Our crowdfunding success story
A huge part of me can’t believe I’m writing this post. Over the last six weeks I’ve thought about writing the ‘we tried but we didn’t make it’ post, but I honestly never rehearsed the ‘hurrah, oh my goodness, we did it!’ post.
And yet, here we are! We did it. With a total of 215 backers, lots of late nights, ups and downs, we have raised enough money to publish Bat Dog’s Forever Home. This means that, in just a few months’ time, 2,000 copies of Bat Dog will be run off the printing press and start zooming their way to supporters and book retailers.
How did we do it?
I’m still not quite sure! We tried lots of different things; Facebook advertising, Tweeting, Instagram, a local news appearance (!)… but I think what made the most significant impact was the enthusiasm of our ‘crowd’:
Friends, family, and loved-ones believed in us from the word ‘go’ and were incredibly generous. They also helped us to spread the news about the campaign far-and-wide.
We had some fantastic conversations with charities who loved the idea behind the book and went above-and-beyond to help us.
And lastly, but by no means least, we received more pledges than we ever dreamed possible from generous strangers who wanted to help make Bat Dog’s Forever Home a reality.
What's next?
Well, lots of things will start happening:
We will be sending a cheque for £500 to Accolade Hounds.
Our illustrator Jessica will start on the remaining artwork for Bat Dog, which is super exciting!
We’ll prepare your rewards – anyone who chose one of our XMAS pledges will receive a gift card before Christmas that they can give to their special recipient.
We will send an email to everyone who pledged, asking for them to nominate an animal charity to be our 2017 partner. Those who chose CHARITY pledges will also choose which charity they’d like to donate £5 to.
I’ll do a little more editing of the story itself, and then collaborate with Jessica on some fun ways that we can work with the fonts and text.
We will finalise details with our printers and distributors, ready for the end of January.
When the artwork is ready, we’ll complete the print layout and finish off fiddly admin things.
We’ll prepare advanced information for booksellers and reviewers.
Final artwork will be sent to the printers and, when we’ve signed off the proofs, Bat Dog will be printed, bound, and delivered to our warehouse.
We hope that our backers will receive their rewards (books, bags, greetings cards, etc.) at the beginning of February, but we’ll keep you informed every step of the way.
We want you all to continue to feel part of the Bat Dog journey so we’ll be sending regular emails with updates and pictures to show you what stage we’re at.
To those who pledged
You’ll all be receiving a personal thank you printed inside Bat Dog’s Forever Home but, one last time, I want to publicly say that none of this would have been possible without you. Whether you pledged £5 or £500, your support means more than I can say.
All of this started as just a few scribbles in a notebook and it has grown into something magical. I hope that Bat Dog’s story will bring happiness to all who read it – and if it causes even one family to consider giving a rescue dog a forever home, then I will be the proudest author/publisher in the country.
One last thing…
Over the course of the Bat Dog campaign, we received some lovely comments and emails from backers who said they have their own version of a Bat Dog at home. So, as an extra special thank you, we’re inviting everyone who pledged to send in a photograph of their beloved Bat Dog; they don’t have to be bat-eared, but they do have to be a rescue dog who you love with all your heart. These pictures will be printed on the dedication page of Bat Dog's Forever Home.
Details of how to send your pic and make your charity nomination will be emailed to you shortly.
Remember, every rescue dog is a Bat Dog, and every Bat Dog deserves their forever home.
Team Bewick x
