Adventures in Self-Publishing: Electric Bookaloo

You’d think it would be easier the second time. No, I’m not talking about my honeymoon night. I’m talking about self-publishing my new novel. It’s called Smileyville, and it’s a follow-up to A Hole in the Ground, which I self-published way back in 2016.

I’d call A Hole in the Ground a success. People who read it, dug it (at least that’s what they said to my face), and I did actually make some money off it. This is large part due to a Kickstarter campaign prior to publication. Asking for financial support in advance, I was able to cover most of my upfront costs, well, up front.

By contrast, in 2019, I took a bath on my latest collection of humour when I simply went ahead and printed it without a campaign. I also dropped the ball on getting out to promote/sell it, but that’s another matter.

For Smileyville, then, I’ve decided to go the Kickstarter route again. This comes after a near-miss with a publisher (who actually motivated and encouraged me to push forward with the sequel but ultimately went in a different direction, as they say). I’ve also queried other companies but, let’s face it, not too many publishers are interested in investing in a sequel to a book that few people read by a 57-year-old white guy that few people know. Self-publishing is my way of releasing something I’m proud of into the world, and Kickstarter helps me do that.

But the landscape has changed in the past seven years. Here on WordPress, for instance, while I ostensibly have 10,000 followers, many of my once-regular readers have vanished into the vapour. I’ve become pretty, er, vapoury myself, having retired from my regular weekly newspaper column and publishing here infrequently.

Over on social media, the algorithm chokes off exposure for unpaid promotional posts. You gotta spend to be seen. In short, I ain’t got reach.

And things are just more expensive, including this project. Whereas I was able to print and ship A Hole in the Ground by raising $2600, that won’t even cover the cost of printing this time. (Smileyville is also a larger book, at 345 pages.) Plus, I’ve paid editing fees and have commissioned a proper cover for the book, because, let’s face it, my cover for A Hole in the Ground was the pits. It was literally a picture of an algae-covered pit.

My estimate for the project, including mailing, is a whopping $5000. Feeling that’s unattainable, I’ve set the Kickstarter goal at $4000. Still a tough target. So I’ve had to bump up the asks. Whereas last time, you could get a copy of the book for $20 plus shipping (essentially buying the book), now I’m actually asking people to… give me money. There’s no easier way to say it. Give me money, please. The rewards are a book for a pledge of $30, a signed copy for $50. For a $75 pledge, you get Smileyville plus a copy of my last collection, A Jerk in Progress. That’s a lot of money for a book – but it’s really good, I promise!

I launched my campaign two days ago and so far  have 15 backers and raised $1400. Would I have more backers if the pledge levels were lower? But then I would have to find even more backers to hit my target…

If you’re doing the math, $1400 divided by 15 doesn’t quite add up (divide up?). That’s because already I’ve had some very generous donations beyond the pledge amounts. Friends have literally given me money. In another time, we would call these people “patrons of the arts,” and that’s what I’m calling them now: “patrons of the Ross.” I’m truly grateful to them, but it still feels like begging – you know, in a very passive way. I would never in my life go up to these people and ask for $100! But, you know, if they just happened to offer it to me…

Kickstarter is also weird like that. I can literally see who makes a pledge. More important, I can literally see who doesn’t. (But no pressure, PHYLLIS!) But this is the life of the writer – looking around the room and seeing not who has come to your reading but who had better things to do than attend THIS MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD!

So will I make my $4000 goal before the month-long campaign expires? Because it’s an all-or-nothing prospect – if I don’t make the goal, I get zero dollars. I’m not entirely optimistic. But if I fail, I’ll go with Plan B. Not sure what that is, yet, but Smileyville is good (there, I said it again), and I want to share it.

So if you’ve made it this far, please visit my Kickstarter page, find out about Smileyville, read an excerpt from the book, share it with your friends, pledge if you like, and, you know what? Have a great day.