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Using Kickstarter to battle tired tropes: An interview with Monica Valentinelli

March 15, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Monica Valentinelli is one of the two editors of Apex Publications’ proposed project “Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling”. It’s a proposed project because the publishers have turned to Kickstarter to raise the funding. At the time of writing the project will be a success; over 800 backers have pledged contributions worth over $13,000 which beats the $10,000 funding goal. There are nearly two weeks left to support the project and you can follow progress here.


[Back this Project]

We asked Monica about the Kickstarter. Zebra Eclipse’s focus is very much on the evolution of marketing and publishing (they’re merging as they evolve) but commercial model in this instance is just as exciting.

What’s wrong with tropes?

Tropes and cliches, by themselves, are powerful because they are omnipresent and resonate throughout our media. Over the years, however, as we continue to produce and enjoy more stories, games, comics, television shows, and films these same devices need to be examined for many reasons. Overused tropes regarding gender and race, for example, perpetuate stereotypes that have been around for decades and feed into the popular narrative. By ignoring tropes and cliches, writers run the risk of boring or alienating readers who are sensitive and aware of the tropes rampant in many genres. And, even more so, works presented may be considered poorly researched or written–simply because the writer defaulted to a crutch without considering it further. Thus, tropes and cliches tend to generate a lot of discussion when they don’t work–and we hope to do exactly the opposite, to show what happens when they’re used as the basis for a story in new and interesting ways.

You have a stretch goal at $15,000 which is of interest because it offers backers nothing new. Instead you’ll be paying contributing authors more. What helped influence that decision?

We’ve already achieved our first stretch goal, which was to add critical non-fiction essays to the collection. Our stretch goals include two pay bumps; one for our authors and the other for our essayists, editors, and marketing folks. We felt that these stretch goals would be a show of support on our part for the work our authors have done to think about and research various aspects of their stories as well as market themselves and their stories. After all, six cents a word may be the industry standard, but that is a base amount that doesn’t cover marketing or research costs.

Is a Kickstarter needed for a trope-busting collection because the anthology wouldn’t be commercially successful otherwise?

Most anthologies are, quite frankly, not commercially viable for small press publishers for a number of reasons ranging from the need to produce significant up front costs to building enough marketing buzz to cover the number of copies sold before turning a profit. There are also logistical concerns, too, which can effect an anthology’s efficacy. With a novel or short story collection, a small press publisher works out a deal with a single author as opposed to making arrangements with the many people involved in an anthology. So, in many cases, anthologies aren’t smart to pursue without a mechanism in place, like Kickstarter, to make it worth a publisher’s while. Kickstarter allows us to pay writers professional rates and cover the costs of printing, layout, marketing, and distribution that a publisher would normally have to pay up front and out-of-pocket.

How does running a Kickstarter to fund and launch the anthology affect the marketing of the book?

I’m of the mind that Kickstarter is marketing, because it brings awareness to a project and encourages backers (800+ and counting!) to financially invest in the idea in order to bring the project to life. This tool allows us to reach out to backers, to communicate directly with them, to get them excited about an anthology that couldn’t be possible without their help–both during the Kickstarter and afterward.

Regardless, successful Kickstarters tend to be at the center of a marketing plan before, during, and after release, for the backers need to be notified and taken care of before sales are opened up to the general public. Since the Kickstarter still lives on the site long after the campaign ends, many readers discover the campaign at a later date and anticipate the upcoming release, with the understanding that the core audience (e.g. backers) do come first. In this way, Kickstarter serves as the center of a book launch, and that success/enthusiasm helps fuel a launch.

How does a publisher’s commitment to promote a book differ from when dealing with an anthology rather than an author’s own title?

I’m sure the amount of attention to marketing books vs. anthologies is often contingent based on the people and marketing knowledge/experiences involved. In our case, Apex Publications is an established small press publisher that has produced novels, non-fiction books, and anthologies. We view Apex Publications as a partner as opposed to a mere client, and that furthers our ability to remain visible and connected to their future plans for marketing the anthology once it’s been released.

Upside Down

The Guardian’s Key Publishing trends

February 12, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

This is well worth your time; 51 slides that you can whisk through in a few minutes.

Guardian publishing trends 2016 from Jess Morton

The takeaways;

The adblockalypse – no answers yet, but all newspapers will be impacted.
My thoughts – this has already changed the internet, the value exchange of “I read this for free as you included an ad” is no longer understood or accepted.

Planet of the apps – a new channel that’ll get audiences more engaged.
My thoughts – apps are a challenge to smaller publishers, like bloggers, who don’t have the sources to custom build their own one. Off the shelf solutions aren’t yet good enough/worth it for them.

Continuous partial attention – those times where you have someone’s full attention are rare and precious.
My thoughts – one of the attributes of the connected era is that marcoms has become a “many to one” relationship; flipped from the original “one to many”.

Curation vs Creation – original quality content is needed for engagement.
My thoughts – very true. Curation has its place, but that’s limited and still needs to be supported by creation.

New business models for news – destination vs distribution; open vs walled gardens.
My thoughts – newspapers should look at the 0/1/100 model that works for many game publishers.

Minillennials – mobile, will create a band relationship if they want.
My thoughts – not fond of brands at all.

Podcasting – a return for podcasting; popular again.
My thoughts – has the power to connect in the same way as radio does; feels more personal.

The pwoer of visual language – emotions and visual associations with brands.
My thoughts – The west catching up with established eastern language constructs.

VR – the next tech revolution?.
My thoughts – VR / AR the terms are blurring already but the potential is huge.

The 5 most influential female gamers in the UK

January 26, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

As part of a PR push the site MobileSlots.com picked five females under 30. They’re listed in order of influence in the UK gaming community.

Not sure what to make of this. All power to the girl gamer community; they know own the space. What I’m less clear on is how MobileSlots worked it was these five women who made the top list and the rankings.

Here they are:

Charleyy Hudson
Helen Grounds
Kate Killick
Keza MacDonald
Kulpreet Virdi
  1. Charleyy Hudson
  2. Kate Killick
  3. Keza MacDonald
  4. Helen Grounds
  5. Kulpreet Virdi

There’s a complete mix here. We’ve Keza MacDonald as the editor for a site like Kotaku UK and with thousands of Twitter followers. On the other hand we’ve Charleyy Hudson with a tumblr of her own. They create and curate content in different ways and to different types of audiences but they’re both publishers.

Kate Killick and Kulpreet both create; either cosplay, video clips or games and apps. They’re both part of the creative aspects of the industry, one at the business centre and the other at the fan centre.

Meanwhile Helen Grounds, is a mum blogger for hire and has worked with brands like DeLonghi, Fisher=Price, Maclaren and others.

These five women represent the full spectrum. There’s no surprise that all five fit on the Zebra Eclipse range of “we’re all publishers” because none of these gamers would have any influence if they didn’t. MobileSlot’s PR company may have used “their own system” to measure influence but it is without question these five have influence.

Three fashion bloggers meet the sweatshop workers who made their clothes

January 24, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

This is a clever and brutal idea from Norway’s Aftenposten. I’m a fan of Aftenposten in my efforts to break the news filter bubble and get an international perspective. Norway’s perspective is always an interesting one and Aftenposten posts a lot in question.

Three young Norwegian fashion bloggers meet the sweatshop workers who make their clothes. This series, Sweatshop, is out and you can see the English language episodes at Aftenposten.no/WebTV/.

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Recent ZEST posts

  • Using Kickstarter to battle tired tropes: An interview with Monica Valentinelli
  • The Guardian’s Key Publishing trends
  • This week’s link herd February 8, 2016
  • What could publishers offer? An interview with T Q Chant
  • Does The Society of Authors’ open letter to the Publishers Association miss a trick?

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