\nPhotographer, sketcher and writer Len Grant is no stranger to photo-books having published over 25, many concentrating on Manchester where he\u2019s lived most of his life. For Regeneration Manchester: 30 years of storytelling, he decided to give crowdfunding a first try.<\/p>\n
\u2018I looked very closely at the different models. I went to Kickstarter, I read everything that\u2019s on their site, all their blogs, all their advice on how to do it. Crowdfunding is about being able to build a campaign, to encourage people to pre-order the book. There are two aspects to it. One is to clearly have a product you think people are going to want to buy and also have a good campaign to get the word out there,\u2019 explains Len.<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LenGrant01-630x216.jpg\")
\t\t\tMay 1997. Nearly twelve months after the IRA bombing and most Manchester city centre buildings are swathed in plastic, with others in stages of demolition.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
With Kickstarter, it\u2019s all or nothing. You have a maximum of 60 days to reach your funding target. Len set his target at a modest \u00a33,800 to be raised in 30 days, the length of time Kickstarter itself recommends. He reached it in ten days, going on to raise a total of \u00a38,227.<\/p>\n
The campaign doesn\u2019t stop when you hit your target, so you carry on raising as much as you can. \u2018The biggest piece of advice I got was to plan significantly ahead. It\u2019s not a case of launching your campaign on day one and hoping something\u2019s going to happen. \u2018I had a 30-day Twitter campaign planned before I hit the button and made my crowdfunding live.<\/p>\n
As soon as it was, every day I would promote one aspect of the book. I would send out five or six tweets a day, tagging people who were involved in the project so that they would retweet it or further promote it. I probably spent about two hours a day doing that. Social media got this book printed,\u2019 adds Len.<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LenGrant04-520x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tJuly 1998. A demolition workers surveys what remains of Maxwell House during its transformation into The Printworks entertainment complex.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
Len was prepared, thorough and methodical. He identified his audience and used the most effective ways to reach them. He treated the crowdfunding period as a full-time marketing task.<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LenGrant_Regeneration_Manchester_Cover-556x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tThe cover of Len’s book<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
Howes to do it properly<\/strong> Just one of the striking images from Wayne’s project<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n After sharing the images on social media, friends and family suggested he publish a book. \u2018I didn\u2019t think a book was the best tool, I didn\u2019t want to do it. I got pressurised into it. I said to people, if it\u2019s something you think could go somewhere, I will launch a Kickstarter.\u2019<\/p>\n Wayne\u2019s knowledge of crowdfunding was as limited as his preparation. \u2018I was probably a bit arrogant, a bit naive. I didn\u2019t look at tutorials. I listed it with Kickstarter, got accepted and went from there. I didn\u2019t do a great deal except share the links on social media. I dropped an email to a couple of magazines, it didn\u2019t go anywhere. I quite literally didn\u2019t do anything prior to the Kickstarter going live.\u2019<\/p>\n Video stars<\/strong> Wayne set a 30-day target of \u00a33,000, reaching it in 16 days, and went on to raise \u00a33,752. The 98 backers enabled him to print 100 books and was the springboard to other publishing opportunities. \u201cNearly a year down the line, I\u2019ve cleared a thousand copies and made some good money on it.\u2019<\/p>\n Long haul<\/strong> \u2018I\u2019ve learnt through friends of mine who\u2019ve done photography books on Kickstarter what they had to endure, and I thought I\u2019d been very clever by finding Unbound and doing it with them. I didn\u2019t feel I had a community of people that knew about my work. I think if I\u2019d tried to do it through Kickstarter, I wouldn\u2019t have had a book. Unbound has no time limit so you give yourself a better chance, especially if you\u2019re coming at it from a standing start like me.\u2019<\/p>\n Stephen spent \u00a3350 to make a promotional film for YouTube; the expense was factored into the total of \u00a320,000 he was hoping to raise. He scheduled the launch of his campaign with a well-attended talk at the London Photography Symposium. \u2018That gave it a really good boost at the start, then it became just torture.<\/p>\n You can only appeal for money to the same captive audience so many times. You run out of friends. It took me six months to raise the money for the book. Six months of actual begging.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t Just one of the great images from Sparks<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Taking into account the time to prepare and deliver Sparks to the 367 people who supported the project, Stephen calculates the total time spent as two years. Working as his own funding PR, Stephen dug deep, emailing and cold calling. It paid off, he had a broadcast on BBC Radio London and an online gallery with The Guardian. He thought outside the box.<\/p>\n One of his campaign rewards for a pledge of \u00a3750 was: \u2018A Unique Photograph and Story Combination,\u2019 where Stephen would stalk you, try to photograph you without your knowledge and then write a story based on the resulting photograph. Plus a limited edition 12x8in fine art print from the book, signed first edition of the hardback, the ebook and name in the back of the book. Two backers chose this reward.<\/p>\n So you need to be sensible \u2013 limit your number of rewards so you don\u2019t have to spend weeks fulfilling them. Make sure you can afford the rewards as this will come from the money you raise.<\/p>\n Brought to book<\/strong> A new way forward had to be established or the business would fail. By chance, Colin\u2019s designer had just run a successful Kickstarter campaign. This spurred him on to try crowdfunding for the first time \u2013 choosing photographer and journalist, Peter Dench.<\/p>\n\t\t The British Abroad, by Peter Dench, successfully backed via Kickstarter<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n In total, \u00a36,882 of a \u00a36,000 goal was pledged by 125 backers in 18 days for the book, The British Abroad. Colin asks each photographer to produce their own campaign (although if you\u2019re a certain age, he won\u2019t put you through it).<\/p>\n Some are hosted on his Kickstarter page, others on the photographer\u2019s. Print runs have reduced from several thousand to about 700. He\u2019s still refining the process:<\/p>\n \u2018In broad terms I try to raise 75% of the cost of the book. I don\u2019t mind finding the other 25%. I tend to go quite close each time to covering the cost,\u2019 discloses Colin.<\/p>\n If individuals can successfully crowdfund and self-publish their book, why get involved with a publisher? \u2018A lot of people do it that way, think they can do it themselves,’ Colin explains. ‘They\u2019ll have to go through a steep learning curve, from the simple things \u2013 purchasing an ISBN number and getting the book registered \u2013 right through to dealing with printers and distribution. For some people that\u2019s a learning curve they want to go through; others find it an incredibly stressful process, which is where I come in, I take all that away.<\/p>\n They can concentrate on the creative aspect \u2013 sequencing the book, telling the narrative. I\u2019ve got to make sure that the book actually happens, then you\u2019ve got to send it out.\u2019<\/p>\n Organising and fulfilling a Kickstarter campaign takes Colin from one to two months. He aims to do four a year. The quickest book funded was in four hours, \u00a321,810 pledged by 486 backers of a \u00a38,000 goal for Small Town Inertia by Jim Mortram \u2013 the mobile phone pledge notifications became such a nuisance, Colin pressed mute.<\/p>\n The largest amount raised was \u00a331,836 pledged by 495 backers of an \u00a38,000 goal for Legacy by John Downing.<\/p>\n The most recent was \u00a315,463 pledged by 322 backers of a \u00a39,5000 goal for the book Home by Nick Hedges. \u2018That\u2019s around 400 books that have to go out. Two pallets of books takes up a fair amount of space, a living room near enough. People forget about these things. It takes me about a week to send out the rewards, working a full day. On a good day I can send out between 100 and 200.\u2019<\/p>\n Bluecoat, to date, has completed 22 crowdfunding campaigns. One was unsuccessful but sailed to its target when relaunched a few years later (you can relaunch a failed project but Kickstarter doesn\u2019t permit running multiple projects at the same time, or launching a second project before fulfilling your first one).<\/p>\n A total of \u00a3290k has been raised \u2013 averaging 268 backers for each campaign and \u00a313,250 for each book. As each developed, Bluecoat was building a strong community of like-minded people who loved British social-documentary photography, 30-40% are repeat backers. What became important for Colin, was giving this community value for money (free signed prints for previous backers) and making them feel valued.<\/p>\n The year 2020 has been Bluecoat\u2019s most successful year since the financial crash of 2008. So does Colin expect Kickstarter fatigue?<\/p>\n \u2018You don\u2019t have to back it, it\u2019s your choice. You\u2019re putting moral pressure on people, maybe one time too many. In my own head I\u2019m thinking, I\u2019m really going back and hitting people but something else in my brain is saying, I only need 300-400 people buying that book. It\u2019s the basis of a good business. Numerically it\u2019s a tiny fraction of the population, there\u2019s another 67 million in Britain!\u2019<\/p>\n Without crowdfunding, Bluecoat would no longer exist and some important photo-books wouldn\u2019t have been published.<\/p>\n The books mentioned in this article are available through the photographers\u2019 websites:<\/strong> Crowdfunding puts you in creative control and direct contact with fans and followers. It can remind employees what you do and potentially put you on the radar of others. Friends you thought you could rely on for a pledge may go missing.<\/p>\n Others you\u2019ve not heard from since school may step up. Having talked to individuals and businesses that have gone through the process, and having crowdfunded on three occasions myself, it\u2019s clear each campaign is wildly different and success isn\u2019t guaranteed.<\/p>\n However, there are key common considerations to help realise your project.<\/p>\n Choose the right crowdfunding platform and create a kick-ass funding page<\/strong> Make the rewards fun and a variety of price ranges Make the backers feel special and that they are getting a bargain. Update them with progress.<\/p>\n Have a pre-campaign strategy<\/strong> Once the campaign begins<\/strong> At any given time, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of photographic projects which are worthy of your attention across the various crowdfunding sites. If you are in need of inspiration, it\u2019s always worth perusing the latest uploads to see what\u2019s available. Here are five selected by Peter Dench that you can back today \u2013 but hurry, they are all ending soon.<\/p>\n TISH by Paul Sng\u00a0<\/strong><\/a> A Wounded Landscape \u2013 bearing witness to the Holocaust by Marc Wilson\u00a0<\/strong><\/a> I Am Always Here by Tom McGahan\u00a0<\/strong><\/a> On 52nd by Matt E Novak<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong> Itinerary by Faten Gaddes\u00a0<\/strong><\/a> Crowdfunding is an increasingly popular way to get a lot of photography projects off the ground but how do you get started? We find some compelling crowdfunding success stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":147293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-147282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nLondon-based freelance photographer Wayne Howes took a different approach. During the coronavirus lockdown of 2020, he captured the deserted streets of the capital. \u2018London in Lockdown was never supposed to be a work of art. It was a collection of images to show what I\u2019m working through, something for the future, my day-to-day view walking the streets of London,\u2019 reveals Wayne.<\/p>\n\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Howes_Lockdown_London02-600x400.jpg\")
\t\t\t
\nA video can make or break your campaign. Kickstarter pinpoints the video as the most important part. It can be shared across all social media. If a viewer sees nothing else, they\u2019ll probably watch your video. \u2018I ignored that. If I\u2019m completely honest. It wasn\u2019t something I wanted to do. It takes an enormous amount of time.\u2019<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Howes_Lockdown_London03-579x400.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Howes_Lockdown_London01-267x400.jpg\")
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\nIn very different ways, Len and Wayne raced to their funding targets. Stephen Leslie, a writer and photographer, took a different route to fund his book, Sparks: Adventures in Street Photography, a unique blend of fact and fiction, photographs, poems and short stories.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Leslie_Sofa-SPARKS-Stephen-Leslie-268x400.jpg\")
\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Leslie_SPARKS-front-cover-302x400.jpg\")
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\nCrowdfunding has flung open the doors to book publishing for individuals. It has also helped traditional publishing houses. Following a disastrous Christmas in 2013, Bluecoat Press, a niche independent publisher founded by Colin Wilkinson in 1992, fell \u00a330,000 into debt.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Leslie_Peckham-Cafe-SPARKS-Stephen-Leslie-400x400.jpg\")
\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DENCH_British_Abroad_Cover-449x400.jpg\")
\n
\nSparks, Stephen Leslie<\/a>
\nRegeneration Manchester, 30 years of storytelling: Len Grant\u00a0<\/a>
\nLondon in Lockdown: Wayne Howes<\/a>
\nBluecoat Press<\/a><\/p>\n
\nCrowdfunding tips<\/h2>\n
\nBe yourself. Explain who you are in the video, what you are raising money for and when you expect to deliver the product. Include a biography, examples of your photography and any links to previously published work. Show teasers from the book or product. Know your audience \u2013 are they family, friends, what nationality does your product appeal to most?<\/p>\n
\nOrganise blogs, talks, online and in print galleries and interviews to coincide with your campaign. Select key images to drive the project. Try to have a corporate sponsor(s) in place; if you do, schedule pledges for throughout the campaign to keep momentum. Plan giveaway days and competitions to keep people engaged.<\/p>\n
\nClear the diary. Treat it as a full-time commitment and work on it daily \u2013 pledges will only come if you are driving it forward. Identify which social media platforms are your strongest. Keep an eye on your campaign dashboard which shows where most web traffic and interest originates \u2013 respond to that information. Some strategies will be more successful than others, be flexible and prepared to adapt. If you find all this too daunting, you can hire a crowdfunding agency to do everything for you. Alternatively, you can try Wayne Howes\u2019 approach and just see what happens.<\/p>\n
\nFive crowdfunded projects to back right now<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-03-04-at-15.22.39-630x363.png\")
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\nDocumentary celebrating photographer Tish Murtha, whose images of people on the margins of society challenged inequality.<\/p>\n
\nSix years in the making, a 750-page photobook based around 22 stories of individuals who survived or were murdered in the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
\nA personal journey shot over eight years along the banks of the Blackwater Estuary.<\/p>\n
\nA film about William Gottlieb\u2019s post-war jazz photography in NYC and how he captured a moment in music like no other.<\/p>\n
\nAn intimate photographic and documentary film tribute for minorities worldwide.<\/p>\n\n
\nTo read more articles like this one subscribe to our print magazine today. You\u2019ll save money every week and enjoy having each issue delivered to your door! Click\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"