Authors are choosing to crowdfund their work, and there are now options for them on which platform to use. The question is: Kickstarter, Indiegogo or Pubslush?
Three Author Crowdfunding Examples
To explore the pros and cons of those platforms, I interviewed a successful author from each of them to find out why they chose it and how they succeeded. This is an old article I wrote for PBS but it's still relevant now in the 2020s. Click here to read more about them.
Author Allan Karl used Kickstarter
Kickstarter author Allan Karl took a three-year motorcycle trip around the world. Friends, family and fans followed his journey on his WorldRider blog, and when he got home he wrote about it in the form of a full-color hardcover travel narrative and cookbook titled “FORKS: Three Years. Five Continents. One Motorcycle. A Quest for Culture, Cuisine, and Connection.” Total, 546 backers on Kickstarter pledged $40,994 — nearly double his $22,000 goal — to print and publicize the self-published book. Get Allan's tips!
Author Janna Leyde used Pubslush
Pubslush author Janna Leyde was 14 years old when her father was in an automobile accident, leaving him with traumatic brain injury. The event drastically shifted her idyllic childhood and became the seed for “He Never Liked Cake,” the only memoir about TBI that tells the story from the child’s perspective. Read about Janna's experience.
Author Penny Rosenwasser used IndiGoGo
Indigogo author Penny Rosenwasser reached her $7,500 goal in eight days, enabling her take her self-published book “Hope into Practice: Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears,” on the road. Here's her story.
Click here to read the introduction to the article with links to all three profiles.