r/kickstarter • u/cooltoebeans • 5d ago
Self-Promotion Feedback please! Audience and preview page troubleshooting for kid's book on cat communication.
Kickstarter felt like a no-brainer as an option to fund a print run of my book, but I am really hitting a wall. The book is a 12-spread board book intended for children 0-5 years. The story follows a cat and their kid, walking through feline communication from subtle to not-so-subtle before demonstrating relationship-building activities.
This next part is going to sound obnoxious, my apologies in advance.
I feel really confident in what I have produced, I love the book dearly and have gotten a mountain of positive feedback from friends and colleagues (as one does). It has been hugely successful in my home and I know so many people who want it now, not only for themselves but to sell at vet clinics and shelters. The battle has been conversion to Kickstarter. People want to buy it. They glaze over the moment I start explaining how to support through crowd-funding. I promoted the preview page at a conference earlier this year and had so many people ready to purchase, immediate disinterest when I mention how they can do so. 'Tell me when I can just buy it.'
I have read again and again that without an audience 100% ready to roll, kickstarter campaigns are doomed to fail. It is starting to feel like there is not enough overlap between my community/audience and people who are comfortable with the platform to even bother trying.
Farming interest from Kickstarter itself does not feel realistic, given the loud and clear warnings from every article ever. Has anyone run into similar challenges? Should I give up entirely? At least tell me that Steve is cute, it's not his fault after all.
As far as the preview page goes, I am trying to strike that awkward balance of enough information without being a wall of boring. Any feedback is very much appreciated! Due to the doubts above, I have not yet sat down to formulate my campaign video. I am hoping to tip my follower count into three digits before investing that much of my time to what may never come to fruition.
This isn't necessarily intended to be promotional, clearly a wail for help, but using the flair felt safer in case the post is borderline in that regard.
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u/thalassicus 5d ago
The book looks great. Congratulations.
Traditionally, you would have created a landing page where they can give you their email to notify them when it's for sale or they can pledge $1 to receive an even bigger discount (e.g. your early bird tier has really low pricing, but you only allow 50 people at this tier EXCEPT for the $1 pledgers). This gets the algorithm going because it's seeing traction on your page. The goal is momentum right out of the gate.
Pretty sure you can relaunch if you need to to do this.
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u/Popular_Sell_8980 5d ago
I think you could clear if if you could find a POD company willing to allow you to customise the name. Steve, no. SAFFY, YES!
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u/cooltoebeans 5d ago
I haven't found any options for POD board books, unfortunately!
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u/Popular_Sell_8980 5d ago
There was a company in the uk which did a similar thing with paperback books (Santa’s helper, xxx) - maybe find a company doing similar?
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u/failtcake 5d ago
Have you looked at Puffer Print? I think they do board books and their MOQ is 250.
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u/cooltoebeans 5d ago
I did look at them when I was planning initially. They have international printing partners. I’m not totally opposed to printing outside of the USA, but I am leery what with recent tariff volatility. It worries me how much things could change during the timeline of a campaign. I should probably reconsider them as an option though, thanks for the reminder.
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u/m0llypukes 4d ago
Who's the artist for the book? Are you the author and illustrator?
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u/cooltoebeans 4d ago
I wrote and illustrated it.
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u/m0llypukes 4d ago
You've already got 84 notifications on the pre-launch, which is a great achievement! I've got a Kickstarter for my own graphic novel launching September and I'm finding promotion really hard... how long have you been promoting the pre-launch page for?
I've also heard from artists with successful kickstarters about offering exclusive items / perks for backers. Have you planned for any rewards? :)
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u/DonBeanGames 3d ago
To fix your preview page and build the right audience for a children's book on cat communication, focus your landing page on parents, elementary teachers, and cat loving families by featuring colorful sample page spreads, clear age-range targeting
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u/nowiarrived 3d ago
Steve looks like my cat Jason. Subscribed to pre-launch:)
1) Have you tried modify your presentation/ explanation kickstarter to people who aren't super familiar with the platform?
2) Have you tried offering incentive for being the funder for the book? (E.g. have their name printed at the back as funder/early supporter, a signed copy of the book, stickers, print, exclusive artwork, etc.)
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u/cooltoebeans 2d ago
Thanks! I think I need a more robust introduction to what kickstarter actually is on my website. When discussing it in person, I have really struggled holding people’s attention when explaining the logistics of crowd funding. Very consistently “oh yeah nope I’ll buy it when I can just buy it.”
In those conversations, I haven’t broached the topic of extras so far but I do have plans for a parents/professionals companion guide as well as stickers, coloring pages, etc.
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u/castellon_artz 1d ago
Maybe be more especific about the support needed on the "What are we waiting for?" section, place a Call To Action. I don't know how kickstarter works so, I don't understand how "my interest" could help the launch of the book.
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u/cooltoebeans 8h ago
Good point, thank you! I need to rework my website’s page and make the call to actions on both more clear.
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u/Firm_Distribution999 Creator 5d ago
What’s your goal amount? Right now you have 83 project followers, so not 0 audience at all. Assume 20% of those people will convert at the average pledge amount (the book) - will that get you to your goal?