up for about 36 hours now and has raised $330, which I'm quite impressed by. Still a long way to go, though.

B.

paddyrg

The vast majority of projects only make money for the crowdsource website (who take a slice)

Most projects expire long before they get anything like the target money

Of those that do make it, the cost of fulfilling all the promises (DVD's, posters, signed stuff, special screenings, copies, etc) is so high that it actually becomes a big cost and makes it an expensive way to finance a project.

BTW be aware many people on the front pages of things like Kickstarter will 'seed' their own projects to make them look busy and get the front page spots hoping to attract more people.

Baz@rr

Thanks for the reply. Very interesting.

I know what you mean about the costs involved in the rewards. I've seen some campaigns offering the moon on the stick in return for a few quid, which is madness.

The campaign I'm running offers very little in the way of physical "things", but contributors can get the original artwork from the comic, PDFs of the issues, and even the chance to be drawn in as a character. None of these require any real outlay from ourselves to provide. There are also some limited edition prints of the artwork, which cost about £1-£2 to produce and send out.

It's an interesting concept, though, and it seems to work for some people, at least.

paddyrg

Baz@rr wrote: »

It's an interesting concept, though, and it seems to work for some people, at least.

Some...but very few!

Actually I think you're in the right sector to possibly be one of those few - the giveaways are cheaper as you say, and £3000 goes nowhere shooting drama, but could go a long way in publishing a graphic novel.

Have you actually *finished* any comicbooks in the past? Investors will want to see not just your great idea and skill, but that you will follow through!

paddyrg

Another thought, and kinda where these schemes come unstuck a bit...

If I have a grand to invest somewhere, using kickstarter or similar (who topslice) to buy credits in a project is not in the same league as owning a slice of the intellectual property or a slice of the recoupment model. This means these sites are not investors, but sponsors/patrons, so will tend to be pinmoney as opposed to serious investment.