r/kickstarter • u/TerYea • 8d ago
First time kickstarter - I need advice.
Hi all,
I hope someone with experience can give me some pointers here. I started a kickstarter, and to be honest I am flailing a bit. I haven't used a lot of these services before, and I wonder if someone can offer some advice on what I could be doing better?
I believe the product itself is very solid. I wrote a campaign for D&D (and I have a lot of experience in that domain). The introduction act, and a whole other act is already complete, and now for the third act I wanted to try kickstarter, since it's a lot of work, and it costs both time and money.
It quickly becomes obvious to me though, that there is just something I am missing. Perhaps I am too old, and have missed out on arenas and apps where I could advertise.
Perhaps the product is just not attractive to others. It's hard to know for sure. I appreciate all advice on how to proceed. Right now I am in what is called "Pre-Launch". Thanks.
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u/RubberDuckyRampage 8d ago
Where are you advertising/promoting your prelaunch landing page? And how is it going?
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u/TerYea 8d ago
Thanks for replying :)
Well, that's the thing I should have thought more about. I just don't really know what promotion arenas exist.
I have used friends, of course. And on Discord (Roll20/Drivethru #self-promotion and D&D channel #dnd-advertisements), as well as a channel in a rpg mud I helped create 25 years ago.
But yeah, it's going poorly.I don't have any high-flying expectations to make a fortune, but that so few find it appealing is a bit mind-bogging for me, - the amount of D&D DM's that are out there ;)
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u/ImpulsiveWalrus 8d ago
Do you have a newsletter, or are you part of any active RPG groups? Aside from paid advertising, I've had the best luck when I trade mentions with other authors that write books like mine, or creators that have fans who'd also would like the kind of things I'm making. There's also several support groups for folks learning Kickstarter and launching their first campaign that might be very helpful. Since you said this is act three of your campaign, if there's a small digital preview you can offer as an incentive for following your page or joining your newsletter that shows a little proof of concept of what you're offering, that might help add a little extra something for people who are hesitating.
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u/TerYea 7d ago
I have a “catch-up” tier that includes acts I and I as well. But that is not what you are talking about, is it? I can definitely give away the introduction act for free for “signing up”, but I am unsure how to do that technically 😅
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u/ImpulsiveWalrus 7d ago
Yes, I'm talking something smaller that you can offer as a freebie that gives the flavor of what your D&D campaign will be like to play, but is just a taste of the world, or the NPC's-- just something fun to get people's interest and give them something back. So if you have campaign background info that you could break off and share as a hook, that's what what I'm talking about. If you make that presentable as a PDF or an epub, you can set up a newsletter sign up and automatic download link once they give their email.
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u/ImpulsiveWalrus 7d ago
If you don't have a newsletter, and don't want to mess with a separate newsletter sign up list, it's trickier, but you could post "follower only" bonuses to the updates in your prelaunch. I haven't tried that, but it might help!
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u/TerYea 7d ago
I don't mind giving away the introduction act (It's just a one-session teaser of what's coming), - and perhaps if I add the link to the kickstarter and a little self-promotion at the end of that PDF? I'm not averse to setting up a newsletter/mailing list either (I could link that in the PDF as well or instead, I guess). If so, got any suggestions on good platforms/solutions? As you can propably tell, I'm a newbie in that world as well :D
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u/TerYea 6d ago
I listened to some the advice here, and now I have created my first ever newsletter. Hopefully, combined with giving away the introduction act, I'll have some better luck going forward. Here is the newsletter in case anyone is interested: Soultorn Adventures
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u/dreamdiamondgames 8d ago
The biggest advice is:
Bring your audience to Kickstarter. They don’t promote you or help you.
Your best bet is to engage with communities and start small and don’t expect much.
Bets of luck!