Why Make Art? And how to fund it

This morning, Seth Godin announced his newest book The Icarus Deception and a fascinating Kickstarter Project to fund it.

Seth's new book is about the mythology of success (and failure) and how our economy rewards people who are willing to stand up and stand out.

Seth writes: "For too long, we've been seduced into believing we should do less. It's time to redefine what we're capable of. We are all artists now, and the connection economy we're living in relentlessly rewards those who do work that matters."

I'm a Seth Godin fanboy and enjoy reading each of his books the second they are released.

I'd certainly read The Icarus Deception anyway. But this book is also interesting because of how Seth is funding it.

Kickstarter and Seth's art

Seth has a Kickstarter project to fund the new book. Like Amanda Palmer, who raised over $1 million to fund her new album through Kickstarter (I wrote about Amanda's project here), Seth is tapping his loyal fans to help him fund his new book – using the proof of support to convince his publisher and bookstores to back it in a big way.

As I write this, it is just a few hours into the project and one funding level has already sold out. It looks like Seth is on a similar trajectory as Amanda was in the early days of her project.

Seth is betting (rightly it seems) that his fans are willing to fund the book even before it has come out. People like me are going to buy it anyway, so why not get a commitment up front and use the fan support to make the book even more successful.

Supporting your favorite artists

Yes, I am a backer at one of the higher pledge levels. Sure, I want all the stuff that comes with being a backer.

However, more than that, I want to support the artists, like Amanda and Seth, who I believe in. I want them to live well so they can continue to produce art and enrich my life.

People want YOU to succeed too!

If you provide great art, even in the form of products and services, your fans want to support you. That's why people line up to buy new Apple products without even trying them. Do they line up for your art?

If you make great stuff, people will take a chance on you. They'll order the software upgrade, visit the chef's new restaurant, reserve a room in the resort on a different island.

Comments

[mars dorian]

David, I just checked out Seth's Kickstarter campaign, and he already topped the $50,000 mark - INSANE.

The guy has such a loyal fan base, and it's eagerly waiting for his new stuff to come out. Truly impressive.

[David Meerman Scott]

Mars, yes, it is impressive! Seth is a leader in many ways.

[KathyLisiewicz]

"Support the arts" was exactly how I promoted the Kickstarter campaign for Season Two of The Steps, a ground-breaking web noir series that only needed funding. Seth Godin's use is another great example; I'm not surprised that someone as savvy as Seth was able to see and make the most of this platform. I'm interested to see how his experiment turns out--I'm sure he'll be successful, but I'm curious about exactly how things will transpire.

[Godvertiser]

I am one of Seth's kickstarter supporters. I met him at his NYC event in May. I've read his books just like you David, so I'm a Seth fan too. But the one thing I want to flag here is that Amanda and Seth are two quite different kickstarter participants. Amanda is taking advantage of the kickstarter platform's discovery and momentum building aspects. Seth on the other hand is taking advantage of kickstarter's coordination aspect as he calls it. Kickstarter for Seth was simply used as a tool to outsource the admin aspect of organizing his tribe. These are quite different uses of the platform.

While I'm a fan of his work, the more interesting story would be to dissect why and how Amanda's kickstarter gig got the traction that it did vs. the tons of other stories that never make it close to their goal. It did something that allowed strangers to buy into it. And more importantly from a marketing communications / pr perspective, that kickstarter had certain elements that make it share-worthy, spread-worthy.

Do you agree? Disagree?

Kenny
http://www.twitter.com/@godvertiser

[David Meerman Scott]

Kathy - Thanks for sharing how you used Kickstarter. It's interesting to see how other artists have made a go on this platform.

Kenny - I've written about Amanda for several years and did several posts about her kickstarter. I think she is a lot like Seth - she has a big and passionate tribe (a half million on Twitter for example) and she writes very personal blog posts to her fans. She, like Seth, motivated an existing group of people to pre-order her album and get some extras and it was a success.

[Abbey Ryan]

David,

I enjoyed your post (it inspired me) and, as a painter, wanted to add that I appreciate what you said about supporting artists.

Best,
Abbey

[Rj_c]

For some reason I have not read a Seth Book yet. I guess I might have to put it on my list.

Interesting how these platforms give us but mostly individuals like Seth and Amanda who have built a following to take control of more pieces of the puzzle when it comes to their efforts.

This is amazing and like Seth is clearly sending the message that he is doing more but taking control of more.

[Colin Warwick]

This funding model works. Another example is Wikipedia, which gives away everything up front for free without registration or anything, then asks for a donation http://donate.wikimedia.org and it's one of the top ten sites on the web.

[MYOB bookkeepers Brisbane]

You have made your way into business successfully. There are now art exhibits carried out to raise fund and use the proceeds for a cause. I find it very interesting to start doing art myself, though I know it would be tough for me.