No time for cute anecdotes today, kids. We gotta dig into a Kickstarter.

Threads of Light’s campaign was a resounding success—but there’s so much I wish I could have done differently. If you’re a creator who wants to use Kickstarter or a reader who wants to learn more about the platform, here’s an inside scoop from someone who’s done it twice.

The Stats

Campaign length: 17 days

Followers at launch: 55

Followers at end: 77

Converted followers: 35 (45% conversion rate)

Goal: $500

Funded in: 5 minutes

Final amount: $4,583 (916%)

Backers: 77

Avg. pledge: $59.52

Dropped backers: 7 (6 recovered via PayPal)

Dropped pledges: $462 ($360 recovered via PayPal)

Video plays: 30

Video plays completed: 43%

The Pros

Nightlight Boxes // Our flagship (and most expensive) package sold out! These boxes have limited editions, eBooks, and swag like bookmarks and stickers—but most importantly, they each include a crochet creature from the books. Since my talented wife is designing and making these from scratch, we set a limit of 10 Nightlight Boxes and 5 Nightlight add-ons. We sold all of the boxes and 2 add-ons, which account for about a third of the project’s funding.

Early Bird Limited Editions // These limited editions were a big hit, featuring character-illustrated covers and coded annotations. I’m so excited to send these out and see how the annotations go over—they’ll reveal hidden messages that add depth to the story and provide some minor spoilers for future books. The early bird package was 15% off for 24 hours, and it was our most popular package: 16 backers went for it, accounting for almost 30% of the project’s funding.

As a result, we raised over $2,700 in the first 24 hours of the project, about 60% of the funding total. Starting strong like that is normal for a Kickstarter—but I was expecting a similar bump at the end of the campaign (more on that later).

Reduced Costs // Because I’d done this before, I had a better idea of what to spend time and money on. I’m printing limited editions with BookVault instead of 48 Hour Books, and even with the bells and whistles, these books cost me a lot less than the first campaign’s LE’s. I also have stickers and bookmarks in overstock from the first campaign, and my two campaign artists (both named Abigail!) provided stellar art at reasonable prices.

Content Planning // I filmed reels and scheduled posts in the weeks leading up to the Kickstarter. And I’m SO glad I did, because after everything that happened during the campaign, I would have been dead in the water without them.

Late Pledges // Kickstarter’s new feature allows backers to pledge for certain packages after the campaign ends (if it reaches its funding goal). Thanks to Late Pledges, I sold the last Nightlight Box and a couple of other goodies that bumped us over another stretch goal—ribbon bookmarks!

The Cons

Campaign Timing // Woof.

The campaign lasted 17 days. Within that time, Florida was hit by two major hurricanes, election season wreaked havoc on people’s spending habits, and I passed out and went to the ER. The campaign ended the day after Hurricane Milton swept through Orlando, my hometown. Oh yeah, and Baby H was sick almost the entire time.

I wish I’d chosen any other month to run this Kickstarter. That being said, it was a success. Next time, though, I’m going to change some things.

We had 77 backers, far fewer than the 97 the first campaign received. And though we exceeded the first campaign’s funding amount, I’m still feeling that disappointment.

One positive that came out of this was that we donated 50% of our final-day revenue to the Florida Disaster Fund to help with hurricane relief—and thanks to our final backers, the donation came out to $110!

Buildup and Momentum // I promoted this campaign for three months or so. I should have been promoting it for six. We had 55 followers when we launched, which is a pretty tiny amount for Kickstarter. With more consistent promotion, I would have liked to have seen at least 100 followers before we launched.

And because of the timing issues mentioned above, we struggled to keep momentum after day 1. While the launch was momentous, the follow-through was blows raspberry.

Book Trailer // I spent too much time crafting a book trailer with images, clips, and music; it only got 30 views, and less than half were completed. It would have been far more effective to put my face in front of people, telling them about why they’ll love this book and these limited editions. In terms of cost, this was a big one, even though I spent no money on it.

Hardcovers // Because we had nine tiers already, I didn’t offer hardcovers in their own tier this campaign. I wanted to keep the number of tiers as low as possible, so I included hardcovers as add-ons. This caused some confusion and some frustration among previous backers; I won’t be doing it that way again.

Dropped Backers // Because of some payment issues on Kickstarter’s end, I had seven dropped backers that accounted for 10% of my funding. Thankfully, through emails and PayPal, I recovered six of those backers. But I lost a $100 backer, and the time spent chasing down payments for something that was Kickstarter’s fault was frustrating.

In Summary

I love Kickstarter. I love these campaigns. But this one was a headache for reasons mostly outside of my control. Now I’m in the fulfillment phase, which means I get to send people the stuff they ordered, and I’m working hard to make sure this goes as painlessly as possible!

Writing Updates

TAMELANDS // I’m sorry to say that Vesper was a lot more frustrating to draft than I anticipated—so, instead of slogging through, I redirected that energy to something exciting and new for now.

I’ve been interested in drafting a cozy fantasy for a while, and when an idea struck last month, I knew it was the one. It takes place in the same world as Vesper, and it’s focused on some of the same themes, but with all-new characters and storylines. I’m drawing inspiration from books like Legends & Lattes and The House on the Cerulean Sea to put this one together.

I’ll revisit Vesper at some point, most likely. But these characters and storylines have brought me so much joy. Expect lots of mystical creatures, lots of emotions, and a bit of romance. With the outline nearing completion, I’m ready to dive back into drafting.

SPOOKY FINALE // So close! I’m chugging through the beat outline, which is currently just over 10,000 words long. I expect another 5,000 words before it ends. It’s feeling very Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-coded right now, and I’m hoping to capture the magic with this conclusion to Safran’s story.

KICKSTARTER // Some digital rewards, like Marrow and Soul eBooks and digital packs, have been sent out! Others, like the Threads of Light eBook, are almost ready. And I’ve just finalized the physical versions of each book. Soon I’ll be ordering Threads of Light hard copies and limited edition proofs.

As always…

Don’t forget to check out Marrow and Soul wherever books are sold!

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