Kickstarter: Reward: Wear Your Face on My T-shirt

Posted on January 18, 2012 by MAL

As the Kickstarter rewards go out, I freaking love getting photos and posts from people who are receiving their rewards, like this one here by Dane:

"I just got my copy of THREE QUESTIONS a novel written by my friend Meagan Adele Lopez. How about this for inspiration - a girl falls in love, moves from LA to the Great Britian, writes a novel, self-publishes it and runs a successful kickstarter campaign to help market it. I LOVE MY TALENTED FRIENDS!!! So proud of you Meagan!!"

Of course, part of the rewards I chose had to do with my collecting photos of YOU. For $199 or more was a photo of your face on my t-shirt for one week. Three people claimed this reward, and the first is being executed as we speak. I have taken it a bit further than originally anticipated. (Two people still need to claim their rewards for this donation – ahem, Amanda and Greg!)

As with most things that I do in life, I went a bit bigger – I couldn’t just wear a t-shirt with a face on it, I had to build a campaign out of it.

Mark Pickett kindly donated moolah, and got this reward. He runs a fantastic startup called Nail Your Mortgage that is looking to disrupt the mortgage space, so we came up with the “Nail It Girl”. She’s a bad ass who runs around the freezing streets of Chicago to take pictures of herself in the “Nail It or Go Home…Actually Do Both” t-shirt in front of gorgeous historical homes.

Today’s photo: (Can you guess where I am? It’s a pretty famous one)

You have to guess where she is, and if you do correctly, the first one to answer wins a $25 gift card!

Just follow the hashtag #nailitgirl on Twitter - it starts at 10AM CST and runs through this Friday! Get your trivia hats on! Hints to follow.

Want some more explanation? Here is the video:

So, two more of these rewards to go! Stay tuned!

Most of the January rewards have gone out – there are still a few things I am waiting to get in the mail. If you haven’t received your January reward (there are some that aren’t due until February), please email me at meagan@ladywholunches.net

Cheers!

Guest Posts & Happy Stuff

Posted on December 15, 2011 by MAL

All this plane flying has given me some time to write a few guest posts on other blogs (stay tuned for another one on Smitten By Britain‘s blog as well).

First up, I got to thinking more and more about why British actors are on our airwaves, and are seemingly better actors than us, the American counterparts.

This is what I came up with on Michelle‘s blog, The American Resident: Are British Actors Better than American Actors?

Then, a year ago, Toni Hargis, a British expat who now lives in Chicago and who met up with us in London during out expat bloggers convention (I’m exaggerating, there were about 6 of us), asked me to write about my repatriation experience.

Finally I got around to writing it: Repatriation: An American’s Story.

She also finished my novel, and wrote a smashing review! (You can read all my current reviews here – be sure to leave one if you haven’t already.)

“Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another “girls-gone-wild” or chic-lit debut novel. Not only is “Three Questions” the delightful love story of American Adele and an Englishman named Guy- it asks surprisingly searching questions of both the characters and the reader.
From the simple – “What is your favorite meal?” to the scary “How would you describe your mom?”, Lopez delves deep into her characters’ hearts and souls. You’ll be rooting for the lovers throughout the book, and you won’t be disappointed with the denouement.”

8 days left before my Kickstarter ends – help me turn my novel into a screenplay through your contributions, and some great rewards (if you haven’t already). Email everyone you know, tweet out to the world, and post on Facebook! We can do this together!

Three Questions: A Kickstarter project

Posted on November 5, 2011 by MAL

I’m about to delve into the world of funding for my novel. I came across the website Kickstarter.com when I was writing for midVentures last year, and interviewed the founder of Chicago-based MINIMAL about his creation of an incredible watch that is made from the iPod Nano. He was the closest ever to almost reach $1million in funding.

The website makes it possible for artists in any category (from design to writing to photography and dance) to make their artistic visions come to life through the help of donors. The success of the Kickstarter campaigns, I believe, come from the rewards that are given to the donors. You can create any type of reward.

For example:

$3 – $9 – Contributors will receive recognition as a Sponsor on the Sponsor page on my website

OR, if you’re more generous, you would receive the following:

$99 – $199 - Contributors will receive recognition as a Sponsor on the Sponsor page on my website with their photo & links to their blog and a signed copy of “Three Questions” in paperback with a handwritten thank you card by moi.

There is also one for slightly higher where I will wear a t-shirt of your face for one week straight, and post it on my blog.

And so on.

Contributors feel like they are a part of the creation of something, and are truly able to get a project off its feet. The Los Angeles Times reported on “recently wed alternative power couple Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer” who are both “figuring out how to survive as creatives in industries rocked by digital change. That’s why they turned to Kickstarter.” In a recent article by Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital, they said “In the Elizabethan era, artists were supported by wealthy patrons; we’re headed back toward that world.” Not that you have to be a wealthy patron to support this kind of thing…but it is fascinating to think that I might have the possibility to truly take my project where I want to take it.

So, if I already published the novel, why do I need more money? Essentially, I was motivated by the phrase “If you write it, they will come” everyday of the two years that I sat down to write my novel. That’s a great phrase to get you up and writing, however, it doesn’t exactly help to sell more books.

I intend to use the money to create a trailer for the novel, to set up a book launch, for marketing materials, a small book tour, and perhaps, for a new cover design. Not only is my goal to sell more books, but I also started a screenplay based on the novel that I would love to finish.

I’m still working out the kinks of it all, and how I’ll do it.

But, I thought I’d ask you guys first, what kind of rewards would you like to see in there? Think big, think small, think in circles – I don’t mind! I want you guys to be a part of this as well!

P.S. My recent press on the Towson Patch is here!