Crowdfunding: How Neil Gaiman Saved My Campaign

I've been teasing this story for a while, and it's time to tell it. This is the story of my last crowdfunding campaign and how it was kinda saved - and definitely helped - by Neil Gaiman.

Source: Wikimedia. Credit: Kyle Cassidy
I've known Neil for close to 20 years now. In the late nineties/early aughts, I was the sff editor at his local publisher at the time, Opus Press. As such, when people wanted permission to publish one of his stories, they'd come to me, and I'd go to him. After a bit, he said "basically, the answer's yes, just don't give away the farm." Meaning reputable fan sites could translate and publish the occasional story, but not enough to ruin the possibility of a collection being translated and published.

Some time later, I was one of the GoH crew when Neil was here as Guest of Honor at our large annual sff convention, ICon, and that was quite an experience. And later, I got to translate some of his work for various publishers, notably the first volume of The Sandman and THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE.

The cover of the Israeli edition of OCEAN
Neil has also been following me on twitter for years, and will occasionally retweet something of mine, which is very exciting. And, yes, even though it's been years, I still check every once in a while.

When I started my crowdfunding campaign, I knew I wanted help from author pals. I contacted some via email or facebook or twitter, and was able to get some cool rewards. But I wasn't able to get a hold of Neil.

This is not a surprise. The sheer volume of incoming messages Neil gets is STAGGERING. Unfathomable. I've learned that the key is to send him a DM when I know he's on twitter, but he'll often post and close the app.

It was days before the end of the campaign, and I still had a ways to go to reach my goal. It wasn't impossible. When a campaign reaches the end, crazy things happen. People who care will put in extra money and get their friends involved. But it certainly wasn't a done deal.

And then I saw that Neil had posted that he did a stealth signing at an airport bookstore. He does this, sometimes. Walk in, sign his name on his books, tweet it out, so fans will know. I said to myself "Self, this is your opportunity. People at airports are BORED, and he had enough time to go signing." I sent him a message with my request.

He got back to me quickly, and offered a rare, signed edition of his novel Stardust. Wow!

Image: Easton Press.

I set up a facebook auction. Highest bidder wins, and then I add the book for that amount in the crowdfunding page and they buy it. The auction was until midnight, with a 5 minute window after each bid once we've reached midnight.

Over on my facebook page, I am holding an auction for a rare, Easton Press edition of Stardust, donated by @neilhimself (because he is the best) for the Nova Press crowdfunding campaign. Highest bidder sets the price, then it goes on Headstart. https://t.co/c06JAZuKiR

Didi Chanoch (@didic) November 27, 2017

During the day, it was exciting and fun to see the bidding go up. But I knew someone was lurking in the wings, intent on outbidding anyone else. This is someone with a tattoo on the back of the neck with the name of Stardust character Yvaine. It's her favorite novel. Close to midnight, the action got crazy. Another fan was set on getting the book. At midnight, we were around 6,000 ILS. And then it got BONKERS. Within 10 minutes, the bidding closed at 12,000 ILS. That's about $3,500 from the super fan. Wow. Stunning. This put my campaign over finish line, and I posted my stretch goal.

And then I tweeted about it, @ ing Neil, of course. I wrote about the close, tense auction and how excited I was.

That's when Neil DM'd me to ask if I wanted A SECOND BOOK FOR THE RUNNER UP. But only if they make a respectable offer. By now it was pretty late, and I messaged the runner up. We weren't friends on fb, so I sent a friend request, and also posted with a mention for people to tell him I need to talk to him URGENTLY.

Fotunately, he had not gone to bed. He bid 8,000ILS for a rare, signed copy of NEVERWHERE. Done.

The cake of victory. This is a screenshot from the crowdfunding campaign, in edible paper.
The campaign had made 20,000ILS (a little under $6,000) from Neil Gaiman's contributions. The first stretch goal was swiftly reached (if I'd known Neil was going to add a second book, it would have been set higher), and a second one was set. It was not reached, but I was fine with it.

So so happy to help! https://t.co/tp6cYFhjnx

Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 27, 2017

When the campaign ended, it had raised 65,000ILS, which is exactly 20,000ILS over the original goal. Would it have reached the original goal without the fervor raised by the bidding? Who knows. Quite possibly. As I wrote, the ends of campaigns are highly unpredictable.

The takeaway here, other than "Neil Gaiman is awesome," is to never give up. Amazing things can happen if you keep trying. And that's not just true in crowdfunding.