Amanda Barbara set up crowdfunding site Pubslush in 2011. She spoke to StoryWorld about the challenges and motivations.
Tell me about Pubslush!
The mission at Pubslush is to provide a
literary-centric crowdfunding platform focused on user education and
engagement. We believe by providing exceptional personalized customer service
to our users, we will continue to forge ourselves as a reputable and trusted
member of not only the publishing industry, but the larger literary world. In a
short time, we have become a top player in the crowdfunding arena, with
specific emphasis on reward-based crowdfunding. By offering authors,
publishers, and other literary trendsetters the educational tools and
one-on-one assistance needed to be successful on Pubslush and beyond, we are
establishing ourselves as one of the elite resources in a rapidly evolving
industry.
What made you start up the site?
Pubslush is a direct tribute to J.K. Rowling.
We were shocked to learn that 12 publishers rejected her first Harry Potter
book. This seemed to indicate that there was a problem within the publishing
industry. Upon further investigation, we learned many bestselling books were
first in the slush pile and rejected time and time again, which means there are
countless bestsellers out there that would never reach the shelves under the
current publishing system. As with all creative projects, writers can’t share
their work without monetary backing. That’s where Pubslush comes in.
Of course, Pubslush is also a tribute
to the TOMS Shoes movement. By implementing a one-for-one model, we are able to
create a sustainable nonprofit brand that’s able to combat illiteracy.
What's the reception been to it?
Crowdfunding is still a very new term
and a developing industry. The publishing community was a bit hesitant at first
to welcome what we were trying to do for authors. Pubslush offers more than
just a platform to raise funds. We are a community that is helping authors
build a brand and market their book before publication. Our authors need a way
to understand their readers, which we are able to provide through our market
analytics.
Were there a lot of challenges involved
in setting it up?
When we first launched Pubslush in
September 2011, our platform was a bit different — we served as the publisher,
and if an author reached 1,000 preorders in 30 days, we would publish his or
her book full-service. As great an idea as this was, we felt it closed us off
from working with many great people in the industry.
After realizing that the platform
wasn’t formatted as strongly as it could have been, we went back and reworked
our idea to develop a more effective and beneficial Pubslush process for all.
There was more need for authors to be able to crowdfund and choose any path
they wanted after they had those funds. It eliminated the author being locked
into a contract with us, and it still allowed people to self-publish if they
wanted to take that track.
Now that we have a very defined goal
and mission and understand the needs of the industry, we are able to forge
forward and grow as a company. This
platform has proven to be much more accepted and successful within the
industry.
What one piece of advice would you give
to a writer wanting to launch a Pubslush campaign?
Pre-campaign outreach and organization
is the most important advice we give to a writer. If a campaigner comes into it
with an organized list of outreach and social media efforts, they'll have more
time to focus on the campaigning itself and will be more successful!
Where can people find you? (All social
media/website URLs):
Email us at hello@pubslush.com
Thanks Amanda! Head on over to Pubslush to see what they have to offer.
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