Knit Hats for Pubslush

There's a new prize in my Pubslush Campaign!

My good friend Michelle Knowlden, who writes cozy mysteries and knits cozy hats, has graciously agreed to donate fifteen of her unique creations to my campaign.

These fedora-style, roll-brimmed caps were actually inspired by the cover art for The Changelings. They come in forest green, soft beige, and earthy brown. The subtle weave of greens and browns in the band mimics my main character's hazel eyes. It's one of my favorite parts.

For $15 you can get one of these beautiful hats and a bookmark, just in time for Christmas. All money I receive will help me pay for producing my first novel for publication.

Pubslush Campaign Starts Today...

...And so begins my foray into the world of sales.

Wish me luck!

Link: http://pubslush.com/project/3347

Pubslush Campaign: How to Donate

On Wednesday, October 1st, I begin my Pubslush campaign to raise money (I hope) to self-publish my first novel, THE CHANGELINGS. This is a first for me in every sense of the word, but I hope to do my best and learn from the experience.

What is Pubslush?

Pubslush is an online website that helps writers raise money for their projects. It works by crowdfunding: many friends and strangers pledge small donations that add up. In exchange, I offer prizes as small tokens of my appreciation.

When you pledge, you don't actually pay until my campaign has reached its minimum goal of $500. If I don't reach $500, you don't pay at all--because I don't get any money. :( Nor do you get prizes. Instead, we just shrug our shoulders, sigh, and go on with our lives.

Coming January 2, 2015

Why do you need to fundraise?

I'm excited to be self-publishing my first novel, THE CHANGELINGS, which means I have more control over my work and get a higher percentage of royalties. Although technology has brought down the cost, it's still expensive. For example, did you know ISBNs (that little number/ barcode that identifies the book), cost either $125 for one or $300 for ten. It also cost money to register as your own press, pay for your own cover art and editing, and advertise the book. As a substitute teacher, money is tight, so I'm hoping fundraising will help offset some of the start-up costs to publishing.

What are the prizes and when do I get them?

For prizes I have signed bookmarks of THE CHANGELINGS ($5), a homemade hand-stamped card ($10), a Kindle version of my book ($25), set of 4 cards plus the Kindle version of the book ($50), and your name in the Acknowledgement Page of my book ($100). There may also be a bonus prize in the middle of the campaign--I'm still working it out.

Prizes!

If the campaign is successful, you should get the cards, bookmarks, and bonus prizes sometime in November. Anything related to THE CHANGELINGS will arrive early in January.

Can I still help if I'm broke?

Yes. You can get the word out to anyone interested or become a fan of the project simply by clicking the orange flag. I'll be grateful for any and all support!

How to Contribute

Step 1: Create An Account

Go to pubslush.com and either sign in through Facebook or use your email and create a password. It should only take a minute. (Sidenote: Some browsers work better than others. Mozilla Firefox works well for me.)

Step 2: Find My Campaign

You can click on this link: https://pubslush.com/project/3347and it should pop up.

If that fails, hit the "Discover" button at the top of the page. You will see a magnifying glass icon and a search button. You can type in either my name: "Rebecca Lang" or my title: "THE CHANGELINGS" and it should pop up at the bottom of the screen. Press on it and you can go on your merry way.

Step 3: Pledge Your Support

You have two options here.

Option #1: You can hit the "Support this Project" button. Another screen will pop up. You can then hit the reward you want, pledging the amount listed, or type in a different amount you would like to donate. Please note, if you do not click on the reward button, you will not get the reward!

Option #2: You can scroll down and click on the reward you want. You will automatically pledge that amount and be registered for that reward.

Step 4: Send Me a Note

This is optional, but I'd love to hear from you. 

Also, if there's a particular card you want (shown here), please let me know. Supplies are limited, but if you give me your top 3, I will do my best to accommodate you.

Step 5: Put in Credit Card Information

They'll ask you for name, card number, expiration, CVC, and billing zip code. Transactions are handled through a 3rd party and should be safe. You do have the option of canceling any time before the

Step 6: Tell Your Friends

Hopefully, together we can raise at least $500, so that I can keep the money and you can reap the rewards! :)

If you have any questions or run into any trouble, please email me at Reddragonfly1285@yahoo.com and let me know. I will do my best to answer them/ fix it.

Card Types

Having gone through how I make cards, I wanted to show you the kinds of cards I have available. Often as I create them, my writing instincts kick in and I think of little stories to go with them. I hope you don't mind if I share the stories with you.

You can take home a one-of-a-kind card with a $10 donation on Pubslush, starting October 1st. You will also get a bookmark and a signed thank you. All proceeds will go toward the publication of my first novel, THE CHANGELINGS. For more information about my campaign, go here.

Splashing Dolphin

A lighthouse stands on a rock in the middle of the ocean, while dolphins splash joyfully around it. This card reminds me of summer.

Splashing Dolphin

I used spiraled paper to represent the waves, a dotted block of gray to represent the rock, and embossed "Life is Beautiful" on a sunshine yellow square.

Cards Remaining: 7

Dragon

A sinuous dragon with the Chinese characters for "Love," "Thanks," and "Happiness" embossed underneath it.

Dragon

I chose a very fragile Japanese paper to go underneath, but I realized it needed something else, and the only thing that seemed to work with it was a Medieval pattern. So my dragon has a bit of Western influence. The card is actually lime green and not the yellow my camera picked up.

Cards Remaining: 5

Hummingbird: Gold Crown

A brilliant green-jeweled hummingbird in a sunny circle embellished with gold crown decal and spots of glitter.

Hummingbird: Gold Crown

Originally, I was trying to use up these bright sparkly pink cards without making it nauseatingly girly. So I added the blue paper and gold decals. For some reason, I think the card had a bit of an Indian feel to it.

Cards Remaining: 3

Hummingbird: Green Vine

The blue-green humming bird hovers in a palace vine trellis, sipping the nectar of a single violet Morning Glory.

Hummingbird: Green Vine

This is my personal favorite of the hummingbird, as I like the different plays of greens and pinks. I used green decal, peach flower cutouts, and pops of glitter to suggest that the garden is just outside a jeweled palace.

Cards Remaining: 2

Other Hummingbirds Remaining: 3

Japanese Girl: Harvest Festival

A Japanese girl in a lavender kimono stands in the rice fields as the last dragonflies of autumn flit around her.

Japanese Girl: Harvest Festival

My friend gave me this beautiful crimson Japanese paper, and I just couldn't find a good opportunity to use it until now. I think of the girl as living in a tiny village, all dressed up to celebrate the annual rice harvest.

Cards Remaining: 3

Japanese Girl: Culture Day

A happy girl in a turquoise kimono stands in front of a wall of painted blocks while an embossed "Life is Beautiful" floats in the sky.

Japanese Girl: Culture Day

Originally, I wanted this to be my "spring" girl to contrast with my "fall" girl, but as I chose the patterns it began to seem more like she was the "city" girl to contrast with the "country" girl. Her school is decorated with her class paintings and she's all dressed up to show her parents.

Cards Remaining: 2

Japanese Woman: Night

A beauty paler than the jealous moon runs across the night with a glowing lantern in her hand. What ghostly apparition will she encounter?

Japanese Woman: Night

All my choices here were meant to give the impression of a Japanese scroll painting depicting some fantastic fairy tale or ghost story. The brown textured card reminded me of the scroll, the dark Japanese paper reminded me of night, the pop of glitter reminded me of stars. I intentionally kept it simple to go with the Japanese aesthetic.

Cards Remaining: 5

Japanese Woman: Day

A beautiful woman crosses into a cool bamboo forest in the heat of the day when something catches her eye. It's the flower of happiness.

Japanese Woman: Day

This was also meant to depict a fairy tale, this one taking place in the daytime, which is why her lantern isn't lit. I wanted it to have an abstract feel, so I used a plain gold circle to represent the sun, orange Japanese paper for sunlight, and strips of printed paper for the forest.

Cards Remaining: 4

Mountain Wolf

A lone red wolf stands outside its mountain home.

Mountain Wolf

This was my first time working with the wolf stamp. I hate coloring with just grays, so I decided to make it a red wolf. Then I googled a red wolf, so I'd know how to color it. I used crack peach paper and soft blue swirls to extend the ground and sky and braided some ribbon into a decal for texture. I thought it came out pretty good.

Cards Remaining: 3

My Card-Making Process

Many of you know I've wanted to be a writer for years and years (since 6th grade!), but what you may not know is that I've spent just as many years on my hobby of card-making. For over 17 years, I've been honing these two crafts, and I think I've gotten pretty good at both.

My cards

Normally these cards take so much time and effort, I only give them out to friends and family for special occasions. But for a limited time, in order to raise funds for the publication of my novel THE CHANGELINGS, I'll be giving them away with a $10 pledge on Pubslush, starting this Wednesday, October 1st. This also includes a bookmark and signed thank you. For more information on my campaign, please go here.

So how do I make cards? Well, let me tell you a little bit about my process.

Step 1: Choose a Stamp

I use wooden stamps, a dry black ink, and white card paper for my stamps. These supplies can be bought at any craft store or online.

This hummingbird stamp is one of my favorites

When choosing a stamp, I consider the amount of white space in the stamp, because I like to color and you can't do it if the whole thing turns out black. I despise having to solely color with black, browns, and grays, so I look for designs that allow me to play with color, like this hummingbird.

Step 2: Color and Cut

Now comes the most time consuming part of the process: coloring and cutting the designs, which can take upwards of an hour, depending on how big and involving the stamp is.

For the most part, I use plain old Crayola colored pencils, the kind that come in a box of 50, supplemented with some metallic pencils (also Crayola, but harder to find) and a couple really expensive dollar-per-pencil colored pencils I got for Christmas one year.

Tools of the trade

The secret to vibrant colors? First, I trace over every major line with a darker, complimentary color. (For skin, I usually use mahogany and peach.) You might not notice it at a glance, but trust me, it makes all the difference. The second trick is simple: color really hard! 

My goal is to annihilate any white space (unless the white is intentional, like with snow) I see. After coloring inside the lines, I might even color around the outside of the stamp (typically with yellow), so that when I cut it out, you can't see the white paper I used. It also makes the stamp stand glow.

Step 3: Choose Paper and Accompaniments

If you get the nice stuff, this can get expensive fast, so I usually shop during sales and keep every scrap of paper. I was lucky that my aunt has a craft room stuffed with pretty papers, stickers, ribbons, cutters, and embossers, which she lets me use for free.

Pretty paper and glitter

 I buy cards in big stacks of 80 for $20, or about a quarter a pop. The problem is you may end up with colors you don't want (pinks and yellows, in my case), so you have to play around with other scraps of papers and hope you come across a combination that strikes you. This part is full of improv and discovery.

Aside from the paper, I also break out other accessories, such a ribbons, cutouts, and glitter. I look for things that give texture and a pop of sparkle. I also typically stamp and emboss words, "Life is Beautiful" being my favorite.

In general, my supplies run out quick, which is part of the reason my cards never quite look the same. Whether I want to or not, I have to start all over again with the next set of cards I make.

Step 4: Arrange and Glue

Typically, I just use glue sticks for the paper, although I do have stronger stuff for pieces of fabric, ribbons, and delicate pieces of paper. Most of my stamped stuff gets foam mounting dots to raise it slightly and give it that extra pop. Then I apply glitter and wait for it to dry.

Final Product

 And there you have it: a beautiful card. On average, it takes me two hours of concentrated effort to complete the card, which doesn't include shopping for the supplies or cleaning up the incredible mess. 

Word of warning: Do not go into the craft room! It's a war zone!

Is Card Making Right for You?

The good news is that card-making can be fairly cheap to start. All you need is one or two really special wooden stamps, a black stamp pad, some white card stock, blank cards, a couple of choice papers, and leftover school supplies. A canny shopper could probably scrounge up these supplies for $20 or less.

For me card-making is a good way to relax. I usually pop in an old movie and listen to it as I color. Card-making favors hoarders with a creative streak, who may spend years coming up with a nice collection of stamps, scraps, and decorative items. Sure, you can buy pre-made sets, but that adds up and (in my opinion) it's not nearly as fun.

As you get better, you may want to invest in some nice stamping equipment. The number one special effect I use is my embosser, which means a special embossing ink pad, embossing powder (gold and silver are the best), and a heat gun. People who can't stand crooked edges may also want to invest in a good paper cutter. There are all sorts of cool card-making accessories available, but it adds up, so buy wisely.

Crowdfunding on Pubslush

A long time ago, I went to a talk on publishing by Sonia Marsh, and at the very end of it, she mentioned using Pubslush to fundraise for book launching parties. I've been researching the website on and off for the last few months, before finally deciding to try and run a campaign on my own to help pay the publishing costs of my novel The Changelings.

The campaign will run in October. You can see it here.

What is Pubslush?

Kickstarter for Books!

Basically, Pubslush is a way for authors to raise money by creating a "campaign" for a set amount of time (15-45 days) and asking your supporters to donate money in exchange for incentives. The authors (or agents or publishers) can use this money to create or promote their book.

A 2013 article in Forbes says this: "Run by mother-daughter team Hellen and Amanda L Barbara, this American start-up is focused on providing crowdfunding services tailored to the needs of authors, agents, self-publishers and small presses."

On the website: "Pubslush is a global marketing platform for literary projects only. We offer flexible funding, we have the lowest fee in the industry, and we provide our campaigners with valuable market analytics. Most importantly, though, we pride ourselves on our emphasis on user education and for being an accessible resource for our campaigners every step of the way with the Pubslush Prep program."

Commentary

The website seems very proud of taking authors under its wing. Unfortunately, since I have issues with asking strangers for help, I've mostly been browsing the site. The "help" button takes you to wonderful links. You can also get an idea of what works by scanning successful campaigns. So there's still a lot of room for independent-minded writers as well.

Money Matters

You must raise a minimum of $500 in order to keep any of the money. You can raise the minimum if you so choose. You can set a maximum, although, if you raise more than the maximum, you can still keep the extra money.

If you reach $500 (or your own minimum), Pubslush deducts a 4% fee, plus 3.5% in credit card charges.

"Supporters of a campaign will be charged on the final day of the Fundraising period. In the event that the Minimum Threshold has not been met [...], Supporters will simply not be charged." This is in the Terms of Services. Basically, no one pays until the final day. If the campaign fails, no one spends money or makes money.

You entice people to donate by offering "incentives," small rewards for certain amounts. Although authors, in general, try to offer "free" rewards, you may have to spend some of your own money purchasing rewards. You will also have to factor in the cost of shipping.  You have the option of tacking on additional fees for international shipping. 

You can also choose to donate some of the proceeds (a minimum of 10%) to a charity called the Pubslush Foundation, which fights illiteracy. If you do so, you'll receive "a special distinction on our site."

Pubslush Prep is "a customized program designed to provide our campaigners with hands-on campaign support." On a basic (read: free) level it offers email templates and an introduction email with campaign relations coordinator. However, it also offers Bronze Prep ($50), Silver Prep ($75), Gold Prep ($175), Platinum Prep ($250), and Strictly Social Media Package ($100). 

Bronze level offers thing like an initial email consultation with the campaign relations coordinator plus 30 minutes of phone time, while Platinum Level gets you customized tweets and a feature on the Pubslush blog. 

Commentary

I think the 4% fee is reasonable. The website does offer authors a wider audience, so it's only fair to take a small cut. I'm a little more leery of paying for the advice, if only because if you fail, you get nothing--so it's a bit of a gamble. Also, in a business sense, you do have to worry about being nickeled and dimed. 

Let's say you paid $50 for a consultation and decide to donate 10% to charity and put in $30 for incentives and shipping. You raise $500. $20 goes to the website fees, $17.50 goes to credit card charges, then you pay another $50 for a donation and include the cost of supplies. That means raising that $500 has cost you $167.50, or roughly 1/3 of the money raised. If you give away copies of your book as an incentive, you have to be doubly careful because you're cutting into the audience who will buy your book later.

These concerns, by the way, come from a first-time publisher with very little money to subsist on, let alone publish with. Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing tool to have at your disposal. But it's not free. You have to spend money to make money; it's just a matter of considering how much you're comfortable spending.

Other Benefits

Though the primary function is to raise money, the secondary function is to generate interest in your books. First-timers can build an audience outside their usual friends and family. Authors with an audience can appeal to their fan base by offering samples of new work.

Once you run a (successful?) campaign, it stays on the website, so that people can click on it and have a peek.

They also have tools, a blog, and articles for author education.

Commentary

It seems like Pubslush is striving to be not only a crowdfunding website, but also an author platform. They seem to want you to promote the book long 

The articles are a great resource. I recommend browsing them just for the heck of it. Some of these have to do with crowdfunding, if you're uncertain of what it entails or whether or not to take the plunge. Others talk about writing and promotion.

I couldn't use the tools because I have ancient technology which Pubslush doesn't seem to like.

Starting a Campaign

You will need to type/ upload the following:

• Title
• Byline (Your name or pseudonym)
• Image (at least 720 px in width--optional)
• Video (optional)
• Project Overview (a 1-sentence blurb to summarize your project and capture your audience's attention--200 characters max)
• Book Details (aka, your genre)
• Page Length (less than 50, 50-100, 100-250, 250-500, 500 +)
• Book Status (idea, working draft, or completed manuscript)

• Book Excerpt (5-10 page sample, submitted as either a text document, PDF, or series of images--optional)
• Tags (metadata that 
• Author Photo 
• Author Bio (Approximately 2 sentences about yourself--500 characters max)
• Interview (The standard questions ask: Why did you write this book? Wo are your favorite authors? What was your inspiration for this book? What do you plan to do with the funds you raise? You can answer some, all, or none of these question. You can make up your own questions, too.) 
• Links (your website, Facebook account, Twitter, etc.)
• Funding Goal (How much you want to raise--$500 minimum)
• Funding Duration (15-45 days)
• Launchpad (When do you want to start?)
• Levels and Rewards (How much money do people need to spend to qualify for the reward? Is there a limited amount of rewards offered? When do you expect to deliver the reward, assuming the campaign is successful? Do you charge extra for international shipping and if so, how much?)

After filling in all that massive amount of information, you review your information, agree to the terms and conditions, and wait for them to approve your campaign. After that, your campaign will appear on the website for people to browse, although they will not be able to donate until the launch date.

Commentary

I thought about using Pubslush to pay for my cover, but I noticed that most campaigns have a picture, some more professional than others. I, personally, feel more attracted to professional-looking artwork; it reassures me that the author is serious. For me, though, it meant paying for the cover out of my own pocket.

Filling in the information was time-consuming, but helpful, because it forced me to sit down and write (and re-write) promotional material for my book. However, copy and pasting from a word document to the little boxes caused the lines to go all wonky. You may need to re-type.

Before starting the incentives, I read and re-read an amazingly helpful article by AJ Walkley. Since the site recommends using your personal talents to create incentives, I decided to channel my card-making. Shipping and handling threw me a bit, but cards are cheap to mail. Still, I had to factor in that cost, as well as website fees, and card-making materials.

One of my most difficult problems was uploading the sample of the story. Again, I blame ancient technology. (My laptop is 4 years old.) Pubslush was not happy with Internet Explorer, but it worked fine for Mozilla Firefox, once I updated everything. Even though it uploaded my Microsoft Word document, it wouldn't let me actually see the writing. It did show me the PDF document, so I went with that.

I read through the Terms and Conditions, and one part bothered me a bit. "With respect to all Content, by submitting Content to Pubslush, you hereby grant to Pubslush a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable, perpetual, irrevocable ad transferable license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and the business of Pubslush, and of its successors and assigns." 

"Content" is defined earlier, "any text, scripts, graphics, images, or other materials which a User posts to the Service," which includes "a segment of the User's original book."

So I think what this means is, once it goes on the site, it stays on the site, and they can distribute it worldwide. They do not have the rights to your entire novel, just whatever you put on the website. You can use the material you publish on Pubslush elsewhere. You cannot charge them to use your work. I think they are just covering their bases so people don't sue them or claim copyright violations. However, if you are uncomfortable with these terms, don't use the site.

What's Next?

In the next few months, I'm going to look at Pubslush from the point of view of someone donating and someone running a campaign. I'll write more when I know more, so stay tuned.