The Better World Book Kickstarter (May 2019)

Whilst some people don't mind having their names leak out all over the Internet (e.g. "Cool Public Thanks", "Your most creative name in the book") others do.  Would it be possible to respect people's privacy by having publication of names — in any way, shape or form — be subject to an opt-in/out process?

Tim Bermaw wrote:Whilst some people don't mind having their names leak out all over the Internet (e.g. "Cool Public Thanks", "Your most creative name in the book") others do.  Would it be possible to respect people's privacy by having publication of names — in any way, shape or form — be subject to an opt-in/out process?

Last time I supported one of these, there was an option to put the name of your choice in the thanks.  I think there was a character limit and subject to approval (aka, you couldn't put "M%$#@ Rocks")*

When I had my kickstarter for my book, I did the same because I thought it was a fantastic idea.  I got some fun names to put in, but many people chose to use their own name or the name of a loved one they were giving the book to.  Other people were very creative.  I expected people to put business names in there as it's pretty cheap advertising.  But I only got one.  

*the M stands for a company I would rather not say

Paul/Shawn .. 116K WOW Amazing!
If I may add a suggestion .. Please send another email to all folks in all your mailing lists, promoting the 125K Stretch goal that is sooo close, the Permaculture Voices 1 videos, !! Its really close!! and this one alone, worth 75$ on its own will surely drive many to upgrade their pledge to the 100$ level just to get these amazing videos. I'm guessing most folks here would already have most of your stuff already (RMH, WDG etc) but not the PV videos these alone would drive lots of people to increase their pledge.

Shawn Klassen-Koop wrote:

Rudy Valvano wrote:
I just cringe at money being diverted from important projects on The Lab.

The trick is that the major expense is not in shipping the books to Paul. I'm driving them to him. The big expense is shipping that signed copy across the ocean. The unsigned copies will be printed one at a time overseas. And there is no way to get those ones signed.

Oh I see, it's print on demand. Can you send a digital signature, with a personalized message for each, as part of the print file? Not as nice as hand drawn ink but it's  good enough for Margaret Atwood.  ;)

P.S.
I hope you don't  have trouble with customs at the US boarder while carrying all those books. I had trouble coming home from US with a few books from a conference. My fault for not declaring them.

Rudy Valvano wrote:

Shawn Klassen-Koop wrote:

Rudy Valvano wrote:
I just cringe at money being diverted from important projects on The Lab.

The trick is that the major expense is not in shipping the books to Paul. I'm driving them to him. The big expense is shipping that signed copy across the ocean. The unsigned copies will be printed one at a time overseas. And there is no way to get those ones signed.

Oh I see, it's print on demand. Can you send a digital signature, with a personalized message for each, as part of the print file? Not as nice as hand drawn ink but it's  good enough for Margaret Atwood.  ;)

I looked into something like this with my book.  A lot of extra costs there.  

Maybe it could be the 225,000 stretch goal?

Can the folks that we give Gift Codes to just painlessly redeem them for a quick, obligation-free, one-off download/view, or do they have to go through the process of creating a permies.com account first before they can redeem them?

The gift codes are a part of the permies digital market. As far as I know, accessing stuff on the digital market requires a permies account.

Would shipping be cheaper from Canada to the EU? Might be worth a drive over the border and signing over there?

How many signed European copies are likely to be needed?  Might be cheaper to go visit the Holzerhoff and do some signing while there?

I live in Canada. I'm pretty sure it is cheaper to ship overseas from the US.

Visiting the Holzerhoff... now that would be cool... but I don't think the numbers work out on that one. Maybe some day.

Tim Bermaw wrote:Can the folks that we give Gift Codes to just painlessly redeem them for a quick, obligation-free, one-off download/view, or do they have to go through the process of creating a permies.com account first before they can redeem them?

If I thought that Paul and the permies crew were as devious as I, I would guess that having to sign up for a permies.com account, to get them in the door, as it were, was the point to giving free stuff away, beyond what giving that stuff away was already doing in terms of sweetening the pot.

-CK

$117,111!

r ranson wrote:

Tim Bermaw wrote:Whilst some people don't mind having their names leak out all over the Internet (e.g. "Cool Public Thanks", "Your most creative name in the book") others do.  Would it be possible to respect people's privacy by having publication of names — in any way, shape or form — be subject to an opt-in/out process?

Last time I supported one of these, there was an option to put the name of your choice in the thanks.  I think there was a character limit and subject to approval (aka, you couldn't put "M%$#@ Rocks")*

Our stuff is strictly opt in.  You will be presented with a "survey" that asks how you want your name to appear - and it is clear that it is optional to not fill it out.  Most people put in silly names.  

Carlos Gomezvelandia wrote:Paul/Shawn .. 116K WOW Amazing!
If I may add a suggestion .. Please send another email to all folks in all your mailing lists, promoting the 125K Stretch goal that is sooo close, the Permaculture Voices 1 videos, !! Its really close!! and this one alone, worth 75$ on its own will surely drive many to upgrade their pledge to the 100$ level just to get these amazing videos. I'm guessing most folks here would already have most of your stuff already (RMH, WDG etc) but not the PV videos these alone would drive lots of people to increase their pledge.

We had some debate about whether or not to send out another email to people.  Several people pointed out that we should more clearly show the stretch goal stuff.   And in the end we decided to send out one more.  That is being sent now.  

Here is the text:

Just a few hours left; We cleared 14 stretch goals!

It's now or never!  The package dealio ends when the kickstarter ends.

The kickstarter is now over $115,000 and we are plowing through the stretch goals at a rate of several per day!   The $100 level is so heavy with goodies (including the audiobook!), hundreds of people are raising their backer level to $100 or more - which now includes:

- all of the stuff at the $1 level and the $5 level
- 12 physical copies, or 36 ebooks, or mix and match
- one of the physical copies will be signed by both Shawn and I
- your most creative name appears in the book
- early access to the manuscript
- the book Clean with Cleaners You Can Eat by Raven Ranson
- the 3-DVD set (as streaming) of World Domination Gardening
- Michael Judd's book Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist
- Erica Wisner's spiffy new Rocket Mass Heater plans
- 4 gift codes for the giant solar food dehydrator plans
- gapper fee at wheaton labs
- the book Organic Pools DIY manual by David Pagan Butler
- the audiobook
- 7 additional microdocs (4 gift codes for each)
- the documentary Chemerical
- 4 early draft books from me that are 50% to 70% complete

If half the people reading this jump in, we will have reached ALL of the following additional stretch goals, and all of this stuff would be added to all the levels at $100 and up:

- $120k the book Dairy Farming - the Beautiful Way by Adam Klaus
- $125k all of the video from 70 presentations at Permaculture Voices 1
- $130k the book Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker (limit 100)
- $135k tickets to our permaculture design course in june (limit 6)
- $140k tickets to our appropriate technology course in july (limit 6)
- $145k all of the video from 32 presentations at the Eat Your Dirt Summit
- $150k stay several nights at wheaton labs and run a rocket mass heater (limit 6)
- $155k the book The Scoop on Poop by Dan Chiras
- $160k the book Compost Everything by David the Good
- $165k the book Together Resilient by Ma'ikwe Ludwig
- $170k the documentary Desert or Paradise by Sepp Holzer
- $175k the book Backyard Dairy Goats by Kate Downham
- $180k the documentary Living the Change by Happen Films

The full details of all these things are on the kickstarter page:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/better-world-book?ref=89su2d

It does mention PV1.   At the same time, there is a LOT of really excellent stuff on this list.  

Tim Bermaw wrote:Can the folks that we give Gift Codes to just painlessly redeem them for a quick, obligation-free, one-off download/view, or do they have to go through the process of creating a permies.com account first before they can redeem them?

I think you give them the code, and the system takes them through creating the account.   That way, if they lose it, they can come back and get it later.

$118,026!

One thing I don't understand is why $80 pledge ships for $50, while $100 pledge ships for $75. Both are a dozen physical copies, so it can't be weight...

Mussa Gladden wrote:One thing I don't understand is why $80 pledge ships for $50, while $100 pledge ships for $75. Both are a dozen physical copies, so it can't be weight...

For the $80 level, all 12 books will be printed (in your case) in Australia. So it keeps the cost lower.

At $100 we need to print one of them here so that we can sign it. And then we have to ship that one overseas. Which brings the price higher.

I think you need to add an option or two to the kickstarter.

$50 Audio book and ebook
$55 Audio book and physical book

This morning I moved my pledge up to $100.

$119,117

Shawn Klassen-Koop wrote:At $100 we need to print one of them here so that we can sign it. And then we have to ship that one overseas. Which brings the price higher.

Hmmm... To avoid a repeat of the double-shipping issue in the future, I wonder if it would make more sense to not bake in the 'single signed copy' to any pledge level, and instead allow folks to trade-in, say, 5 unsigned physical copies for a single signed copy after the Kickstarter is over?  That way folks who actually want a signed copy can still get one, but they don't force double-shipping charges onto the 95% (or whatever) of folks who don't care about signatures?

So pledge level entitles a person to X unsigned physical copies.  After the Kickstarter, send out an email.  They can then trade 1 unsigned physical for 3 digital, or 5 unsigned physicals for 1 signed physical.

Note:  A 5-to-1 conversion from unsigned to signed is purely arbitrary — you'd have to look at costs and labour to arrive at a more realistic number.

I am sooo looking forward to what Diego Footer has thrown in with Permaculture Voices !!

Carlos Gomezvelandia wrote:Paul/Shawn .. 116K WOW Amazing!
If I may add a suggestion .. Please send another email to all folks in all your mailing lists, promoting the 125K Stretch goal that is sooo close, the Permaculture Voices 1 videos, !! Its really close!! and this one alone, worth 75$ on its own will surely drive many to upgrade their pledge to the 100$ level just to get these amazing videos. I'm guessing most folks here would already have most of your stuff already (RMH, WDG etc) but not the PV videos these alone would drive lots of people to increase their pledge.

I have been listening to his podcasts while out in the yard ; )

Tim Bermaw wrote:

Shawn Klassen-Koop wrote:At $100 we need to print one of them here so that we can sign it. And then we have to ship that one overseas. Which brings the price higher.

Hmmm... To avoid a repeat of the double-shipping issue in the future, I wonder if it would make more sense to not bake in the 'single signed copy' and instead allow folks to trade-in, say, 5 unsigned physical copies for a single signed copy after the Kickstarter is over?  That way folks who actually want a signed copy can still get one, but they don't force double-shipping charges onto the 95% (or whatever) of folks who don't care about signatures?

So pledge level entitles a person to X unsigned physical copies.  After the Kickstarter, send out an email.  They can trade 1 unsigned physical in for 3 digital, or 5 unsigned physicals for 1 signed physical.

Note:  A 5-to-1 conversion from unsigned to signed is purely arbitrary — you'd have to look at costs and labour to arrive at a more realistic number.

Im not sure that 95% wouldnt want the signatures.  It was a pretty important feature when the book was discussed pre-kickstarter. The book signing and audiobook were the two most popular additional features.

I can totally understand the desire to reduce shipping- especially overseas. Earlier Shawn posted a good way to get the goodies at $100 and choose all digital for that, and then pay less for shipping by creating a second pledge for just the book at that pledge level. You come out way ahead of the full Shipping charges.

Im sure at this point, your thoughts are interesting to consider for the next kickstarter, but probably too late to finagle all that now

Next up:

we are now on page 1 of kickstarter most funded nonfiction!

Bryan C Aldeghi wrote:interesting to consider for the next kickstarter, but probably too late to finagle all that now

Yeah, that's what I meant by "in the future".  I'm pretty-sure it's impossible to change anything for this Kickstarter at this late stage.

I wasn't party to pre-Kickstarter discussions, so I don't know what fraction of folks were keen on the signature idea.  I also don't know if the true cost of getting those signatures was known at the time those discussions were taking place.  If folks knew they were giving up 4/6/8 unsigned copies in exchange for 1 signed copy, would they have been so supportive?

Anyway, life is a learning experience.  Whilst this Kickstarter is going fabulously, I hope lessons will be learned and the next one will be even better!

Yeah, I don't get the popularity of the signature idea. I would have gone for the audiobook first, considering the added expense and hassle of the signature process, and the fact that a signature doesn't add to the book's usefulness, whereas an audiobook version can be immeasurably useful.

-CK

Bryan C Aldeghi wrote:

Im not sure that 95% wouldnt want the signatures.  It was a pretty important feature when the book was discussed pre-kickstarter. The book signing and audiobook were the two most popular additional features.

I agree, Bryan. I don't know about in the permie world in general but in the book world a book signed by the author is a big deal. I almost squealed out loud in a second-hand shop once when I found a signed copy of a book by a now-deceased author of some note (whose writing I love). And I don't squeal, generally. Also, I totally bought that book.

On Kickstarter it's a standard thing for book projects, and there are people who might actually decide against supporting a project that doesn't offer signed copies. Not a huge number of course, and certainly not the already devoted permie crowd, but you never know who will be browsing around for things to throw their money at and even a small number of new recruits may be worth having the option of signed copies in the mix.

$121,001!

Just a quick note for all of the discussion about doing this kickstarter, for several months before this kickstarter started:

https://permies.com/t/99513/ready-World-Book-kickstarter-April


Lots has been discovered along the way.  And there are lots of things we would do different if we had a crystal ball.

And, yeah, lots of cool ideas for what we might do next time!

From the kickstarter comments:

I would just like a copy of the eBook with the audiobook so I can read along or look up something that I remember hearing while listening. I was hoping it wouldn't be too much to ask to throw it in or maybe make a $45 or $50 level to get both. Pretty Please! I can't afford the $100 even though I probably can't afford to pass it up.

There are many schools of thought about reward stuff.  Most people strongly believe that there should be no more than two rewards.  We went with "the stepping stones" path, loaded with goodies.  And I think we might have done better with fewer rewards as is.  

There are just two people in for the audiobook reward at this time.  So not a really big winner so far.  

I would like to avoid adding any more reward levels right now.  

How about this:  when the ebook is all done and finally available, couldn't you just pick up one at that time for the regular price?  

$122,334!

$123,099!

2,503 backers as of right now! Over $123k too! 👍👍👍

I just sent out an email to a bunch of people. I finished with the following, which I felt was appropriate to share here:

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone who has supported this campaign. Seriously. This is all pretty surreal for me. I half expect to wake up on Saturday and find out this was all just one big dream. Thank you.

I think now is the time to explain the deal with Jacob's book.  

We spent a lot of time talking about this and trying to come up with something that would work for us and work for jacob.  In the end, this is what we came up with:

The top 100 USA backers will get a copy of Jacob's book.  

I think that what we will do is ask in the survey "are you in the USA and wish to have ERE?"  And then select out the top 100 backers (in dollars to the kickstarter).

It might be strategically wise for people to add a penny or two to their backer amount?

$124,259! Not that I check very often! 😳