KickstarterForum.org

From the successful creator's I've talked with, most didn't plan on making profit from their rewards (though they do budget in a margin of safety that could be profit if things turn out well).

I've heard a few horror stories of manufacturing arrangements that went bad and then the creator had to put more money into their project in order to deliver the rewards to their backers.

Risk is a part of the game, but I think that creators should do as much as possible to take intelligent risks. This means nailing down all the uncertainty before you launch, getting quotes, and reading about potential mishaps that you could experience during reward fulfillment.

Resources

These guys have a Kickstarter shipping guide: http://www.shipwire.com/w/support/kicks ... g-rewards/

Life after kickstarter: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672681/lif ... d-designer

Amanda Palmer's $1m breakdown: http://amandapalmer.net/blog/where-all- ... by-amanda/

Calculating reward fulfillment mistakes: http://www.crowdcrux.com/kickstarter-mi ... lfillment/