I thought I'd dip my toe in the crowdfunding water and see if we could find some buoyancy for our flailing publishing venture. By flailing, I really mean fledgling, but didn't seem to have the right water borne metaphor on hand.
Flailing because I am enthusiastic about Koo Kaa & Burra: The Rescue, by Judith Price, and the very encouraging feedback we've had from classroom teachers and school librarians and would like to put some punch behind the book's marketing and opportunity. Flailing because in many ways this is new space for me, and the publishing waterways are very deep, and far, far across the main from here: the spit of land officially considered the most isolated capital city on earth. Western Australia might be well known for its mining, but truth be known, it's a cultural desert in respect of sound infrastructure for success in artistic pursuit. It's small, lonely and a long way from big markets.
So I scouted about for what seemed like a good platform and decided on pubslush because it touts itself as being there for all things literary. Of course it doesn't deal in Australian dollars, but why should that matter? Australians seem pretty happy to shell out US dollars or GB pounds for books on amazon and booklocker, why would the lack of an Aussie dollar be a put-off? Moreover, there's a lot more Americans and Brits than Australians, and surely they'd love to support a project about Australian birds and animals.
I drafted up a pitch. I thought it covered the subject pretty well: we want to raise money to fund mass production and distribution and marketing for a noteworthy publication. Something kids everywhere would love. After all, it's adventure and Australian and very beautifully imagined. I'm told kids like the story, and teachers like some of the themes they find in the work. That's pretty encouraging.
Next, I sent out an email to everyone I've ever had email contact with in my life. It was a bit of a weeding exercise, but well worth it to find out whose email address is no longer valid and to give those people who never want to hear from me again in their lives an opt out option. Someone told me at a conference on the day after I sent the email that she thought I'd presented a good argument.
A few did opt out, but a lot opened their email and a decent proportion clicked through to the various destinations I offered, quite a few to the campaign page. But guess what? Not one person has offered as little as five dollars in support. Not even an 'I like' comment left on the page.
Does it surprise me? No. Disappointed? Yes, a little. Even a single $5.00 pledge in the first few days would have mattered.
I think asking Australians to crowdfund something from someone with whom they have no fan relationship, who lives in Western Australia, is a very, very big ask. Art is not really created in Western Australia. Asking a person who lives elsewhere in Australian to fund an artistic pursuit in Western Australia is like asking them to step off a cliff. Moreover, asking non Australians to support something out of Western Australia is an even bigger ask, I think.
Perhaps it's as Spike Milligan once said, 'You have to be where the cheques are written.' Well, quite clearly I'm not.
Anyway, if you'd like to check out our crowdfunding campaign, if only to laugh at my folly, you'll find it here >> http://pubslush.com/books/id/3275
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