It's easier to start small and grow, because that way you can refine as you go along and learn what works or not. If you start big, you can make very big mistakes. Starting small also lets you develop an audience who will follow you because you publish things they like. It's also much easier to fundraise for a small project, a modular project, than trying to do everything at once.
Something you might want to consider is digital vs. paper. Digital has way lower overhead and is increasingly popular. So with that, you don't necessarily have to sell individual books, articles, stories, etc. You can sell a subscription for people to read new stuff as it comes out. Imagine that you start with a handful of local authors and you schedule them so that you have a new story each week with periodic books. Readers can subscribe and get new material delivered regularly. But you could also market this to libraries, community centers, office waiting rooms, etc. in the area. Fasten an e-reader to a desk or chair, then clients can read from the whole menu of stuff. You can charge more for an institutional subscription too.
Say you want paper books. Release stuff in electronic format first, track what gets read (or at least opened) and publish the most popular ones. It's less of a gamble than guessing what people will like.
One thing I love about crowdfunding is the precision: my readers give me prompts, I write stuff based on those, I post thumbnails and prices, then they sponsor what they want.
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Thoughts
Date: 2025-03-22 08:15 am (UTC)Something you might want to consider is digital vs. paper. Digital has way lower overhead and is increasingly popular. So with that, you don't necessarily have to sell individual books, articles, stories, etc. You can sell a subscription for people to read new stuff as it comes out. Imagine that you start with a handful of local authors and you schedule them so that you have a new story each week with periodic books. Readers can subscribe and get new material delivered regularly. But you could also market this to libraries, community centers, office waiting rooms, etc. in the area. Fasten an e-reader to a desk or chair, then clients can read from the whole menu of stuff. You can charge more for an institutional subscription too.
Say you want paper books. Release stuff in electronic format first, track what gets read (or at least opened) and publish the most popular ones. It's less of a gamble than guessing what people will like.
One thing I love about crowdfunding is the precision: my readers give me prompts, I write stuff based on those, I post thumbnails and prices, then they sponsor what they want.