I hate math.
Can I say that? Yeah, sure.
I'm a writer, not a calculator. (I'm also a "Software Engineer," but that's a whole other ball of fish.)
I'm also obscenely fond of a good, well-hewn malaphor, as it turns out. Aaanyway...
When I decided to chase this writing thing, I really did not think it was going to involve so much math!
Planning my upcoming Kickstarter (follow now!) has involved an avalanche of numbers. Turns out launching a campaign is less like being Ernest Hemingway, and more like being Ernie the Accountant.
eBooks and audiobooks are relatively easy—there's no physical manufacturing overhead, no distribution costs. Print books, however, are quite different. Every paperback or hardback carries printing, freight (to me), packaging, and shipping (to you) costs. That, along with Kickstarter's 8% off-the-top cut of the final funding amount, figures into a hard floor for pricing.
If I were only offering a single paperback, the math would be pretty simple. Instead, I have to account for multiple formats, shippable swag items, and a potential audiobook narration upgrade. I have to figure out how popular each reward tier is going to be. I have to figure out domestic and international shipping costs (Boston is way cheaper than Paris). I have to make sure when we unlock that super special stretch goal, that the added expenses and production costs associated with all the extra backers that got us there don't end up dragging the campaign underwater.
In the end, this can't be about profit, and I wouldn't want it to be. I'm doing this so I can make some cool stuff for some cool people. I'm doing it so I can afford professional audiobook narration. I'm doing it so that I can hopefully find more people like you who will be interested in what I'm doing.
If you want to see how all of the above has translated into actual reward tiers, check out the Kickstarter, where I'll be posting a pre-launch update to introduce them. While you're there, sign up to follow the campaign and be notified when it goes live. And be sure to tell someone you know about it, especially if they like quality hard sci-fi, post-apocalypse fiction or frankly anything more or less in that general area. Or just books. If they like books, tell them. Maybe if they've just seen a book before... oh, heck, just walk up to the next person you see and tell them. I'm sure it won't be weird at all, and they'll thank you for changing their life.
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