Crowdfunding a Book: Niven's War

 

Okay. This was something I didn't think I would do, let alone do right.

A long time ago, I tried crowdfunding a book, but it was a complete failure. I didn't have any kind of an audience and the project fell flat on its ass. I had never thought of doing it again, because, why? I was quite capable of funding my own work and getting it out there. But, after releasing Wasteland Vigilante, a free book on my mailing list, and releasing The Adventures of Furman Simms, I wrote my next book. It was the project that would become Niven's War. It was a new direction for me.

It was my attempt at a military science fiction novel, something I'd often thought about doing in the past. However, I always dismissed the idea because let's face it, military sci-fi books were everywhere. When the idea hit me again, I decided the only way I could tell it was to make the story as uncomplicated as possible. I wanted to focus the story on a group of survivors caught up in the struggle, as opposed to scenes of people pointing to positions on a map and a potentially bloated story.

But, why crowdfund? Two reasons, really.

First, I had run out of money for the editing of any more books. Second, I had established more of an audience and figured it could work. The great thing about crowdfunding is it can gauge an audience's potential interest in a project. At the time of writing this, I have raised sixty-one percent of the target goal. It's going pretty good so far.

I also chose to work with a different artist for my book cover. Don't get me wrong, Peta is awesome and we'll be working together till the cows come home. But, a little variety is a cool thing. I had seen Carla Tornielli's work on the Grim Reaper books (although I missed them at first) and the above SunSworn Visual Companion. The above was also what told me I had to work with her. I loved what she did with the character and the surrounding colours and mentioned it to SunSworn's author, Red Gaze, and how much I wanted to work with her. I didn't realise it, but Carla was tagged in the conversation and saw what I said. One conversation later, and we agreed on terms and she drew me the cover for Niven's War. It was awesome and a real winner as far as I was concerned.

Launching the book was a big event for me. I was a guest on the Bargain Bin Show, where I officially launched the project, but not without a few hiccups. I had a great time and got my first backers from the show's audience, and felt a little better at appearing on camera for interviews. Since that show, I have appeared on The Creators Outlet, Critical Blast, and Monday Madness. I had a great time on all of them. It's really awesome talking about the craft with other creatives and I've no doubt the conversations could go on for hours, given the chance. I'll be on more shows in the future, now I'm not so camera shy, but we'll see how it goes.

I'll be announcing a new launch soon, the first omnibus edition of my work. I've also signed up to be more active on GoodReads so I can engage with readers and build a profile, something I've been meaning to do for a while now. My future is a busy one and I like it.

If you haven't taken a look at the Niven's War Indiegogo, you can find it here. As always, thanks for reading.