Costs of a kickstarter project (transparency)

[Committed Hero]

As a customer, how much creative control would you want to have over the finished piece?

I would expect the ability to send a headshot, desired role (ie, fighter, wizard), possibly gear subject to author approval. Then for the art to appear in the class writeup. No larger than a third of a page, based on the PHB.

It just seems like campaigns for game books have the unique opportunity for an offer like that. Or the chance to submit a name to be used for an NPC or spell/magic item.

 

[Nikosandros]

This thread is about informing anyone who might have an interest, which is probably creators, but also backers and anyone else in general. Based on comments I've received on the KS page, several backers were also very interested.

I was a backer for this project and I'm interested in this info, even if I will never publish anything since I lack the talent and the inclination.

 

[Art Waring]

I would expect the ability to send a headshot, desired role (ie, fighter, wizard), possibly gear subject to author approval. Then for the art to appear in the class writeup. No larger than a third of a page, based on the PHB.

It just seems like campaigns for game books have the unique opportunity for an offer like that. Or the chance to submit a name to be used for an NPC or spell/magic item.

Well I think its a good idea. And I think your expectations are fair. I think you might be onto something there, provided the tiers/ buy ins are reasonable for both the backer, the publisher, and the artist. I think it could be one possibility for more involvement in projects by backers, rather than just having their name included in tiny print in the backers credits.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Another purpose of this is to kinda sorta address some misconceptions people tend to have about KS profits. We (in general) seem to assume that a million dollar kickstarter means the creator got rich. Not necessarily. Morrus's A5E made $800,000. I would caution anyone who assumes that means Morrus kept several hundred grand as profit for himself. IRRC, the first Bones kickstarter made $3.5 million, and that barely made any profit for the company at all after all said and done.

So folks might see I made $50,000 in this kickstarter, when I actually didn't make any*. Something to keep in mind for potential KS creators.

*From a business standpoint, this could be considered a failure. My goals were different with this so I consider it a success, but if I was in this for the profit, I would not consider TF a success.

 

[RealAlHazred]

IRRC, the first Bones kickstarter made $3.5 million, and that barely made any profit for the company at all after all said and done.

To be completely fair, Reaper hit a massively higher target than expected, which IIRCmeant they could afford to bring production in-house, which meant moving the operation from Asia to Texas. After that, there wasn't much profit, sure. But they got to do three+ years of advancement in one adventure!

 

[Umbran]

As a customer, I don't really care about transparency.

I think, as a customer, having some understanding of how much it all costs, and how much (or little) the publisher makes on it, is important.

The net take for the publisher on this project is only a couple of grand, and that's expecting sale of extra inventory at something like market price. And goodness knows when those sales will happen - and until they happen, the publisher is in the hole for on the order of $10K!

 

[Ath'kethin]

As someone who is planning a Kickstarter campaign in the near-ish future, I really appreciate this post and story.

My own product won't be nearly the scale of yours - 20-30 pages, black and white, I'll handle the art in addition to the writing - and since it's not for 5e it has basically no chance of being as successful backer-wise. But since the print cost will be much lower, my finding goal can be much lower as well, so I'm hoping to at least break even.

If you don't mind sharing, where did you advertise? You list your cost but not where you placed the ads. I largely lack any kind of online following, so I will need to be able to reach complete strangers; I think advertising will be a necessity for me.

Thank you!

 

[RealAlHazred]

I think, as a customer, having some understanding of how much it all costs, and how much (or little) the publisher makes on it, is important.

The net take for the publisher on this project is only a couple of grand, and that's expecting sale of extra inventory at something like market price. And goodness knows when those sales will happen - and until they happen, the publisher is in the hole for on the order of $10K!

I get that, but I also get the other side. I, as a customer, don't want to feel like my choices are negatively impacting someone else. In the interest of full transparency on the other side of the coin, when I saw the Kickstarter in the OP, I was intrigued. My home campaign I've been planning for several years is heavily based on fairy tales and folklore, and I plan on offering my group(s) the option to play it in 5E, OSE, or Fantasy Hero, which are three systems I'm pretty adept in. The KS offers 5E and OSR versions -- of course I considered it.

However, I'm expecting my daughter in April. I'm in the US, and that's going to cost upwards of $10,000.

So, I regretfully put it aside, and watched in envy as the KS made its goal. I figured maybe in a few years I'll have enough money to feel comfortable picking it up, maybe, possibly.

Hearing about @Sacrosanct 's razor-thin margins, though... It gives me a feeling that I have let the OP down. I'm exactly the target market, and I didn't bite. I have a feeling of guilt.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I get that, but I also get the other side. I, as a customer, don't want to feel like my choices are negatively impacting someone else. In the interest of full transparency on the other side of the coin, when I saw the Kickstarter in the OP, I was intrigued. My home campaign I've been planning for several years is heavily based on fairy tales and folklore, and I plan on offering my group(s) the option to play it in 5E, OSE, or Fantasy Hero, which are three systems I'm pretty adept in. The KS offers 5E and OSR versions -- of course I considered it.

However, I'm expecting my daughter in April. I'm in the US, and that's going to cost upwards of $10,000.

So, I regretfully put it aside, and watched in envy as the KS made its goal. I figured maybe in a few years I'll have enough money to feel comfortable picking it up, maybe, possibly.

Hearing about @Sacrosanct 's razor-thin margins, though... It gives me a feeling that I have let the OP down. I'm exactly the target market, and I didn't bite. I have a feeling of guilt.

You absolutely should not have guilt. None at all. You are not responsible for my choices, and quite frankly, I would not want any support from anyone if it took away from more important things.

Also, I went into this project knowing full well in advance that I'd break even if I was lucky. Profit was not my goal. Completing the largest project I've done was. So don't feel guilty at all. Heck, even if I were in it to make profit, you shouldn't feel guilty.

 

[RealAlHazred]

you shouldn't feel guilty.

You can't tell me what to do! You're not my real dad!

In any case, PDFs are reasonably cheap and the book is on my radar. Good luck with production!