Business Questions

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This is an opportunity for folks to discuss the business aspects of crowdfunding.  What would you like to know about cyberfunded creativity and how it works?  Do you want advice on a current or planned project?  Ask your questions in a comment on this post. 

Comments

[pensandquills.livejournal.com]

I am considering taking a fiction project to a crowdfunded model in order to facilitate making it successful at the press stages. I am thinking of doing one of two things.

My first option is to release it as a webfiction serial using donation or subscriptions and then providing a store in which readers could buy related merchandise to help fund its creation.

My second option is to a site like Kickstarter or Indiegogo to fund various aspects of putting the project into print.

As a creator, I would love to make some form of extra income from my work. Even if it is just a little spending money here and there. But more so than this, I would like to cover some professional expenses with these projects like proper editing and also being able to pay an artist to do graphic work for the book/series. I don't like to ask artists to do pro bono work since I know that art takes valuable time.

This particular idea lands squarely in the realm of Steampunk but is rather post-apocalyptic as well.

I am hoping that the community can weigh in on what they've found to be most successful in terms of writing and crowdfunding. What types of incentives for readers has been most successful for you? And what did you find most helpful when marketing your project?

Thanks in advance.