How do you find new crowdfunded projects?

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

When you decide to hunt for something new in cyberfunded creativity, how do you do that?  What do you search for?  Do you go hunting for one main criterion, or a set of several important criteria together?  If you use multiple approaches, which do you think you use the most often or consider the most important?

• Do you look for a genre?  ("I want some new science fiction.  I don't care if it's long or short, text or webcomic.")


• Do you look for a format?  ("I want to pick up a new web serial.  I don't care what genre or crowdfunding model it is.")


• Do you look for a particular crowdfunding model?  ("I have some money to spend on a creative person whose work impresses me, whatever that is.  I'm going to browse some site that lists project pitches.")


• Do you look for something by someone you know?  ("I want to support a friend.  I want to pick up a new project by someone I already know.  I don't care what it is.  Who's got something fresh?")


• Do you look for reviews, ratings, recommendations?  Do you ask your friends what they are enjoying?  ("I don't know what I'm in the mood for.  Somebody point me to something great.")


• Do you look for a big heap of projects that you can peruse until something grabs your interest?  ("I have an oyster knife, and I want a bucket of oysters so I can find me some pearls.  Give me some oysters and get out of my way!")

We're working on ideas for a crowdfunding hub site.  Hopefully it will include a lot of different ways for people to find what they want.  It occurred to me that, for designing a main menu, it might be helpful to have an idea of how people typically look for new projects.  That way, if there is a clearly preferred approach, we can aim to accommodate it.

Comments

[stryck.livejournal.com]

I haven't separated how I find these projects from how I find other web-based products. Often, it's because I was linked to a site, then saw something else on that site to interest me and clicked through. Sometimes, it was recommended directly.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I want to be able to combine those criteria (new science fiction in ABC format, for instance, or ABC format books with really good reviews -- or both simultaneously, even). Searching by just one criterium often results in way too many results.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That sounds useful. Perhaps some kind of search page with boxes to check? There are market guide databases online like that, where you can indicate the parameters of your story (length, genre, etc.) and get a list of eligible markets.

MeiLin, can Drupal set up for a multiple-parameter search like that?

Re: Hmm...

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a former reference librarian, I can tell you that multiple parameters in each search is pretty much standard for library catalogs. You might want to peruse your local library's catalog for ideas before you start reinventing the wheel [g].

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Ah, but I'm not the one building the wheel! I'm just ordering it. MeiLin is building it, and she clearly knows what she's doing. She was able to read the list of requested features and say, "Yeah, Drupal can do all that." So if multiple-search is a feature, she'll figure out a sensible way to do it, including if it's something that can be taken straight out of the box like several other requested features.

You know, I just realized ... I don't think I've used a library search function since they were computerized. I grew up on card catalogs. By the time computers were coming in, I didn't need the gear anymore. I just walked to the books I wanted.

Re: Hmm...

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Well, the inventor isn't always the builder [g].

I just thought it might help to compare what might work in a computerized search function for literature with some that are already proven to work, is all.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

You're probably right; research is a good thing. I'm not sure how helpful it would be for me to do the looking, unless MeiLin says, "What do you want this thing to look like? Go browse some examples."

[iamtheelfinpoet.livejournal.com]

I will be looking by genre. In my case, personally, poetry.

[stonetalker.livejournal.com]

First, I look at a category. No point me wading through reams of writing if I am looking to support a jeweler.

Secondly, I look for something by someone I know. I try to support my friends and local community, then I branch out into areas unfamiliar to me, but which might have been recommended to me by a friend.

If no friends have recommendations, I look for reviews, ratings, feedback, and anything else that might help me check the reputation of the seller.

Was that the sort of information you were seeking?

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get, especially since you stacked them in order.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

This would be my method of choice, too.

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

I would go for genre and recs (recommendations). And I am also keen to know about new projects that have merit.

[red-trillium.livejournal.com]

Before wyld_dandelyon I didn't know anything about crowdfunding (in the electronic space at least, I am familiar with street buskers). Now I look for stuff by people I know/have read before or recommendations by people I know/have read before. After that I look at genre and length.

I like the idea of a hub of crowdfunding projects. I don't have a lot of time to look for or read crowdfunding right now but I like the idea of being able to find it easily and quickly.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Your input is helpful. I've also added you to my Friends list.