What’s the impact of crowdfunding? IndieGogo, arguably one of the most popular sites in the business, conducted several surveys and studies to find out how users fared in their campaigns. Not only did they offer key advice for anyone looking to boost a successful campaign, they also highlighted some of the things that made some campaigns stand out from the crowd.
Over the years, crowdfunding platforms that were aimed specifically at the unique needs of small press and self-published authors sprung up. These book-centric sites sought to give authors the funds they needed to secure professional editing, formatting, cover design, and even promotion, all while acknowledging that the consumers who visited their sites were specifically looking for books.
Instead of “crowdfunding” a new book, the function resulted in more of a pre-order process. However, unlike sites that allow authors to setup a pre-order if the book is fully ready for launch, book crowdfunding met the need for funding before the book was ready. Sadly, too many of these ideas came and went without much fanfare.
Until now. BookFundr is having another go at book-specific crowdfunding, and will hopefully move the concept forward in ways that other sites were not able to, largely because it was too new of a marketplace concept.
According to a statement on their website, “BookFundr is for anyone who has a book they want to develop, but find themselves short on funds. Editing, cover art and development can be expensive, but this is the solution. With BookFundr more authors can bring books with proven appeal to market. Making a funding campaign for your story is completely free – authors pay no fees. There is nothing to lose!”
But who stands to gain the most from this type of funding relationship? The numbers are somewhat vague on how crowdfunding impacts book projects, but now that crowdfunding is a far more widespread notion, perhaps the industry is ready for a new pricing model based on support rather than post-publication sales.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
