Oh, Squiders. I follow SF Signal in my RSS feed, and occasionally they cover scifi/fantasy (and related genres) crowdfunding projects, either mentioning their existence, or doing larger series on different stories in anthologies, for example.
I like the general idea of crowdfunding. I have kickstarted some things, most of which are fairly nerdy (dice rings to be used with table top RPGs, some excellent card games–I highly recommend Marrying Mr. Darcy, especially with the Undead expansion–Reading Rainbow, a fantasy style tavern in a town an hour and a half away from me, etc.) but I’ve stayed away from books.
Why, you ask? It seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? I love books. And some of the books that I’ve seen come through Kickstarter have been really cool, such as taking an out of print classic scifi author and creating a collection of their work, or creating anthologies that tickle my genre loves in all the right places.
But the biggest issue I’ve found with the books is the price. It may just be me, but I feel like I want something physical out of a crowdfunding campaign (the exception being Reading Rainbow–I just threw my money at them and asked for nothing in return). But often, when I look at a book crowdfunding campaign, in order to get a physical book, you often have to go to a $30–or sometimes even a $50–level to get a physical book in your hands.
I’m a poor author. It’s entirely possible that some book may come along at some point that is so perfect that I won’t mind paying $40 for a paperback, but thus far it hasn’t happened.
I could, of course, pay $10-$15 for an ebook copy, but there’s something less fulfilling about that.
How about you, Squiders? Have you crowdfunded a book? What are your thresholds for paying for a crowdfunding campaign?
