When seeking advice on the internet, content creators often look to past success stories and prolific influencers for inspiration. Kickstarter has long been a place for authors, artists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs to seek crowdfunding support for their biggest dream projects. But the more established creators turn to the platform, the more appealing it becomes.
When Hank Green launched the campaign for The Book of Good Times earlier this year, he knew Kickstarter was the right place to fund the endeavor. Green took the time to answer a few questions via email about why he chose Kickstarter and some of the most interesting things he's seen there. Plus, he offers some advice for anyone hoping to launch and fund their own campaigns in the future.
Vlogger Beat: At this point you've done many things across many different online platforms. What brought you to Kickstarter specifically as your platform of choice for funding The Book of Good Times?
Hank Green: Kickstarter has been stress tested and because it’s been around for so long, the messaging is extremely clear. You don’t have to explain anything to anyone, say you’re doing a Kickstarter, and they get it.
VB: Vlogger Beat specializes in celebrating and guiding content creators as they navigate various digital spaces. As a creator, what stands out most to you about the opportunities and resources Kickstarter offers the creators who use it for their projects?
HG: Like anything, it’s a tool. If you spend a little time doing research about what others have done, and then think “What would this tool do when mixed with my audience, my abilities, my expertise?” I think that’s some extremely fertile ground for ideas.
VB: Other than The Book of Good Times, what's the most interesting Kickstarter campaign you've ever seen/pledged? Or, what's a type of project you'd love to see more of launched on Kickstarter?
HG: There is literally nothing more interesting and inspiring than Brandon Sanderson’s “Surprise! Four Secret Novels from Brandon Sanderson.” Finding solutions outside of the norm in publishing is super hard, which I know from first-hand experience, but this project required just a tremendous amount of work and is weirdly visionary. It feels like cheating to choose the biggest Kickstarter of all time, but there’s a reason it was the biggest!
VB: What's one piece of advice you have for content creators preparing to launch their own Kickstarter campaigns for the first time?
HG: Building the campaign is super fun, maintaining it, answering questions, gathering addresses, all of that stuff is super important and (for me anyway) harder to keep up with. Make sure you’re ready to take it all on. Also, get your product as FAR down the path to production as you can before you launch your Kickstarter. The longer production drags on, the more work it will be!
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