One year ago, I held a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to self-publish my first book, Bake Knit Sew.
Now, if you’re reading this you are either a dedicated reader of this blog or you have a Kickstarter of your own in the works. Either way, you have much to do in life so I’ll keep this very brief. Keep in mind as you read this, I’m far from an expert. This information is my perspective and experience from my project from one year ago. It was successful ($2,890 raised). The book that resulted was published five weeks ago. More about that at the end of this post.
Quick Top Tips
• Consistency: Use the same name for your project everywhere. Keep the numbers and budget data consistent in all places.
• Consistency: Use the same name for your project everywhere. Keep the numbers and budget data consistent in all places.
• Transparency: Explain what you’re doing, how the money will be spent, and who will be involved. Backers are supplying you with the funds, you need to respect they’ll want to know how responsible you are.
• Video and Photos: Show what you’re doing as much as you can.
• Offer Realistic Backer Rewards: Beware offering things you need to make or ship. Time and money will be in short supply as you complete your project, so only promise what you can fulfil. My rewards were all digital. I created a special exclusive four-project ebook for backers above a certain level. It included two recipes, a sewing project, and one knitting pattern. I also listed backers, test bakers, test knitters, and volunteers on an acknowledgement page in the back of the book.
I devoured, memorised, and applied the advice on these pages for my own campaign.
- Kicking Ass & Taking Donations: 9 Tips on Funding Your Kickstarter Project via 99u.com
- Your Fundraising Pal, Kickstarter.com – Kickstartup — Successful fundraising with Kickstarter & the via craigmod.com
- Be Successful on Kickstarter via WikiHow
- Five Kickstarter Video Tips
- Coffee Joulies Kickstarter Video via YouTube
This is a great video for a kickstarter. I modelled my own after it in many ways.
My tips on how to make a Kickstarter Video:
- Show yourself.
Humanize it, this is your reputation and idea. - Show the product, a prototype, or sketches/specs
Is this for real? Show you’re not just raising money for a pipe dream. - Explain where the money will go.
You’ll need to do this for taxes eventually so practice now. - Respect copyrights and trademarks.
Exclude anything that isn’t an element of your project. An example? If you want to make a music video for your band, that’s great! But you don’t need to pan across your room wallpapered in rock band posters to show your love of music. Record you performing instead. The most common use of copyrighted material in videos is the background music. I had permission from the musician (Mike Golay) to use his music. He is based in Boston and does great instrumental guitar songs. He has two albums!
My own Kickstarter video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDtCwpthwP4
My Kickstarter project 
- $2,890 was raised.
- My book is available. $19.50 / €16 / £12
- I’m not in debt from production and self-publishing costs.
- My backers got to be part of a special project.
- Knit, Sew, Bake: 12 Months of Patterns & Recipes on www.kickstarter.com
My own book is baking recipes, sewing projects, and knitting patterns. I used primarily local businesses for my materials and supplies. All have websites and most are even women-owned. It felt like a good fit for this project and for me. But I’ve backed projects that have nothing to do with baking, sewing, or knitting, so it’s just as much about the conviction and skills of the Kickstarter project lead as the project itself. So go out there and make your idea come to fruition.
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