Community Profile

Crowdfunded Creativity (also Cyberfunded Creativity) is a new, growing business model. It allows writers, artists, musicians, crafters, and other creative folks to sell their goods and services directly to audiences online. It allows ordinary, individual people to support performers and artisans they admire, which encourages them to produce more of what their audience members enjoy. It cuts out the middleman, putting more money in the hands of hard-working creators and more control in the hands of enthusiastic consumers. CFC is most often done through blogs and personal websites, and there are many variations on how people do it.

For creative people:
Use this community as a place to announce your crowdfunded creativity projects. This widens your potential audience. You are also encouraged to post details of how your particular CFC project works: Do you have an online gallery? Do you busk for donations? Do you give your donors special perks? Posts about how well (or poorly) CFC works for you, CFC theory and practice, etc. are also welcome. All kinds of creativity are welcome -- writing, art, music, whatever you do that you're marketing directly to online fans of your work.

For donors and other consumers:
Are you bored with Big House books, music, art, and other cultural material? Are you frustrated by watching your talented friends scrabble for a living? Take part in crowdfunded creativity instead. Once, only rich people could really afford to "keep" entertainers. Now you too can become a patron of the arts! This way you choose what the good stuff is, the stuff that deserves fame and immortality, the stuff you want to see more of. This community gives you a place to look for CFC projects that might interest you. You can also talk about what you like, what your shopping/donation habits are, what things attract you to CFC projects, etc. Post replies to CFC projects, or make new project posts, to tell other people about favorite art, fiction, or other things. Full reviews of CFC offerings are especially welcome.

Auxiliary Goods & Services:
By stepping outside the mainstream business models, we do lose some of the conventional goodies. Writers may want to hire a freelance editor to help polish their work before posting it or self-publishing a chapbook. Artists or art buyers may need to hook up with a framer. If you can offer something to enrich the crowdfunded creativity experience, let us know. (Be responsible and don't post off-topic or vulgar spam. Spam will be diced, deep-fried, and fed to raccoons.) The best approach is to watch for posts in which someone mentions wanting what you have to offer -- just reply with relevant details.

Blogspace and Civility:
The "metaphor" of a blog determines its flavor and parameters. This blog is ... a street fair! Imagine a park full of colorful booths extending out into nearby streets. There are booths full of paintings and photographs and crafts. There's a big stage with a band, and buskers wandering around. There's an author table for book signings, and an open mike poetry reading. There are crowds of people ooo-ing and ahh-ing.

Members and visitors in this community are expected to behave like decent human beings. Please respect each other's opinions, because taste in art and writing and music varies widely. If you don't like something, just keep walking until you find something you do like; don't stop and pester the provider or the audience. If you hurt someone's feelings, it's polite to apologize. Don't get drunk and act like a jerk. Leaven criticism with praise. Speak the truth gently if possible, firmly if necessary. Have fun!

Introductions:
When you first join this community, please make an introductory post telling folks who you are and what you do. Are you a creative person, a donor, or both? What kind of goods or services do you offer? What kind do you like to read or view? Why do you like crowdfunded creativity?

Other Communities:
signalboost
Crowdfunding on LiveJournal
Freestuffday on LiveJournal