Do a Kickstarter At Any Point…

How Many Books Do I Need?…

… Before I can think about doing a Kickstarter?

I have gotten that question a bunch lately. For a while, I thought you needed a maybe ten or so books, but then a friend reminded me of a writer I saw do a Kickstarter with their first collection. First book ever, actually.

And another writer wrote me and said they had done a Kickstarter with their very first book, a stand-alone novella.

Both did great, built some readers, did more campaigns as they finished new books, and kept building readers and fans so that by the time they both reached that magical discoverability level of 20 books, they were doing great.

I sort of went, “Duh! Why not?”

Both writers had web sites to start, just basic ones, and mailing lists with just a few people signed up. One said mostly family. Both writers got readers to sign up for their mailing lists from their kickstarters.

Both writers asked $200 and both got over $500 on their first one.

One of the writers, with a third collection after just a year, had the campaign go past $1,000.  That is not coffee money. It is great promotion.

I have tended to tell writers to not worry so much about promotion with first books and just keep writing and getting more books out. Good advice.

But now, since Kickstrater has become a place where readers can find books and new authors, if you do the campaigns right, even a first novel or collection can help you start to grow your readers and fan base.

See, even I can change opinions on things.

One thing about writing and publishing… Nothing ever remains the same. Those who thrive are those with the courage to go forward and keep learning.