Post Fallen - Phase 1 - Considerations
Ah well, it’s been a road since the beginning of Fallen development up to now. The game saw many changes, points of iterations, alterations and tonal shifts. The game went through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, of which I deem pretty successful. 830 backers supported the project!
I’m using this post to just capture a few thoughts and impressions from that experience. There’s a strong notion that indie ttrpgs are just a fun hobby, AND they most certainly are. However, once you pursue raising potentially thousands of dollars from people around the world, it does become a business venture as well. Money, logistics, relationships are all a thing. I am going to talk briefly about those things here.
First, I say Phase 1, because the way my production schedule for some of the content was delayed. I had already received the books, pamphlets and other materials, but the associated cards are currently in production. It was important that the game reach people as soon as possible, so it was shipped to complete that aspect of fulfillment. What does this mean? It means I will be doing a whole second round of shipping. Hundreds of packages…again. Though not a massive setback, it does draw out the project for myself, and more importantly, for backers awaiting their materials
Doing this process again, I will have production already underway, or even better, nearly complete, when setting out to crowdfund
Your project page does a ton of work. The page for Fallen is pretty simple. I learned by the seat of my pants how to make it more appealing, but I believe the real change happened when I received promo pictures of the book in its final layout. Posting this was critical. Because there is no real exchange happening in crowdfunding, but only an investment, getting as close as possible to the real and final visuals does much to encourage people. Of course, having cool graphics and visuals is super helpful. It may be worth investing in someone else’s skillset, if you are not too savvy at graphic touches. Also, present the information clearly. Walls of text are not eye candy. Keep it simple, clear, enticing, and exciting.
Professional mockups go a long way. Find ways to help potential backers see themselves with the project.
The next component that presented hurdles was the shipping process. You will hear most crowd-funders talk about this. It’s both physically demanding and financially unpredictable. I made the mistake of misjudging the packaging that my materials would ship in. The campaign shipping charge, was on average, $10 less than what the original, stiff mailers cost for international orders. That means, $10 times dozens of packages really adds up. Also, taking into account, the bringing batches to the Post Office, standing in line for way too long of time, and watching the sticker shock of miscalculated postage add up. I had to make some adjustments per shipping materials. Also, after changing to using an at home postage purchasing software, I was able to get a little back on track. Sticking hundreds of labels and postage stamps from home did so much for my anxiety.
Thankfully, I had my spouse to help me with packaging the several hundred parcels, to make the process move a little quicker. But, as mentioned above, there is the next shipment to take place, in which I will be mailing out materials to all physical rewards backers yet again.
Lesson here? Be okay with charging more for shipping. Or have your calculations figured exactly. However, don’t underestimate the hours of packing, standing in line, materials cost etc. Shipping will shred through your profits and energy.
Have a streamlined packaging system, and maybe recruit some help!
Customer service is another element of big crowdfunding to be prepared for. Generally, it is a simple process. Be as transparent as you know how. You must be communicative, but, as I learned, try not to annoy your backers with too frequent updates. Believe it or not, some folks say that too many updates ruins the campaign for them, but you will receive multiple requests for updates. Go with your gut, but in my experience, people want to know. They have given money, but not received anything yet. Be fair to them. Also, people have varied lives. They will not see your first, second, third reminders to submit addresses for shipping. They will submit shipping changes the day after you close shipping. This happens. Be prepared to accommodate folks. It is customer service, it is nearly retail.
Do your best to be polite. Check messages often. A level of professionalism is required here too. Not just in production values.
Income is something else. Or rather, financials associated with income from the project. Your chosen platform will take a fee. Kickstarter takes a hefty chunk. Also, if you are commissioning individuals to contribute to your project, try your very best to offer them a fair wage. I am not going into those numbers here, but it is tricky. I happened to bring many awesome creatives onto the Fallen project, in order to give backers a deep and creative variety of content. I am fairly confident I compensated decently. I also used one of the stretch goals to increase said compensation. I mention this, because, you should make sure you charge more for your product to cover these costs and compensations. I know personally, I tend to charge pretty low, because I am just excited someone cares to invite me on their project. But, maturation, business acumen, balanced notions of compensation are all factors. On the other hand, I learned much in this process. Under valuing what you are raising funds for is nice, because it allows more people to access the product, but the balance between costs and what you make is a strange and slim margin, of which becomes a personal moral conversation with yourself. Also, remember, you are paying taxes on your crowdfunded income! I suggest charging more (though reasonably) and having other ways to make the product available. Community copies are a great way!
Don’t undercharge. You are crowdfunding, and folks can decide for themselves if the said project looks valuable. In terms of optics, we always said in the painting world, under-pricing a painting will kill its potential to sell as much as over-pricing.
Try your best to have transparent conversations with your contributors about what THEY WANT for their work. Also, really consider WHAT YOU WANT for the inevitable huge amounts of work you will be doing.
Speaking of collaborators. Be prepared with your project before inviting people to join it. I had an amazing time working with my fellow creatives, but, in all honesty, I dropped the ball on some things. I lacked the experience to bring a true professionalism to some aspects of the project. Nothing terribly destructive (I am confident of), more just naivete and not understanding how some processes work. I did learn a lot, regarding this subject, and will approach things differently next time. Growing pains, as they say.
Have your project complete, sit with it, work it some more, re-complete it, get feedback, love it. THEN invite others to join your storm of creativity! As I mention above, at this point, it becomes business-oriented, and you should be prepared, professional, and ready to go.
Follow through is perhaps the hardest part of a project (for me). Not the fulfillment. That is getting materials and sending them to A,B,C. Follow through means, giving your project the post-campaign life you presumably think it deserves. I am terrible at this. It is the public persona of a project. You Tube guest, interview, discord server, reddit, twitter and blogging. I am learning how to do this, but it’s hard in a scene saturated with new products weekly, with much more brilliant people than I sharing them. But, if you love the thing you made, don’t let it languish.
Get Good At Teaching. If you want people to emotionally invest in your game, you need to do that yourself.
This is the little bit of follow up article to the crowdfunding campaign and experience for Fallen RPG. It is an emotional experience. It is an exhausting experience. It’s also fun and exhilarating. I posted this, because I assume there are individuals looking to crowdfund and are unsure about it. Just as I was not too long ago. I encourage you to give it a try if you have a project you think people would enjoy. Because of my choice for Fallen, its now going all over the world. That’s terrifying, but also really satisfying. I do think I created something interesting, and perhaps, slightly different? Maybe if you are reading this, you have something too, that you created, and want to get the funding to share it.