EMG-Zine Fundraising - Kicks off Today!
Jul. 24th, 2011 02:03 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
ellenmillion.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crowdfundingCrowdfunding isn't only applicable to fiction and artistic pursuits - it can also be used as a funding model for non-fiction!
I'm here today to kick off fundraising for the July-December 2012 run of EMG-Zine, and talk a little about the project history and future.
About the Project
EMG-Zine is a free online e-zine for writers and artists in the genre of science fiction and fantasy. It focuses on non-fiction, with business advice, tutorials, walk-throughs, interviews, information about products and services... a wealth of information for people in the business of art, and an entertaining 'zine for people who appreciate it, too, with a gallery of themed artwork and a selection of fiction and poetry every month.
It was begun in 2006 and has been running monthly (without fail!) since that time. If you glance at a calculator and do a little math, you will realize that means we've got 67 total issues! Our archives are available for browsing, and we've got a treasure trove of information for anyone looking for licensing and publishing advice, creative tips, healthy suggestions and entertaining discussion about the art of the business.
History and Budget
EMG-Zine pays its authors in spend-only credits, which I've mentioned earlier this week when talking about Torn World and Sketch Fest.
For the first five years of EMG-Zine, I paid for these credits out of my pocket, accepting EMG-Zine as something like a loss-leader for my primary business, which at that time was a large merchandise business of fantasy and science fiction art products. In November of 2011, I sat down with a calculator and looked at all of my projects with a big threatening axe in one hand. I called this my 'chopping block,' and did a complete review of EMG-Zine here, in my journal (there is a lengthy summary of the 'zine history there, as well!).
While credits aren't quite as good as actual factual cash to a contributor, they were still acting as cash out of my pocket. When I sat down and figured it up, I was losing about $150/month to support EMG-Zine, not including my time, hosting expenses, capital invested into the anthologies or periodic advertising experiments. It varied a little, because an adoption becomes mostly cash out of my pocket to pay the artist, whereas selecting one of my own art prints costs me a lot less, and we didn't have the exact same amount of material every month. But it was clear that it was a lot of expense, in addition to the work I put into it, and after 5 years (more than $10,000!), I needed to come up with a model that was not a drain on my personal finances, or end the project gracefully.
Subscriptions alone were not popular enough to sustain the 'zine, even when I added the bonus of a free advertisting banner with subscriptions. Sales of the anthology were too weak to pay back the capital invested in them, let alone help sustain the 'zine (and further anthologies have been canceled).
So, I did something that many projects take a lot less time to do: I laid out the problem to the audience and asked for their help.
Methods
One thing you will notice throughout crowdfunding of any kind is that there is rarely a single method of fundraising - combining different methods is one of the keys to crowdfunding success.
Another, as discussed in a previous post here, is the concept of giving people concrete goals, preferably with progress bars.
I had collected (some) submissions for work and set themes through the end of 2011, so I felt committed to completing the year, but I decided that I would make that the end of EMG-Zine unless I could prove that a new funding model could keep the 'zine afloat. I set up a progress bar for half my yearly expenses ($900) and announced that I would be canceling the project if I did not receive that by the end of June, 2011.
What counted towards that goal? All subscriptions, all anthology purchases and all donations (through Sketch Fest, from credits, or through a Paypal donation button). Though the former two don't count entirely as money into my pocket, neither do credits always count 100% as money out, so I considered that as close to a wash as I could manage.
Mid-May, we made our goal, and went over by enough to fund several hours of programming on the site (some of those improvements will be made next month, and the art gallery has already been upgraded)!
Funding July-December 2012
We're safe through June of next year, but not any longer than that!
$1515 / $900 total funding needed by December 2011. 17% done! If we haven't made this goal, the June 2012 issue will be our last!
Any extra earned in that time period goes to site features (I have a laundry list of things I'd like to do to make it easier to use and more rewarding for authors and artists!). If we fall short of our goal, any subscriptions that extend past our end-date will be refunded (pro-rated) and we'll end on a high note, taking our last year to really go out with a bang.
If you'd like to see this valuable resource continued, please consider supporting us in one of the many ways available! Subscriptions (with a free advertising banner in our rotation!) are available for purchase, there are three print volumes of the best of our first three years available, or you may donate through Paypal. Some pieces available through Sketch Fest go to support (or partially support) EMG-Zine. You can also submit work to the 'zine and donate all or some of your earned credits back to the project - these count towards our goals, too!
My heartfelt thanks to all of the writers, artists and supporters who have made our first six years possible! I hope we can look forward to many more!
I'm here today to kick off fundraising for the July-December 2012 run of EMG-Zine, and talk a little about the project history and future.
About the Project
EMG-Zine is a free online e-zine for writers and artists in the genre of science fiction and fantasy. It focuses on non-fiction, with business advice, tutorials, walk-throughs, interviews, information about products and services... a wealth of information for people in the business of art, and an entertaining 'zine for people who appreciate it, too, with a gallery of themed artwork and a selection of fiction and poetry every month.
It was begun in 2006 and has been running monthly (without fail!) since that time. If you glance at a calculator and do a little math, you will realize that means we've got 67 total issues! Our archives are available for browsing, and we've got a treasure trove of information for anyone looking for licensing and publishing advice, creative tips, healthy suggestions and entertaining discussion about the art of the business.
History and Budget
EMG-Zine pays its authors in spend-only credits, which I've mentioned earlier this week when talking about Torn World and Sketch Fest.
For the first five years of EMG-Zine, I paid for these credits out of my pocket, accepting EMG-Zine as something like a loss-leader for my primary business, which at that time was a large merchandise business of fantasy and science fiction art products. In November of 2011, I sat down with a calculator and looked at all of my projects with a big threatening axe in one hand. I called this my 'chopping block,' and did a complete review of EMG-Zine here, in my journal (there is a lengthy summary of the 'zine history there, as well!).
While credits aren't quite as good as actual factual cash to a contributor, they were still acting as cash out of my pocket. When I sat down and figured it up, I was losing about $150/month to support EMG-Zine, not including my time, hosting expenses, capital invested into the anthologies or periodic advertising experiments. It varied a little, because an adoption becomes mostly cash out of my pocket to pay the artist, whereas selecting one of my own art prints costs me a lot less, and we didn't have the exact same amount of material every month. But it was clear that it was a lot of expense, in addition to the work I put into it, and after 5 years (more than $10,000!), I needed to come up with a model that was not a drain on my personal finances, or end the project gracefully.
Subscriptions alone were not popular enough to sustain the 'zine, even when I added the bonus of a free advertisting banner with subscriptions. Sales of the anthology were too weak to pay back the capital invested in them, let alone help sustain the 'zine (and further anthologies have been canceled).
So, I did something that many projects take a lot less time to do: I laid out the problem to the audience and asked for their help.
Methods
One thing you will notice throughout crowdfunding of any kind is that there is rarely a single method of fundraising - combining different methods is one of the keys to crowdfunding success.
Another, as discussed in a previous post here, is the concept of giving people concrete goals, preferably with progress bars.
I had collected (some) submissions for work and set themes through the end of 2011, so I felt committed to completing the year, but I decided that I would make that the end of EMG-Zine unless I could prove that a new funding model could keep the 'zine afloat. I set up a progress bar for half my yearly expenses ($900) and announced that I would be canceling the project if I did not receive that by the end of June, 2011.
What counted towards that goal? All subscriptions, all anthology purchases and all donations (through Sketch Fest, from credits, or through a Paypal donation button). Though the former two don't count entirely as money into my pocket, neither do credits always count 100% as money out, so I considered that as close to a wash as I could manage.
Mid-May, we made our goal, and went over by enough to fund several hours of programming on the site (some of those improvements will be made next month, and the art gallery has already been upgraded)!
Funding July-December 2012
We're safe through June of next year, but not any longer than that!
Any extra earned in that time period goes to site features (I have a laundry list of things I'd like to do to make it easier to use and more rewarding for authors and artists!). If we fall short of our goal, any subscriptions that extend past our end-date will be refunded (pro-rated) and we'll end on a high note, taking our last year to really go out with a bang.
If you'd like to see this valuable resource continued, please consider supporting us in one of the many ways available! Subscriptions (with a free advertising banner in our rotation!) are available for purchase, there are three print volumes of the best of our first three years available, or you may donate through Paypal. Some pieces available through Sketch Fest go to support (or partially support) EMG-Zine. You can also submit work to the 'zine and donate all or some of your earned credits back to the project - these count towards our goals, too!
My heartfelt thanks to all of the writers, artists and supporters who have made our first six years possible! I hope we can look forward to many more!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Thank you!
Date: 2011-07-24 10:39 pm (UTC)