Heartland

So 50% has just been reached by 299 supporters of the book. I'm grateful to them all. Really grateful.

But can we get to 100%? I will be meeting with the publisher Unbound at the end of this month to assess this and to decide whether we continue with the crowdfunding.

Therefore, if there is anybody in this Forum who has been thinking about pledging but hasn't done so yet, this month is the time to do it. After February, you might be too late.

The previous thread on the book had 10,000+ views. If 6% of those translated into a pledge, the book would already funded. Some of those views are obviously pledgers who had been into the thread multiple times, but I'm hoping there are also fans of the band in HL who just haven't pledged yet.

I hope so. The rate of funding has been slow but steady since mid-December. It's actually increased in the last two weeks, so we still keep finding fans who want the book to happen.

I hope we can find some more via the good folks in this forum this month.

https://unbound.com/books/sistersofmercy/

Mark

so on those maths you have £6,000. book needs another 6 Grand to go ahead? if thats right its worth putting it out there in case any rich individuals want to chuck in bigger contributions. a running total perhaps?
probably a vulgar approach to crowd-funding but let's call a spade a spade... after all it's not a world for the weak-hearted .

To be mathematically exact: £8362 raised, £8320 needed. Ah, "the kill shot" as someone termed it in an email me ... the rich bugger with a thing for the Sisters? Anyone got Simon Pegg's email?!

Knock out a few more tempting anecdotes. Drop the Craig/Wayne items on Mish related boards or Troublebook groups and aim the Gunn/Marx ones at the more fundamentalist sites like here, and the previously used Sisters FB sites.

I can't recall seeing any info about the possibility of the book in a mainstream publication like Classic Rock magazine to break out of the tiny ghetto of the g*th online echo chambers.

I wonder if La Huss got an advance, or if not, what might his funding model be?

Send a message to Pegg on twitter.... This book needs to be done....

It's funny how Simon Pegg is(?) or has the shot at becoming the patron saint of the Sisters of Mercy.

MAndrews wrote:To be mathematically exact: £8362 raised, £8320 needed. Ah, "the kill shot" as someone termed it in an email me ... the rich bugger with a thing for the Sisters? Anyone got Simon Pegg's email?!

that wasn't far of for 5 mins wiv me abby-cuss.

but you see my point. if we are all "this ain't happening unless the same amount of people do what we've done already and we're the hardcore following- woe is us oh no book!" it wont happen. apathy is strong with this one master...
but with a visible finish line maybe the terminally-anoraked (who amongst us all must have the most capacious wallets) won't be able to resist?

Swinnow wrote:Knock out a few more tempting anecdotes. Drop the Craig/Wayne items on Mish related boards or Troublebook groups and aim the Gunn/Marx ones at the more fundamentalist sites like here, and the previously used Sisters FB sites.

I can't recall seeing any info about the possibility of the book in a mainstream publication like Classic Rock magazine to break out of the tiny ghetto of the g*th online echo chambers.

I wonder if La Huss got an advance, or if not, what might his funding model be?

That's a good suggestion. What about Vive Le Rock magazine, and the Louder Than War websites too. John Robb (who runs LTW) has been a big supporter (literally and figuratively) of the Sisters in the past as well as independent ventures. Perhaps he'd do a piece on the difficulties of getting this type of project off the ground.

And some (hopefully) constructive criticism re the Excerpts - don't go too niche.

I thought the Quietus pieces were the two best Sisters related pieces of work I've ever read. I'm a paid up pledger (is that a word?) and think if you can make the book anywhere near as good as what you did on the Quietus, it's something I'm going to end up reading and re-reading every few years.

But if I hadn't seen the Quietus, reading an anecdote it about a support band being a bit scared of the bass player's pet snake, I wouldn't necessarily be tempted to pledge. As you say, it's pretty trivial, and maybe just belongs on a forum like Heartland, not as a teaser for a book that at the moment needs a bigger committed audience.

Rather than going with something that may not make the final cut, put up a few pages that definitely will make it into the book so that potential pledgers can get a sample of what they will be paying out for.

Sincerely hope you reach the target, is there a fallback plan if the meeting with the publisher isn't positive?

Can you give more infos about the "curated playlist"? I just hesitate between 2 options...
thanks !

sentenza wrote:Can you give more infos about the "curated playlist"? I just hesitate between 2 options...
thanks !

I will chose songs that make me think of Leeds and The Sisters - some will be fairly obvious (i.e. Sisters' songs; Gang of Four; Mekons, Lorries etc), some less obvious but Sisters related (Elgar, Phllip Glass, Bowie's Cat People) and the downright obscure.

Mothra wrote:

Swinnow wrote:Knock out a few more tempting anecdotes. Drop the Craig/Wayne items on Mish related boards or Troublebook groups and aim the Gunn/Marx ones at the more fundamentalist sites like here, and the previously used Sisters FB sites.

I can't recall seeing any info about the possibility of the book in a mainstream publication like Classic Rock magazine to break out of the tiny ghetto of the g*th online echo chambers.

I wonder if La Huss got an advance, or if not, what might his funding model be?

That's a good suggestion. What about Vive Le Rock magazine, and the Louder Than War websites too. John Robb (who runs LTW) has been a big supporter (literally and figuratively) of the Sisters in the past as well as independent ventures. Perhaps he'd do a piece on the difficulties of getting this type of project off the ground.

And some (hopefully) constructive criticism re the Excerpts - don't go too niche.

I thought the Quietus pieces were the two best Sisters related pieces of work I've ever read. I'm a paid up pledger (is that a word?) and think if you can make the book anywhere near as good as what you did on the Quietus, it's something I'm going to end up reading and re-reading every few years.

But if I hadn't seen the Quietus, reading an anecdote it about a support band being a bit scared of the bass player's pet snake, I wouldn't necessarily be tempted to pledge. As you say, it's pretty trivial, and maybe just belongs on a forum like Heartland, not as a teaser for a book that at the moment needs a bigger committed audience.

Rather than going with something that may not make the final cut, put up a few pages that definitely will make it into the book so that potential pledgers can get a sample of what they will be paying out for.

Sincerely hope you reach the target, is there a fallback plan if the meeting with the publisher isn't positive?

Point taken about 'niche'! The Updates are now just for subscribers though. I'll go more mainstream next time. This book will be better than the tQ pieces - fact. Better researched, for starters. I got zip out of Vive Le Rock and Louder Than War - offered to write them articles - not just on Sisters - for nothing. No reply to my emails. I'm working on getting into other larger media ...

I know it’s not exactly active, but did you send this out to the Dominion list?

MAndrews wrote:Point taken about 'niche'! The Updates are now just for subscribers though. I'll go more mainstream next time. This book will be better than the tQ pieces - fact. Better researched, for starters. I got zip out of Vive Le Rock and Louder Than War - offered to write them articles - not just on Sisters - for nothing. No reply to my emails. I'm working on getting into other larger media ...

That's a shame re LTW. I never heard back from John Robb when I asked him if he'd consider officiating my wedding either. His card is well and truly marked.

I belatedly realised that it's only subscribers that see the updates. Is there a way you can post an extract for those that are on the fence.

That's a very high benchmark you're setting if you're improving on the research on tQ pieces . Good luck with it, I really hope you reach the target.

I was speaking to John Robb a few years ago and he mooted the idea of writing a book similar to Mark's.

It was only a vague notion he'd had, and I don't think he did anything about it. But he did seem to think the subject/concept would be really interesting.

@ Mark - I know John well - if you're still interested (you're probably not ) I can give him a nudge...?

Quiff Boy wrote:@ Mark - I know John well - if you're still interested (you're probably not ) I can give him a nudge...?

Please do give him a nudge. Basically, I'll write him a feature/interview or two for no payment - the standard LTW deal. These don't have to be Sisters-related. And in return LTW mentions the book ... Thanks for the offer.

@mandrews How about having a social media share day (a digital "Rise and Reverberate", if you will) on Sisters' Day (16th Feb), where we all share a link to your page on social media on their own wall and in groups which they belong to on the same day to give the book a boost. You've already added a further 10% within the last week, and another couple of boosts like that and you'll nearly be there! With the book already almost 60% funded, pledgers can be increasingkly sure that their book will be on the way sooner rather than later.

Nikolas Vitus Lagartija wrote:@mandrews How about having a social media share day (a digital "Rise and Reverberate", if you will) on Sisters' Day (16th Feb), where we all share a link to your page on social media on their own wall and in groups which they belong to on the same day to give the book a boost. You've already added a further 10% within the last week, and another couple of boosts like that and you'll nearly be there! With the book already almost 60% funded, pledgers can be increasingkly sure that their book will be on the way sooner rather than later.

Sounds good!

SOCIAL MEDIA SHARE DAY: 16 FEB

This idea comes from the great Sisters researcher and blogger Nikolas Vitus Lagartija (see earlier in this thread).

16 Feb is the day appointed by the band as their birthday. On that day in 1981 they played their first concert. This year The SIsters will therefore be 38 years old on 16 February.

On this day can we all share a link to the "Paint My Name In Black and Gold" page on the Unbound site on our social media, on our own walls and in groups to which we belong to give the book a boost. Nik calls it "a digital Rise and Reverberate."

Momentum has really picked up in the crowdfunding this month. If we can keep this going, that would be great.

Date's in the diary & the phone will yell at me on the day

MAndrews wrote:SOCIAL MEDIA SHARE DAY: 16 FEB

This idea comes from the great Sisters researcher and blogger Nikolas Vitus Lagartija (see earlier in this thread).

16 Feb is the day appointed by the band as their birthday. On that day in 1981 they played their first concert. This year The SIsters will therefore be 38 years old on 16 February.

On this day can we all share a link to the "Paint My Name In Black and Gold" page on the Unbound site on our social media, on our own walls and in groups to which we belong to give the book a boost. Nik calls it "a digital Rise and Reverberate."

Momentum has really picked up in the crowdfunding this month. If we can keep this going, that would be great.

Is it having any effect yet?
It's been tweeted & I've seen loads of retweets

It reached 366 backers and 63% i see
That is 40+ backers in a 3-4 days as i can recall from last visit.

iesus wrote:It reached 366 backers and 63% i see
That is 40+ backers in a 3-4 days as i can recall from last visit.

£459 in one day. Very important. Over £2,500 in Feb, since I made it clear that if people don't pledge, the crowdfunding will get pulled and there will be no book. That momentum will be important when I have the end of the month conversation with Unbound. Thanks to everyone: new pledgers and those who put their hands in their pockets on the first day.

MAndrews wrote:

iesus wrote:It reached 366 backers and 63% i see
That is 40+ backers in a 3-4 days as i can recall from last visit.

£459 in one day.

John Robb has given it a plug:

https://louderthanwar.com/pledge-new-bo ... ing-roots/

Hopefully that puts it in front of a wider audience.