When I kicked off this campaign a few weeks ago, I explained to everyone on my email list why I’m using Kickstarter this time around instead of just writing the book and hoping it sells afterward. Now I’d like to point you to where this idea originally came from.

Kevin Kelly, co-founder and former senior editor of Wired Magazine, wrote a blog post in 2008 entitled 1,000 True Fans that sent shockwaves through entrepreneur communities online. If you haven’t already, I recommend you read it now.

The basic idea was that a gap used to exist between companies and customers (as well as creatives and their fans). Producers of a product had no other option than to rely on distributors and retailers to get their product into the hands of the customer. And the product had to sell in high enough quantities to pay for the cut taken by these middle men, in addition to paying back its production costs.

The Internet disrupted that business model, bringing producers and customers in direct contact with each other. For creatives, this provided an opportunity to make a living from their art. If there were enough fans to support the production of the work, that’s all it would take. Platinum records and New York Times Bestselling books were no longer the only measures of success.

This change gave rise to sites like Patreon, where fans could support creatives through consistent monthly donations. I chose not to go this route because of the possibility of ending up in the awkward position of having some, but not enough, support. If 10 people donated $100 a month, I’d have 10 people expecting a book in return but only $1,000—not nearly enough to cover my production costs.

I chose Kickstarter instead. I wanted to run an experiment to see if I had enough fan support to make this alternative business model work. As I’m sure you’re aware, this is an all-or-nothing platform, which means …

My campaign has to reach its funding goal by Saturday, August 5th (at 6:44 AM MDT), or none of the pledges will be processed.

This campaign is a sort of last hurrah to see if I’ll continue writing fiction as a profession or as a hobby. The former would put the next installment of The Awakened in your hands in the next 3-5 months. The latter … I can’t say for sure, but it would certainly take much longer.

At the moment, the campaign is 78% funded with 8 days to go. We just exceeded 100 pledges, and I’ve noticed that some of you have recently adjusted your pledge amounts upward. Your generosity is incredible!

As we enter the last week of this campaign, please consider sharing it with your social circles. Maybe I haven’t found all my fans just yet 🙂

Thanks so much for your support!