What Should I Use as My Reason For Raising Money on Kickstarter?

What an author should state as their “reason why I’m fundraising”

Image by Monica Leonelle

One of the biggest things I hear from authors about running a Kickstarter campaign is, “How do I do this when I’m basically begging for charity?” Other phrases or ways this might come out are:

• “Is it weird to ask my fans for money?”
• “I’m already putting the book out whether we fund or not, so there’s nothing really ‘on the line’ for funding…”
• “I don’t really have a ton of ‘production costs’”
• “If I’m doing print-on-demand, I don’t have a big inventory purchase to make”
• “I’m already a successful author; shouldn’t I just pay for my audiobook narrator?”

In this post, I want to share how to get past some of the feelings of, “begging for charity” and give several more positive framings for how to message your readers, customers, and fans about why you are using Kickstarter for a book project.

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