Okay, so incentive levels for a KS campaign:
A number of KS campaigns have lately been running “unlocked rewards”, where if you donate a certain dollar amount it turns out you get something extra spiffy as a surprise. At least, I think that’s how it’s working. What kinds of things do you guys think would qualify as extra spiffy?
There are also frequently limited rewards at higher donation amounts. Aside from my general silly ones ($5000: I will hand-deliver your special-edition signed chapbook to you, $7500: …and sing “You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings”, $10K+: …in public), realistically, what are good rewards for high donation amounts? I mean, really, if somebody donated $10K I’d write them a damned book of their own (or I suppose if several people formed a coalition I’d write the collective them a book if their own), but a book doesn’t have the interior artwork to shuffle off that a comic or game might, so I start reaching for “and I’ll write another short story!” pretty fast…
Speaking of which, at Fred’s suggestion: one of the things that makes KS fun is instant gratification. So I’m thinking the bonus Moment The Campaign Ends thing would be a Gary short story landing in donators’ mail boxes to tide them over a bit for the interminable wait until April 15. Yes/No?
Buying in: I’ve noticed that on many KS campaigns if you donate, say, just $1, you get acknowledged but nothing more. I’d probably set a $5 buy-in level for the novella (based on an eventual Kindle price of $2.99 and two Gary short stories at $.99 each. Yes/No?
*Assuming* we reach heady heights and get to the chapbook level of donations–how do I handle this one? It’s got to be a higher minimum buy-in than just the novella, and I’ve got to always consider international postage for shipping them out. So do I set one of the rewards at “& If We Hit $N, At This Buy-In Price You Get The Chapbook Too”? Or does that just screw people if we don’t hit the chapbook level?
Baby’s awake so I must go, but please, give me thoughts!
Have you checked out Tim (T.A.) Pratt’s current & previous crowd-funding campaigns? He’s done the acknowledgments, limited edition chap books, post cards from his main character, bookmarks (I think), and I’m not sure what else. Also, I believe he has two levels listed for the physical stuff like hard copies of the book to account for international shipping. It might give you some more ideas at least! Good luck!
Hmmmm.
I like the idea of the delivery of the “thank you” short story to all donors at the end of the campaign.
Do some people require there to be incentives before they buy-in? I’m in it for the end project, I don’t need an incentive but maybe that’s because I’m the kind of person who doesn’t take the food samples just because they’re free! :D You need to be able to generate adequate funding, but not have excessive overheads for delivering the incentives. Shrug…
Funny, I agree with Louise and I also don’t take the food samples just because they are free. But I expect that anyone who donates is doing it mainly to get the main object which is the novella and the shorts. Any incentive or even possible incentive is really just gravy. I also think the buy in of $5.00 is totally reasonable based on the price structure. Wouldn’t it be fun if ten people each had 1k to give you to write an exclusive book for them? I just love that idea.
Well, the way Kickstarter works, though–or at least works most effectively, it seems–is to provide incentives at different levels. So while die-hard readers (and believe me, I LOVE you die-hard readers!) may not care about the goodies, they could be a good way to draw new people in. :)
And yeah, it’d be huge fun to write a commissioned novel that way, Miss Bliss!