Kickstarter Breakdown
- K. Christine
- Jan 17
- 6 min read
The Kickstarter for A Dragon So Savage was meant solely for the purpose of bringing a special edition to life for my debut novel. (Also to possibly fund an audiobook)
I learned a lot during this campaign, things that worked well, and things that need to be addressed and changed for future campaigns. I thought it would be interesting to note all of this in a blog post not only for transparency but for me to look back on in case I need reminders. So, If you're interested in the ins and outs- keep reading!
Pre-launch
I joined a few facebook groups when I first learned about Kickstarter from an indie author Paula Lafferty on Tik Tok. In those facebook groups there were many authors who gave their opinions as facts, and if you didn't follow what they say, you were told your campaign would fail. As a nobody author trying to learn as much as I could I took their thoughts seriously and it led to many poor campaign experiences.
I was told, "Fund low at $500 so that no matter what you have a better chance at a successful campaign". Except I found out quickly that reaching "any" funding is not what you should focus on. AT ALL. Reaching the funding you actually need is what's important, even if that means your campaign does not succeed.
I was told you need at least 25 pre-launch followers which I agree, having pre-launch followers is important to ensure you have possible pledges at the start of the campaign.
You're also told to gain feedback by other authors- While this can be insightful I quickly learned I'd rather have feedback from people who were actually going to back the campaign instead of from others whose campaigns often supported things I did not, such as AI involvement.
So, I left a lot of groups and told myself I would sink or swim on my own and learn the hard way. I would learn the same way I have for anything else in my life, teaching myself and learning from mistakes made.
I based my rewards off of cool things I have seen in Kickstarter's I have personally backed, insight from my early readers, and things I could handle making myself.
I had my street team members competing to gain pre-launch followers. We had a a goal set for 100 and if we hit it then they'd all get a free star plushie. We did not hit that number but having it become a competition made it fun and helped get posts out about the campaign.
Making a video is very important, I created one in canva with mockups that I made but campaigns that show the physical copy perform a lot better. If there is a printer near you that allows samples, I highly recommend going that route.
Campaign Launch
While I did reach the low funding goal of $500 quickly (within minutes) I needed at least $7,000 for the minimum order required by the printing company. I was STRESSED about this because since I had my funding goal set so low, that meant even if I did not reach the 7k needed I was still responsible for filling the orders. THIS was my biggest lesson. The advice I had received were from six figure authors who didn't necessarily care about the goal because it wasn't needed for them to fulfill their rewards. Mine was, and I should have thought about that more instead of focusing solely on what I was told by those who were not in the same situation. That was me being naive and not thinking enough for myself. While this could have been a huge hit financially for me I ended up funding enough to cover printing costs.
During the campaign is where I learned the most so I'm going to break it down a bit for easier reading:
Author swaps are ESSENTIAL. I had no following, and doing campaign and newsletter swaps are absolutely what I think made my first campaign successful. They allow you to reach new readers from people they trust and support.
Instagram Ads: I ran one ad which I think was more of a waste than anything. My organic posts drew more traffic to the campaign than the ad did.
Shipping: I priced shipping costs low because I was afraid it would deter backers from pledging. All this did was ... well... screw me. I had a lot of international orders which ended up costing WAY more than I had expected. For example, one package to the UK cost $98 to ship, and that was the lowest price possible. Moving forward I will use resources to calculate more accurate shipping costs and will need to learn to let go of any guilt I may feel over it, because it's simply not up to me.
Packaging & Rewards: I did not take packaging or the cost of materials for the rewards into consideration when I started this campaign. (I know I should have but I was hyper fixated on just the books) Make sure you are adjusting your funding goal to account for packaging. You can do this by estimating based off a minimum backer goal in your head. Since I had 102 backers for my first campaign, my next campaign I will estimate packing costs based on 100 backers. I made most of the rewards myself! Which I thought would cut down on costs. That was until I started purchasing all the materials to make them haha.
Timeline: THIS IS IMPORTANT! I had originally planned to have the special editions out by the official release. I planned this timeline off what the printer told me. Using a printer overseas there were a few things that happened which delayed shipment. I was originally told I could see the samples via video which would speed up the process instead of shipping physical samples, but that did not happen even after I mentioned it twice. So I asked the backers how they'd feel about waiting on the samples to arrive first before placing the full order. All who commented agreed waiting would be best! This added a few weeks onto the timeline. Because of the added time, it put production and shipping into holiday time. Once shipped it took 20-ish days to arrive.
Late pledges: Make sure you have the late pledges box ticked in the prelaunch page! I thought I did and set every tier to end a week after launch thinking that was the way to go- it was not. It is imperative you check this before launch day. Kickstarter reopened the campaign for me and added tiers to late pledge but it was still stressful dealing with that.
The campaign funded almost 10k and all of it went directly to purchasing the books, shipping costs, and purchasing materials for creating the rewards and packaging. There was no profit, and I did have to use out of pocket funds to finish paying for plushies. (No regrets though because all leftover swag and rewards I'll use on my shop and at in person events)
Fulfillment
Fulfillment was my FAVORITE part!!! I loved making all the page overlays even though me and some Vellum sheets had a huge fight and made me see red... but I switched to transparency paper and purchased a new printer and all was right in the world. I made my own stickers and sticker sheets (For the most part) The chibi sticker sheets WITH quotes I ordered from Sticker Mule during a deal, along with the bubble mailers. (Listed on my resources page).
Watching everything come together, writing little hand-written notes to everyone, and knowing that these editions were about to be in readers hands was an experience I want to re-live over and over.
I ended up buying my own label printer and using Stamps.com to print off all US based shipping labels. I had to go in the post office for all international orders simply because I was stressed about the customs forms haha.
It took me one week to finish sending out most rewards, I had to wait on the plushie delivery to send the final rewards but otherwise I'm extremely happy with quickly I was able to pack and ship everything myself.
If you can have a friend or loved one help you, I recommend highly, but it is entirely possible to do it yourself. You'll be tired and a little cranky but its worth it.
Reward Creation & Packaging
Overlays: I used transparency paper which created gorgeous overlays- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078QYKNKG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
Stickers: I used a mix of Cricut sticker paper and the one I liked is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T83CSCG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
I then put a holographic sheet over them before cutting them out with my Cricut
holographic sheet: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8PBYZ2R?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
Map poster packing tube: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0928QTSJB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
Fragile stickers:
Bubble mailers: https://www.stickermule.com/unlock?ref_id=6270159701&utm_medium=embed&utm_source=invite&utm_content=728x90
I hope all of this was helpful and if you have any questions please feel free to ask!
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