Analyzing a Failed Fiction Project

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Recently I made an attempt at crowdfunding with fiction. It did not work. You may find the post-project analysis useful.

Has anyone else had experience with crowdfunding projects that just totally failed to get off the ground? What do you think went wrong?

Comments

Re: Hmm...

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

I am wondering aloud here, feel free to ignore if I am a little offside. :)

To me, there is a certain degree of give-and-take when it comes to art or writing or any creative projects. Our audience doesn't have to validate us, but as artists/writers/creative people, we have to know that our art is indeed working and not just in a vacuum. Art doesn't exist in a vacuum.

What if we keep on giving? What's our reward? True, satisfaction is one. But what else do we get?

Just thoughts. I have to attend my daughter's Primary One registration/orientation session.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I think you have a point. Most people have things they want to get out of writing, beyond just the satisfaction of having done it. You have to understand what it is that you want and how you plan to get it. But you can't demand that people give it to you, or you'll drive them away. You have to do your job well enough that they want to help you meet your goals, whatever those are.

Re: Hmm...

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

But you can't demand that people give it to you, or you'll drive them away. You have to do your job well enough that they want to help you meet your goals, whatever those are.

Just so. It is not your right to extort their cooperation or interest. And praise given under duress is worthless.

Re: Hmm...

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I don't think we necessarily get anything else.

That's my point. It's not about what we want. It's about what happens, most of the time.

My art advisor teaches a required course at the art college for all outbound students called "Real World", where he attempts to prepare them for the realities of working as an artist. One of his key points is that ours is a culture that does not appreciate art; it understands the value of it implicitly (no one wants to live in a world without music or books or movies or tv or graphic design or art), but it doesn't know how to express that valuation, nor does it really care to learn, all that much. So to survive as an artist, something else has to keep you going, because if you need external validation you're going to run into your first dry spell and decide, "Heck with this, I'm going to do something else."

"Artists," he likes to tell me, "are survivors. If they're still making art in this culture, it's because they're tough."

So while theoretically I agree with you, that it's nice to get something more directly connecting from your audience, in practice if you can't go without it, you will stop making art.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>I don't think we necessarily get anything else.<<

I think we should, because other professions do. But people seem to feel free to take creative material without giving anything in return. That attitude contributes to many problems in the industry, such as publishers holding onto writers' money. Professionals get paid. If they're not, that's a problem.