Writers, you can build buzz before your book launch using the new crowdfunding book site, Pubslush.
At Pubslush.com, you can set up a campaign that serves primarily to let you pre-sell your book and provides a contest-like atmosphere that may draw in friends of friends.
Since it’s a crowd-funding site similar to Kickstart and Indiegogo, it will ask your friends to contribute a certain amount of money toward the dollar amount you have set as your goal to help pay publication expenses. You give contributors rewards, which vary depending on the amount they are contributing.
For example, let’s say you set a goal of $1,000 you’d like to raise to help pay for your expenses or author advance. (This is low, but low is more achievable.) You ask people to donate $10 for an ebook on pub date, $15 for an ebook sent as soon as payment is made, $25 for soft cover and ebook sent on pub date, $30 for soft cover and ebook sent asap, and so on. You can give other rewards too, like a mention in the book’s acknowledgements page for $100 or whatever.
Think of it as like a “shower” for your book release, an opportunity for friends to show support and alert their friends using social media. It can also be a handy way for you to gauge support for your book concept.
The Pubslush page for your book provides plenty of space for you to put up the first chapter, the cover, and enticing details. When the campaign starts, you contact all your family and friends and ask them to contribute. Once you have some contributors, you widen the request to all your friends and all their friends. They often really get into the idea of contributing to meet your goal.
One recent campaign was pushed to 700 percent of goal by folks with this competitive thing going on. On the Pubslush home page, your book will show up at the top if it’s nearing its goal. That’s why setting a rather low goal is a good idea.
At the end of the campaign, you send the rewards and get the money (to use for the stated purpose), and your Pubslush author site stays active, visible on search engines alongside your author pages at Amazon and Goodreads.
Note: publishers can have pages to showcase their books too.
Source: talk by Pubslush VP Amanda Barbara at Independent Book Publishers Association conference in March.