If you’re here, you may have heard of crowdfunding as a way to get your book project into the world, but you’re not exactly sure what’s involved. Our guide is here to help you, from explaining the basics to giving you the keys to success.

How it works

Crowdfunding is a process in which people raise funds for a project by receiving small amounts of money from a large number of people using an online platform. The project itself is the “crowdfunding campaign.” In exchange, the campaign owner offers their supporters enticing gifts (called “rewards”).

Crowdfunding reduces the financial risk to a single person by spreading the burden to a crowd. Many now well-known projects have used crowdfunding to kickstart their business and test their product on the market (like the Exploding Kittens card game and the Veronica Mars movie).

What’s involved

Crowdfunding can be extremely rewarding. If you succeed, you get a full list of invested readers and followers along with a fully funded book over which you have a lot more creative control than the traditional equivalent. Making that happen, however, can be a lot of work.

First, you’ll need a place you can send people so they can support your campaign. That’s where we come in. We’re your specialized, book-dedicated crowdfunding platform. We provide you with the campaign page, and all you need to do is fill out the right information.

The campaign page represents your campaign. It needs to draw people into your story and entice them with exciting rewards.

Beyond a great campaign page and fantastic rewards, it’s your job to bring people to your page. That means asking all your friends and family for support, getting active online, sharing the news, and using every creative means you can think of to bring people to your page.

Up next, how to create the best possible campaign page.