I wanted to chime in here to say a bit about the Johnslist component of this group and give some feedback / suggestions for ways I feel this could be better, based on some of what I originally had in mind when this began.
First off, I think it's great to see how as a community we can come together around a particular book to work with an author to help them reach more readers. That itself shows the power and focus of this group.
It's been great to see several projects succeed here. Even projects that didn't make it, I've been encouraged to see some authors remain in good spirits and look to what comes next, remaining connected here. That, to me, means a lot -- rather than feeling isolated and defeated, authors who get connected here know they aren't alone and that not funding does not mean defeat. We all can relate that crowdfunding a book is a pain the ass.
But I think we can do so much more with Johnslist and here's how:
Helping an author get pre-orders is only one small component to what helping means. Getting pre-orders requires conversion. This means when someone lands on your Inkshares page, the material they engage with compels them to buy your book. We can all be pumping our readers / etc to a book we want to fund, but if conversion is low due to flat presentation (this could be due to poor cover, weak log-line, unengaging project description, lack of trailer / ineffectiveness of trailer, problems with the opening chapters, lack of social proof i.e. reviews) the this effort is mostly wasted.
Let's face it, we all can improve. I know I still have a long way to go in my own work and I'm constantly looking for new feedback and ways I can make my own page better. We have so much power here in this community to pool together what we each have learned works well and to use this to help other authors we want to succeed.
So for Johnslist entries, don't be afraid to call out what you see. We want to help here, and I know that many of the authors who are on here are working hard to improve -- most likely your feedback and constructive angles is golden information they wish they could hear but aren't.
Let's keep this up! And please, if you have thoughts on how to improve this or want to add to what I say, use this thread for it.
I wanted to chime in here to say a bit about the Johnslist component of this group and give some feedback / suggestions for ways I feel this could be better, based on some of what I originally had in mind when this began.
First off, I think it's great to see how as a community we can come together around a particular book to work with an author to help them reach more readers. That itself shows the power and focus of this group.
It's been great to see several projects succeed here. Even projects that didn't make it, I've been encouraged to see some authors remain in good spirits and look to what comes next, remaining connected here. That, to me, means a lot -- rather than feeling isolated and defeated, authors who get connected here know they aren't alone and that not funding does not mean defeat. We all can relate that crowdfunding a book is a pain the ass.
But I think we can do so much more with Johnslist and here's how:
Helping an author get pre-orders is only one small component to what helping means. Getting pre-orders requires conversion. This means when someone lands on your Inkshares page, the material they engage with compels them to buy your book. We can all be pumping our readers / etc to a book we want to fund, but if conversion is low due to flat presentation (this could be due to poor cover, weak log-line, unengaging project description, lack of trailer / ineffectiveness of trailer, problems with the opening chapters, lack of social proof i.e. reviews) the this effort is mostly wasted.
Let's face it, we all can improve. I know I still have a long way to go in my own work and I'm constantly looking for new feedback and ways I can make my own page better. We have so much power here in this community to pool together what we each have learned works well and to use this to help other authors we want to succeed.
So for Johnslist entries, don't be afraid to call out what you see. We want to help here, and I know that many of the authors who are on here are working hard to improve -- most likely your feedback and constructive angles is golden information they wish they could hear but aren't.
Let's keep this up! And please, if you have thoughts on how to improve this or want to add to what I say, use this thread for it.