KickstarterForum.org

Hopefully none of this (or very little) overlaps with other posts. I'm really slammed right now with my own Kickstarter, and can't go back over every post.

My Kickstarter is still running (Arcane Synthesis), but I've learned that they are very hard, heh! You definitely don't want to rush into one. I didn't, and it was still very hard. I spent 6 months researching and preparing to run mine (in addition to months of learning more about how it all works and reading articles) and much of that 6 months was full time. I think a solid year would be good for most people, especially if you have limited time, at least for your first one, and much more so if you are an unknown. And you also need to be prepared to spend a good portion of every day during your campaign to talk with people, share about it, respond to questions, etc.

You also want to get feedback on your Kickstarter from several sources prior to launching.

I also learned that the Kickstarter website is very finicky when it comes to formatting. There are some glitches in their system. For example, there is a maximum number of characters you can use to describe your "story" - your section on info about your project. I went in more than once to fix a typo, rework a sentence, etc. and several times it told me I was over the max character count when I hadn't actually added any characters. In some cases I actually removed sentences and entire paragraphs and it would tell me I went over! And there were 4 times over the period of a month prior to launching, where I would click on a reward to change it, then get a phone call or decide not to make a change, but being the paranoid type, I'd automatically hit the button at the bottom to save, but that can be a major no no!

See, if you don't actually change something, the save button changes to a "Next" button, and that ate an entire day's work 4 times! Because Save only means Save if you don't hit Next! Major glitch that I'm surprised they haven't fixed. I was saving all day long after nearly every change, just to make sure I had no problems, but it would easily erase an entire day's work, regardless of how often I hit the save button, if I ever accidentally hit the Next button (silly that they put 'em both in the exact same spot).

Plan a good amount of time to do everything as it will always take longer than you think! I originally planned for 3 months, then delayed it an additional 3 months to double check all of my math, shipping, etc. and like most I'm sure I still made some mistakes along the way. And you will need many months to build up relationships with your potential backers, spread the word, etc. You will want to study many similar campaigns out there!

Anyway, I hope these tips help you avoid many of the headaches. Our Kickstarter is doing pretty well so far, but I still feel like there's a huge number of fiction fans that don't know we exist yet, despite several hours a day reaching out, even prior to launch.

Looks good when is it out?

Colin

Thanks for asking, Colin. My anthology Kickstarter ends Feb 2nd. If you mean out on the market, if we fund, our release date is Dec. 2014 for the Arcane Synthesis ebook, with the trade paperback and hardcovers being out approx. 30 days later. Many of our rewards will be shipped long before that.

You can click on the link in my signature to view the campaign. I included a fun video below the Kickstarter video with a lot of my company's art and more on the story of my fictional "Cosmoverse". We're putting together an RPG too and I've been writing stories about the Cosmoverse since 1979, but have never had the funds to publish. We've got many projects in development and waiting behind these, but we're mostly in a holding pattern for finances to come through, so hopefully this one will get funded and we can get rolling!

Anyway, take care and have a great week, Colin!

I've learned that you need to be careful with trademarks.

I was contacted today by Hydro Flask® in regards to my JugLug Handle for their bottles on Kickstarter.

They asked me to take Hydro flask® out of the Kickstarter title and to remove any logos from the bottles. That puts me at a bit of disadvantage since the handle that we are working on is created specifically for the Hydro Flask bottles.

I have already made the changes they requested but I am still confused about what the Fair Use Law allows. After typing iphone in the search box on Kickstarer I see thousands of iPhone® accessories that use Apple® trademarks in their title to describe what their accessory is for and also logos in the images as well.

To be fair, Hydro Flask® was very cordial but it still seems a bit unnecessary since I was not claiming to be them. I try to clearly distinguish that our accessory addresses my perceived flaw in part of their product which I don't think would confuse the public in thinking that I am representing the company. Lol, I naively got excited when I saw the message, that they wanted to talk to me about my invention. I thought they might want to take it to the next level and make me a millionaire (Yes, I've been told I need to get my head out of the clouds at times).

That's what my adulation for their bottles gets me (sigh). Anyway, I still love their product. It really does what it says it will. I guess I'm just venting, it is what it is. I will keep on trucking with the Kickstarter campaign

I have learned SO MUCH for reading this thread. I am over halfway through the duration of my project (see signature), but I am only 25% funded. If I want to make it, I'm going to have to really PUSH these last couple of weeks.

Right now, I am concentrating on contacting local businesses and media outlets. Thanks to this thread, I am also reaching out to all of the LinkedIn groups that I am a member of.

The only advice I have is don't overlook your local folks. They can help you tremendously. People are always looking for a great local boy/girl makes good story. Be one.

I learned that a short video that shows your passion in a genuine way goes very far to help people to relate to you and get on board.
I learned that you can get advice from many people if you search for forums.
I learned that waiting 3 months to learn about Kickstarter was one of the most intelligent decisions I made.
I learned that getting others to post your link on popular discussion boards, etc., is a huge advantage.
I learned that people who have run a successful Kickstarter are eager and willing to help you succeed with yours!

Bernhard Hamaker, project owner of Japanese: The Game.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13 ... -card-game

i have joined it recently I have not learned anything till now, but I am expecting to launch soon and make it successful. I am taking some time to do so because I want to understand everything about this and then take a step forward.

Man.....I also have learned that the live funding period is almost an amorphous space, filled with dreams and possibilities.

The rubber meets the road once you enter the post funding phase.

1. I will always place a 25 day window after the funding period where there is a possibility, but slim one, in which funds may be accessible, but probably won't be.....

2. People don't respond to surveys right away. A week later 60% of my backers have yet to respond. Rewards may be later, because I don't have an idea of what my backers chose.

I will add more as I learn more on this side of the fence.

It has been weird. We have had a great a response, but had people contact us to actually send us checks to the project. I think it might be cause some of the market we are hitting is seniors. We have $4500 on kickstarter and another $6200 in checks sent to us. We are hoping that we don't have to put the $6200 in, but might to reach our goal.

I have a question for StoryBox: when you said you reached out to local businesses, did you have success with that?

And I'm really interested to know if any of you have mounted guerilla marketing campaigns -- something unconventional -- for your Kickstarter, and if so what'd you do?

Thanks & good luck to all,
Jennie
www.mightyyeti.com
http://kck.st/1ndnZY1