Crowdfund your series
Sometimes you need the budget before the book. A crowdfund lets backers pledge toward your series, in tiers made of real assets, and as you make pages, the campaign's progress and its updates feed write themselves. Here's how to run one end to end.
1Build the campaign, by hand or with help
From a project's Crowdfund tab you have two routes. The guided wizard walks you through the story (title, start month, a duration of one to four months, an optional goal, a Markdown pitch and cover), then the tiers, then review and launch. Or hand the whole thing to Muse: it works out which rewards are assets you already have versus placeholders you still need to make, then sets up the tiers, goal, and pitch for you. Edit with FoundryInk lets it go back and change or remove any field later, right in the builder.
2Tiers made of real assets
A tier is a pledge level, and it's a bundle: a backer who pledges to it receives everything in it. Give each tier a name and price, and optionally a description, a poster image, and a video. Then attach the deliverables with the asset picker, a searchable type-ahead across your series. Don't have the issue yet? Create a new issue inline, right there in the builder, as a placeholder. Drag to reorder assets within a tier.
3Launching, and how backers pledge
To go live you need at least one tier with at least one asset, and the platform enforces it. On launch the status flips from draft to live and backers can pledge. A backer saves a card now but is charged at the deadline, not up front. FoundryInk is keep-what-you-raise: the charges run whether or not you hit the goal. Your Backers ledger lists every pledge, backer, tier, amount, date, and card status (saved, charging, captured, failed, or refunded), with totals across the top.
4Progress and updates that write themselves
Progress here is automatic. It is generated from production truth, never typed in by you. Each asset's stage comes from your real page approvals: not started, in production (say, 12 of 20 pages approved), print ready, then completed. A tier's bar is the average of its assets. The public Updates feed is written the same way, auto-posting milestones like Issue #2 reached Print ready, and a green Active now marker appears when there's recent production activity, so backers can see work is happening.
5Preview it, then let people find it
Before you launch, hit Review as backer in the editor: a live preview of the exact public page, tier media, asset progress and all, updating as you edit. A pinned pitch (a free, published asset) headlines the page under the cover, and an interactive kind like a visual novel plays inline. Once live, the campaign surfaces on your studio and series Crowdfunds tabs, in a campaign rail on the series page, and in Browse and Search. Cards show the title, pledged total, goal, a funding bar, and the status: live, funded, failed, fulfilling, or complete.
Quick questions
Their card is saved when they pledge and charged at the campaign deadline, not up front. It's keep-what-you-raise, so charges run whether or not you hit the goal, and backers can't change their mind after the deadline.
No, and that's deliberate. The Updates feed is generated from production truth, posting milestones as your page approvals move forward. It's the platform reporting your real work, which is why backers trust it.
Each asset's stage comes from page approvals: not started, in production (e.g. 12 of 20 pages approved), print ready, then completed. A tier's bar is the average of its assets. Physical fulfilment isn't wired in yet.
No, each asset appears in one tier per campaign. Assets already attached elsewhere (and archived ones) are hidden from the picker, so every reward is distinct.
No. Muse can build the whole campaign, sorting rewards you already have from placeholders you still need, then setting up tiers, goal, and pitch. Edit with FoundryInk lets it change any field afterwards.
Live (taking pledges), funded (goal reached at deadline), failed (deadline passed without the goal), fulfilling (funded, being delivered), and complete (fulfilled). They show publicly on the campaign card.
The next book is funded
Tiers of real work, progress you can't fake, and a keep-what-you-raise finish. Next, sell the art itself.