Hello and thanks to everyone who contributed to the amazing discussion we had on the subject of friendship. Your comments have made that the 2nd most popular post ever on this blog!

This week, we’ve got Jim Kukral, internet guru and self-published author of ‘No Publisher Needed: Crowdfunding your book. How I raised over $30k in 30 days’ to share his thoughts on how he raised enough financial support via crowdsourcing to fund his book project.

no-publisher-needed

Jim Kukral's book on Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a new concept to me, but one that is gaining popularity among authors and other creatives as traditional publishing contracts are increasingly difficult to come by and less attractive to authors than they once were. Here is Jim’s post. I hope you’ll share your thoughts at the end of it, and also your experiences, if you’ve ever tried crowdfunding. Were you successful at it?

 

What The Heck Is Crowdsourcing?

‘I could go and pull the official definition from the Wikipedia right now, but instead let me give you my non-researched opinion.

Crowdsourcing is when you use the power of people—the crowd—to accomplish a goal, like raising money, or organizing to get a better deal on a product or service.

Crowdsourcing is tapping into the massive power of a “crowd” of people and using their collective power to get something done.

Here’s the Wikipedia definition, just for perspective: Crowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to an undefined large group of people or community (crowd) through an open call.”

The concept of using the power of a crowd isn’t really that new. Just ask Frankenstein or Count Dracula about their experiences with an organized crowd with pitchforks and crosses and torches. “Crowd, BAD!!!”

Take it easy, Frank.

Protesters have used the power of the crowd to accomplish many great things over time. Right now as I write there are hundreds of thousands of people squatting around the USA in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Regardless of where you sit with their overall message, you cannot disqualify that their collective approach has not gotten the attention they were looking for. Governments have been overthrown using the power of a crowd. Crowds cause change, and change is good.

No, crowdsourcing is not new. The Web simply made it more powerful because of the ability for people to organize and band together from their den offices in their underwear. What did you have to do to organize a crowd before the Internet? You’d maybe create a flier and post it up on telephone poles in your neighborhood. Then you’d stand on a soapbox and try to get the attention of people walking by. Or you’d be the annoying guy handing out fliers in front of your local supermarket, until the cops came and hauled you away.

Then maybe you’d convince a local newspaper to print a blurb about a rally you were having, and maybe people would read the newspaper and come. Then when everyone got there,  you’d have to re-explain your message and mission, and re-educate the crowd. Then you’d have to motivate them and let them learn about you. Then maybe they’d go home and tell so more people, and so on….

Whew… a lot of work. And not that effective in the grand scheme of things. It worked, but it was hard to get it to work fast.

Yes, the crowd’s power before the Web was limited. But now—wow! You could have an idea like I did and use the power of the Internet to spread that idea and organize that idea in minutes! Now that’s true power. Now that’s true change.’

Thanks to Jim for sharing his thoughts on the subject of crowdfunding/crowdsourcing. One of my readers directed me to this link, where you’ll find invaluable info about crowdfunding. Please check it out if you’re interested, and please do share your thoughts if you’ve been involved in a crowdfunding project.

We’d love to hear about your experiences. Then join us back here the week of May 28th, when we’ll have our next new post. Ciao for now!

 

 

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just what is a friend?

by WizardOfWords on May 2, 2012

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long while, and as the guest post planned for this week has been delayed, I’ll take the opportunity to open a discussion I’ve long been wanting to have. Just what is a friend?

I think the connotation of “friendship” has changed dramatically over the past eight years — since the birth of facebook in 2004. Facebook turned the word ‘friend’ into a verb. It was always a noun, or could be turned into an adjective by making it ‘friendly.’

But all of a sudden … the word ‘friend’ became a verb as well, and now we’re ‘friending’ people, and being ‘friended’ by others. What does all that mean? What is the true meaning of friendship in 2012?

I’ve thought long and hard about this, as many of my close friends are not online at all. And some of them only use e-mail sparingly. That forces me to pick up the phone if I want to talk to them, and get in my car (or on a plane!) if I want to see them.

Those friendships take more effort to maintain as it’s not a simple click of a button to send out a FB update or tweet (via Twitter.) Yet, they are important to me and I try very hard to go the extra mile to make sure I keep in touch with all on an equal basis.

Online “friends” real and otherwise will know more quickly what’s happening in my life as I’m on virtually every social media platform and respond quickly to (most) e-mails.

Being a Gemini, communication comes easily to me, and I’m far less protective about my privacy than maybe I should be. I am a connector, and love to put people in touch with one another. That’s what’s so great about social media. We can connect ourselves with others at the click of a button. We don’t have to make time for a telephone call unless we choose to. We don’t have to take time to meet for lunch or a drink unless it’s mutually convenient.

I admit to indulging in those pleasures far less frequently than I would like. I never seem to have enough time for anything anymore. But I do try and make time for those who are important to me in the real world, not just that world that exists on my screen.

What really pleases me is when friendships that originate online turn into real, in-person friendships, where we make a special effort to meet and engage with that individual on a personal and very real basis.

I’m looking forward to that later this month and early next month, when I’ll attend back-to-back writers’ conferences and meet fellow members of The Writers Union of Canada and the Professional Writers Association of Canada at their annual conferences.

And … I’ll spend a few days with a very dear friend in Vancouver who has participated in every part of my life since 1973 when we first met. Wow! I just realized that our friendship will be 40 years old next year! That calls for a real celebration.

For now, I’ll settle for some fine wine, great food, amazing chocolate and good times to fuel the friendship fire and keep it burning strong.

pat-and-doreen

This pic of me and Pat was taken here in MB in July/09, just a few months after my last visit to Vancouver in Feb/09.

I’m grateful to everyone who has been joining the conversations on this blog. (If you haven’t been reading and subscribing to the comments, you’re missing out on a whole lot of wit and wisdom from members of our tribe!)

I now welcome you to share your thoughts on the changing meaning and dimensions of friendship in the 21st century. And please join us back here the week of May 14th for our next post.

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guest post on fiction writing by Robert Bennett

April 17, 2012

Thanks to everyone who joined the conversation on the various stages of a creative writing project. That post aroused interest from fiction writer, Robert Bennett, who read (and commented) on the post and offered to share his insights on writing fiction. As fiction is a genre with which I’ve had no experience (little as a [...]

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the different stages of a creative writing project

April 4, 2012

Thanks to Sherryl Perry for guest posting our last entry on the blog. Sherryl has tremendous experience in the world of social media and I value her insights and expertise. We’ve now had a few posts on the importance of social media in the life of a writer, but let’s get back to the writing [...]

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6 Tips to Get Started Networking on Social Media Sites

March 20, 2012

How do you get started building an online presence on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? How do you build confidence, trust and name/face-recognition online? Your brand encompasses your image, your logo, your colors, the URL of your website and your user-ID (whether it be your Twitter username, your ID on Facebook or [...]

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blogging your way to smiles

March 7, 2012

Thanks to everyone who weighed in with their thoughts on social media. If you haven’t read the comments from the last post, I encourage you to do so, as they’re often filled with insights from a wide variety of readers. I purposely didn’t mention blogging in my last post as to me, it isn’t a [...]

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social media: which platform works best for you?

February 22, 2012

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a very long time as social media is so important to writers and I admittedly spend a good part of my day on the various platforms in order to keep building that eminent “author’s platform.” The post is timely, as over the past week, social media and [...]

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let gratitude drive your life

February 8, 2012

This week I am filled with gratitude. Thanks so much to each and every one of you who took the time to contribute to our discussion on books that have impacted our lives. We had some amazing suggestions and some very insightful offerings on the value of books in our lives.  Your insights and reflections [...]

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books of a lifetime

January 25, 2012

Books are high on my mind these days as I complete the research for the 1st edition of my upcoming book, Chocolatour. I’ve spent a great deal of time recently thinking about what makes a good/great book and what makes it memorable — the kind of book that can change our lives. So for this [...]

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let your networks work for you

January 11, 2012

Welcome to 2012 and the first post done on the new URL for this site: http://doreenpendgracs.com/. Please adjust your bookmarks, and be sure to subscribe to this feed.  While you’re at it, how about “liking” me on Facebook if you haven’t already? You’ll find the link to my Author’s page on FB in the right [...]

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