WOW!!! My Kickstarter campaign for The Train Rolls On is officially over, and, thanks to many wonderful backers, it was a smashing success!
Take a look at some of the final stats below:
While I could not be happier with the results, I wasn't always so sure of the campaign's success. Leading up to launch day, I had a lot of doubts. I doubted my preparation. Had I done enough? I doubted my marketing strategy. Had I reached out to enough people? Had I annoyed anyone (or everyone) by reaching out? I even doubted the overall success of the campaign. Would I be able to reach the target funding goal? I had no idea where much of the funding was going to come from, and $8,000 seemed increasingly unrealistic as launch day approached.
So, what did I do? Honestly, I worked harder. I spent more time on the campaign and continued to prepare until the last possible minute. I reached out to more people- everyone that I could possibly think of who might be interested in the book. I crunched the numbers several times to see if I could lower my target funding goal and still make the campaign work. I reworked my reward tiers multiple times and shouted reminders from the rooftops that my campaign was launching soon. I even reached out to the media to help me spread the word and ended up on the front page of my hometown newspaper!
Finally, feeling both excited and apprehensive, I clicked the launch button…and what happened?
I was absolutely blown away by the response that I received. Family, friends, and Kickstarter backers banded together to support me, and my campaign was fully-funded in less than 24 hours!
What a group effort!! I couldn't believe how many people showed up to pledge and cheer me on: distant relatives, former teachers and coworkers, and even friends from high school that I hadn't spoken to in years. I wish that I could highlight every single backer here, but I won't. I'll just leave you with one perfect example of the support that I received:
This photo shows my mother-in-law on the morning of my campaign's launch. She is a principal at the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Primary School in Iowa, and she lovingly (and creatively) reminded her staff to support my campaign. How awesome is that?! 😊
Family, friends, and Kickstarter backers banded together to support me, and my campaign was fully-funded in less than 24 hours!
Here, I had planned for a grueling 31-day campaign, where I was fighting for every dollar and inching closer to the target funding goal each day. I had imagined the campaign coming down to the wire and, with any luck, just barely making the $8,000 goal before the campaign time expired.
In fact, the only scenario that I hadn’t planned for was the one that occurred. (Isn’t that the way it goes?) So, despite all of my preparation, I found myself one day into the campaign, and much of the work that I had done was no longer applicable. In other words, I didn't have a plan. Pretty ironic, huh?
What a great problem to have though! I am (and will forever be) incredibly grateful for everyone’s generosity, and I feel very, very fortunate to have been in that position. There are many people who work hard to organize their Kickstarter campaign, only to have it fail to reach the funding goal in the allotted time. Although I still had work to do to manage my campaign, much of the pressure was relieved by reaching the funding goal so soon. It freed me up to work on other things and to simply enjoy the crowdfunding experience, which I thoroughly did. It was still a nerve-racking ride, but it was very interesting and exhilarating, too! I have learned so much throughout this campaign that I will carry with me into future projects…perhaps most importantly that I have a wonderfully supportive network of family, friends, and backers who are willing and excited to help me make this dream come true!
To all of my supporters:
I cannot thank you enough for your generosity, support, and encouragement. The success of this campaign would not have been possible without you. I truly appreciate each and every pledge, email, share, like, comment, and kind word that I received leading up to and during the campaign. This experience has been amazing, and it has shown me just how many people are rooting for me and this book. I am incredibly blessed to have such a supportive network around me, and I promise that I won't let you down. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and my determined little train!
Now, let's go publish a book...after we're done celebrating, of course! 😊
P.S. If you missed out on the campaign, pre-orders are still being accepted through Indiegogo's InDemand platform. You can pre-order the book here. Otherwise, for more information about my campaign, check out My First Kickstarter Campaign here, or click here to read the book's description and the latest publishing update.