Kickstarter Success!
- Marie Mullany
- Oct 3
- 7 min read
How to create a successful (non-fiction) publishing Kickstarter
I did it. I launched my first publishing Kickstarter and it funded in just 4 hours. That was both thrilling and terrifying. Looking back, I want to share what worked, what I’d do differently, and some practical tips for anyone else who’s considering crowdfunding their creative work.
This isn’t a magic formula (though I did have a section on “The Purpose of Magic” in the book!). It’s part reflection, part advice column, and hopefully useful if you’re thinking of crowdfunding your work.
I plan to Kickstart my next fiction book, and if that works, I'll write a second blog about getting fiction crowdfunded.
What Worked Well (and Why)
These are the things that worked great and I'd do again and that I recommend you do.
A Professional Kickstarter Preview Page
Your campaign starts with your preview page. It is critical to get this page right since people who click on "notify me" will get an e-mail from Kickstarter about your campaign launching and about 30% of them will back the campaign in the first 48 hours. If you want your campaign to be fully funded in the first 48 hours, you need around 300 to 400 people waiting on you to actually launch the campaign. And that means you need a professional preview page. This image was the core of my preview page:
You're looking for a short, punchy message that tells people:
What you're selling (a fantasy worldbuilding book)
What it's main selling points are (practical exercises)
Who its for
Who wrote it and why they're qualified
And then a strong call to auction (the notify me bit)
If no one is clicking on notify me, change your preview page. If you can't convince people to do the free thing of clicking on Notify Me, you're certainly not going to get them to actually back the Kickstarter. This doesn't mean your product sucks, it means your marketing sucks.
Marketing in the Lead-Up
I started building buzz at least a month before launch. Every day, I shared something on Instagram (and also Facebook linked to Instagram): page samples, behind-the-scenes thoughts, design sneak peeks. Every week, I ran two Instagram (and Facebook) ads on a low cost. They were my most successful paid marketing. I spent €1K on them and got €5K in backers from Instagram (and Facebook), so that's where I'd suggest you invest whatever marketing budget you have.
On the free or organic marketing side, you need to talk about your campaign ALL. THE. TIME. This was hard for me. I thought, “well, of course people know by now.” This is incorrect and the wrong attitude.
People don't know. You need to tell them.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
My biggest non-paid advertising was of course my videos which brought in the vast bulk of my backers. But I have spent 4 years doing YouTube videos about worldbuilding as well as the podcast Worldbuilding Blueprints, so there was a lot of time invested there that paid off in the Kickstarter for this book.
Back to the campaign marketing: Countdowns also help. I had one leading up to launch day, and another in the final 7 days of the campaign. These weren't paid marketing, I just posted countdown images on YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram (Facebook). Both countdowns created urgency and kept engagement high.
Insta-advertising images are easy to create in Canva, here are a few I used:
So much for marketing and the preview page. Let's talk about the actual Kickstarter campaign content.
A Professional Kickstarter Setup
So now you've pressed the launch button and people are landing on your campaign page where you need to convince them to actually back your project.
You need to invest real time here in making this page look polished with consistent images, strong headers, and clear sections.
Here is what my headers looked like:
Every header was properly linked to the side menu of Kickstarter so that people could easily navigate my page.
Most of my content was provided as images with fixed width optimized for mobile viewing as well as desktop (in today's mobile world, you have to think of what it looks like on a small screen. So for example:
My sample layout pages matched the background of my book, which tied everything together visually. I created a video talking about the Kickstarter campaign and a second one about what was in the book. I also put a chunk of sample pages into a Heyzine flipbook, so people could flip through the content like a "real" book.
Speaking of sample pages, make a LOT. As many as you can. I used Canva for this (not recommended for the actual print pages, for that I recommend Affinity Publisher). But Canva works great for creating quick Instagram ads and sample pages and requires no real design experience.
Here is an example of page made in Canva:
Another tip for your Kickstarter page, not everything should be an image. For some of my content, I created just the header as a banner and then added text straight to the page. But your background images are so pretty, I hear you say. Thank you, thank you, but using just text in some places allows for clickable links, while images don’t. In addition, actual text on the page adds the all import SEO. Google can index your page and serve it up in search results. So use a mix of text and images.
ALSO! Make very sure that your tiers and pricing and reward structure is clear. Every tier needs to be crystal clear with no hidden costs or confusing bundles. Also, if you have a limited tier (I had a VIP tier that was limited to 12 places), make sure you stick to that limit. Exclusivity is the point of a limited tier—don’t move the goalposts!
Here's one that I found hard: Advertise yourself. Be proud of what you accomplished, who you are and what reviews you've received. People want to know they can trust you to deliver. Include your previous projects (fiction or non-fiction) and add links to where people can verify your achievements.
And last tip for your campaign content: Study successful campaigns in your niche. What did they emphasize? How did they structure rewards? What kind of visuals worked? Doing this gave me a baseline for what audiences expect and where I could add my own spin.
You can check out my campaign here for reference and analysis: Worldbuilding Blueprints: Volume I (And late backing. Speaking of which!)
The Timeline of a Campaign
Start with your lead-up. You want at least a month with your campaign sitting in preview and building up followers.
Run your campaign for 30 days. The breakdown of money goes like this:
First 48 hours: 1/3 of the money you'll make
Middle 26 days: 1/3 of the money you'll make
Last 48 hours: 1/3 of the money you'll make.
If you have not made at least 1/3 of your minimum in the first 48 hours, pull the plug on the campaign. You're not going to make it.
But ideally, you want to be fully funded in the first 48 hours. That is what gets you maximum buzz and love from the Kickstarter algorithm.
Leave your campaign open for late pledges until just before you send the book off to the printer. I picked up an extra 40 backers as late pledges.
So what were the screw-ups?
What I'd Do Differently Next Time
The first and most important thing is shipping. I should have had a fulfillment partner from the start. If I'd spoken to GameQuest (absolutely recommend them as a fulfillment partner) first, I would have had many more details on shipping and locations to ship to.
In the end, I had to make last minute changes to my shipping card. So, 100% sort out your shipping before you kick off the campaign. Check out my sexy shipping card:
But shipping wasn't the only thing I wish I'd done different. Here's a quick fire list of stuff I ain't doing again:
No Google AdWords. They were a waste of money for my project. And they were expensive. Insta and Facebook are the way to go, for me at least.
Keep Instagram ads running at a low cost. I screwed up taking my foot off the gas during the campaign itself and only running Insta ads during the lead up and a few times during the campaign. It cost me momentum. If you have the budget for it, generate an ad once a week at a low cost run.
Skip the advertising video. The one I commissioned didn’t convert well and it was an expensive item. I'd rather make more image ads on Insta and run those on Insta and Facebook. They converted WAAAAAY better and I could have run an extra week of ads for what the video cost me.
Launch on a Thursday. Mid-week launches have better momentum. People are around, they’re online, and you get a weekend boost after that. And it also means your campaign closes before the weekend, which is also better for you.
TLDR
Really? You didn't read my whole blog? Shame on you. But here's the short version:
Sort out shipping and fulfillment before you launch. (I recommend GameQuest)
Keep your campaign page clear, consistent, and professional. Make it feel like a finished product.
Use a mix of text and images: images for polish, text for links and SEO.
Plan at least a month of lead-up marketing with varied content. Make sure your preview page is hooking your audience.
Keep your marketing budget small and stick to what works (I recommend Insta & Facebook)
Talk about your campaign more than feels natural. You’re not annoying people. You’re reminding them.
Countdowns (to launch and to close) keep urgency alive.
Learn from other campaigns, but make yours authentic to your project and voice.
And lastly, be ready to invest TIME. Running a Kickstarter is part creative sprint, part logistical marathon. It’s exhausting, exhilarating, and deeply rewarding when you see your community rally around your idea. If you’re thinking of crowdfunding your own non-fiction (or fiction!) project, I hope these reflections give you a practical roadmap.
And the encouragement to go for it!
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