Crowdfunding for writers

And the big day is coming. The big day when I finally run out of money completely and have to do my first fundraising project and see if I survive or die. Or maybe I will have a choice of death, like I will stand in the streets and tell people I'm a writer who ran out of money so do they think I should hang myself or impale myself on a spear or fustigate myself with a club or...but I'm getting carried away. I do hope I survive. I do also hope that my painstakingly collected research will help you decide on a platform in case you wanted to raise money too. I mean, in case you're a writer and you want to crowdfund your books. Cause maybe you're a kangaroo. I'm sure there are crowdfunding places for that as well. 

HERE ARE A BUNCH OF CROWDFUNDING PLACES.

Kickstarter. 

Well, we all heard about this one. I don't know if they are actually the first ones who offered this fundraising thingy and I'm being lazy and I haven't done research to see if they are, because for our purposes it doesn't matter. What matters is the following:

1. It's great for funding 1 thing that is finite, like 1 book, or 1 book tour, or 1 film of a writer running around naked in her yard.
2. It uses an all-or-nothing approach, meaning, if you don't reach your goal, you don't get the money. 
3. It funds only creative projects, so you can't raise money for your very sick pet penguin. Plus, it selects only about 60% of all projects submitted, so there is a higher visibility chance for your book.
4. It's great for writers who are not shy about yelling on every corner that they are raising money and would you please come over here and donate (that would be me).
5. Average amount of money raised is $5K, and that is a perfect amount for a book (and that is how much I will be raising).
6. Here is an example of a successful campaign for a book.

Indiegogo.

Indiegogo actually jumped on the scene before Kickstarter, in 2008 (Kickstarter launched in 2009) and you can raise money for pretty much anything, as long as it's not porn (maybe you can even raise money for that too if you cover your nipples with daisies).

1. It's good for funding 1 thing that is finite, just like Kickstarter.
2. It uses both all-or-nothing and keep-it-all approaches, meaning, if you don't reach your funding goal, you can pay a higher fee and keep the money you have raised.
3. It funds all kinds of projects, not only creative stuff, so this is not very good for books as you would have poor visibility.
4. Again, this is good for writers who can promote the hell out of it.
5. Average amount of money raised is $15K.
6. Here is an example of a successful campaign for a book.

Pubslush.

I know about Pubslush because at one point they talked to me inviting me to raise money with them. We've exchanged a few pleasant emails, but I think I will go with a Kickstarter simply because it has a higher visibility, but PubSlush is great for writers because they are specifically focusing on literary projects.

1. Again, it's good for funding 1 finite project, like 1 book.
2. They are both all-or-nothing and take-it-all.
3. They fund books (well, books and book related projects and events and stuff), so how great is that?
4. This is good for writers who are intimidated by the idea of making their own video and prepping everything for a campaign. They offer those services for you (for a price, of course). And on top of it, after the campaign is over, they offer a Buy button on your project site and I think they even offer publishing services.
5. Not sure about their average amount raised.
6. Here is an example of a successful campaign for a book.

Patreon.

These guys are relatively new, and what they offer isn't offered by Kickstarter or Indiegogo (by the way, I'm not covering a gazillion other crowdfunding sites here that are not related to creative projects, as there are really gazillions of them). With Patreon you become a patron of a creative and chip in a certain amount every month, so it's like a tip jar.

1. It's good for funding a series of small projects, like serialized short stories or comics or even blogs or articles.
2. It looks like there is no cap for the amount of money. Your patrons simply either set the amount of money each month or set a monthly maximum (anyone knows more about this, chime in).
3. It mostly funds YouTube videos, webcomics and podcasts.
4. This is good for writers who are relying on serialized work and prefer a steady stream of money as opposed to raising money for 1 project.
5. The average monthly pledge is $7, so you'd have to have a ton of patrons to support you.
6. Here is an example of a successful comic books campaign.

Beacon.

I have learned about Beacon from Twitter conversations. Beacon is a platform specifically designed for writers to pay writers via subscriptions and per project where readers pay only $5 and get access to ALL stories produced by every writer represented on the site.

1. This platform is best geared toward journalists and freelance writers, from what I've seen (they talk about journalism on their site). And, you have to apply to become a Beacon writer.
2. It is an all-or-nothing thing too, plus there is a monthly subscription option.
3. This is best geared for serialized articles on a certain topic (so non-fiction) and I'm not sure about the average amount of money raised.
4. Here is an example of a successful project.

Inkshares.

These guys reached out to me, that's how I find out about them. The gist about them is, they offer backers shares, so in a sense if you back a project, you take a percentage of the profit. How is that for a novel idea?

1. This is great for writers who want additional services, like artists to design their covers and editors to edit their novels and even printing services, as these guys provide that.
2. Not sure about their money caps or what types of projects they are best used for, but this company is one I will be watching.
3. Here is an example of a successful book campaign.

I'm sure there are more platforms out there, but these are the ones I came across. From my perspective of a fantasy writer Kickstarter is the best choice and that is what I will do, but I did my research like a good girl (sometimes I can be a good girl), so here it is for you to save you time on yours if you're thinking about crowdfunding your book.

Onward.