Kickstarting THE SYCORAX SERIES

Earlier this week, I successfully crowdfunded my upcoming sci-fi books THE SYCORAX SERIES. I just slipped in, beating my target of $1500 with just an hour left to go. This follows crowdfunding my first book, PEAK CROSSER (EMPIRE OF THE PEAKS 1) in 2015. I raised $2200 for my debut novel. 

A few interesting facts about my campaign

• I had 28 backers (compared to 34 in my previous campaign)
• 5 of the backers (and a total of $159) came from folks who found the project through Kickstarter and not through my efforts
• 9 of the backers (and a total of $253) came from folks that aren't friends or family. Four backers were fans of the Rise & Shout Podcast, which I host
• The most popular rewards were:
  • All 3 ebooks for $10 (6)
  • Signed paperback + 3 ebooks + 4 characters posters for $100 (4)
  • Paperback for $20 (4)
  • Signed paperback for $35 (4)

Was it a success? Absolutely. I generated $1505 in revenue as a nearly unknown author. But 84% was from close friends and family--which is awesome, but I can't keep bleeding my friends for money to publish my books. They may eventually tire of that.

My hope is that I will generate enough revenue from my new podcast (BLEEP: The Podcast) and from THE SYCORAX SERIES that I will be able to publish the sequel to PEAK CROSSER later this year without crowdfunding. This second career needs to become self-funding. Crowdfunding takes a lot of time, and I'd rather spend that time writing, editing or outlining. I also spent $400 on marketing and getting a video created, so it wasn't exactly cheap either.

Still, I'm extremely grateful for all the support I received from many of the same folks who supported PEAK CROSSER. My journey as an independent author continues.