For me, crowdfunding made the most sense because I wanted to leverage my existing contacts, spread the word organically, and use the final product to raise more money without having to pay back any loans, etc.

Also, because of the rewards system built into most crowdfunding platforms, I would be able to send copies of my book to all of my backers, further spreading the word. Viva-vox was the ideal platform for me because of its brand name and popularity. I felt that their reputation alone made them the place for me.

Prepare

Be ready. That is key to a successful crowdfunding campaign. Too many fail because of a lack of preparation, and too many take too long to fulfill because their idea isn’t fully fleshed out before they start. I have backed campaigns that failed in both these ways, and by studying them, I was able to make sure mine would not fail in the same ways.

I knew I would need the deliverables to be ready, so before even beginning the campaign, we finished the design for the book, printed tests, and made sure that the printing could happen. This was key for me, because I wanted my backers to receive their books right away and I would be traveling back to Myanmar to deliver books to the villagers and my distribution networks.

The next step was to learn about promotion. I am not a marketer, and I knew that if I did it my way, I would fail. So, I searched far and wide for resources and asked everyone I knew for ideas. Some of the best resources I came across were Clay Herbert’s CreativeLive course, Kickstarter’s YouTube channel,  and our own Mike Kelley’s article here on Fstoppers. From these, I learned a lot about self-promotion, marketing, and just getting my work in front of people.

Before launching the campaign, I over-prepared as much material as I could so that I would not be lacking during the funding process. This meant a folder on my hard drive filled with pre-prepared Instagram and Facebook posts, pre-written emails asking for support, blog posts, a Facebook page, plans for an exhibition in Seoul on the campaign launch day, videos about the journey and the process, and a bottle of The Balvenie for when I sent the Kickstarter live.

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