Introduction
Kickstarter has gone from a small startup Internet company in 2009 to one of the leading tools used to fund tens of thousands of creative projects. The company uses a concept called crowdfunding, or bringing together many people to support a concept, product, or idea. Crowdfunding works by allowing individuals to provide financial backing to a project they want to see come to fruition.
However, Kickstarter is different from other types of fundraising-oriented platforms. The people posting campaigns are not asking for donations for a favorite charity or cause; they are asking backers to believe in their idea. Kickstarter has quickly become a mainstream way to get a creative project made, whether it’s backing for a feature or documentary film or preselling copies of a book. According to a July 2012 report in Publishers Weekly, Kickstarter has already revolutionized the graphic novel industry, quickly becoming the second-largest publisher for this type of work.
Everyone from Academy Award–winning writers to long-established musical acts are using Kickstarter to get their latest projects off the ground without waiting for a studio or publisher to come along. Thanks to the nature of digital giving (using a credit card over the Internet), backers can come from anywhere and support projects at any level, from $1 to $10,000 and beyond.
About This Book
This book is mostly for anyone considering — or in the process of — raising money for a project via a Kickstarter campaign. ...
