Comments on: Aim Higher (Dammit)

By: Steven D. Russell

Steven D. Russell — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:19:16 +0000

I also had the advantage of attending Wolfgang Baur’s Seminar on Open Design at GenCon two years ago, and having Bill Collins who had edited Wolfgang on the early Open Design projects as the editor of our first patronage project Heroes of the Jade Oath.

The other strategy I use is that a patronage project is not just a product, its an ongoing service.

By: Steven D. Russell

Steven D. Russell — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:13:32 +0000

@Fred Hicks

Paypal lets you create item numbers so each project gets its own Item number, the item number appears in the email you receive notifying your of the payment, as part of the item number I include the amount the patron has paid so just from looking at the email notification I know what project the payment was for and what level of patronage they have signed up for.

I then use G-mails labels to further identify the project and level of patronage, so you can pull up every patronage with a simple click. I also have an excel spreadsheet to do the additional bookkeeping, so I have the whole project at a glance, I simply update the spreadsheet as I go.

….after 8 patronage projects I really need to write a guidebook.

Steve

By: Fred Hicks

Fred Hicks — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:20:59 +0000

What strategies do you employ to make sure you don’t get other paypal payments confused with your pool of patronage payments?

By: Steven D. Russell

Steven D. Russell — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:19:12 +0000

This is why I avoid kickstarter for Rite Publishing’s patronage projects, and do it just through Paypal alone.

It does not have the automatic updates of where we are when it comes to goal, but that delay actually helps rather than hurts.

By: Fred Hicks

Fred Hicks — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:36:11 +0000

Oh, sure. I just think there’s a bit of under-representation there, to wit, I am not suprised you hit your target that fast.

By: Calvino

Calvino — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:21:07 +0000

I also agree. Both of those projects look really cool, and it is always great to see more people getting involved in creative efforts. A sense of ownership is something that takes a while to grow inside new fans, but give them a chance to invest and BOOM! Instant group of dedicated fans, advertisers, and feedbackers.

Of course, having “enough friends” who all “know enough people that they can motivate in turn” is the rub. This particular strategy is a great way to cash in on reputation and brand recognition, but it would probably be a little harder for that guy or girl who doesn’t have industry pals, contacts willing to write blogs about them, or a list of WW books behind them.

I think your title is very appropriate, though. People across the board should be shooting higher (especially when they have cultural capital to cash in on). There are plenty of people out writing novels, designing new games, starting up forums, etc., and it never helps to get a little kick in the pants. The technology has never been more available to whip up a new RPG and sell it on the web, or crank out a professional-looking supplement to your favorite game.

Thanks for offering a little boost to the pros and amateurs alike!

By: David A Hill Jr

David A Hill Jr — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:57:08 +0000

My only concern re: Maschine Zeit was that I knew I could hit what I needed to cover my print run costs. I didn’t know if I could double it. I’m pretty confident. Unfortunately, the nature of Kickstarter and that manner of thing is that if you don’t hit the target, it’s all or nothing. The “nothing” would have meant a more expensive final product, less profit on my side, and an otherwise far more difficult process.

By: Dan Houser

Dan Houser — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:51:58 +0000

Fred, I can’t agree with you more here.

I’ve done a similar project, and was STUNNED…STUNNED to see how many people got on board. And Happy Birthday Robot will be a killer Christmas present for my sister and her kids. Love this guy’s eye for layout and production values.

It’s strange that people think the industry is dying, and don’t ever try to…you know…sell stuff.

I tried. And it worked!

Good blog, sir.

Dan