Jeff Siegel swore he’d never write another book. Too much work and not enough dough. But it seems he can’t stay away. After the unprecedented success that Alice Feiring had with her Kickstarter funded newsletter, The Feiring Line (she asked for $6,000 and got $17,000) it looks like Kickstarter might be a good place to look for funding. He’s looking for $8,000 to kick start his wine book, The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine.
From the Kickstarter site:
Kickstarter Basics: Kickstarter 101
What’s Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology.
Since our launch on April 28, 2009, over $350 million has been pledged by more than 2.5 million people, funding more than 30,000 creative projects.How does Kickstarter work?
Thousands of creative projects are funding on Kickstarter at any given moment. Each project is independently created and crafted by the person behind it. The filmmakers, musicians, artists, and designers you see on Kickstarter have complete control and responsibility over their projects.
Every project creator sets their project’s funding goal and deadline. If people like the project, they can pledge money to make it happen. If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers’ credit cards are charged when time expires. If the project falls short, no one is charged. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing.Why is funding all-or-nothing?
All-or-nothing funding is a core part of Kickstarter and it has a number of advantages:
It’s less risk for everyone. If you need $5,000, it’s tough having $1,000 and a bunch of people expecting you to complete a $5,000 project.
It motivates. If people want to see a project come to life, they’re going to spread the word. To date, an incredible 44% of projects have reached their funding goals.
Here’s Jeff’s pitch from his Kickstarter page:
“Are you afraid to walk into a wine store? Do you feel silly when people talk about wine around you? Do you want to buy wine without worrying that you’re getting hoodwinked by a winemaker who uses terms you don’t understand?”
“My book, ‘The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine,‘ will fix that. Wine should be fun, and you should be able to drink what you want — and have the knowledge to do so — without fear or intimidation. It will follow up on what I’ve been writing about for more than 20 years in newspapers, magazines and on the Wine Curmudgeon blog, which includes the annual and nearly world-famous $10 Wine Hall of Fame: Common sense advice about wine, written in English and not wine-speak, and focusing on the cheap wine that 90 percent of us drink.”
“The book will be published late this spring or early this summer in ebook and print formats. Most wine books are written from the wine drinker’s perspective, and they assume you want to learn the secret language so you can join the club. My book, and all my wine writing, is written from the consumer’s perspective, because you shouldn’t need to join a secret club to enjoy wine. All you should need is $10 for a bottle of wine.”
So all those folks who send Jeff things to write about in his blog ( for free) if you want to send a pledge and be part of his book, “The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine,” now’s the time . Pony up.
Yeah, I’m talking to you.
Tags: $10 wine, Alice Feiring, Jeff Siegel, Kickstarter, The Wine Curmudgeon, The Wine Curmudgeon's Guide to Cheap Wine