So this is crazy—our last campaign hit $21,552 over the course of 6 weeks. We were so proud of that, and astounded by it... especially because it was such a niche book.
This campaign is already at almost$20,000+ and we are BLOWN AWAY. Thank you to all those who have already backed the campaign. We see this as a huge win for publishing because the campaign is not Amazon-focused, which means authors and creators are excited to learn how to build revenue streams on other platforms.
Our First Goal: Beat Our Last Campaign Before the End of Today
Russell and I are pretty excited to share some stuff behind-the-scenes that we normally only share with our Kickstarter Accelerator people. If we $21,553 and beat our last campaign by at least $1 TODAY then we will get really candid on how we raised the same amount of money as our last campaign in 6 days instead of 6 weeks. There are so many lessons that *anyone* can apply to their Kickstarter campaigns, and this is sure to be a really good episode, if it happens.
To be honest, this goal is going to be challenging to hit coming out of a big holiday weekend for Canadians and Americans! We hope we hit it. Let's make it happen!
Google Play Books Algorithms Workshop
We are doing the weekly workshop backer perks differently this time around because it was kind of a scheduling mess last time. This time, the schedule is simpler:
Tuesday of the week: The livestream of the workshop - you can attend live and watch the entire broadcast, and even ask questions! We are live on Facebook and YouTube.
Thursday of the week: The livestream recording comes down.
Saturday of the week: Back the campaign by Saturday and you receive the recording when the campaign is over. As soon as you back the campaign at even $1, you are eligible for the recording + all recordings to follow.
Our first workshop for this campaign is on Google Play Books! I'll be explaining how the algorithms for this store work, looking at a few books in the store, and answering questions. This is brand new material and Google Play Books is a really fascinating store, especially when compared to Amazon.
I'll be explaining this graphic on the workshop, too! Please join!
The last time I spoke at one of Bryan's events was in 2018 in Chicago at the inaugural Sell More Books Show Summit.
That year I stood on stage and told a room full of authors that the movement toward things like direct sales, Kickstarter, Patreon, and more would be the movement that creates a whole slew of sustained 7-figure indie authors.
And I don't think this will be a surprise to anyone—four years later I'm even more confident in that prediction. I saw it happen in nonfiction and knew that the indie world, compromised mostly of fiction authors, wasn't too far behind.
A New Prediction
So what really big marketing shift could possibly bring me back to Bryan's virtual stage this year?
I rarely do much speaking these days and have to turn down most opportunities due to time constraints. But the reason I said “yes!” to Bryan’s event is because I wholeheartedly believe that email marketing is the BEST way indie authors can market their books right now and into the future.
You may be thinking, “email marketing? Is she joking? That's been around forever!”
And the answer is, nope! Not joking. There are a lot of factors that go into this statement, many of which have to do with major trends in algorithms and advertising across the Big 5 retailers—Google Play, Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.
Yep, it always leads back to wide with me… but this time, the trend applies to all authors, even Amazon-focused ones.
Email Marketing for Wide Authors
I’ll be speaking on the topic of email marketing for wide authors at Bryan’s event, but almost everything I say will also apply to KU authors who are experimenting with direct sales or fan-based platforms like Kickstarter, Patreon, and more.
Let's face it—you need to own your audience these days. And that means you need to understand the basics, like building and scaling your email list and converting your list to buyers.
You can currently grab a ticket to the event through Bryan’s newest Kickstarter campaign here:
There are also a bunch of other great deals in his Kickstarter campaign, including the centerpiece of the campaign, which is a brand new book on email marketing!
I trust Bryan’s knowledge on this topic—not only does he have an email list of 50,000+ readers, but he also has a strong background in nonfiction. For a long time, authors seemed to think that fiction marketing was different than nonfiction marketing, but the two are quickly merging (it’s one of the bigger publishing trends of 2022 and beyond).
I believe you will get a ton of value from the Self-Publishing Live event ticket, and if you’re on a budget, then the new Self-Publishing and Email Marketing book by Bryan is another great reward tier.
You can peruse the Kickstarter campaign and back the project here:
P.S. While you’re on Kickstarter, don’t forget to follow my campaign at gowidegrowwide.com/ks
P.P.S. In a few days I’ll be announcing a fun bundle of Kickstarter bonuses which you get when you back three campaigns at the $25 level or above. The three campaigns are:
Make sure you back and/or follow each campaign to get alerted when they launch!
Fresh Kickstarter Idea: Backdoor Reward Tiers
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, May 30, 2022 at 08:30:32 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Big News! Plus Upcoming Campaigns You Might Be Interested In
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, May 23, 2022 at 07:43:22 PM
One of the exciting things about writing a book on Kickstarter has been how it pushes both Russell and me to embody this work in our own careers. Russell is currently on his third Kickstarter campaign of the year (having raised $40k+ on his last one—a new personal best!) and it's already exceeding expectations from what similar campaigns have done in the past.
He's just at the edge of $10k in the first five days of his novel campaign being live, when normally that is how much he raises over the course of an entire novel campaign. There are a few things he did differently on this campaign, like launching on a Thursday before an in-person con—brilliant!
I also have a new fiction campaign launching tomorrow (!!), and it's an interesting one because it is longer than recommended and it introduces a huge world to potential readers. I never intended to spend as much time on Kickstarter as I am this year, but the success of our book and program have spurred me to make Kickstarter the focus of my publishing plans for my contemporary fantasy and paranormal romance pen name, Solo Storm.
This pen name has no audience to speak of, but now that I'm optimizing my campaign, I can see it picking up speed and gaining some momentum that would have been harder if I were lost in a sea of similar books on retailers.
If you feel like you are too green or a newbie author with no audience, you may want to watch the campaign I'm doing right now—my follower count is almost to 50 people for the project and I can definitely see how Kickstarter is helping me relaunch the pen name on a more solid foundation. Look out for my launch tomorrow! You can follow the project here:
Russell and I are hoping to do another joint nonfiction Kickstarter campaign sometime in 2023. But until then, I'm happy to announce that we are continuing our work with the Book Sales Supercharged series with a new nonfiction project coming in July 2022!
Russell is not officially participating in this campaign because none of our co-authored books are featured, but you'll still be able to order our five co-authored books as part of this new project.
The campaign focuses on getting your books wide at retailers + selling direct through your website. It covers books #2-7 of the Book Sales Supercharged series, which goes through the Big 5 retailers (one per book) and setting up a store on your website.
When I first wrote these books, I wanted to get them out quickly. I shared what I knew.
I've spent the last 2 years speaking to authors about what trips them up around wide sales. I've also practiced talking about the things I'm best at—wide trends, wide algorithms, and advertising wide—and learned how to explain these concepts in more interesting ways.
My July 2022 Kickstarter project is to bring all of that new knowledge to these books. Here are some of the additions in these deluxe editions:
New stuff that has happened on each platform since writing
New optimizations that I’ve found that weren’t in original books
Takeaways and to-dos broken out explicitly (so you have a checklist of tasks) (#1 ask to improve the books)
Extra chapters on print, audiobook, fiction apps, and translations (where relevant)
Stories, case studies, examples of how I and others have implemented
Reorganization for greater clarity on various elements (after teaching the topic and learning people’s true questions)
Most of the books are now double original size and they will be in print for the first time ever as a Kickstarter exclusive. If you got our Get Your Book Selling on Kickstarter book, I'm planning to use the same upgraded paper and printing on the first run of these books. And you'll also be able to get them in ebook as well.
(Sidenote: If you purchased the ebooks directly from me or through our Kickstarter campaign, you'll get the deluxe ebooks automatically, and if you purchased from a retailer, I'll eventually update the files and depending on the retailer, you may be able to get the new ones. And if you already have the books, don't count yourself out for this campaign—we're also launching two workbooks and a program for wide or wide-curious authors, so there is lots of new stuff that you can get in addition to the books!)
The project launches in July 2022, but you can get notified by following the project on Kickstarter. Click through the link and hit "Follow" on the campaign.
