I'm About to Board an International Flight...

I'm flying back to Canada from Australia on Star Wars day so there's going to be a bit of radio silence - but thanks to Hootsuite and my Project Management Skillz you'll still be seeing a lot of posts about my campaign. Unfortunately, if you have any questions, I won't be able to answer them until I'm landed, orientated and able to connect to Interwebs, which is what THIS blog is for! 

The Official Friends We Haven't Met Campaign Q&A!: 

What is Friends We Haven't Met About? 
You can read the first chapter in a blog I published pre-campaign launch, and it's at the bottom of the campaign page too. 

When can I pre-order a copy of the book? 
The Campaign went live at 7:00am in Sydney, Aus on May 1st. You can pre-order a copy anytime until the 31st of May. 

Where can I pre-order a copy of the book? 
Through the Campaign page! Follow the green button. 

Why Publishizer? 
Publishizer is a crowdfunding platform created just for books! It provides a way for writers to raise the money needed to edit, publish and distribute a book. 

How many pre-orders are needed to send the campaign to publishers? 
Authors can set a pre-sale target for their campaign. I've gone with 250 pre-sales. Once the campaign has 250 pre-sales Publishizer will send it to 36 publishers. 

Won't the number of pre-sales & number of backers be the same? 
Nope! Pre-sales are number of books pre-ordered but backers can choose how many books they want depending on the Patron point. So there could be five backers but, because of how much each person has pledged, a total of 15 pre-sales. 

What does it mean to be a 'Patron' of the campaign? 
Anyone who pledges anything towards the campaign is considered a patron of the book. I can't make this happen without pre-sales, which is why patron felt like the best thing to call anyone who supports the campaign by pre-ordering a copy or multiple copies of the book. 

What are the perks of becoming a Patron? 
Depending on how much you pledge the perks of being a Patron vary. For as little as $8USD you can get a PDF version of the book and a thank you email. 

$15USD is the minimum to get a copy of the book. 

$25USD gets you a copy of the book and a free Dharma art print. 

$50USD gets you a signed copy of the book and a Dharma art print.

$100USD gets you two copies, one signed, and a Dharma art print. 

$250USD gets you three copies, one signed, a Dharma art print and your name listed in the book acknowledgements. 

$500USD gets you five copies including one signed first edition hardback, an art print, your name in the acknowledgements and a personal phone call from the author thanking you for your awesomeness. 

$1000USD also gets you 5 copies of the book but two signed first edition hardbacks, an original piece of art, your name in the acknowledgements and the author probably knows you and will be taking you out for dinner.  

Are there shipping costs? 
Nope! I have, to the best of my ability, budgeted for all the costs in the price points, so if you pledge $15USD, you only pay $15USD. Nothing extra. 

What if I'm not in the US? Can I pledge in any currency? 
Yes! Publishizer just happens to be American, so everything shows in USD. But pledges are taken via Paypal so you can use any currency you choose. 

Can I be an anonymous Patron - if I don't want to be named in the acknowledgements? 
Of course! 

Where can I see the Dharma prints that will be perks? Can I choose the print I get? 
You can see my artwork in my online Gallery. 

Unfortunately, because I'm my only employee and will be doing the perk fulfillment on my own, I can't guarantee people will get to choose what print they get. I'll do my darndest though and if it does have to be random I trust in you getting the one most karmically suitable. 

Once I'm a Patron, when can I expect to receive the book (and any perks coming to me)? 
I will do my absolute best to have the book edited, printed and distributed to everyone by the end of September 2016. 

How much money is the campaign trying to raise? 
The absolute bare minimum needed in order to pay for the editor, printing, shipping costs and a one month marketing campaign is roughly $5000CAD but I'm is hoping to get between $8000 - $10,000.  

How will the money be used? 
$800 - $1000CAD will pay for the editing of the book (which will happen in June/July)

$280USD will be used for a one-month marketing campaign post-crowdfunding campaign and pre-book available to the wider public ie. going into bookstores. 

Most of the other costs will depend largely on how many pre-sales there are. As the number of orders go up so does the number of books that need to be printed and shipped. I've budgeting anywhere between $500 - $5000CAD for this. 

Crowdfunding money is taxable income, so some will also need to be set aside for Revenue Canada. 

There's a more detailed cost breakdown blog you can read. 

Will the book have a sequel? 
No sequel planned BUT, if the campaign is successful I have many other manuscripts to publish and ideas I want to write. This is a first step to me doing this writer thing full-time so you genuinely are a patron to the arts if you pre-order a copy! 

What if I don't back the campaign, can I still get a book later? 
That's the plan! Anyone who backs as a Patron during the month of May will get the book when it first comes out in September. The timeline is to have it available in bookstores or to the general public by November 1st. 

So from November 1st anyone who wasn't a Patron can get a copy. 

Is there an ePub or plans for an ePub? 
As it stands I'm only planning to publish the book on paper BUT I have a 'stretch goal' plan. If the campaign hits $10,000 OR is picked up by a publisher, I'll offer an ePub version of the book to all the Patrons from $8 right up to $1000 as an extra perk.

I have a question you didn't answer here. How can I get in touch? 
Send me a message through my Facebook page or write a comment at the bottom of the campaign page. I'm aiming to respond to any queries within 24 hours throughout the duration of the campaign.