Kickstarter Challenge: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Cupcakes

This is going to sound like a bit of a self-serving question, but it’s an honest quandary. In order to get people other than my friends/people who have known my writing over the years to look at my Kickstarter, I hired a publicist to send out press releases about my book, including a press kit with excerpts. We’re not getting much response, although we worked hard to tailor the messages to different media outlets. The publicist — who is very nice and supportive — said, “I think people will look at this project and think that it’s cool but until they read the samples they won’t understand that you have a voice that is different and interesting. That was my initial response too.”

I got several suggestions about what to do to grab people’s attention (as though my book’s title isn’t enough). The most popular one: Send cupcakes with a miniature plastic nude woman stuck into them.

Social Media, Old Fashioned Style

But this morning while walking Madeleine – the time when I do all my best thinking – I had a revelation. Overwhelmingly, my best responses for funding outside my immediate circle of friends have come from emailing or private messaging people on Facebook. One by one. A few times I even got over my phone phobia and called people.

So I don’t need no stinkin’ cupcakes. What I need is you, my supporters, who want to see this book happen, to do the same. Contact people, one by one. People you see. People you text. People you phone or email…. One at a time, not in a group.

I’ve even got an incentive for you, one that has far fewer calories, much more substance, than cupcakes: For the person who gets the most people to contribute to my campaign — not just share it — I’m offering a $75 reward copy of my book, the signed trade paperback that has your name and a short description of yourself on the contributors’ page. Alternatively, if you prefer, I’ll give you three $25 rewards: three e-books with your name and the names of two other people you choose, sent directly to them and to you.

Second prize: One signed copy of the book sent to you or the person of your choice OR one e-book with an acknowledgement on the contributors page.

I’ll tally the results on June 10 and announce them.

So what are you waiting for? Get social, in the old fashioned sense of the term. Tell your friends that you want to see this book happen. Once they know more about it, they will too.

Questions? Give a holler.

Note: Only people who have contributed to the campaign are eligible to enter. As soon as you sign on — a $5 pledge is fine — you can vie for the prizes.

Plus some cool links

Because it’s my blog and I can do what I want to.

• Book excerpt #3 he story of author Bill Goodwin and the penis sheathes, told on Your Life Is a Trip: Making History at Frommer’s 
• Blog post about my campaign on Reel Life with Jane: Help My Friend Get Naked.