How an Award-Winning Author Uses Pre-Orders to Own Reader Relationships
The Challenge
Running an actual Kickstarter campaign requires more resources than I have available at the moment, but I wanted to gauge interest in the special edition and get a good idea of how many books to order before committing to actually ordering them.
For indie and hybrid authors, direct sales offers higher profit margins (around $7 per book vs $2 from bookstores) and direct reader relationships. But running a full Kickstarter campaign requires significant resources: campaign page creation, stretch goals management, fulfillment coordination, and ongoing backer communication.
Leslye wanted to offer a special edition hardcover omnibus of her Bliss Wars trilogy, but needed a simpler way to gauge interest and collect pre-orders without committing to Kickstarter's complexity. She also wanted to know exactly how many books to order before committing to a print run.
The Solution
No Kickstarter complexity—simple campaign setup
Gauge demand before committing to print runs
Customers stay on your branded store experience
Pre-orders collected without charging until goal is met
The Results
By selling direct through her Shopify store with Fundpop, Leslye achieves significantly higher profit margins than traditional bookstore sales. She also owns all customer data, enabling direct communication for future book launches.
I'm using the Fundpop Crowdfunding app to collect preorders for this special edition and allow readers to reserve a copy without paying until we reach a specific sales goal.
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