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Secrets of Paris author Heather Stimmler Hall launched a major crowdfunding effort today in order to finance the printing costs of the beautiful four-color second edition of the insider Paris guidebook: Naughty Paris: A Lady's Guide to the Sexy City which will be released to the public in December.
Intrigued by her use of crowdfunding - and a longtime fan - I asked Heather to tell us about Naughty Paris' Kickstarter adventure, and how we might help her to succeed!
Heather Stimmler Hall,
a Paris Writers News interview
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Laurel Zuckerman: Why a Kickstarter Campaign? (As opposed to Indiegogo, Bookslush or the others)
Heather Stimmler Hall: I'm doing this campaign with the Naughty Guides photographer Kirsten Loop. We prefer Kickstarter because it still gets more traffic than any other crowdfunding site, and being able to reach as many NEW readers as possible was part of the reason we wanted to crowdfund the book in the first place.
We're raising the funds to make the last payment to the printer. Unlike the first edition printed and shipped from China, this time we used a family-owned, green certified printer here in France; to try and bring down the expensive per-unit price we're having 4000 printed at once, which is a lot of books, and quite a big upfront expense for an indie publisher. But we hope our commitment to quality and sustainable publishing practices will resonate with the public.
How did you set up the Kickstarter campaign?
Kirsten is Canadian, which made a Kickstarter possible (it's not available for people who legally live in France full time and have no US tax address). Other than that, it's simply a lot of prep work preparing the video, rewards, and the "pitch" to the public. It's basically a full-fledged marketing campaign, which takes time! We started working on this in early March.
Who are you hoping to reach?
We already have a pretty good relationship with our fans from the first edition and my readers of the Secrets of Paris, so this campaign is really an effort to reach all of the Francophile ladies (and gentlemen, of course) out there who would love to discover the Naughty Paris Guide.
What are the prizes?
The rewards are the books themselves, of course, which will be available to the Kickstarter supporters almost six months before they will be in bookstores and Amazon.com. We'll have the eBook, the print book, signed books, and then for top supporters we'll have exclusive Naughty Paris themed tours and Paris travel planning (at a much lower price than I usually charge for Secrets of Paris Tours). There will be some special prizes added about halfway through the campaign from some of the partners mentioned in the guide.
How can your friends and fans help?
There are three easy ways to support the Naughty Paris 2 Kickstarter:
- Make a pledge (and get a reward)
- Share the video with your Paris-loving friends and family
- Like us on Facebook and tweet us on Twitter
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