David Rogers
Reddit is getting into the crowdfunding game with its just announced redditmade platform.
Joining a slew of other crowdsourcing platforms including Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Pubslush (the latter exclusively for authors), redditmade will serve as a platform designed specifically for the reddit community.
Reddit is one of the largest online communities, and essentially is a place for users (known as redditors) to share information. This information can be a news story, a photograph, a piece of original art or nearly anything else that can be shared on the internet.
How is redditmade Different from Kickstarter?
Those with little knowledge of reddit may find themselves somewhat confused by some of the content posted to the site, even after grasping how the site works. This is often due to the numerous in-jokes shared among the community. This inclusionary mentality is in part of what makes the reddit community so unique, attractive and addictive.
And that’s also what makes redditmade make sense. Not only is the crowdfunding platform designed for redditors, it’s also designed to feature reddit-specific products. This doesn’t (necessarily) mean reddit branded items, but products that reference things posted on reddit.
In other words, while the types of products allowed on redditmade are similar to those on Kickstarter (including book printing), the subject of the products are limited to those that relate in some way to the reddit community. Most of the current projects on the site (which is in beta) are t-shirts, though there are a few other types of projects including books and stickers.
Should I Use redditmade to Crowdsource My Book?
Not unless your book relates to reddit or redditors.
The best way to illustrate this is probably with an example:
The first book project on redditmade has the working title “Not a Cocktail Book.” The book will feature at least 50 cocktail recipes.
While this description is not inherently reddit-related, the connection comes because all the cocktails featured in the book originated in a series of reddit posts called “Not a Cocktail of the Week.”
This series is posted under a specific group on reddit (known as a subreddit) called “/r/cocktails.” Redditmade is betting that redditors that frequent that subreddit (as well as other users) will contribute to the campaign to have the book printed.
Redditmade Helps with the Manufacturing Process
Unlike Kickstarter and many other crowdfunding platforms, redditmade connects creators with suppliers and generally helps a project along after it is funded. This is an effort to reduce (or eliminate) projects that get funded but not completed.
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