I’m traveling on Star Wars day - returning to Calgary after two months in Sydney. This means I’ll be entering a ‘black hole’ of communication because International Flight. But because of fabulous things like Hootsuite and project management skillz, there will be stuff posting to my various accounts. However, if anyone has questions, well, you'd have to wait to get them answered. Which is what THIS post is for. 

The Official Friends We Haven't Met Crowdfunding campaign Q&A!

What is Friends We Haven't Met About?
Six stories become intertwined in a London apartment building. A young man grieves, a new mother finds herself abandoned by her husband, a middle-aged woman lives in fear, an elderly woman longs to tell her son the truth, a student from Canada carries around guilt that she tried to run from by moving to London and an aging Italian immigrant feels abandoned after the death of his wife. Depression, fear, anxiety, loneliness, guilt and grief - all human experiences that can either divide or unite us.

How can I find out more about the story?
You can read the first chapter over on Medium, my blog, or on the Campaign page.  

When can I pre-order a copy of Friends We Haven’t Met?
The Campaign went live at 7:00am in Sydney, Aus on May 1st. You can pre-order until the 31st of May, 2016.

Where can I pre-order a copy of the book?
You can pre-order your copy through the Publishizer Campaign page for Friends We Haven’t Met.

Why Publishizer?
Publishizer is a crowdfunding platform made just for books. They operate based on the number of pre-sales, rather than the number of patrons (campaign backers) or a total dollar amount.

When a campaign hits a specified number of pre-sales Publishizer shares it with publishers. These publishers, when they see how successful a book is before it's even been published, may then choose to publish the book.
Regardless, the platform 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 30 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 they go for - as in, how much they pledge. 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 your support, which is why Patron felt like the best thing to call anyone who values this book enough to order it before it officially exists. Talk about interconnectedness!

What are the perks of becoming a Patron?
I wrote a WHOLE blog about that, and they're listed on the right hand-side of the Campaign page. 

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 doing the perk fulfillment on my own, I can’t promise I'll be able to take specific orders for prints. I’m going to rely on the nature of Karma ensuring you get the one most suitable for you.

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 are you aiming 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 the ideal amount would be 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 need to be set aside for Revenue Canada. :P

Anything left over will be used for the marketing campaign. The crowdfunding campaign is just paying for itself.

My plan with the marketing campaign is to get the book into bookstores. If I can do this THEN I might actually make a living off of the book.

There’s also a blog where I go into a bit more detail on the cost break down, and once again, this is on the Campaign page as well.

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.

Will the book have a sequel?
No sequel planned BUT, if the campaign is successful I have many other manuscripts to publish and unwritten books waiting to get out of my head. I’m already plotting another campaign for 2017. Of course, if a publisher picks it up they may be eager to support the next book right off the bat!  

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.

I have another question you didn't answer here. How can I ask it?
You can send me a message through my Facebook page or write a comment at the bottom of the campaign page. I'm operating on a staff of one and that person is me, so I need to eat and sleep and do all that important self-care stuff, but I'm doing my darndest to reply to people within 24 hours of them contacting me, so please ask away! 
 

Hi World! It’s my birthday! And I have one birthday wish: To publish my first work of fiction.

If you fancy making that wish come true, and you like a good read with rich, interesting characterisation, check out the campaign page for Friends We Haven’t Met.

Thank you!

Find out what I’m up to today by following me all over the Interweb - and all over Sydney!

In SIX days I enter my fourth decade and launch the campaign to fund the editing and publication and marketing of Friends We Haven’t Met. None of it will be possible, of course, without you lovely people and your burning desire to read beyond the first chapter.

Earlier this month I went through the reasons I chose Publishizer and a bit about how it differs from other crowdfunding platforms - the key thing being it goes on number of pre-sales rather than a financial target, and shares successful campaigns with publishers once a set number of pre-sales are reached. I also shared how money will be used and broke down all the costs for the campaign.

Pre-sales, however, don’t equate to the number of backers because, as a backer, you get to choose how much or how little you want to fund the campaign for. How much you choose to give to the campaign could get you multiple copies of the book. In fact, depending on what you give you could get a LOT of different, fun perks, along with my never ending gratitude and appreciation.

So, in light of the campaign going live on May 1st (My birthday, remember) I want to share with you the different Patron Points* you can choose from as a backer of Friends We Haven’t Met.

*All the price points are in USD because Publishizer is an American website, but because they accept payment via PayPal you can choose to back in whatever currency you fancy!