A new kind of publisher, the Kickstarter creator, has discovered Bookmobile book printing and distribution services. Though we didn’t actually seek out Kickstarter projects—Kickstarter creators found us—we’re super excited about this new way of publishing, and we would love to work with more Kickstarter creators. If you’re thinking about using Kickstarter, read on for examples of how successful Kickstarter projects have used Bookmobile, information about the Bookmobile services that fit well with the Kickstarter ecosystem, and additional Kickstarter-related resources.
I personally think that the crowdfunded publishing project is quite brilliant, because the process of mounting a Kickstarter funding campaign combines both fundraising and, equally if not more important, marketing. The hardest part of publishing is always reaching your audience: Kickstarter and other crowdfunding outfits are a new way to do this.
Another reason I’m excited about Kickstarter publishing projects is that the funding and distribution model enables creators to incorporate design elements that work poorly with the standard publishing model because of distribution issues: fancy embossed covers, custom cover stocks, rich color printing, and more—all things that we love to do.
Kickstarter Creators Bookmobile Has Worked With
TAKK
Kickstarter project TAKK combines great writing and photography with creative printing.
TAKK: Explorations of Nordic Café Culture is a beautiful book of writing and travel photography focusing on Scandinavian coffee shop culture. The TAKK creators Samantha Albert and Corey Kingston used Bookmobile for both printing and fulfillment. The book is striking. In addition to beautifully designed interior pages with great photos, it has a cover printed on ivory uncoated stock, blind embossed with matte lamination. Read more about the TAKK project.
The Monolyth
The Monolyth, a Kickstarter-funded graphic novel, combines color printing, French flaps, and foil stamping to produce a unique book.
The Monolyth: Palace of the Black Star is a graphic novel project by Jon Martin, who is both author and illustrator. Jon funded the project through Kickstarter and used Bookmobile to print the book. Like Samantha and Corey, Jon used our capabilities to the utmost, including color interior and a cover printed in color with both French flaps and foil stamping, and matte lamination. Read more about The Monolyth project.
Secret Atlas of North Coast Food
The Secret Atlas of North Coast Food uses color inserts to maximize production values while keeping production costs within target.
The Secret Atlas of North Coast Food by James Norton is a Kickstarter-funded book based on James’s website, The Heavy Table, which is the most widely read foodie site in the upper Midwest. James made use of our ability to print color inserts to ensure that his project worked financially while still producing a great-looking book. Read more about The Secret Atlas of North Coast Food.
Bookmobile Services for Kickstarter Creators
Book Printing
Bookmobile is a full-service book printer, offering digital book printing from our plant in Minneapolis, as well as offset book printing through Friesens, a well-known high-quality Canadian book printer. We print art books, fine art photo books, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. We can print runs from 50 copies to thousands of copies. We offer both paperback and hardcover binding, with a wide array of special options to make your book unique, including matte and gloss lamination, uncoated paper stocks, foil stamping, blind embossing and French flaps. Visit our Gallery to see more examples of what we can do.
Fulfillment
A big part of our business is fulfilling orders that publishers have us drop ship to customers. We’re a perfect fit not only for shipping out not only your backer rewards, but also sales from your website.
Trade Distribution
While distributing to the trade—Amazon, bookstores, and wholesalers—is not right for every Kickstarter project, if it is right for your project, we can do it. We’ve been distributing books to the trade for over ten years through our sister company, Itasca Books, and we know the ropes inside and out.
Design and eBook Services
While Kickstarter creators have so far used just our printing and fulfillment services, and often creators design their own books, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our design services. We’ve designed and project-managed literally thousands of books, from literary novels and poetry to heavily-illustrated art books.
We’ve also created hundreds of eBooks from print files. We distribute eBooks to major resellers like Amazon, Apple, and Barnes and Noble, and we can fulfill copy-protected eBooks sold from your website.
Further Kickstarter Creator Resources
Contacts
Book Design and Project Management: If you need design, project management, or eBook services for your Kickstarter book project, contact Rachel Holscher.
Book Printing: For printing quotes and questions, contact Nicole Baxter or use our quote request form.
Book Fulfillment and Distribution: Our sister company Itasca Books can fulfill your backer rewards and website orders, plus distribute your books to bookstores if that works for your project. Contact Mark Jung.
Related Blog Posts
Budgeting Your Kickstarter Publishing Project
Budgeting Your Kickstarter Publishing Project, With Bookstore Distribution
Print Positive Series (numerous posts on all aspects of book production)
Don Leeper is founder and CEO of Bookmobile, which has provided design, printing, eBook and distribution services for book publishers since 1982.