Okay,
So I figured I'd share my Kickstarter experience (so far). I have spent numerous hours pondering my reward levels and funding goal. What get's to me is that no matter how much the amount, I never seem to make any money...
I did a pie chart to see how where the money was really going. Over 30% goes into Shipping from me to contributors! Another 20% goes to Amazon Fees and Management Fees. That's 50% already, and I haven't even talked about production!!!
So I though if I could UP my production and the number of contributions, I could maybe squeeze some dollars from that. Here's the 1st TRUTH: from my funding goal, 20% of it is Artwork (What I am trying to fund). By reaching my funding goal, there is ZERO room for profit. That's right, all that we make is the money that will go into the Artwork (20%). Fact #2 is coming soon...
My bright idea was to have some *Stretch Goals* which would mean some extra pocket change. Here's TRUTH #2: to earn more, you need to spend more. So production costs about 25%... And it's a percentage that is FIXED. You earn MORE, you need to SPEND MORE (to produce more game boxes). The other problem is that *Stretch rewards* are generally "freebies" you give to ALL your contributors.
If you have been doing the math alongside with me, all we have left is 5%... YES! That is what over 6 months of development time comes out to!!! It's like ALMOST nothing.
Even if you make $100,000... That's ONLY $5,000!!! How are we expected to pay the bills for only 5%. Clearly designing games with Kickstarters is not the way to earn a living... It doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the reality behind crowdfunding. I am giving it to you STRAIGHT: 5%...
Note: My funding goal and stretch rewards are LESS than $50,000 (I'm not going crazy). That means profit of less than $2,500! And now you wonder why everyone is not all that excited about Kickstarters. :P
Clearly designing tabletop games is a *serious* hobby... But don't expect Kickstarter to fund that outdoor swimming pool you have been dreaming about! ;)
Note 2: My 5% is more like 3% because I have professional fees (Graphic Design) and a software license to pay... Maybe I'm left with $1,000 in pocket change! :}
Had there been more profit, I would have probably invested it into building a *website* for the game...
We have a lot of Digital Design students from a college not far from my home. Many of these students accept freelance work and could potentially design a *nice* looking website.
However from the above figures - I won't have enough to pay for a website!
This might be something I would need to negotiate with my future publisher. That's right after our Kickstarter we will continue talks with a publisher we have already approached. They are interested in the game (and the result of the Kickstarter doesn't necessarily spell doom for us). So we would have to see if they might be interested in further marketing the game with it's own website...