Creating your project rewardsUpdated 2 years ago

Creating great rewards can really boost your campaign and make your life a whole lot easier.  It is also where you can let your imagination run riot. A good reward is cheap and easy to deliver but has a uniqueness and use or fun factor that will attract higher sums than the sort of standard amounts we ask for books alone. There are a few ‘categories’ to think about that might be of help, and we've listed some examples below.

Be In The Book

David Quantick offered to name a dog character in the book after the first person to pledge £150, Brian Bilston offered to write a poem on the subject of your choice. Stuart Ashen created a book about rubbish computer games and successfully offered to include the face of someone in the end papers of the book for £250.

An Experience With The Author

The famous restaurateur and food critic, Nick Lander, raised £1000 offering dinner for 4 at his home. Those who can have offered business consultancy, garden design, expert guided tours of places of interest or creative writing advice.

Stuff

Everybody likes cool, exclusive stuff, right? If your book involves graphics, then prints or originals are a great way of rewarding higher level pledgers. But don’t be limited by that.  Our comedy poet, Brian Bilston, whose twitter avatar happens to feature a pipe, recently offered a ‘commemorative pipe’ which two people took for £150 each.

There are endless possibilities and much depends on what you and your book are about. This is a great area to experiment, have fun and raise some crucial funds for your project.

A Bit of Advice

Think about the economics of your pledge. Most rewards you offer are going to cost you something to fulfil each pledge made for them. Make sure the cost to you of delivery is significantly less than the pledge amount on offer. Even if there is no financial cost, rewards can take time to arrange.  If you offer a limitless number of a particular reward that involves you, that can mount up. Make sure these rewards are worth your while. Think carefully about offering rewards that require a minimum of people to make economic sense, as you may have to deliver them for only one person.