Kickstarter Advice and Planning r1

Kickstarter Advice & Planning
Version r1 dated 30th December 2020. Written by Glynn Seal.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................. 1 Paying Suppliers with PayPal..................... 8

Before the Launch ................................................ 2 Launch & During the Campaign ......................... 9
Realistic Expectations ..................................... 2 Launch.................................................................. 9
Responsibility & Risk ....................................... 2 Spreading the Word ..................................... 9
Generating Hype............................................... 2 Unique URLs ................................................... 9
Setting Up the Kickstarter .............................. 3 During the Campaign .................................... 10
Campaign Duration ...................................... 3 First 3 Days .................................................. 10
Setting Funding Goal ................................... 3 The Middle Bit............................................. 10
Look & Feel .................................................... 3 Final 48 Hours............................................. 10
Stretch Goals ................................................. 4 Problems ...................................................... 11
Rewards .......................................................... 4 Reference Funding Graphs ...................... 11
Add-Ons .......................................................... 4 The First Third ............................................. 12
Updates........................................................... 5 Campaign End ..................................................... 13
Preview Link .................................................. 5 Dropped Pledges............................................ 13
Create a Programme ........................................ 5 Kickstarter Payment ...................................... 13
Backer Locations ............................................... 6 Surveys ............................................................. 13
Costs .................................................................... 6 Fulfilment............................................................. 14
Supplier Discounts....................................... 6 Backer Data...................................................... 14
Think of Everything...................................... 6 Packaging ......................................................... 14
Shipping to Backer Costs ............................ 7 Postal Service.................................................. 14
Cost Increases ............................................... 7 Everything is Shipped ................................... 15
Contingency .................................................. 7 Failed Deliveries ............................................ 15
Currency Exchange Rates ........................... 7 Leftover Stock ................................................. 16
Kickstarter is a great tool for generating interest and support for projects that would otherwise never
come to fruition, but it should be treated with respect.
If you do not, you can just as easily lose money as make it.
The money pledged by backers is ALWAYS still their money until you have fulfilled every single backer’s
pledge rewards.
http://www.monkeyblooddesign.co.uk/store Page 1 of 16
Before the Launch
Realistic Expectations
Creating a product that sits in a niche, within a niche, within a niche, is going to attract less funding
than a project which is sitting in just one niche. For example: a setting book for a single rule system
is going to generate more funding than an adventure that is for levels 10-12 only, set within a
specific setting, for a single rule system.
Try to have the widest appeal that you can. Maybe make your project available for multiple systems,
etc.
Looking at other similar Kickstarters can give you a guide as to expected funding although two
almost identical campaigns run by a first-time creator and an 10-time creator might not yield the
same results due to the 10-time creator’s ability to call on his previous campaign’s backers.
Kicktraq is a good way to look at past projects and also see their funding profiles, but ignore the
Kicktraq’s ‘[Exp] Projection’ and ‘[Exp] Trend tabs’, they are TOTAL RUBBISH when looking at live
campaigns: https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/monkeyblooddesign/folk-magic-of-the-haven-
isles/#chart-daily
Other useful resources are:
• Bigger Cake: https://www.biggercake.com/projects/608764698/folk-magic-of-the-haven-

isles
• BackerKit: https://www.backerkit.com/projects/monkeyblooddesign/folk-magic-of-the-
haven-isles
Responsibility & Risk

Getting hundreds of £/$s from hundreds of backers is a big responsibility, and until every backer
has got their reward, none of the remaining funds are yours/profits. Keep it separated in a different
account and don’t touch it (other than to pay suppliers) until your campaign is fulfilled and what’s
left is yours. Always keep that in mind throughout and respect every single backer for their support
and trust.
The best plan is to have the work mostly done before launch, so that you can show it off to attract
backers, and also it reduces the risk of suppliers not meeting deadlines and the stresses that can
bring. If you can get all the writing done, and some art, sample layout and anything else complete
before launch it is worth doing.
Generating Hype
• Get people on your team that already have a following, as they can help attract backers you
might not otherwise be able to reach.
• Having as many people know about your campaign as you can is vital. Using images and
video is the best way to engage and attract interest. There are various ways to do this:
o Post on your social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MeWe, etc).
o If you have a blog, post about your project to your blog followers.
o If you have a webstore, getting a mailing list attached (such as MailChimp) is a good
way to email previous ‘subscribed to email’ customers.
o Maybe send preview PDFs to reviewers and influencers you might know on social
media. Offer them free hard copies once the project is fulfilled.
Setting Up the Kickstarter
Campaign Duration
Long campaigns don’t mean more funding. Sometimes a shorter campaign may generate as much,
and maybe more, as it creates a sense of urgency. The longer a campaign runs, the more backers can
see other more alluring projects, run into financial difficulties, and generally lose interest resulting
cancelled pledges.
30 days is more than enough. I am starting to favour 23-day campaigns that starts on a Friday, spans
over 4 weekends, and ends on a Sunday.
Setting Funding Goal

Ultimately, this is down to your costs. If your costs are £500, then set that as your funding goal.
Anything you raise past that is going to be partly profits (and some costs as there may be more
things to fulfil and more stock to order to do it).
You can also set the funding goal BELOW your costs. The advantage to doing this is that you can
state that you funded in 1 day, or in 3 hours, or whichever it is, and this creates a sense of hype and
FOMO (fear of missing out), which encourages more backers.
Look & Feel

The campaign page is the thing that your backers see to attract them to pledge. It should look as
inviting and enticing as possible. It’s the store window of your shop.
• Create a structured Story section which flows in a sensible order. I tend to use variations on
this method:
o Introduction
o What it’s about
o Specifications
o Who’s involved in the project
o Stretch Goals
o Add-ons
o Shipping & Fulfilment
o Risks & challenges
• The main header graphic is the graphic that will appear in all your campaign links shared on
social media. It should be enticing.
• Create nice-looking page graphics, and even 3D mockups or screen captures of what you
plan to create.
• A video is worth considering too. I have made a few simple ones
(https://youtu.be/hulpACguyTE) but also paid someone to create one for the very first
campaign I ran (approx. $200): https://youtu.be/BlTAoR7FZpQ
Stretch Goals
On your first campaign, I would avoid doing these as it is a complication that could catch you out.
There are generally two ways of thinking about Stretch Goals: One-Off and Escalating.
One-Off Stretch Goals

These are goals that have a one-off cost when the level is reached.
For example, upgrading to colour artwork from mono artwork. This is very likely to be a one-off cost
from the freelancer, so the one-time costs are known when you reach the Stretch Goal level. This is
the best form as it gives you cost control.
Escalating Stretch Goals

These are goals that have an escalating cost when the level is reached and the costs continue to rise
as more backers come on board.
For example, adding extra pages to a book when it reaches the Stretch Goal will increase the
printing unit cost for every copy of the book. The more backers you have, the more copies you need
and the cost goes up (assuming you don’t get discounts for ordering higher quantities). This form of
Stretch Goal is trickier to cost control.
Remember that you do not know how many backers you will get, so any stretch goals might need to
accommodate hundreds of backers.
Rewards
I tend to offer the following types of rewards:
• Digital (fulfilled via DriveThruRPG)

• Print-on-Demand (fulfilled via DriveThruRPG), and
• Print (ordered via local Printer and fulfilled from here) options.
Make sure you set the prices of rewards realistically but check to see how many backers at each
level you might need to hit your funding goal. Having a funding goal of $5000, expecting 100
backers, and setting your pledge level at $30, is not going to get you funded (100 x $30 = $3000)
unless you get double the backers.
Add-Ons
As with Stretch Goals, I would steer clear of these for a first campaign.
They can make fulfilment a bit messy and more prone to shipping errors later on. Also, Kickstarter
does not accommodate them within its campaign tools (although I believe it’s in beta).
Kickstarter Add-ons
I’ve done add-ons through Kickstarter and it did make fulfilment more complicated, as unless you
create a load of confusing pledge rewards with different add-ons included, they have to be added
onto the pledge reward amount, so it can get confusing trying to figure out who has added on which
add-ons.
BackerKit Add-ons
I’ve done add-ons through BackerKit (a third-party company) who you pay to be able to setup a
storefont which links to the Kickstarter data and allows you to create additional products and
collect shipping at checkout. You can do additional surveys also.
These worked well, but it is an extra level of complexity on a first KS that you are best to avoid until
you are more experienced. You would need to setup all your pledge levels, rewards, add-ons, and
shipping rates in what is effectively a custom webstore:
You can also use BackerKit to handle Preorders with a Preorder Store created automatically from all
the data you setup: https://great-lunden.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Webstore Add-ons
My latest method is to collect shipping costs through my webstore. All my products are already
there, and all my shipping info/rates are entered, so paying and adding things on is simple enough
through the use of coupons and being able to export order data through my Woocommerce store.
Updates
Hold some art and information back for updates as the campaign progresses. It’s good to let backers
feel included in the project as it develops, after all, they have paid for it to happen!
Always keep your backers updated, but don’t overdo it. Lots of people do not even read the
updates. Once a week during the campaign is enough, and especially at milestones like Funding
Goal reached, Stretch Goals reached, and Campaign End.
Preview Link
Once your Kickstarter has been approved, you can generate a Campaign Link that allows folk to
follow when it launches on Kickstarter (they’ll get notified). This link can be used to hype the
project and get backers following ready to pledge on launch and help increase that Day 1 quest to
fund.
Create a Programme
The Midderlands also other commissions
Kickstarter Delivery Ma rch Apri l Ma y June Jul y Augus t

Week Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Mon 18/03/2019
Mon 25/03/2019
Mon 01/04/2019
Mon 08/04/2019
Mon 15/04/2019
Mon 22/04/2019
Mon 29/04/2019
Mon 06/05/2019
Mon 13/05/2019
Mon 20/05/2019
Mon 27/05/2019
Mon 03/06/2019
Mon 10/06/2019
Mon 17/06/2019
Mon 24/06/2019
Mon 01/07/2019
Mon 08/07/2019
Mon 15/07/2019
Mon 22/07/2019
Mon 29/07/2019
Mon 05/08/2019
Task
Kickstarter Launch KS
Kickstarter Campaign Completion KS
Kickstarter Pledge Collection 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Issue of Funds KS
Writing (Main Book) wri ti ng - ma i n book
Writing (Stretch Goals) wri ti ng - s tretch goa l s
Completion of Writing (GS, MN, RM, JL, ENN) Al l wri ters
GS Review of Text for Editing (Word Format) try a nd get thi s done i n a weepooki e needs 3 weeks i dea l l y
Editing Process edi ti ng edi ti ng buffer
Editing Completion MP
Artwork > a rtwork a nd ca rtogra phy
Completion of Art (JM, SP, GS) Al l a rti s ts
Layout Prepration for Print Files (Book/Maps/Cards/DJ) l a yout (ma i n)
Layout Prepration for Stretch Goals (Digital and Print files) l a yout (s tretch)
Issue Files to Printer (Book/Maps/Cards/DJ) GS
Print proofs and approval (DriveThru - stretch goals) GS
Print proofs and approval (WG Baird) 1 2 3 4 5
Printing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Shipping
Setup BackerKit and LIVE for Surveys s etup ba ckerki t !!!
KS Survey GS
BackerKit Surveys GS
Backerkit Lockdown day
Backerkit Charge Credit cards (do It as I go)
Ship out Digital Rewards via DTRPG
Create a simple Gantt chart (or similar in Excel) to map out when everything will need to be
delivered by and include key dates/milestones. Allow for holidays, allow for extended delivery
dates from suppliers, allow for late delivery of artwork, then add on a month or two.
You can state in the pledge rewards when folks will get the rewards. It is way better to add plenty of
extra time than trim it down to a quicker delivery only to fail to make it. Backers are always happy
with earlier delivery than expected.
Kickstarter takes 2 weeks plus a few days to get you the funds after the campaign ends, so bear that
in mind in your planning as you won’t have money to pay suppliers until then.
Backer Locations
The more backers the better. Restricting your backers geographically will have an impact on your
Funding. If you can, offer all pledge levels worldwide. Most of your backers will be US then UK, then
EU I would expect. A few will be Japan, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, etc.
You can restrict some of the more far-flung ones if you choose, but US/UK/EU will cover most
backers.
Costs
Supplier Discounts
Make use of discount coupons for online suppliers, maybe see if they can improve their pricing
based on higher quantities/order values. It is always worth an ask, they can only say no.
Think of Everything
It goes without saying, but here are some costs that can get forgotten about and the cost might
depend on if you are a running this as a company (Limited Company or LLC) or an individual (self-
employed) from a tax perspective. In the UK, we have to pay 20% VAT on some items, but a lot of
suppliers provide costs without showing VAT, so missing that can easily add 20% to a cost you
never planned.
• Tax/VAT on supplied goods (printing, bookmarks, packaging materials, etc). In the UK, books
and leaflets are 0% VAT, but bookmarks are 20% VAT. Refer to your accountant for
anything like that to see how you stand.
• Delivery charges. Suppliers often charge you for shipping.
• Kickstarter fees (5% of final Funding Goal)
• Kickstarter payment processing fees (between 3-5% of final Funding Goal)
Here’s a list of typical costs I consider for a Kickstarter (in addition to the above). If you are carrying
out some of the work, then I tend not to add those into the costs. The time I spend involved in the
project will get paid from the final profit (and hopefully a bit more).
• Artwork and cartography costs

• Layout costs
• Writing costs (possibly per word, and based on final word count)
• Editing costs (possibly per word, and based on final edited word count)
• Print proof costs
• Printing costs
• Packaging costs (if you are paying anyone to help you)
• Supplying and posting out playtester/contributor copies
• Kickstarter Video production costs
• Kickstarter video music costs (for videos: https://www.pond5.com/royalty-free-music/)
• Bubblewrap
• Bubble wrap pouches
• Envelopes
• Cardboard bookwraps/packaging (see Fulfilment > Packaging)
• Address labels
• Printer cartridges (for label printing ink)
• ISBN numbers (if you decide to use those), plus sending books to Legal Deposit libraries if
applicable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_deposit)
• Marketing costs (such as Facebook ads)
• Any delivery costs associated with the above orders
• Any VAT/tax added to the above orders
• If importing things from other countries, allow for import taxes and currency exchange rates
• Bear in mind you will be taxed by your government on your profits too.
Shipping to Backer Costs

THIS ONE IS VERY IMPORTANT!
If you have physical products that are printed locally and fulfilled by yourself (not print-on-
demand) and you have no way of collecting shipping costs separately after the campaign ends
(BackerKit or a webstore), then you will need to collect shipping through Kickstarter.
It’s no problem to setup (part of the reward setup), but make sure you know exactly how much it is
going to cost to ship the items (make sure you calculate the weight correctly, with all packaging). If
you have 200 physical backers, and the shipping ends up being more than you planned by $1 per
parcel, that has just cost $200 out of your profit!
Also, the shipping costs will come off the Funding Goal! So, if your Funding Goal is $1000 and you
get a pledge for $30 + $4 shipping, then that is $34 off your Funding Goal. This means that if you
have not allowed for the shipping costs in the Funding Goal, you can fund without getting quite
enough backers.
The biggest problem here is that if you are shipping worldwide, then you have no idea what your
split of US/EU/UK/Rest of the World shipping costs will be. If it costs $1/2/3/4 respectively to send
out, and you think you will get 100 US backers, that’s $100 shipping costs. If all your backers end up
being from the UK, that’s then $300 shipping costs.
I am in the UK and commonly see 65% US backers. I mitigate any risk here by collecting shipping
via another method (Backerkit or webstore), as backers will pay shipping later exactly based on the
shipping country. I do not have to take any risk on that front.
Cost Increases
Be Careful Here!
When you get a quote from a supplier (for printing, other materials, postage, etc) they are usually
fixed for so many days from quote date.
From the date you get quotes to the day you place the order can be easily be 60 days or more, as
you need to run your Kickstarter campaign and get funds beforehand, then you might have to wait
for editing, layout and final art before you can place print orders.
During this time, suppliers can increase costs, postal rates can go up, etc. Even things like trade
wars, currency variations, and Brexit can have an effect.
Contingency
There will always be something you forgot about cost-wise. Allow a little bit to cover unforeseen
spends and general cost increases.
Currency Exchange Rates

If you are using suppliers and freelancers from other countries, then be mindful of the fluctuations
in the Exchange Rates (XR).
For example, as of today $1 USD = £0.74 GBP.
If you have a quote from a UK supplier at £100, and when you got the quote the XR is $1=£0.78
then that cost is $128.21.
By the time you come to pay for the work (possibly months later) and if the XR rate has gone against
you and is now $1= £0.74, then that payment of £100 costs you $135.14.
Banks and payment providers (PayPal/Stripe, etc) will also take a cut, so be aware.
Paying Suppliers with PayPal

Bear in mind that if you receive money with PayPal, you will attract a payment fee, usually more if
they are overseas: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees.
If you are paying suppliers, then they will normally have to pay the fee. As an example, my rates
allow for the payment fee that I get charged, but check that a supplier is not expecting you to cover
the fees.
Launch & During the Campaign
Launch
Spreading the Word
As well as the methods mentioned in the Generating Hype section, the following additional
methods are useful once you have a campaign running:
• If you have a DriveThruRPG account, you can email all ‘subscribed to email’ previous
customers.
• Facebook or Twitter ads may be worth considering.
• Consider doing interviews and podcasts about the release. Ask folk who you think might be
interested.
• Post updates on your previous Kickstarter campaigns.
• Maybe doing a cross-post update with another creator running a concurrent and similar
Kickstarter.
Unique URLs
Once the campaign is live, the Kickstarter Dashboard allows you to generate unique project URLs,
which you can give names to.
If I want to send a newsletter from my MailChimp website contacts, I create a new unique URL called
MailChimp 1. This gives me a Kickstarter URL with some unique characters at the end. I use this URL
for links in the newsletter, and whenever someone clicks the newsletter links and backs the project,
I get to see how much money was raised from that link.
It’s a great way of measuring to find out what your most effective methods of communications/
fundraising are for future Kickstarters.
For example: Below is The Bats of Saint Abbans referrers list. KS CoGL-1 below was the name I gave
to the unique URL that I posted out in The City of Great Lunden kickstarter update. It generated 19
pledges and £449 of funding.
During the Campaign
I’ve run eight successful campaigns, but the first one was a rollercoaster. I had a £12,000 Funding
Goal, and it was a 31-day campaign. It funded on Day 28 after an amazing rally of backers in the
closing stages. I spent two weeks in the middle of it wondering if I should pull the campaign.
Moral: It’s Not Over Until It’s Over!
£16,000.00 Kickstarter Running Total Funding

£14,000.00
The Midderlands
£12,000.00
£10,000.00
£8,000.00
£6,000.00
£4,000.00
£2,000.00
£-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Not all campaign graphs look like this, especially on extraordinarily successful Kickstarters, but a lot
of indie RPG campaigns do.
First 3 Days
These are the most exciting times of the campaign and will often see a high Day 1, followed by a
couple of days of good progress.
The Middle Bit

In your first campaign, you will probably be watching the campaign like a hawk! Once you get to
Day 4, things will start to tail off. It is important to not get too despondent during this time, it is
normal. Let your campaign simmer away.
You can continue to spread the word, maybe head to the RPG Subreddits and post about your
campaign. Post to a few forums, etc. It is unlikely that anything you do during this time will cause a
significant spike, unless it’s an influencer in the niche sharing your campaign (Tenkar’s Tavern for
example), or doing a review, or doing a video interview/podcast.
Final 48 Hours
In the last 48 hours of the campaign, pledges should ramp up as Kickstarter notifies everyone that is
following the campaign. This can sometimes make a project that you may think won’t fund, get over
the line, which is exactly what happened with my first ever Kickstarter.
Problems
Most problems that arise should be dealt with under the radar, such as supplier cost increases and
such.
Anything that affects backers is a different story. Once you have the complete picture that affects
either delivery or the expectations and promises noted in the campaign, then let them know in an
update as soon as you can. They will appreciate you being upfront and honest with them.
Reference Funding Graphs

I record the data on all my campaigns for future comparisons. Here are the running total funding
graphs for my six book-related campaigns. You can see that some campaigns where shorter than
others (I mainly did this to see how it affected the funding):
£18,000.00
The Midderlands
£16,000.00 The Midderlands Expanded
The City of Great Lunden
£14,000.00 Folk Magic of the Haven Isles
Chewer of Fingers
£12,000.00 The Bats of Saint Abbans
£10,000.00
£8,000.00
£6,000.00
£4,000.00
£2,000.00
£-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
You can see the initial rush of pledges, and the final flurry, but the middle section is long and steady
with occasional backers but also cancelled pledges. The City of Great Lunden had a great start and
brilliant end, but the 3 weeks between were agonising lol, and I am sure I could have done just as
well with a 21-day campaign.
The First Third
My current data suggests that the first third of a campaign will be roughly 50-60% of your funding.
This provides a good guide as to the funding outcome.
Here are all eight of my campaigns with their progress measured as a percentage in campaign
thirds:
KS 1 KS 2 KS 3 KS 4 KS 5 KS 6 KS 7 KS 8
80.0%
71.0%
69.7%
70.0% 69.6%
62.9%
60.0%
56.2%
50.0% 46.4% 44.2%
45.2% 42.8%
40.0%
44.9% 36.8%
30.8%
30.0% 13.1% 28.8%
17.9%
24.9%
20.0% 20.8%
12.3% 20.3%
10.0% 9.4% 9.6%
8.3%
8.7% 5.5%
0.0%
First Third Middle Third Last Third
Campaign End
Dropped Pledges
Not all the money raised in the campaign will be collected. You will have dropped backers, maybe 1
in 30 will fail to have funds collected. Kickstarter won’t charge you any fees for those, but you wont
get the money either.
Kickstarter Payment
It will be 14 days plus another few days before you get the payment once the campaign has ended.
They will have deducted their fees from the amount they pay you.
Surveys
With Kickstarter you only get to send surveys once. Make sure you have asked for all the data you
need to fulfil everything. The surveys are where you can request physical shipping addresses
(physical rewards) and DriveThru email addresses (for Digital and print-on-demand rewards).
There will always be typos in people’s surveys, so it is always worth considering a review of the
data before fulfilling. An email address of cheesebiscuit@outlook.xom will always be a typo lol
(.xom should be .com). I even ask for the DriveThru email address to be entered twice in the
Kickstarter survey, then run a comparison error check on the data in Excel to make sure I can easily
filter out any typos.
Leave surveys until a couple of weeks before you are ready to fulfil physical items, as surveys are
not all answered straight away. Not everyone completes the survey. I still have unfulfilled rewards
from my first ever Kickstarter!
Fulfilment
Backer Data
You can export all the backer data from Kickstarter once your campaign has ended, but do it once
surveys are largely collected and you are getting near to fulfilment. You’ll need to check the
surveys each day after that to see if other backers have provided info and add it to your main data
spreadsheet.
I tend to use the Kickstarter exported .csv file in Excel and set up a mail merge to print off shipping
labels (I use PagePlus but Word will do it too). This method reduces chances of address errors as it is
what the user typed in during their survey (but it could still be incorrectly typo’ed).
If you get 50 backers, writing out address labels is doable, but you will HATE writing out 300
addresses manually and get an RSI (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/repetitive-strain-injury-rsi/) lol.
Packaging
Make sure you have allowed for robust packaging of your items. Many
backers will be collectors and they will want to get the product in tip-
top condition. For small zines and softcover contents, avoid envelopes
(padded or not), put them in a sturdy book-wrap like this as they give
good corner and edge protection: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Triplast-
Tenvowrap-251x163x-Cardboard-Mailers/dp/B08J4634PD.
I even do this for hardbacks too.
Postal Service
There is also label automation with some US fulfilment services too
such as Stamps. I do not have much info on how that works, as I process
all my parcels here and dump them at the Post Office ready-to-go.
If you are fulfilling yourself and taking to the post, bear in mind that something like 300 parcels is
quite a lot, so I would give your Postal Office some forewarning to agree the best way forward for
them to process them (maybe in phases). They might have to devote a member of staff all day to
process them.
Understand the best ways to ship your items, based on what your postal services allow. There may
be other options available in the US other than USPS, so maybe shop around to see if UPS or some
other carriers can offer better rates.
Everything is Shipped
Now is the time to relax a bit and wait to see what happens with feedback. Be sure to share, like and
engage with anyone that has an issue.
True Story: I fulfilled my first ever Kickstarter, and the first feedback comment I got was that the
work seemed amateurish. I was truly gutted and it sucker-punched me. I poured so much time,
effort, sweat, and tears into the project and I was truly proud of what I had achieved, only to have
the wind taken out of my sails with my first piece of feedback.
The rest of the feedback was highly positive, and so I felt a lot better after that, but there is a moral
to the story. You cannot please all of the people all of the time.
Another benefit is that the feedback actually grounded me a little bit into making sure I always tried
to improve things where I could and treat feedback as ‘free consultancy’ �.
Failed Deliveries
It is common to have a few packages that do not turn up. If someone says they did not receive their
package, send out another immediately, no question. Bad PR is worse than the cost of one copy +
postage.
Make sure you allowed for extra stock of everything to cover a few missing packages. I would
recommend at least 10% over. If you had 200 backers, then order 20 over.
Leftover Stock
You might have allowed 500 copies because it was a much better rate on the quote, but you have
only shipped out to 300 backers. What do I do with the leftover 200 copies in stock? There are a
couple of options:
1. Send out to influencers as review copies to help raise interest and help shift the remaining
copies.
2. Sell your remaining stock to another seller, such as Exalted Funeral in the US that stocks
independent offerings. Also, there are folks like Noble Knight in the US and Spheremaster
Games in Germany that will hold indie stock. I even stock some other publishers’ items on
my UK webstore at www.monkeyblooddesign.co.uk/store.
3. Open up your own webstore and sell them on there.
4. Just offer copies via social media with instructions to send you money via. PayPal.
END

Kickstarter Advice and Planning r1

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Kickstarter Advice and Planning r1

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Kickstarter Advice & Planning

Version r1 dated 30th December 2020. Written by Glynn Seal.

Table of Contents ................................................. 1 Paying Suppliers with PayPal..................... 8

Other useful resources are:

• Bigger Cake: https://www.biggercake.com/projects/608764698/folk-magic-of-the-haven-

Responsibility & Risk

Setting Funding Goal

Look & Feel

One-Off Stretch Goals

Escalating Stretch Goals

• Digital (fulfilled via DriveThruRPG)

Kickstarter Delivery Ma rch Apri l Ma y June Jul y Augus t

• Artwork and cartography costs

Shipping to Backer Costs

Currency Exchange Rates

For example, as of today $1 USD = £0.74 GBP.

Paying Suppliers with PayPal

Moral: It’s Not Over Until It’s Over!

£16,000.00 Kickstarter Running Total Funding

The Middle Bit

Reference Funding Graphs

I even do this for hardbacks too.

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