Tillerz Kickstarter 101

These are some things I have collected as a Superbacker, backing 311 projects on Kickstarter since 2012 (6 of them unsuccessful, 3 cancelled, 1 refunded by creator), and 17 projects on Backerkit.
Disclaimer: I have never done Crowdfunding myself. All this only reflects what I have seen and learned from backing (un)successful projects and what some expections of backers are. I do not take any responsibility for the success or failure of your project.

Initial Thoughts

• Time is money. And you need to commit a lot of time to make this work.
• Do not do this alone. If you still have to write all the things, check with the printing company, find out about shipping etc., someone else needs to keep track of social media etc.
• Do not underestimate the workload involved. For example, if your project involves TTRPG systems and you promise compatibility with 5e, Pathfinder, or others, you must deliver on these promises. Dropping a system later will harm your reputation and upset a part of your backer base. There are people out there doing system conversions for money.
• Plan your finances carefully. Everything will cost more than expected, and you will likely need to resend or replace items. Additional backers do not equal free money; the profit margin is reduced by various costs. Remember that Kickstarter, payment processors, and taxes will take a significant portion of your funds. Research printing costs, international shipping, and other expenses thoroughly. There will most likely be resends and replacements to backers, too.
• If producing physical products, consider the space required to store and handle items like big/heavy pallets of books and also the immense amount of work to sort and package the various items. Fulfilment companies can store and ship items for you, but they charge fees, especially for leftover stock. Plan to dispose of or retrieve excess items promptly after distribution. Keep a few extra copies for replacements or unfulfilled orders. These companies also know about the different shipping costs and can give you this information.
• There is also a lot going on with printed books: the printing company will send you some sample first, you need to thoroughly check if those are correct. You may have to change your print file or send new specifications to the company.
• For digital products (and possibly print on demand), consider using platforms like DriveThruRPG for distribution. Although they take a percentage of your revenue, they handle tasks such as watermarking PDFs and managing distribution.
• TTRPG products: if you write roleplaying stuff, especially when it's based on a bigger commercial system, think about getting in contact with the owner of that system. I have seen projects associated with Monte Cook (Cypher System), Modiphius, or Free League who got a boost from those mentioning the projects in their newsletters and their social media. You might also get advice and other support from them.
• Pay everyone you hire fairly and in a timely manner. Some projects give a fixed amount to the artists and have stretch goals for additional payment.
• Be mindful of tax implications. If your project concludes near the end of the financial year, align payments to reduce taxable income. Make payments to third parties promptly to manage taxes effectively.
• Never lie about anything related to your project (or try to hide important information). Honesty is critical to maintaining trust with your backers and also your coworkers/artists.
• Remember that Kickstarter is not the only crowdfunding platform, even if it's the largest though. If you use KS, you probably also use BackerKit to handle things when the project has succeeded. BackerKit also offers crowdfunding itself for quite some time now, too. Then there is Indiegogo, which has some other options for projects. There are a few more, but I have never heard of them/backed something there.
• Have written agreements with all coworkers about financial compensation and the use of their work (eg. make sure use of imagery etc. for advertising etc. is allowed, too).
• Think about a possible failure of your crowdfunding. Did you have costs before? What about people you hired or committed to hire? Tell them beforehand what will happen in case of a project failure and have a written agreement with them.

Promotion before and during launch

• Do not launch the Kickstarter campaign without proper preparation. Discuss it, build anticipation, hype it up, set up a dedicated webpage, and encourage pre-registration.
• Use the Professional Portal to inform Dimi and Janet so they can assist with promotional efforts.
• Appear as a guest on other livestreams to promote and showcase your project.
• Send review or preview copies to well-known YouTube and Twitch creators so they can provide reviews or test-play your product.
• Stay active on social media and consistently promote your campaign.
• Host a livestream when your Kickstarter campaign goes live to answer questions from backers.
• Make the project a success on the first attempt. On Kickstarter, you can cancel projects, but you are not allowed to relaunch the same project later due to Kickstarter rules.

Project Preparation

Project Page

• Ensure your Kickstarter page has a professional layout with high-quality imagery and media and no typos.
• Add all your collaborators, such as co-workers and artists, to the Kickstarter page, but speak with them beforehand to confirm their involvement / wish to be named there.
• Create a video that clearly explains all important aspects of the project.
• Provide info on what has already been completed. Ideally, include a sample PDF, a chapter, or something similar to showcase your progress.

Pledge Levels

• When setting up pledge levels, remember that you cannot edit them once the campaign is live; you can only add new tier levels. Plan your pledge tiers carefully in advance.
• Add a note to all physical pledge levels that shipping is coming ontop afterwards, eg. collected via Pledgemanager on Backerkit.
• Avoid making the highest pledge level the most attractive option by including all rewards. Instead, add one or two premium tiers with additional exclusive items to encourage backers to upgrade. Some backers are willing to spend more for these top tiers. Calculate these levels properly, factoring in costs like shipping, and include low-cost but appealing extras, such as postcards featuring project artwork. Ensure you discuss this with your artists and compensate them fairly. Having these higher priced tiers most often also makes regular backers step up a tier or two.

Pledge Manager

• If you have previously created things, think about adding them to the PledgeManager, so people can buy them when completing the details of their pledge. Remember that physical items can increase shipping dramatically.
• Always consider that people might want to upgrade in the PledgeManager phase, so allow them to.
• Get the shipping info right so you don't have it out of your own pocket.

When the project is live and after the backing phase

• Send Kickstarter updates at least once a month with detailed and relevant information about your project.
• If possible for your project, send out product previews (I have seen everything from 1 preview/alpha/beta, over 3-5, to more than 1 weekly). You can use 1 to 3 of those previews to ask for feedback/corrections/typos (eg. via Google form).
• Respond promptly to questions and messages that come through your Kickstarter page, private messages, emails, and social media channels.
• Take responsibility for setbacks. Do not blame others for issues; instead, explain challenges to your backers and outline your plans to address them.
• There are tools to track the project progress, use them. Example: KickTraq. Be aware though that projections of how the project might develop or usually completely wrong. A Project usually has a peak in the first 1 or 2 days, then it drops down to a rather flat and way lower number of daily backers, and in the last 1-3 days the number will spike again, but surely not reach the number from day 1. How flat and spiky the backer number curve is totally depends on the interestingness of your project, the professionality of your project page, your already existing fan base and when and how you do promotion for it.