Taking the Plunge, Part 2
“Well, I’m back,” said a certain Hobbit, and the sentiment is equally applicable to me. I just got back from a hard-earned and well-deserved vacation with the missus, and I need to get back into the swing of things—my work, the blog, and of course, promoting the Wardenclyffe Horror Kickstarter (which you should totally pledge to by clicking here. Tell your friends). Some of our regular readers may recall that my last post was something of a cliffhanger. Unlike David, I remain something of a crowdfunding skeptic. Where he has funded over forty projects, at the time of my last post, I had not yet funded even one.
That has changed. Read on to learn about the project that made me a funder.
(Click here to fund the Wardenclyffe Horror. It’s awesome.)
The project that finally made me take the plunge and become a funder was Enemies Endure on Indiegogo. Enemies Endure is a book project by Jenna Moran, who’s past credits include the post-modern indie roleplaying game Nobilis, as well as major credits in other kickass games like Weapons of the Gods and Exalted, in addition to her own serialized story-driven website Hitherby Dragons (and several short stories and novellas to boot). Jenna, who is unquestionably one of the most creative freelance authors in the roleplaying game space, has leveraged the mechanism of crowdfunding to self-publish her trilogy with all the trappings—professional editing, quality art, art for her web serialization—the whole shebang.
Several factors drew me to Jenna’s project. First, her goal was reasonable—starting with a modest $2200 to pay her editor and her artists. More importantly, as her funding exceeded that goal, she clearly outlined how the additional funds would be used to enhance the product and to offset the costs of publishing and administering her website, where the story will live in serial format. Second, her pledge level pricing structure was very reasonably structured, with $15 dollars raking in the full trilogy in every major digital format and the option to buy the print on demand at cost. Finally, Jenna’s project speaks to the core of what crowdfunding is all about: empowering indie creators to realize their ambitions and get their products into the hands of their fans and supporters.
As more and more established creators leverage the crowd to circumvent traditional distribution channels or as a mechanism for preselling their products, it’s a joy to find earnest projects by indie creators that have achievable goals, effective messaging, and the support to succeed. I’m happy to have thrown Enemies Endure my support, and I look forward to getting my grubby hands on my shiny digital copy. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Jenna’s tantalizing, mind-twisting prose, I sincerely suggest you check out her website.
Caffeineforge 
Hey, nice find. Thanks for sharing.
I gotta admit.. I’m amused your first Kickstarter ain’t a Kickstarter, but Indiegogo. 🙂