Time to Stop Procrastinating: I Just Backed the Kickstarter.
It may be because you want the nice magazine, or because you want a digital copy to fire up on your phone or tablet while waiting in line at the Secretary of State, or because you enjoy the content of this website and want to continue to support it, or because you want a hard copy roster to refer to in three years when all the players have changed to "legacy" numbers.
But whatever your reason, quit kicking the can down the road and back it. I just did. I hope I get charged.
Good post. Also, a prediction: Brian puts another kickstarter post on the front page, and it gets fully-funded within a half hour.
all of Michigan's football (and basketball) jersey numbers, including the previously non-retired, were already legacies. That's the outcome of Michigan having a lot of wins.
The players, they don't need no stinkin' badges.
Is that waiting in line at the Secretary of State is an awful experience. Now try doing it in Ohio. It's awful. Just awful. Awfully awful indeed. Maybe the worst experience.
So yeah, there's that.
I used the term "Secretary of State" in deference to the substantial quantity of MGoblog readers who are Michigan residents. An even larger portion were Michigan residents at one time (my first 25 years in my case) and are also familiar with the vocabulary.
But in truth the majority of the nation deals not with a "Secretary of State" office but with a vile cesspool of bureacracy known as the "DMV." And in my case there is no bureaucratic experience that I have found more aggravating than the DMV in Lancaster, California. It was a typically sized building with very atypical volumes; I never waited for less than an hour to be called, and it was always completely packed with people. Didn't matter what you needed, either--wait an hour. Sometimes, get instructions, then wait an hour again.
It is possible that I may not have completely cleansed myself of my negative feelings relating to the California DMV.
The Secretary of State near Maple and Dexter is the least unpleasant one I've ever had to wait at. The employees were actually... cheerful? I don't know how else to describe it, though it was the first evidence I've seen that DMV employees retain the capacity to experience positive emotions.
When I moved to Sunnyvale, California last year from DC, I needed a new DL. I went online, made an appointment at the local DMV, showed up, waited about 5 min in the check-in line, waited about 10 min or so after that to be called to take the test, walked out about 20 min. later with my temporary license after getting my pic and fingerprint taken.
Same experience when I bought a used car and had to get the title/registration done. The people working the desk were pleasant, it was crowded but well-staffed, and the lines moved fast.
After years and years of DMV jokes (specifically CA DMV) on late-night television, I have to say I was completely floored at how efficient the whole thing was.
I was one of the early "hyphenateds" and either my birth certificate or my social security card didn't have the hyphen in it because it was a new concept and they didn't have the ability to add it. Try filing taxes electronically and having them bounce back every year saying "the name you used doesn't match the name on your social security card." Then try calling the IRS and getting it resolved- the DMV will seem like a bastion of competence afterwards.
I backed the Kickstarter already and I did so for the same reason I buy Girl Scout cookies from my best friend's 9 year old daughter. I didn't analyze the quality of the cookie, weather i really needed a box of "Do Si Do's" or "Thin Mints" or could find similar cookies elsewhere for a lower price. I bought the damn things cause he's my friend and she's his daughter and anything that helps them out I try to do.
Anybody who spends any time at all on this free website should do likewise IMO. It helps the people who make this forum possible for all of us. That in itself is reason enough for me.
Yeah, at least for me, when you spend a lot of time on a free site that occasionally is the source of information for some pay sites when it comes to certain topics, it seems like you're not getting a bad value right there. For me, the quality and the quantity of information on Michigan athletics that ends up here makes a donation to the Kickstarter a great way to give back a little and I get a nice magazine on one of my favorite topics in exchange.
I think it's kind of cool that we get a chance to contribute to the site while actually getting a tangible product in return. Donations are great and everything, but $15 for a book, some good info, and a partial contribution for all the time I spend here is a pretty good $15 spent.
Thanks for the reminder, I just backed it.
I am sure I am not the only one, but I come to this site everyday and have never sent MGoBlog a dime. It is my joy to do so today because the site brings enjoyment, entertainment, and sancuary to counter some of the daily stresses of life. If you haven't, I encourage you to spend a few minutes and a few $ to back the campaign.
Thanks Brian and the team for all you do. You give us way more that we ever give you.
Fine, fine, fine. I'll back it when I get home tonight. But I'm only doing it because of the App St preview.
Waking up this morning I realized there are sober kids in India, so I doubled the value of my donation.
I'll stop procrastinating and back it tonight, but what I want to know is where was Mgoblog when I needed bail money?
We were in a nearby cell.
Done. I expect to be charged on 6/5/2014 for this project. If not, I am negging everything on 6/6/2014
$50 well spent and I am sure more useful to me than the last 2 dozen things my wife bought on Amazon.
Plus when it's delivered, you can be sure the delivery guy is not there to screw your wife.
I was at the $15 level, but upped my contribution over the weekend. I figure I still owe the site some for what I've consumed, let alone the fact that I plan to keep coming back in the future. Whether or not it is perfect, I'm much happier in a world with both HTTV and MGoBlog than with neither.
Also, there was at least one comment on the other thread on this topic about a more detailed accounting of where "all the money" went the last two years. I'm not exactly sure, but there aren't a ton of people getting fabulously rich at our expense if the whole KS is trying to pass the $30K threshold. I'll take the risk.
My accounting isn't a big secret. This year:
4% of Kickstarter: Kickstarter's take.
$16,000-$20,000 for printing it (printing more copies because we're close to getting a distribution deal)
$7,000 for the t-shirts and mailing kickstarter copies.
$10,000 production/paying authors
1st class Shipping/Sponsorship: a wash.
Post-kickstarter sales/distro: highly variable.
Profit is split 30% to me, 30% to brian, 40% to the blog. The blog is using it for the big site upgrade which is still supposed to be done by next football season.
I made about $6,000 last year on the two books together. That was almost all from football--I ended up doing the basketball book for basically free, which is why we pared it off from football this season. These take at least 1,000 hours of work from me (assigning articles/editing them all/creating layout/handling the finances/picking all photos/writing all captions/getting everyone their stuff/etc etc etc) to make one book, so it's only an efficient use of my time if we end up getting widespread distribution and selling a lot in stores. We use the kickstarter to get to a break-even point on printing and then try to sell what we printed to make it profitable.
I don't want to add my personal problems to the outcome of this Kickstarter--who really fucking cares if I'm making HTTVs and an MGoLiving, or have to get a "real" job--but since I've got adult responsibilities now I need this thing to take off this year.
I personally love this type of insider access to the publishing process and the associated costs (as well as mgoblog's business plan). Hoping the site upgrade actually goes live this year!
The headquarters is getting that long-awaited (and frankly much-needed) third hot tub.
You mean you guys don't like to all fit into the same hot tub together anymore?
Not with our respective entourages in tow.
Invite me into this exclusive club, get Daenerys Targaryen in the hot tub, and I'll make sure you get your 30k.
That just because you have multiple hot tubs, doesn't mean you're consistently using multiple hot tubs. The preferred approach is to all fit in one, shoulder to shoulder, and hip to hip if not thigh to thigh.
But have you ever had a hot tub? I haven't. But I've been told they go on the fritz sometimes. So in that case, if you want to be a real blogging crew, you need two, sometimes three hot tubs just to get by.
And the Barry Manilow music doesn't just put itself on repeat, and if you have to listen to some youtube clip on your iPhone instead of a high quality surround sound system, well, you might as well not even have a blog in the first place.
Brian's office:
Ace, Seth, BiSB & the Mods at work
All those people are wearing PANTS!
Thanks, Seth, for sharing all this info. I think it's some good transparency on your part, although it's probably not really our business who makes what from the book. We don't go into a Meijer or Walgreen's and ask how much of our purchases go to the cashier, manager, pharmacist, etc., so I'm not sure why some people were so insistent on that stuff... Oh well. Thanks again.
Weird that meijer was in your list of examples. They're a pretty transparant company for being a Walmart competitor. Costco is another company that doesn't mind saying "we pay this, we mark up to that, and we make our money how."
I guess the nature of being a blogger making a book is that I fall to the extreme of "I'll tell you my business and you can decide for yourself if it's your business."
Thanks for sharing. I wasn't even looking for the answer. Like I said, I was prepared to risk it. Even so, it is great to see the response because people have no idea what it takes to get something like this together.
It is always easy for those who *don't* produce something to be critical of those that do. Again, my contribution is my way of saying thanks to you and the blog. Good luck with the process. It looks like pretty significant progress over the last 72 hours. Almost over the hump!
It would be "Alanis Morrisette"-worthy "irony" if the Kickstarter gets fully funded with 27 hours remaining.
"Well, we got above the $30k mark, but then a couple of negative-donation plays put us back below the goal."
Be sure to reject any donations from "Hal Gorgeous" from Saline.
OP knows me too well. Backed.
It was at 85% when Stephen started the thread and it's at 89% now so I'd say he's done his good deed for the day.
You guys should give Stephen a point for every dollar raised since he made the post.
Yeah, I made a mental note that it was at $25,744 when he posted the thread. As of this post, his reminder has generated a little over $1,000 in contributions.
That sounds like a pretty unethical quid pro quo.
So we are agreed. A point for every dollar raised.
when StephenrjKing gets his pointbang? Now that the Kickstarter has met the $30,000 goal, I think he's earned that promised bump, plus maybe one of the premium gifts.
I went in about a week ago - let's get this funded! Go Blue
I just made it go to Ninety-ONE percent...from ninety.
Boom.
(Amazing what $15 will do)
Maths tells me that means you donated $300, gangsta! /s
I'm waiting until there is a hour or two left and then deciding if I want to participate. I just haven't been able to talk myself into it yet. The 7-6 debacle of 2013 still looms in the back of my mind.
I would say that the football team's failures should only be one factor in deciding whether or not to buy a copy. Michigan fans are lucky to have a very intelligent group of people producing our yearly preview, and the product that they produce is well worth $15.
In other words, one of the big reasons to buy the preview is to be fully educated about this year's team, and HTTV provides that value in leaps and bounds. I don't think I have ever seen a team-dedicated preview on par with what Brian and the gang produce.
I'm waiting so I can put it over the top and get all the glory that goes with doing it.
On a related note, does anyone know if it is possible to double up on any of the contribution levels? I would really like to just buy two normal HTTVs (rather than a normal HTTV and delayed signed edition) so I can keep one for myself and have the other shipped to my dad.
I suppose I could make a second Kickstarter account, but I'd rather just pay for two copies.