How NOT to run an audiobook crowdfunding campaign

Sooooooo, this was going to be about my Kickstarter attempt. But – before you buzz off, possibly permanently –  relax. It won’t be!!!

No appeal will be made to your wallets.

You might even learn something from all my mistakes!!!

Sooooooo, I got the idea for a Kickstarter this time last year, while attending the London Book Fair. 

Thrillingly, I was there as their guest, as a finalist in the 2024 UK Selfies Book Awards – with my Darcy being the only historical fiction novel in the best seven author-published books released in the UK in 2023 (according to the judges, of course). 

Hasten to add, I didn’t actually win – a romantic comedy won – but I still had a great day, and not only at the Selfies reception. I went to lots of book stalls, met a load of lovely bookish people, and heard some fascinating discussions about foreign rights, book marketing, AI (ugh) – and, how Kickstarters are just great for authors. 

All the experts on the panel were unanimous about Kickstarter. According to the experts, Kickstarter crowdfunding is:

The best path towards funding audiobooks.

The best path towards funding deluxe or big-print hardbacks. 

The best path towards funding book launch parties

The best path to whiter teeth. No scratch that – haha – they didn’t go quite that far. But you get the point.

So fathead here was thinking Hmm. I have a load of novels yet to be audiobooked.

 (And yes, I know “audiobooked” is not a word – though it ought to be. As I remarked to our esteemed Always Austen leader, Regina, so ought “gruntled”. If one can be disgruntled, why can’t one also be gruntled?  And Regina quite agreed with me.)

But back to my London-Book-Fair-inspired belief in Kickstarters. 

It’s possible that the experts were dead wrong, and that Kickstarters DOES make teeth whiter. No, sorry, I mean, it’s possible that Kickstarters IS the best way to fund audiobooks, as long as you’re not lousy at running a Kickstarter campaign. Which I am. I am outstandingly lousy at it. I take lousiness at crowdfunding into an art form. 

Unlike our JAFF friend Amanda Kai, who recently nailed her audiobook Kickstarter within about 48 hours, I made a lot of rookie mistakes. 😔Here they are:

First, I failed to name – or even to choose – my narrators. I want to have two, if possible, as I love double-narrated audiobooks. 

Why was this a mistake? Because there are narrators well-loved by JAFFers, who are really good at JAFF, narrators who sell audiobooks better than we do. People trip over themselves to kickstart audiobooks narrated by their fav narrators.

An unnamed narrator  – not so much!

Second, yes, I made a video reel thingie, and yes I shoved it on Instagram, TikTok, Linked-in etc. BUT I forgot:

1. to put it on every JAFF Facebook group, and 
2. to beat all my relatives and friends with it, over and over, world without end, Amen.

Third, I didn’t send it to my email troops early enough to gain momentum. I might not have left it on for long enough, either. Not quite sure about that.

Fourth, I was too stupid to understand that Kickstarters expect the rewards to relate to the audiobook in question.

 I offered the audiobook of Susan as a reward, since the audiobook of Darcy – the one I was hoping to fund – would never be ready in time. I thought they shouldn’t have to wait more than a few weeks to be rewarded… so that didn’t work.

Fifth, I have a lot of developmental editing expertise (I did it for a living when my kid was young.) So I offered that as a reward, thinking it would only cost me in time. But most JAFFers read JAFF or listen to it rather than write it. Which makes mine – of offering developmental help – officially, one of the dumbest ideas had by a human being since Napoleon thought it’d be cool to spend an idle midwinter invading Russia. 

So now you’re thinking, what did that fathead Alice do right???? Anything at all???

Full disclosure: About the only thing I did right was to make one of my rewards an offer to name a character in my next book. However, with my Kickstarter luck, anyone choosing that reward would’ve picked Amber, Taylor or Kimberlee as Regency names, so maybe it’s just as well that my Kickstarter failed, lol!!!

The only other good news is that my latest Pride and Perjury has ALSO made the UK Selfies Book Award final, so I get to the UK Selfies final two years in a row!!!! Only six finalists this year, and TWO of these historical fiction. Really looking forward to it, and would love-love-love to see any of you there. 

So, if you’ll be there, please pm/email me or link to me on F’book etc.!!!!!  

Pip-pip!!!!

Alice

PS Tune in next time to read:  How Alice messed-up at her second London Book Fair!!!!!!

Use the links to connect with Alice on social media … (or)

to sign up for Alice’s monthly newsletter.