Coyote & Crow is a sci-fi fantasy tabletop RPG set in an alternate future where the Americas were never colonized. Created and led by a team of Native Americans, the game presents a world in which new technologies and mythical creatures exist side-by-side. Coyote & Crow launched on Kickstarter with an $18,000 funding goal. By the time the campaign ended, it had attracted more than 16,000 backers and raised over $1 million.

After the campaign’s incredible success, creator Connor Alexander has gone from working as a vendor account manager in the gaming industry to signing on as a vendor for Coyote & Crow at his former company. We recently spoke with Alexander, a Cherokee Nation citizen, about his game, his crowdfunding journey, and cultural representation in the tabletop industry.

Why did you choose crowdfunding? 

I work in the board game industry, and I’ve seen lots of game publishers put their financial futures on the line to develop their dream. I just couldn’t afford to do that, especially with a role-playing game. I love RPGs, but they’re a tiny slice of the gaming world pie, and very, very few people are making a living at them. Going with crowdfunding allowed me to dream big without risking my financial future. I considered some other routes, but Kickstarter just has so much attention from the game community that going with someone else felt like it would have been an uphill battle.

How did you get prepared for your launch? 

I couldn’t have gotten this done without my Kickstarter manager, Heather O’Neill. Working on the opposite end of the game industry, I’ve helped usher plenty of games out into the retail space, but Kickstarter was totally foreign to me outside of the twenty or so projects I’d backed. Having someone who could walk me through the process and hold my hand was worth every penny. She helped me clear so many easy hurdles and navigated me around all the hazards I would have likely stumbled on. Most importantly, her help allowed me to focus on just presenting a good game.

Have you had any difficulties developing Coyote & Crow as a Native American-themed RPG that’s by Natives? If so, is there anything the Kickstarter role-playing games community or the crowdfunding or tabletop industries could do differently to make it a better experience?

Finding the right team of Natives for a project this specific is, by its nature, going to be tough. One of the things that I think our whole team has commented on, though, is how great it’s been to connect with each other and how few degrees of separation there actually was the whole time. We all knew someone who knew someone else through some other project. But I think what we all came away with is that there isn’t really a Native network within board games. I’m hoping that our project is a start of a change for that. But I think that’s something we have to do on our own. I think both crowdfunding and the gaming community on their own are slow to change internally. That change needs to be pushed from the other side.

Since a more formal Native board game network doesn’t exist at the moment, how were you able to connect with your team? 

This is part of the reason my game was in development for two years. It was a painstaking process that was really more about relentlessness than anything. I found people wherever I could — Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist, ArtStation, word of mouth, anything really. I wish I had a good answer for folks that are looking to collaborate. The truth is so many talented folks are working in other unrelated day jobs to pay the bills that it makes it nearly impossible to find a way to bridge some of those communication gaps. 

I shouted from the rooftops for years about my project, and I still get people in the game industry who have no clue what my project is. It’s actually a source of pain and frustration for me because I know there are a ton of Native artists out there who would have been perfect for our game and lovely to work with, and we haven’t been able to find each other.

In general, what has been the most difficult or challenging part of the game development or crowdfunding process?

For me personally, it’s knowing that as long and as hard as I tried, I know there are a ton of really talented Natives out there that would have been fantastic for this game, but still, even now, have no idea it exists. And I don’t know how to reach them. Social media and advertising only go so far. As happy as I am with the team we built, I feel like our game, and the world we’re hopefully expanding to can be a platform for so many more fresh visions and ideas. 

The other thing I’ll say is that even with Natives, describing this fictional landscape is really hard for people to envision. Unwinding the damage of colonialism and picturing this completely different world is harder than you think. Envisioning a society that doesn’t have horses, or pigs, or alcohol or coffee, or industrial meat processing, but at the same time has floating vehicles and advanced computers, it can be a lot to get your head around.

On your campaign page, you discuss a lack of inclusivity for Natives in these kinds of games, with Natives often being relegated to a secondary or adversarial status. What has your team done that other teams could learn from to make more inclusive and diverse games?

This is a great question. I want to get the answer printed on t-shirts. It’s really simple. Hire Natives from the start. What I mean is, if you’re Native, great, go for it. Find people in the games industry who know what they’re doing, get some help, and do your thing. If you’re not Native, and you have a game, and your thought is, “I want to put a Native theme on this,” then first, I’d say stop and ask yourself why you want to do that. But if you really do, hire Natives and not just as cultural consults, but as designers and artists and writers. More specifically, hire Natives that understand the culture or tribe you want to present. 

If you’re non-Native and you have a game that has a Native theme baked into from the beginning, then you’re on the wrong track. Don’t make games about other people’s cultures. Full stop. There’s no excuse for continuing to do that. Oh, and making your game and then getting a ‘consultant’ to sign off on it doesn’t count. You’re still just profiting from the culture of others. 

You also mention on your campaign page that the characters aren’t “intertwined with colonialism” in the Coyote & Crow story. Can you explain what that means and what your game is doing differently?

The game world we built presupposes a different future but also a different past. The idea is that around the year 1400, a natural disaster changes the course of history, and the Americas are never colonized. What this does is allow Natives to not only imagine a world where they didn’t have their lands “returned” but that they were never taken in the first place. 

We hear a lot of talk lately about generational trauma, and that’s something Native Americans have been dealing with for almost 500 years now. Separating that trauma out from our game world and letting folks imagine a world where cultures were able to find real footing and flourish, even through different trials and tribulations, is something sorely lacking in our current media. I’d like to think the game conveys an underlying sense of hope and optimism.

You used BackerKit Marketing during your campaign. What has your experience with BackerKit been like so far?

Well, it was scary at first. Not going to lie. But I trusted Heather, and she trusted BackerKit. I think it’s one of those things that, until all the gears are turning and you see it in action, it all feels pretty intimidating. But once we were up and running and the campaign was flying, I really breathed a sigh of relief. I’m really glad I went with BackerKit, and I likely will on future Kickstarters.

Can you talk a little bit about those initial feelings of intimidation?

When you first get involved in crowdfunding, and you’re dealing with Kickstarter, there’s already this feeling of vertigo. It’s a bigger world than you’d realized. So by the time you’re getting into everything BackerKit has to offer, you start to understand that there’s just a ton of work going on behind the scenes for every pledge. It’s not like learning a new language or something. It’s not difficult or incomprehensible. It’s just a lot. I’m really happy I didn’t let that stop me, though, because with every step I’ve taken down this road, that feeling of being intimidated has lessened. Each step along the way has either made sense or there was someone there to explain it to me. I’ll certainly feel more comfortable with BackerKit on my next go-around. 

Coyote & Crow raised over $1 million, which is incredible. Did you anticipate that kind of success? If not, when did you first realize that your project was on track to perform the way it did?

I was originally hopeful we’d hit our goal. I was totally satisfied when we hit $50,000. But when we flew past $100,000, I knew we were on to something special. I could see it in the comments and messages. I’d tapped into something that I think a lot of people needed, even if they didn’t know it. That’s about the best thing a creator can feel.

As you were working with BackerKit, was there anything you felt moved the needle regarding how your campaign was performing or how you felt about your crowdfunding experience?

Well, we’re still working on surveys currently, and I’m just blown away by the depth of functionality and detail in BackerKit. From a backer end, it’s all so straightforward and simple. The other side of things definitely gives me Charlie and the Chocolate Factory vibes. If I were on my own, it would be terrifying. But between Heather’s knowledge on my side of things and Brandon [Senior Customer Success Manager] and the rest of the BackerKit crew on your end, the process has been really smooth. 

I think the experience that really stood out, though, was on the marketing end. The ability to ramp the advertising, to fine-tune the audience, to get rapid, valuable data. It just made me so appreciative of the dollars I spent. So often, advertising dollars are hard to pin down a return on, but not in this case. I was able to see results almost in real-time.

Were there any specific strategic steps you took in terms of promotion or pre-campaign community-building that you think contributed to your success? 

Yeah, there were a few. I’ve worked in social media long enough to know that you can’t just start hitting up strangers and asking them to back your project and expect results. I launched my Twitter for Coyote & Crow two years ago. I posted stuff about the game, but I cross-posted and promoted other folks, I got engaged, I backed other projects. When it came time to put up our pre-launch page, we worked hard to get people to follow the project prior to launch, including doing some pay-per-click ads on Facebook. Having folks excited to back on day one was really valuable. 

There’s a saying in filmmaking: “Know who your audience is,” and I think that applies to game design and marketing as well. For us, we had a very specific set of audiences in mind. Hyping the project to Native Americans and giving equal effort to the modern RPG crowd really paid off. But I don’t want to sound like this was part of a master plan. In the end, I think a good chunk of my success overall came from the fact that we were launching our game at a moment that hit the zeitgeist. It spoke to a larger need that amplified our marketing efforts in a way that we obviously couldn’t have predicted.

Do you have any words of advice for first-time creators?

Have people look at your Kickstarter page before you launch. And not just your friends. People you are paying or total strangers who don’t know your project. It’s really easy to get tunnel vision and be so dialed into your project that you can’t see the flaws. If you can get ten strangers to look at your page and give you feedback, and they all come back excited to back it, you’re on the right track.

What’s next for you? 

We’re hard at work ramping up to not only publish the game but to become a publisher in general — expansion books, adventures, dice, and who knows what else. I can’t announce anything official yet, but let’s just say that we all think that the future of Coyote & Crow is a big, bright one. The people have spoken, and we’re going to give it to them.

Visit the Coyote & Crow Kickstarter page to learn more about the game. If you missed the campaign, there’s still time to pre-order your copy of Coyote & Crow on BackerKit. 

To learn about exciting projects like Coyote & Crow and get crowdfunding tips, make sure to sign up for the BackerKit Community Newsletter.

The post Coyote & Crow Creator on Designing a Game By and About Natives appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

During Gen Con 2019 we got to spend some quality time with Tom Vasel from The Dice Tower — a network of video and audio podcasts dedicated to board games. We discussed the importance of building a dedicated community, the benefits of crowdfunding a tabletop game, and the value of BackerKit throughout the process.

Video Guide:

0:28-1:00 What is The Dice Tower?
1:02-1:43 What are The Dice Tower seasons on Kickstarter?
1:44-3:00 How do you build community and engage with them?
3:10-5:05 How has Kickstarter changed the board game industry?
5:14-7:14 How Has BackerKit helped you?
7:15-7:26 Board game recommendations and gaming marathon details.

Be sure to learn more from Tom Vasel on The Dice Tower website and his youtube channel to gain access to an unparalleled catalogue of podcasts, video reviews, top 10 lists, and much more.

And check out the most recent Kickstarter campaign for The Dice Tower: Season 15.

Stay tuned to the BackerKit Community Newsletter to get more creator interviews, convention coverage, and crowdfunding advice!

The post Tom Vasel Interview from The Dice Tower appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

Earlier this year, I was introduced to a group called Youth Speaks through a BackerKit creator (Kobby Osei w/ Pirl) who is an active supporter of the organization. Youth Speaks is a national non-profit based in San Francisco that uses arts education, youth development practices, and civic engagement strategies to create spaces for young people to express their creativity. Excited by the guiding principles, I attended a couple of their poetry slams and was amazed at the powerful stories these young artists were sharing with audiences full of friends, family, and strangers.

Youth Speaks hosts several events throughout the year, but their flagship event is their Brave New Voices festival. I recently had the opportunity to learn more from Youth Speak’s Interim Executive Director Brandon Santiago who has been involved with the company for over a decade.

For those just learning about Youth Speaks, can you briefly explain what it is and how you got involved?

Youth Speaks has been the leading presenter of spoken word for the last 23 years. Alongside 130+ organizations across the country, Youth Speaks has pioneered the field of youth critical literacy arts with the ultimate aim of amplifying the voices and stories of young people around the globe. 

In terms of how I got involved, it was less of a decision and more divine intervention. I stumbled upon Youth Speaks as an 18 year-old high school dropout. My friend participated in a poetry slam and I came with him mostly out of curiosity. When I got there I experienced something up until that point in my life I never had: a room full of people listening to the stories of young people who looked and sounded like me. It changed my life. I started to come around and pick up chairs and put away boxes at events. I wasn’t sure how at the time, but I knew I wanted to be a part of creating spaces like that for others.

Can you tell us how Brave New Voices began? Who typically participates in these events?

The Brave New Voices Festival will convene the most outstanding, outspoken, and historically underrepresented youth poets from around the world for 4 days of workshops, slams, showcases, community engagement, and civic participation events including town hall style discussions, film showcases, and more in Las Vegas, NV from July 17th-20th.

Brave New Voices currently features over 500 Teen Poetry Slam Champions and their mentors from over 50 parts of the country, and several cities around the world. The Festival reaches an audience of over 10,000 people throughout the week. These young writers are a diverse, creative, intelligent group of trendsetters, and community & cultural leaders. They come to Brave New Voices each year not only to compete but to attend world-class workshops led by renowned poets and writers, build community, and to hone their craft.

Brave New Voices cultivates the voices of young writers ages 13-24 nationwide. These voices, spoken with passion and intelligence, transcend boundaries of race, class, ethnicity, gender, orientation, language, geography, politics, and history. What unites them is their embrace of literacy: their ability to tell stories, to critically and creatively analyze their worlds and to present that information in a way that is accessible to large and diverse audiences. 

In your experience at Youth Speaks, what are some of the positive changes you’ve seen happen for underrepresented youth?

A core component of our work is to create spaces where young people can find, develop, present, and apply their voices as creators of social change. I have seen this cycle happen many times and in fact, experienced it first-hand as a program participant. Through that process, I have seen confidence and growth both within myself and the young people we work with. 

Personally, before Youth Speaks, I was afraid to raise my hand in class even when I had the right answer, and I was not a quiet kid by any means. Being in spaces where you not only learn that your voice matters, but that you have the power to share it the way you want to leads to a level of confidence that just isn’t taught through traditional education. The confidence that comes from Youth Speaks spaces breeds a growth mindset. Everyone has the ability and capacity to write poetry, it’s just a matter of access.I’m sure it’s impossible to choose just one, but was there a single youth that has stood out over the years?

When I was in my early 20’s I worked with a young person who was a part of SPOKES (our name for our youth advisory board). He was a literal genius. He had dropped out of high school, but he was always learning and reading and teaching me. I remember him breaking down the differences between indigenous ways of learning as opposed to western ways of learning. Unfortunately, he stopped coming around despite a lot of effort to keep him plugged in, and a few years later I saw him homeless. I remember asking myself “what could I have done better?” 

I realized a few things after talking to him; poetry slams, spoken word, after-school workshops, programs – they alone are never enough. Young people face unique and nuanced challenges that we as a society need to address on a systemic level. Until we realize as a culture that we are simply not doing enough for our young folks in schools, in communities, and at home – there will always be a young homie like this one. In fact, he could have and in some ways, should have been, (if not for some timely interventions), me. It’s a humbling thing to process but also something I have to consistently return to and reflect on.  

We’re experiencing a booming digital era where there are more opportunities to become an entrepreneur. How do you help prepare youth to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset?

Artists were the first entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur by nature means accumulating risk and working beyond personal comfort to create something. Artists are constantly living in the cycle of creation. One of the most important aspects of being an entrepreneur is being able to advocate for yourself and tell a story that will get folks to join you on your journey. There isn’t a better way to prepare for that than getting on a stage and busting a poem to a room full of people. 

How do you see Youth Speaks and Brave New Voices evolving over the next few years?

I think that Brave New Voices is just now, after 23 years, really beginning to come into its own. As a festival and a community, it has the potential to be the epicenter of youth voice and be the stage that amplifies the stories of our future leaders. Brave New Voices creates limitless possibilities by speaking large scale social change into existence through individual bodies. We will continue to create this truly unique space by providing multiple points of entry that can reach any young person at any stage of their young life through spoken word, film, theater, social media, and more. 

To learn more about Youth Speaks and help bring the magic of Brave New Voices to life, visit their main website and show your support.

The post Youth Speaks is Creating Safe Spaces for Positive Societal Change appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

We recently hosted a panel discussion with our friends at Kickstarter and Anxy sharing how independent creators develop, design, and launch print projects.

From Cover to Cover explored the creative and operational processes that bring indie magazines and periodicals to life, from concept to production.

The panel was moderated by Kickstarter’s Journalism Outreach Lead Oriana Leckert. At Kickstarter, she helps people bring a broad range of print, digital, and audio projects to life. And be sure to check out her first book,  Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Hubs of Culture and Creativity chronicling the rise and fall of under-the-radar creative places across New York City.Panelist lineup:

Keep an eye on our MeetUp page for upcoming events, and be sure to RSVP for our first webinar — “Are You Ready to Launch on Kickstarter?”

The post From Cover to Cover — Presented by Kickstarter & Anxy appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

We recently had the opportunity to talk shop with Florian Simmendinger, founder and CEO of Soundbrenner. He shared expert crowdfunding advice and detailed what it takes to  bring a product to market.

Florian and his team are on a mission to help everyone become a great musician. By combining comfortable wearables with great software, they’ve crafted something truly special.

Florian has successfully brought to life two project using the power of crowdfunding — Soundbrenner Core and Soundbrenner Pulse.

We discuss how to build an audience around a product. Determine why you should consider crowdfunding. And detail the benefits of collaborating with BackerKit.

Above all, we’re excited to see what the Soundbrenner team has in store for us next.

Be sure to join the BackerKit Community Newsletter to get more creator interviews and exclusive crowdfunding content!

The post Soundbrenner Interview: Expert Crowdfunding Advice appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

Josh Hano loves telling stories and excels at drawing and animating his fun creations. He’s the creator behind Nefarious Comics — a webcomic featuring a villain protagonist who specializes in kidnapping royals and fighting heroes. He’s run two successful Kickstarter projects and continuously engages his growing fanbase via Patreon.

We recently had the chance to talk with Josh discovering how he engages his fans on both Kickstarter and Patreon. And as one of our very first beta testers for BackerKit for Patreon, Josh reveals how it has helped him manage his backer community along the way.

Tell us about Nefarious Comics and why you decided to join the Patreon community?

Joining Patreon for me was all about creating sustainability that Kickstarter did not provide. Having a known monthly income is a game changer that allowed to me leave the world of freelance and job hunting forever. I recommend creators use Patreon to build up their content, and punctuate every year with a Kickstarter that compiles the work into a book, album, collection, etc..

How do you decide what types of rewards you offer on Patreon? What are the pros and cons of digital rewards vs physical?

Enamel pins have usurped t-shirts as the first physical merch item creators should consider (outside of the main physical item of your field such as books, music, CD’s). Pins are easier to store, you don’t have to worry about keeping stock of varying sizes, and the profit margin is almost as good. Standard retail cost of a pin is $8-$12 and when buying in bulk, you shouldn’t be paying more than $1.30 per pin. It’s less risk for the same reward as shirts. When designing anything wearable, focus less on promotion (such as logos) and more on ways the wearer can express themselves. For example, Emoji’s with your characters, themes, or things that work without the context of your source work.

However, if you’re earlier in your creator career, stay digital. Only go physical once you comfortably have the means to do so. Do not drop a ton of money buying merch in bulk unless you are really confident you can sell a majority of it. Stick with E-books, tutorials, digital albums, or commissions.

I always encourage creators to never use print-on-demand or third party fulfillment type services that create and ship your merch for you. The return is negligible and it redirects your audiences buying power away from you. If you do merch, it’s always better to buy it in bulk and ship it yourself.What is the #1 challenge BackerKit helps you with the most?

It’s worth it for the shipping management alone. When I did my first Kickstarter without BackerKit, I had very minimal shipping needs that took an entire day to process with hand-written international custom forms and addresses, including a trip to the post for stamps. Because of this I always encouraged people to shy away from dealing with shipping.

As I started focusing on physical merch and made the switch from digital games to physical books, I needed a better solution. If you have a DYMO LabelWriter (Thermal labelwriters are a MUST-HAVE for medium-large shipping operations) and a BackerKit account, you can process a hundred orders in under an hour. After filling an order for 300 pins as part of a freebie bonus to my patrons, I’ve started reshaping my business to offer more physical products (such as prints) because it scales very well.

Stepping into the shoes of one of your Patrons, what is the value of receiving a BackerKit survey?

Having received BackerKit surveys from Kickstarter projects I’ve backed, simplicity is an important part of it. Not having to make an account (in the traditional sense) to fill out a survey was an incredibly intelligent decision on BackerKit’s part and I believe the high survey completion rate they have reflects that.

The crowning achievement of BackerKit is what I’ve heard other creators call the “exit through the gift shop” strategy. Adding that add-on store to the checkout process makes it fun. I like to see what extra perks I can possibly get, and if I see they’re specially priced for that checkout, I’m far more likely to get something. As both a creator and a backer, I love the BackerKit add-on store.

For those just starting to build community on Patron, can you detail a few strategies that have really paid off to obtain patrons and keep them engaged?

Patreon is a place you take your existing community that you’ve built on other sites. My three punch combo has been to use Youtube for discovery, Discord for community engagement (I believe Discord has replaced forums), and finish off with Patreon for monetization. I recommend using that combo but replace Youtube with whatever platform of discovery is specific to your medium.

I’ve met a lot of artists who aren’t comfortable asking their fans for money, and I think what they fail to consider is that their fans want them to grow, and be happy. Be clear with your message about what they get for their money, provide value, and be consistent with your delivery.  

If you were to recommend BackerKit to fellow Patreon creators, how would you describe our service to them?

I tell them it’s like being paid to use a robust shipping management platform that lets you easily buy and print your own stamps. It’s spending money to save money with a system that pays for itself. It also allows you to charge patrons for shipping opening up huge possibilities for anyone with large patron bases.

Be sure to visit the Nefarious Comics Patreon page to see what Josh is up to and gain access to the entire Nefarious comic series.

If you’re a Patreon creator who ships physical rewards, or are considering adding a new physical reward tier, sign up for our FREE BackerKit for Patreon beta today!

The post Nefarious Comics’ Josh Hano Talks BackerKit for Patreon appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

For the past several years Australian author and foreign correspondent Irris Makler has been creating something truly special. She’s been hard at work recording stories of Holocaust survivors and photographing them cooking their signature recipes with their grandchildren. Just Add Love is the culmination of her inspirational journey—equal parts cookbook, photography book, and history book.

I recently had the privilege to interview Irris learning more about her experience creating this wonderful book and why she decided to crowdfund Just Add Love on Kickstarter.

For those just learning about Just Add Love, can you tell us more about the women you decided to feature?

The women come from all over Europe, Russia and North Africa – which means the stories and the cuisine are both varied. More than 20 grandmothers – along with 2 grandfathers! – tell their stories and share their cooking secrets.

These are Jewish women, with a universal message – that you can rebuild after losing everything. They are survivors of genocide and the last eyewitnesses to the terrible events of World War Two. 

Many arrived in their new countries with only the clothes on their backs and the recipes inside their heads. For those who didn’t have even a single photo left from their family, the smell and the taste of the food from home was memory. 

Eva Grinston’s cookbook that she found after the war 

What motivated you to create such an inspirational collection of stories, photos, and recipes?

When my grandmother died, it turned out that no one had written down her recipes – and I found myself trying to recreate her honeycake… so I knew the importance of preserving family tastes when I saw the mother of one of my closest friends cooking from a battered old handwritten cookbook. It turned out to be a book with a story. 

Eva Grinston, now in her 80s, is a fabulous cook and baker. Eva is also a Holocaust survivor who was held in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz – where her mother, sister, and aunt were murdered.

At the end of WW2 Eva was 16 years old and lucky to be alive…  She returned home but felt that little remained of her past until she discovered a box in the cellar.

In it, was her grandmother’s cookbook. That’s the book I saw in her kitchen. That’s the book she’s been cooking from ever since, keeping alive the tastes of this vanished world. It’s a link to her past, and also to her future, as she cooks from it for her grandchildren. Eva’s cookbook started me on this path.

Just Add Love Cookbook

What inspired you to crowdfund this book? What made you choose Kickstarter?

It’s a first for me, I’ve never done anything like this! I’ve written 2 books which were published by mainstream publishers… but in the end, it was about time and control.

It took me so long before I was ready to go to a publisher, it really has been a labour of love doing the interviews and the photos over a number of years. By the time I was ready, I didn’t want to spend a minimum of another 12 months inside a big publishing house. Also, crowdfunding allowed me to pick my dream team of photographer and graphic designer granting more control over the final product.

I took advice about which platform to choose. Since this was waaaay outside my comfort zone, I joined a group run by a woman whose job is getting people ready for their crowdfunding launches (Khierstyn Ross, Launch and Scale). At the beginning, it was like she was talking a foreign language, but she was great and got me over the line. And even though she’s a big Indiegogo fan, her advice was that for a book, Kickstarter was a better fit than almost any other platform, particularly due to its audience reach.

Grandmother Berta Bart

I imagine meeting these women was a moving experience. Can you explain your overall process for collecting the stories, the recipes, and the photos?

I was looking for a mix of stories and of recipes. I wanted the book to be as varied as possible, both in terms of experience and cuisine. So we have amazing recipes that are also very different from each other. There are mouthwatering dishes like mezze from Libya and Greece, dumplings from Central Asia and fabulous cakes from Austria and Hungary. Actually, fab cakes from everywhere. Grandmothers love to bake…

And a spread of locations means that the book includes little-known stories like what happened to the Jews of Libya when the Nazis invaded. And there are 2 women who escaped from Europe and ended up in a Japanese POW camp in Indonesia. So you see a huge spread of experience, as well as the incomprehensible suffering of being in a death camp like Auschwitz. There are also a number of women who were rescued by extraordinary people who risked their lives to help them… so it’s an amazing range.

Once we had the women ready to cook, the hardest thing was to find a time that suited the busy grandchildren. I was surprised by how many grandsons put up their hands to be part of the cooking sessions – now dwarfing their grandmothers… And once we had everyone in the same room, the photographer worked his magic. Australian photographer David Mane is incredibly talented and he drew out the humour and the love. His photos really set this book apart.

Baba Schwartz, with her youngest son Danny

I’m sure it’s impossible to choose a favorite, but was there a single recipe that stood out? Why?

I really loved the yeast recipes. I used to be frightened of baking with yeast, until I met one of the grandmothers in this book. Baba Schwartz turned out to be a real yeast ‘maven’. She taught me to have faith, to do what she said, and to produce wonderful, fail-safe super delicious cakes. It was so amazing to see buns filled with lemony cream cheese, nut and jam rolls, and chocolate and poppyseed cakes coming out of my own kitchen!

Baba has passed away now, but getting to know her was one of the highlights of this project. We formed a deep bond, and walking into her home and smelling the yeast cakes baking and having coffee and talking with her was pure pleasure.

Baking with Yeast!!!

I’m intrigued by your Podcast stretch goal featuring audio interviews with the grandmothers. How can people tune in to these?

That’s a great question! I’ve made 3 podcasts each about 20 minutes long, weaving together the stories of 3 of the amazing women from this book. I recorded them cooking with their grandchildren during the Jewish festival of Passover a couple of years back.

I’m planning to launch the Just Add Love podcast on Holocaust Memorial Day (27 January 2019) and to release one a day for 3 days in a row. There is nothing like hearing the women telling their stories in their own voices, with their own inimitable accents.

You can tune in on the Just Add Love SoundCloud page

How can people get a copy of Just Add Love if they missed the Kickstarter campaign? Any other announcements you’d like to share?

People can order a copy of Just Add Love via our BackerKit Pre-Order Page

And if you’re lucky enough to live in Australia or New Zealand, it will be in the shops there beginning April 2019. And later in the year, it will be available via Amazon so keep on eye on our main website.

Just Add Love is an inspiring example of a passion project come to life via crowdfunding. And no one can verbalize its importance quite like Irris—”In spite of everything, it’s a joyful book, focusing also or recovery, resilience, and triumph”.

The post Just Add Love’s Irris Makler Celebrates Resilient Women appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

We recently had the opportunity to talk shop with Alex Goldsmith from Grey Fox Games discussing the many benefits crowdfunding.

During Essen Spiel 2018, Alex was demoing City of Gears at the BackerKit booth giving attendees a chance to play their amazing new game.

Alex has priceless insight surrounding how to successfully crowdfund a tabletop game. We go over what it’s like running multiple projects, the benefits of collaborating with BackerKit, and how to build a community before launching.

Be sure to check out these pre-order stores to get your hands on some truly epic games:

Run Fight or Die: Reloaded Pre-Order Store
Reavers of Midgard Pre-Order Store

We’re beyond excited to see what Grey Fox Games has in store for us next.

Be sure to join the BackerKit Community Newsletter to get more creator interviews and exclusive crowdfunding advice!

The post Grey Fox Games Interview: Funding Multiple Crowdfunding Projects appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

There’s no denying marginalized people have a long history of being told their voices and creativity are irrelevant. All too often we see amazing and inspirational crowdfunding projects from creators of color and LGBTQ creators go unnoticed and unfunded. For this creative economy to grow, it’s important for us all to not only recognize, but to actually support all types of creators who are striving to turn their ideas into reality. 

During this year’s XOXO Fest in Portland, I crossed paths with author and illustrator MariNaomi who is also the founder of the Cartoonists of Color Database and the Queer Cartoonists Database. These databases are maintained by MariNaomi as a way to spotlight marginalized comics creators giving people a way to connect, share experiences, and listen to a variety of perspectives. It’s also a wonderful resource for book publishers to recruit talent, booksellers to stock their shelves, and for visitors to find new and exciting books to read.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with MariNaomi to learn more about her databases:

At what point did you realize you were going to create the Cartoonists of Color Database?

I was writing an article about how to write people of color if you happen to be a person of another color, and I wanted to get input from some fellow cartoonists of color—advice on things to avoid, how to reach out, that sort of thing. Researching my colleagues online, I found very little information about PoC, so I started to investigate and make a list of folks for myself. As the list grew, I realized how important something like this would be to share. I remember the exact moment when my stomach sank upon realizing the large task I was getting myself into. But I knew I had to do it.

Since you created the database in 2014, what are some positive changes you’ve seen happen for creators of color?

There has been a lot of change in the past few years, in both comics and other media! Such a wealth of books about marginalized people, and Hollywood seems to be following suit. At first, I worried the diversity thing was just going to be a fad, but after several years, I’m getting hopeful that instead of a phase, it’s a direction. I personally have always been interested in hearing stories that are unlike my own (in addition to craving representation from people who are like myself). These are exciting times.

You also manage the Queer Cartoonists Database. What inspired you to start yet another database for cartoonists?

When I came up with the idea for the Cartoonists of Color database, I knew I wanted to also make a database of queer creators, but I was uncertain as to how to go about it—I didn’t want to accidentally out anyone. I launched CoC first, but I already had a list for QC before the CoC launch. I just had to figure out how to go about it delicately. In the end, I chose to allow anyone to add to the CoC, but queer creators had to opt in themselves to be added to the QCD. I’ve also had other databases on my mind, such as a database of creators with disabilities, but I just haven’t had the time to put one together.Can you share some of the feedback you’ve received from cartoonists who explore your databases?

From what I’ve heard, the databases are mostly used by folks looking to discover new creators: comics readers, bookstore owners, librarians, editors, folks putting together conventions, community organizers looking for folks to be on panels and lead workshops, that sort of thing. A former student of mine told me she got her first art gallery show from someone who found her on the Queer Cartoonists Database, which felt like such a success to me! I’ve also heard from lots and lots of folks who have gotten paying work from the databases.

Do you see many of the artists in your databases use crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and/or Patreon to fund their projects?

When I’m doing updates, I constantly see marginalized folks with underfunded Kickstarters and low-earning Patreons. It makes me so sad that I can’t contribute to all of them, but hopefully by showcasing them (and their Patreon links) I’m helping them get a bit of visibility.

How do you view the current state of crowdfunding for creators of color?

Gosh, I don’t know! If I knew the secret to this, perhaps I would have more patrons on my own Patreon.

How do you see the Cartoonists of Color Database and Queer Cartoonists Database evolving over the next few years?

Honestly, I’m at maximum capacity for growth right now. It’s all I can do to maintain them with monthly updates, and as they grow, the updates may become even less frequent. I’ve been talking with the programmer I’ve been working with about making the input process a bit quicker and making minor improvements on the sites, but he’s also at max capacity lately. I’m not sure where this will go, or for how much longer it will be sustainable.

MariNaomi’s databases are a good place to browse and discover the work and talent of marginalized creators, many of which have run a Kickstarter project and/or have an existing Patreon page. Combined, these databases feature over 1,500 creators and growing, and are completely free to the public.

Visit the Cartoonists of Color Database and the Queer Cartoonists Database today. And check out MariNaomi’s Patreon page to lend your support.

Do you or someone you know have a Kickstarter project that needs funding? If so, head to The Creative Fund on Patreon to help significantly raise funds for a creator of your choice!

*Photo by Rachel Framingheddu Murray

The post MariNaomi Is Making a Difference With the Cartoonists of Color Database appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

During Essen Spiel 2018 we had the pleasure of hanging out with James Hudson from Druid City Games. He was giving a live demo of his latest Kickstarter project Tidal Blades – Heroes of the Reef giving attendees their first chance to play this amazing new game.

Throughout our interview, James not only taught us about his journey as a tabletop games creator, but shed some light on how to crowdfund your game idea, how to keep your backers happy between projects, and gave some priceless advice for first-time creators.

Below are a few of the resources we discussed, and if you’re serious about crowdfunding your game idea, you need to check these out:

Stonemaier Games Kickstarter Lesson (Highly Recommended!)
Board Game Spotlight Youtube Channel
Tabletop Game Kickstarter Advice Facebook Group

Tidal Blades was another huge crowdfunding success for James and the Druid City Games team. We can’t wait to get our hands on this game, and look forward to what James has in store for us all next.

Be sure to join the BackerKit Community Newsletter to get more creator interviews and crowdfunding advice!

The post James Hudson Interview from Druid City Games appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

During Gen Con 2018, we got to chat with Mantic Games‘ Rob Burman to learn more about Hellboy: The Board Game. We discussed how Mantic Games harnesses the power of crowdfunding to bring their games to life. We also discovered what it was like collaborating with original Hellboy creator Mike Mignola for their latest project.

Mantic Games has successfully funded 15+ tabletop games on Kickstarter to date partnering with BackerKit on the last 4. For years Mantic Games has been dedicated to making games featuring detailed miniatures building a dedicated community along the way.

Looking for more crowdfunding interviews like this? Maybe some crowdfunding tips and strategies? Be sure to join our Community Newsletter!

The post Mantic Games Talks Crowdfunding Hellboy: The Board Game appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.

The Exploding Kittens booth at Gen Con 2018 was unlike anything I’ve ever seen at a convention. Large crowds surrounded an extremely large kitten display that attendees had to interact with to make a purchase. Just like the game, it was inventive, fun, and highly entertaining.

I was lucky enough to chat with Exploding Kittens’ rad Branding and Marketing Manager Witt Godden to learn more about the game, and get some sage crowdfunding and community building advice along the way.

Head to the official Exploding Kittens website and get the game that raised over $8 million on Kickstarter. While you’re there, check out their other equally awesome games Bears vs Babies and You’ve Got Crabs.

Looking for more crowdfunding interviews like this? Maybe some crowdfunding tips and strategies? Be sure to join our Community Newsletter!

The post Exploding Kittens’ Witt Godden Talks Crowdfunding appeared first on Crowdfunding Blog & Resources | BackerKit.