SKIP Book Kickstarter

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Jakub Podlaha wrote:I would gladly go up to $100 (from $15) for the cards and the signed book (I mean I would really like those... much much more than the online content... guess I just have too many videos to watch already), but I'm not in US Any chance of relaxing the US Only condition on that pledge?

I think the problem (and Mike or Paul might correct me on this) is that the print SKIP book is print-on-demand in your country for the cheapest shipping price. The Building a Better World book and permaculture cards have to be mailed from here. I'm thinking the total shipping is something probably really insane, which is probably why the option isn't offered. It could be the logistics of it is another factor. Mailing internationally--especially during these covid times--can take a looooooong time.

I do wonder how many people are interested in the $100 option, even if it had a shipping price that's probably insane. Maybe if there is enough demand, it might become an option?

Yup, Nicole nailed it.  Oh, and don't forget customs issues.  Print on Demand adds about $75 for shipping.  That's cheaper than shipping a box of 12 from the US and avoids a bunch of customs headaches.  If we also have to ship a book and deck of cards from the US, that would tack on something like $45 more dollars plus customs issues.  Bundling it all up and sending from here would be in between for price but still a customs and logistics headache.

We were also trying to balance the number of rewards against the likelihood of people being interested in them.  It seemed to us that less than 20 people would be interested in that combination (due to the exorbitant shipping) so we chose to not include it.

Sarah Elizabeth wrote:

Mike Haasl wrote:
The idea is that if anyone wants free shipping at the $65 or higher level, and they only want electronic books, they can select the US Virgin Islands to pay zero shipping.  Yay!    

I tried this as I am not in the US and just wanted electronic copies and it seem to have worked and upgraded my pledge to $65 without adding the crazy shipping costs.  

My email address on kickstarter is different to my permies email. Do you know how this works re: the goodies? Does it matter?

Good luck with the stretch goals.      

That's an excellent question.  I'm hoping Paul chimes in with his vast experience.  I am guessing that it won't be a problem since you're likely not the only person to have had that situation.  But I'm not sure how it's overcome.

I just added another $1 to my $65 pledge to be sure that I will get not only my early bird backers extras - but also the extra stuff to give to others from the swirly bird [ up a dollar ] pledge : D

The Swirly Bird is just a subset of the Early Bird.  So whenever you joined the kickstarter, you get all the early bird stuff.  Adding a buck now isn't needed, but it is appreciated!

Mike Haasl wrote:

Sarah Elizabeth wrote:

Mike Haasl wrote:
The idea is that if anyone wants free shipping at the $65 or higher level, and they only want electronic books, they can select the US Virgin Islands to pay zero shipping.  Yay!    

I tried this as I am not in the US and just wanted electronic copies and it seem to have worked and upgraded my pledge to $65 without adding the crazy shipping costs.  

My email address on kickstarter is different to my permies email. Do you know how this works re: the goodies? Does it matter?

Good luck with the stretch goals.      

That's an excellent question.  I'm hoping Paul chimes in with his vast experience.  I am guessing that it won't be a problem since you're likely not the only person to have had that situation.  But I'm not sure how it's overcome.

Permies has a way to define a secondary email address.   Put your kickstarter email address in there and all will be automatically figured out.  If you don't, then when we send out the first goodie, there will be a link in the email (to your kickstarter email address) giving you the option to connect that email address to your permies account as a secondary email.

Or you can change your primary permies email to use your kickstarter email.   Or you can change your kickstarter account to use your permies email.

If you cancel your pledge and then make a new pledge, you lose your earlybird stuff.

Has anybody added up the value of the stretch goals to date?

The value of all the things that everyone at $65 and up gets is around $260 so far.  That doesn't include the 6 tickets to the PTJ and SKIP events since everyone doesn't get those, just the highest bidders who are available and want to come.

paul wheaton wrote:

Permies has a way to define a secondary email address.   Put your kickstarter email address in there and all will be automatically figured out.  If you don't, then when we send out the first goodie, there will be a link in the email (to your kickstarter email address) giving you the option to connect that email address to your permies account as a secondary email.

Or you can change your primary permies email to use your kickstarter email.   Or you can change your kickstarter account to use your permies email.

Thanks Paul.  I've now found the secondary email option under edit profile at the bottom of the emails preferences tab and added my kickstarter email there.

Hello everyone!  Paul and I are looking for some poetry.

If you raised your backer level to $65, how did you actually do it?  Could you explain in simple terms what the steps were?  

We're finding some folks who raised their pledge amount but didn't select a higher backer level.  We're trying to figure out how to guide them to fix the problem.  Since hundreds of you have done this, I'm hoping someone can weigh in.  Or explain what NOT to do.

Thanks!

     $79,007!

Mike Haasl wrote:Welcome to the party bus Adam!

The idea is that if anyone wants free shipping at the $65 or higher level, and they only want electronic books, they can select the US Virgin Islands to pay zero shipping.  Yay!   But what if you still want a physical book?

The "work around" was something they came up with in the last book kickstarter and I'd love to hear from people who've had luck with it.

It's to pledge twice.  Once at the $65 level with the US Virgin Islands selected as your location, and then a second pledge, apparently with a different credit card, for the $15 or $25 level with your correct shipping location.  

Thank you Mike, now maybe I am over looking something, but currently with shipping costs I'm at $80 total for my $65 pledge. If I did the work around with a $15 pledge that would still put me at $80 total. I don't know if the work around is nessacary for me since I am in the US and would like some physical books. Let me know if I am misunderstanding the process.

Here's how I upped my backer level:

Go to the Kickstarter and log in. Top right corner shows "Manage your pledge". Click there. Next page has a couple of blue buttons, one to change payment method, and the next one down is the one you want. Clicking that takes you to a page with all the different pledge levels. Just clcik the level you want to upgrade to. Note the third screenshot shows where to click. If you just change the $ amount in the box, that means you are giving more money but staying at the same pledge level. The place to click is the tiny barely visible circle in the top left corner of the box for your desired level. MIne shows the tick where I clicked. It's almost invisible till it's clicked!

That's how it looks on my Chromebook running Chrome, could look difgerent on other devices and browsers.

Oh, I didn't realize you were in the US.  Yeah, then the two-pledge option probably doesn't make sense for you

Thanks Jane!!!  So to raise your dollar amount accidentally WITHOUT raising your backer level, how would you do that?

I just edited to add another screenshot and more on where to click on the third screen. There are two options. Changing the $ amount in that box doesn't change the pledge level, just how much a person pays. The pledge level change is in the top left corner of the box for each level, pale grey and hard to discern on some screens, I'm guessing. I marked where to look on my third screenshot. Does that make sense? I didn't sleep last night, so I may not be too coherent!

I just played with my pledge to give an example of upping a pledge from the $45 level to the $65 level, but it works the same to alter a pledge at any level.

DO click where I added the green circle and tick. DON'T alter the amount where I added the red circle and the cross. Ticking that teensy-tiny circle and then the green "Continue" button is all that is needed.

Thanks Jane, that is awesome!  So if you just click anywhere in the rectangle for the higher reward level, does it bring you into that one or do you have to select just the spot in your green circle?

This new page, needs a new meme!

click them meme to get thrown to the kickstarter!

This one really hits home. I see so much wrong in the world, and there ARE good solutions, but instead of them people of either (A) do nothing, (B) fork out money for eco-gadgets (lightbulbs, new windows, electric cars), or (C) feel like martyrs for giving up things they enjoy, like take out pizza or long drives or airplane flights.

When, really the solutions are out there, and they're often cheap, and they often make life better instead of worse.

SKIP is about those solutions. It's a way for people to learn those skills so they can be part of the solution and live a far nicer life. I know I've learned a TON from SKIP that I probably never would have learned or had the confidence to try without it. Tomorrow I hope to build a trellis for my daughter's jasmine plant. I'll make it from cedar trees that were growing in bad places, that we cut by hand and pealed, and they'll be put together with the roundwood skills I learned through SKIP.

Needless to say, I think SKIP is pretty awesome, and I hope more and more people learn about it!

Mike and I lined up a new stretch goal and wrote the stuff for hitting 80k.  Was kinda hoping we would hit 80k while we slept ...

It looks like we have about $450 left to go!  

Mike!  We can relax!  Take a break!  

Checking ...   in the last eight hours there were 2 new backers and one person raised their backer level to $65.  A total of $95.  At this rate it would be a few days.  Maybe we shouldn't relax.  ??

All gas, no brakes!!!  We can do it

If you thought the Mother Earth News stretch goal was amazing, just wait until you see the next one.

I know there are a lot of people watching this and saying "I'll wait to see how big the pile gets and then I'll get in before the campaign ends".  

That used to be me

Now that I see the inner workings of kickstarters and how they flow and grow and stagnate, I think it's really important to back earlier.  You might say "My $65 doesn't matter if I put it in now or at the end".  But it does.  If 8 people pledge now, we get that next stretch goal out there this morning.  That makes the pile of goodies even more irresistible.  Then everyone who visits the kickstarter in the next 18 days is 5% more likely to back it.  As that extra 5% back it, the pile gets bigger than it otherwise would have and the next new people to check out the kickstarter are 10% more likely to back it.

By the time we get to the last couple of days, there is a much bigger pile of loot and more backers than there would have been if you waited.  So if you get in now, you'll get more than if you wait till the end.

I'm sorry if this is rambling but I'm not awake yet

I sent an update to the people backing the rocket ovens kickstarter.  I told them about the "K" stuff (which now mentions them), and the rockety things now in the SKIP kickstarter.

Since the SKIP kickstarter is currently kinda stuck, maybe a few people from the rocket ovens kickstarter that have not yet jumped in will make the leap and we will be unstuck!

Mike Haasl wrote:All gas, no brakes!!!  We can do it

I hope that we get to the point where all the stretch goals are so good that 50 people can't resist and BOOM! we're at the next stretch goal in an hour!  And then that happens over and over and over and then we're hitting a new stretch goal every hour or two!  And then we become one of the all time biggest kickstarters and people all over the world hear about SKIP and permaculture and stuff!   And all the events this year are massively subsidized and heaps of projects here are deeply funded!   Wheeeeeeeeee!

Jane Mulberry wrote:Here's how I upped my backer level:

Go to the Kickstarter and log in. Top right corner shows "Manage your pledge". Click there. Next page has a couple of blue buttons, one to change payment method, and the next one down is the one you want. Clicking that takes you to a page with all the different pledge levels. Just clcik the level you want to upgrade to. Note the third screenshot shows where to click. If you just change the $ amount in the box, that means you are giving more money but staying at the same pledge level. The place to click is the tiny barely visible circle in the top left corner of the box for your desired level. MIne shows the tick where I clicked. It's almost invisible till it's clicked!

That's how it looks on my Chromebook running Chrome, could look difgerent on other devices and browsers.

Okay, I'm confused.  If you fix it now, does it think you "cancelled" your original pledge so that you lose all your earlybird stuff?  Thanks to whoever knows.

If you select a different backer level, you don't lose your Early Bird stuff.  The only issue is if you delete/cancel your pledge entirely and start a new pledge at the higher level.  Then you'd lose out on Early Bird stuff.

Mahaba, what Mike said. If you just change the pledge level the way I showed, you keep the earlybird stuff. If someone cancels their first pledge then makes a whole new one, then they lose the earlybird rewards. But doing it the way I showed, Kickstarter treats it as if yoiu pledged the higher level right from the first pledge. Does that make sense.

Mike, I went to test whether the click has to be only in that little circle or if clicking anywhere in the rectangle for the new pledge level works. It does work, so that is a lot easier.

So, here's the how-to made simpler.

If you're wondering what to do with the extra books coming in your upgrade, here's an idea from Joel Salatin's newsletter today. A prison library may actually get more checkouts than the local public library.
To quote Joel, "Here is a guy who chose to make the most of his situation.  He didn't wait for someone to fix his problem; he didn't seek vengeance or fixate on the weaknesses of the system.  He rolled up his sleeves, took advantage of what he could,"

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/4/14/2021/an-inmate-to-love

Just backed now it is $133 from the 80k mark.

About $100 to go ...

Jane Mulberry wrote: If someone cancels their first pledge then makes a whole new one, then they lose the earlybird rewards. But doing it the way I showed, Kickstarter treats it as if yoiu pledged the higher level right from the first pledge. Does that make sense.

Yes - thanks very much.  Just making sure because that's some pretty good loot in the earlybird rewards!

paul wheaton wrote:About $100 to go ...

Not anymore!
$80,050

And now with BIG numbers of happiness!

$80,050!!

And here's our next stretch goal!

click to find out more!

If you're wondering what the DVDs are about, I found the trailer for them!



Aaaaand, a handy-dandy button to jump straight to the kickstarter!

I'm curious does Kickstarter provide a json or xml formatted list of backer's names, emails and backing tiers or do you have to figure all that out yourself?

I believe it gives us the email addresses, backer levels and total contributed.  Probably more but I'm not really sure.  Maybe Paul will chime in...

I just listened to the https://permies.com/wiki/60288/Podcast-Permaculture-Millionaire podcast and thought it was interesting to hear Paul of 4 years ago talking about the connecting industrious people to landowners, that part is around the 20 min mark if anyone else is interested.