Thoughts from a first time Self-Publisher Part 11: Go Time.
October 11th
Welcome back! Kickstarter launches next week!!
Best Part of my week (so far): The previews are starting to come in! In setting up the previews, I was most excited that Alex of BoardGameCo agreed to preview the game. His review just dropped today and it was a very good review (3.5/5) that should definitely help people make their decision . The highlight though, was the review from the Hungry Gamer! As I foreshadowed in a previous blog, he really, really liked the game and thinks it may be in his top-three 2-player games! Check out the review here. I’ve also had the opportunity to do a couple of interviews this week. First with Officer Brush Talks about Stuff (live) and then with Matthew Rodela for his Kicksaga series (will be releasing a little later). I was surprised to learn that I genuinely enjoyed being interviewed and thought both went really well!
Most stressful part: Being this close to the Kickstarter is nerve-wracking. I am constantly working on something that needs to be done or thinking about what needs to be done while I’m doing something else. I sometimes feel like I am spinning in circles. I keep hearing from a lot of people who would know that I will do well and that I have put the work in. The truth shall be known next week.
The Numbers: As of Wednesday at 2:00 pm compared to last week at the same time.
The Big Number: Just signed on to have The Crowdfunding Nerds continue to manage the advertising through the campaign. Actual day to day spending will be flexible so I won’t estimate that portion at this time, but the management will cost $600. New Total: : $23,213
FB page- 164 likes 204 Followers 173 likes (+9) 216 (+8) followers
Public Group- 109 111 (+2)
Private - 68 70 (+2)
Pre-launch- 464 619 (+155)
Email list- 818 860 (+42)
Discord- 60 No Change
TTS- 146 147 (+1)
YouTube- 23 25 (+2)
Galen’s Games FB page: 195 211 (+16)
Big jump in the pre-launch sign ups getting me over an important threshold. I think I can be at 700 by launch day. Email growth has been a bit slow but will still be in a space that I’m comfortable launching next week.
The Moment of Truth:
For this week’s blog, I think I’ll spend sometime talking about plans and decisions to be made for the actual campaign.
Preparation:
There’s a saying in the music industry: “You have your whole life to make your first album. You have 6 months to make your second.” As a self-publisher running my first Kickstarter, I was able to choose the date of my launch. This project has been 2 and a half years in the making and I’ve had the luxury of learning the ropes at a reasonable pace and watching a lot of folks fail or succeed before me. But once that launch date is set, you are on the clock. And once the launch happens, you are on that stage.
It’s very, very easy to get caught up in the massive, never-ending, to-do checklist for the pre-campaign. But if you don’t plan for the actual campaign? That’s going to be a problem.
I’ve read Jamey Stagmeir’s book and blogs, and Gabe Barrett’s. They are full of fantastic advice that every crowdfunding hopeful should be aware of. And, there’s no way I could possibly follow through on everything they suggest without another year of prep time. For me, I have made and executed the best possible plan that I can within the time, budget, and ability constraints I have. I’ve certainly cast a wide net in some areas, but I would say I have mostly chosen to try to do a handful of things really well instead of everything half-assed. We will see how it works out!
So what have I done to prepare for this moment?
Set up previews and reviews to land before, on day 1, and during the campaign.
Set up a handful of “events”: live playthroughs or podcast interviews to happen during the campaign.
I’ve gotten to this one a bit later than I like but I will also be running two community events for backers: a Super Snipers Contest in TTS and a weekly puzzle using the game for players to complete. Both will be tied in with social goals.
I took the week of launch off from work (highly recommended)
I’ve updated my website and all my social medias so that the most current info is there wherever people go looking for it.
What’s still left to do with 1 week to go?
The Kickstarter Page needs to be finished (80% there)
I still need to pick a Pledge Manager
I believe I’m done but I am still considering changes with my pledge levels and add-ons (set in stone once you launch, you can add more, but you can’t change existing ones.)
There are some small design elements I need to update so that they are updated on the KS page.
A million other small things, 100 of which I will realistically get done. None should be fatal.
I honestly don’t have time for a longer blog and I can’t guarantee I will get one out next week. Wish me luck and please consider taking a look at the campaign and backing if it looks cool to you: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/galensgames/super-snipers?ref=clipboard-prelaunch
