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The Kickstarter Blog

Succeeding + Crying

Yancey Strickler · · Leave a comment

  1. Over the weekend the memorably titled Make My Porn Book Pornier project crossed its $1,500 goal, with 44 days still on the clock. Today creator Natty Soltesz posted a project update commemorating his achievement that’s so heartfelt we had to share in full:

    A writer friend of mine told me that when he found out his book was going to be published, he cried. I was in the process of sending my book out to publishers, and I told him that if I found out the same thing, I’d probably cry too.

    I didn’t cry, though. After I read the email I sat in shock for a moment. A friend happened to stop by my office just then and I told him what had happened. He hugged me and was freaking out but I was too startled to react. But within a few minutes it hit me. Then I danced through the halls of my day job; spent the rest of the week on a high like I’ve never really known.

    You know when I did cry? When a good friend of mine gave me my first pledge on Kickstarter. And I’m not entirely sure why.

    I think I have a lot of shame when it comes to asking for money. I don’t think I’m alone in this. Americans are individuals. We’re not supposed to ask for help, or need it.

    But I did need it. And it took some courage for me to put myself out there, but once I made the decision I could feel it was going to change me, whether it worked out or not.

    Thankfully it did work out. It makes me gooey inside every time I think about it. To my backers: an ocean of love.

  3. The False Start

    Yancey Strickler · · Leave a comment

    We’ve noticed an interesting and consistent trend in Kickstarter project videos: the false start. You’ve almost certainly seen it: someone begins launching into their pitch only to fumble and laugh, their discomfort plain for us to see.

    Talking in front of a camera is hard, and pitching yourself is even harder. Some people are naturals of course, but even for them the false start plays the role of instant humanizer, a move that creators rightly recognize as important. More than a pitch we want to see a person, and the humbling familiarity of error is a great way to communicate that.

    One great example is the video from 3 Leg Torso, wherein two people constantly flub their lines and gimmick but come off all the better for it. After watching their video this morning I simply thought, “I like these guys.” If viewers are thinking that they’re halfway to becoming backers.

    It’s possible to go too far with the false start, of course. We like to see competence, too. If a video turns into an excess of pratfalls it’s hard to take it seriously. An honest error artfully shared is a great empathizer.

    As Kickstarter creator Iron Spike recommended to potential creators on Twitter: 

    “Make a video. DO IT. Don’t worry about it looking unprofessional, unpolished, sincere videos are basically 10 times more charming anyway.”

    And we can’t forget the words of prolific backer Elliot Sykes from our interview last year:

    “I hope they don’t mind me saying, and I think this is a good thing, the way they talk to the camera isn’t polished, it is just right, a real person promoting a project they genuinely care about.”

    Note their keywords: genuine, charming, a real person. Many creators can communicate those qualities with polish and flair, but sometimes just being you is more than enough.

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