Our Own Dark Helmet Shares Lessons From Crowdfunding Experiment
from the that's-one-dark-helmet dept
Last week, we kicked off our new "case study" series, with a post about musician Jason Parker's experiments with "pay what you want" for his music. This week, we're going in a different direction, as will be explained in a bit. We've received a bunch of suggestions for future case studies, with plenty of good ones, but if you know any content creator experimenting with interesting business models, who you think would make a good case study, please let us know via the "contact us" link at the top of the page.For this case study, we're actually going to discuss an experiment by someone that regular Techdirt readers may know quite a bit -- especially if you spend a lot of time in our comments. It's Tim Geigner, whose name may not be that familiar to you, but his alter ego Dark Helmet has been one of, if not the most prolific commenters on Techdirt, where he tends to play the role of comment enforcer, keeping people (including me at times) in line, when he feels anyone has spoken without thinking. Separate from that, however, he's been writing a fair amount of fiction lately, which is quite enjoyable.
For one of his fiction books, Midwasteland, he decided to test out Kickstarter, a platform for "crowdfunding," creative works, which has received a lot of attention. His Midwasteland project is still in process, so if you like his work, feel free to jump in and support him. That said, he's not sure that he used Kickstarter all that well, and isn't sure that his project will reach the necessary goal to get funded. I think there's often a lot more that can be learned from what ideas didn't work, than what did, so I talked with Tim about why he thinks things didn't go as ideally as possible. First, however, he pointed out that even if the project doesn't get funded, a few really good things have happened, which we'll get to below. But, he's taken away some important lessons on why Kickstarter hasn't been quite a magic bullet:
Why didn't it go as I'd initially hoped? The onus is all on me. That's the other cool part of this: I'm learning lessons that I can use on my next project, whatever it may be.That last little bit is one of the other positive, but unexpected things that came out of this: he was contacted by both a book agent and a film company due to the Kickstarter project, so even if that doesn't succeed in getting the funding set, it has opened some other potentially interesting doors as well.
Lesson 1: It isn't enough to have a good idea, you have to do your due prep work to make it successful. My audience right now isn't huge. It might not even be big. I knew that going in. What I know now is that I should have worked my tail off in getting this idea out there enough so that when I did release the project live, it would already have a presence. This go around I tried to do it the opposite way: release the project and hope it builds the bigger audience. That hasn't worked.
Lesson 2: It isn't enough to have people be genuinely interested in you, you need them to want to PROMOTE you. I had an experience when I came across Autotune the News on Techdirt, where I was sending their links to everyone I knew and sitting people down when I had a chance and showing them their videos on my phone or iPad. My project never really reached that level. And I know why. Because I didn't connect with interested parties properly coupled with a lack of an appetizer. Looking back, it was immensely dumb not to have a way for people who got involved with the project to have the first chapter or so of the book to read and pass around. What did I expect, that they would want to link to my project on their websites or in emails to friends? New business model experiments might interest some, but the writing was supposed to be front and center. I didn't do a good job of that. I didn't get the infinite good to promote what I was "selling".
Lesson 3: There is more to value in a project like this than making money. I got a TON of feedback on my writing. I learned a TON of little lessons from trying this project. Here's that absolutely awesome part of all this: what have I lost? The simple answer is nothing. I don't lose my ability to release the book elsewhere. I don't think I'm going to lose any fans from the people that chose to back the project, since I'm going to be sending them a free copy of the eBook anyway. I don't lose the opportunity to do what I wanted to do for the project, since I'm going to do it anyway (making a DVD of the settings in the book seems like entirely too much fun not to do, after all, and maybe somebody someday might want it!). Meanwhile, I've gained so much in terms of lessons, feedback, interest from an agency and film company, etc. This was a good thing. That it didn't go as I'd planned means that I have to do something different. I believe in the work, I believe in my fans and potential fans. That means if I tweak some things, it'll go better next time.
Tim's lessons are really useful ones. We've tried to make the point in the past that while we love to point out new and unique business models, the business model alone is not everything. It's a combination of factors. The content you're creating has to be good. You have to work hard to build true fans who really believe in what you do (and, as Tim notes, get them to want to promote your work) and that involves really connecting with them. The whole Connect with Fans + Reason to Buy (CwF+RtB) thing may sound flip and simple, but you really do need both components working together, so that they build off of each other. And, on top of all of that you do need a little bit of luck. But that's also why I talk about the importance of improvisational business modeling. If your first attempts don't work, that doesn't mean give up -- it means, learn, adjust and try again.
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Filed Under: business models, case study, crowdfunding, dark helmet, tim geigner
Companies: kickstarter
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DH Contacted
Well shit, there goes the planet.
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Re: DH Contacted
I'd like to think my writing is slightly better than that done by apes, but....
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Re: Re: DH Contacted
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Re: Re: Re: DH Contacted
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/55885300/Midwasteland-Chapter-1
I guess it takes a while for the preview section to come up, but it's completely free to download, share, whatever you like....
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Re: Re: Re: Re: DH Contacted
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Use the big green one and not the orange one. Otherwise you'll download the "Preview mode is disabled" page. :)
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It's the difference between offering a complete track and offering up a 10 second complete. Which one is more likely to get shared/promoted/passed around?
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That's something I'd be more interested in. I agree with Derek B. I'm not that likely to read just one chapter knowing that my two options are buy the whole book, or be left wondering what happened. I'm the sort who will just say "meh" and not bother to get started on that path.
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tgeigs@gmail.com
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Its always about only one thing ...
Good luck on this
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Re: Its always about only one thing ...
Having said all that, the people that did choose to back me have my ongoing gratitude. Frankly, I'm sending them free PDF eBook copies no matter what. In fact, I've already sent out some to show my appreciation....
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Re: Re: Its always about only one thing ...
What sort of plan did you have? and what was the expected result? How was it different?
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Re: Re: Re: Its always about only one thing ...
What I ended up with instead was two professional groups that were specifically interested in my work, and even more in me personally, simply because I was experimenting. I knew this to some degree already, but literary agents LOVE writers that want to be involved in the marketing side of things. That I was running this experiment was supposedly the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in getting the agent to dig deeper into my writing....
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Its always about only one thing ...
Thats quite an interesting statement.
I had always assumed that these agents might feel threatened by business savvy content creators who are willing to put effort into both their art AND sales. It risks making the agent redundant.
I suppose it creates an incentive for them to work harder to promote your material; the flakes are lost without an agent, while for the savvy, an agent is a bonus, a nice-to-have rather than a need-t-have.
To find out that this attitude is actually helpful in winning the attention of agents puts a whole new spin on things.
Now I'm going to have to find out if this translates into the fine-arts world. Can I rise above the flakes?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Its always about only one thing ...
It surprised me at first as well....
"I had always assumed that these agents might feel threatened by business savvy content creators who are willing to put effort into both their art AND sales. It risks making the agent redundant."
Actually, in reading up on the literary business, I've found that record labels could learn a hell of a lot from literary agents. Agents don't just promote and submit to publishers. They truly get involved in everything going on with an author's work. They assist in editing, promoting, submitting, marketing, vision/creative guidance, coordinating appearences and schedules, etc. etc. etc. Particularly for someone who isn't necessarily doing it full time yet, they really can be key.
"I suppose it creates an incentive for them to work harder to promote your material"
More than that, it creates a partnership. Agents make cuts on author income. To do that, the idea is to get a huge audience, particularly with either multi-book publishing contracts or, even better, movie deals. The more an author is willing to work on the marketing side, particularly in connecting with fans and creating a groundswell, the better.
"Now I'm going to have to find out if this translates into the fine-arts world."
I'm certainly no wealth of knowledge, but please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help....
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Its always about only one thing ...
That quote I mentioned above, along with this quote:
"you have to do your due prep work to make it successful. My audience right now isn't huge. It might not even be big. I knew that going in. What I know now is that I should have worked my tail off in getting this idea out there enough so that when I did release the project live, it would already have a presence. This go around I tried to do it the opposite way: release the project and hope it builds the bigger audience. That hasn't worked."
has given me a fair amount to think about.
I have a fairly big art thing coming up next week, and I've approached it with the same assumption you had with your project: the event or product launch will generate a big audience. Hopefully, I'll still have enough time to build some last-minute hype before launch.
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Re: Re: Its always about only one thing ...
Um, wouldn't you be sending free copies of your book to the people who backed you anyway? Isn't that the idea?
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Green Eyed LOL?
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Re: Green Eyed LOL?
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: )
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On ads
I'm getting an ad here for an ABC show that apparently premieres tonight...
ABC is not exactly a station that's aired in The Netherlands. :)
I'm just glad that the sound is default off.
More on topic. I wish Dark Helmet a lot of success in his writing career. And I look forward to the movie. :) Hopefully you'll give us Techdirt regulars a special viewing, when it comes out? *big grin*
BTW, I guess it's true what they say, that you learn more when things don't go as you'd hoped they would go.
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Tim is a really intelligent and nice guy, even if he is in sales.....
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Re:
Yech! Project management ;)
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Ugh...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38345096/Mid-Wasteland-Chapter-1
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Re: Ugh...
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No torrents yet
You're about ready to download "This document cannot be previewed". Please take a moment to register or log in.
No preview unless I register? No thanks. The interest is there, but I dont want/need another account to keep track of. Dont use docstoc, and dont care to.
It is the near future in a post-apocalyptic Chicago and Anton Donovan is an anomaly. That is, though he appears to be human in every respect, he is actually a mutated version of a human.
Interesting premise.
Is the book finish?
Does it just need to be published?
How about a few free copies for TD readers to read it, and do some promoting?
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Re: No torrents yet
Thanks!
"Is the book finish?"
Yes. Has been for a while. To give you an idea of how much I write, I'll be finishing the next book, not a sequel to Midwasteland, in the next, oh, say two days. Then I edit and figure out what to do with this one. You can read the first chapter on my site, linked in the article above.
"Does it just need to be published?"
Midwasteland is done and ready to go. The only thing that might change in it depends on some of the tiers in the Kickstarter project.
"How about a few free copies for TD readers to read it, and do some promoting?"
Promoting, yes. Free hardcopies are only hard because of the way printing costs work in small quantities. But you know what? Screw it. Techdirt and the community has always been extremely good to me, the funding period is almost over, and since DocStoc has been less than awesome, here's the whole eBook on Scribd for you to download, share, delete, poop on, whatever you want....
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38346865
Let me know if that one is problematic....
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And please tell me you have a donate button?
Going to read your book and if it is to my taste I would like send you what I think fair value to me - direct to your pocket :)
Way to stand up for what you beleive in!
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Re: Re: Re: Re: No torrents yet
I'm sorry it hasn't worked out as you planned. I too am still waiting for that "donate" button and for a revamp of your site.
The site is your calling card and it has to be as cool as your writing is - it still looks like a site my grandmother would use to put up unfocused photographs of her cats...
Have you used Facebook to promote the book? That may help as well as all other social media.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: No torrents yet
And, as yogi says below, it's pretty simple as websites go, but I've got some new work up there too. And, while Kickstarter isn't a straight 100%, they don't take a whole lot.
Having said that, I keep trying to take Yogi's advice and find a way to add a donate button to my site. Sadly, I am website and HTML stupid, so it hasn't been easy....
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This is GREAT!
Anyway, you go with your bad Dark-Tim-self, and all the best.
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In other Ironic News....
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Kickstarter is great, but maybe too generic?
I think the thing that Kickstarter really lacks that authors really need is the features tailored to selling and publicizing books, and specifically books. There's not really a community of authors working together to benefit all of the community. There aren't the features like you see on Amazon, the related books and "people who bought this also bought . . .". Kickstarter is a really cool site, it's well done, and they've probably done more to get crowdfunding into the mainstream than anyone, but I think too much of the responsibility is still on the author, and the author is still too much alone.
I don't think too many people browse Kickstarter for authors to support. If you want a book to read, you go to a bookstore or Amazon where there are plenty of books, and plenty of ways for potential readers to be introduced to your stuff because it's similar to something they knew they were looking for.
All that said, DH, I think it's great what you're doing, and appreciate the feedback you're sharing on how it's going. You're on the front end of this kind of model for making a living as a writer, and you not only have to overcome being relatively unknown, but also have to overcome the huge percentage of your potential fans who just don't understand what you're doing. Take my mother, for example. She is a voracious reader, but not what you'd call a computer expert. She just bought a Kindle and absolutely loves it. But there is absolutely zero chance that she'd be able to get your book onto her Kindle without me or some other tech support.
Anyway, congratulations on the success. Even if you don't get funded on Kickstarter, it sounds like you've made some good contacts, and you've advanced the cause of all your fellow authors.
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Hoowee!
Gameful
They asked for $2,000 and got $60,000! That serves quite the example of how other models can be used besides monopolies.
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Ok but...
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Are you going to stop posting here when you get rich and famous?
I wish you all the best DH!
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Kickstarter
I'm sorry that you didn't get the interest needed to get funded (although this thread may help). I'd offer some suggestions but I think you pretty much covered the reasons why it went sour on you. When looking at projects I need a compelling reason to drill down to the main page. I like to feel the owner's passion: maybe a good life story, or a link to some artwork they created for the project, or even just the first chapter.
Grats on the publisher interest. You may also want to look at http://unicornpegasuskitten.com/ from Subterranean Press for another way to crowd-fund a project.
Thanks for the scribd link. What about putting up a PayPal donation link so we can kick a few bucks back?
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Wonders.....
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Thank you everyone...
www.conspiracyfiction.blogspot.com
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Re: Thank you everyone...
Interesting... from the looks of your latest post, you are now dabbling in crowdsourcing as well crowdfunding. Very curious to see what comes out of that. (I read the first chapter of Midwasteland some months ago when you put it up on the blog).
Oh, and ...
Spielberg
FTFY
Couldn't resist. :)
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Re: Re: Thank you everyone...
Not sure if you liked it or not, but there's a link to the whole shebang in the thread above, in case you want to give the final version a look....
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Re: Re: Re: Thank you everyone...
Yup I definitely liked(and at the time I believe it was still in progress, limited editing). That's a pretty dark universe you were setting up, so I didn't come away with a rainbows and butterflies feeling, as you might expect. But now I've got to know just how phreaky the mayor's daughter really is... I'll be buying your book.
Thanks for sharing!
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Thank you everyone...
I think you ment sister :)
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Doh! Stupid volatile RAM. That's what I get for rebooting.
Yes I did mean sister unless it turns out the mayor has a previously undisclosed, hotter, phreak daughter.
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Maybe he does. Sounds like a short story premise of salacious proportions....
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My indieGoGo Project
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Crowdfunding
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