Pubslush is a global crowdfunding and analytics platform for the literary world. The Pubslush name is derived from its founders’, Hellen and Amanda Barbara, mission to give authors the opportunity to get out of the slush pile, prove their talent and market viability, and successfully publish quality books.
We recently had the pleasure and opportunity of interviewing Justine Schofield, development director at Pubslush, a niche global crowdfunding platform for the literary world.
1. What is Pubslush? Why should authors use it?
Pubslush is a global pre-publication platform that allows authors to raise funds, collect pre-orders and tangibly market their upcoming book project. The go-to author platform for all pre-publication marketing efforts, Pubslush helps its users identify and connect with their audience. Providing crowdfunding, crowdsourcing and pre-order options, Pubslush caters to the needs of all authors while incorporating them into their growing publishing and literary community.
All authors, whether new to publishing or established, should use Pubslush in the pre-publication phase. Even if they don’t need the funding, Pubslush provides authors with a way to talk about and drive traffic to their book before it’s published while also collecting pre-orders. In an over saturated book market, authors need to start their marketing efforts well before publication and Pubslush is a unique platform that allows them to do just that.
2. What differentiates your crowd-funding platform from others that are out there?
Pubslush is different from other crowdfunding platforms because it’s author-centric and is for literary projects only. We offer authors, readers, and publishing industry professionals a vibrant and growing community in which they can actively engage with each other.
Pubslush also offers an industry low platform fee of 4% and a flexible funding model, which allows authors to set a minimum and an overall goal. With flexible funding, authors are able to keep the funds they raise even if they don’t reach their overall goal.
We offer other author-centric features such as a Buy Now button that helps to drive traffic to the sales of a book post-campaign, our Publisher and Partner Pages and Pubslush Prep. We are also developing even more options for our site that will allow authors and publishers who don’t need funding to still maximize the benefits of Pubslush.
3. When an author decides to set up a campaign, what services/support does Pubslush offer them?
Pubslush offers customized support and services to help all our campaigners be as successful as possible. Our author relations team is available to answer any questions and to help facilitate the crowdfunding process. We also offer services such as The Launchpad and Pubslush Prep to give authors have the best possible chance to raise their maximum goals.
The Launchpad offers authors the option to begin promoting their crowdfunding project before the official launch of their campaign. During the pre-campaign phase, authors can drive traffic to their Project Page and garner interest from readers so that they can build momentum for their campaign launch. Pubslush Prep is an optional assistance program for Pubslush campaigners. Authors are able to choose the level of support they’d like from the Pubslush team with benefits that include email templates to send out to supporters, customized social media blasts, one-on-one phone calls and an array of other services.
4. Can you talk about a few of your biggest success stories?
As of now, Virginia’s Ring by Lynn Seldon has the highest percentage of funding on Pubslush. By the end of the campaign, Virginia’s Ring was 561% funded. Lynn catered his higher rewards to his audience and enticed many of his supporters to pledge at those higher levels, boosting his funding way past his original goal.
The Legacy Life, How to Connect, Communicate and Collaborate to Increase Sales by Brian O’Neil. Through reaching out to his own network and soliciting corporate sponsors, Brian was able to raise over $33,000 to publish his educational self-help book for sales professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs.
He Never Liked Cake by Janna Leyde raised over $15,000 for her memoir about dealing with her father’s Traumatic Brain Injury. Her goal was to tell one new person every day about her campaign and that was how she was able to gain the support of the 250 people who helped her share her story and make her book a reality. Janna also used Pubslush to crowdfund for her second book, Move Feel Think, a yoga book for TBI victims.
5. What tips can you share with a newbie author looking to get her book crowd-funded?
To get the most out of your crowdfunding campaign, it’s necessary to prepare and commit to the success of your project. Crowdfunding is a lot of work, but it can be very rewarding. Pre-campaign research and preparation, a strong network, and a working knowledge of your audience and of other campaigners in your genre are all good things to have before your campaign starts. You’ll want to do most of your planning and researching before your campaign so that you can focus most of your efforts during the campaign on gaining supporters and promoting your project.
Feel free to ask any other questions that you may have in the comments section below.
