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My friend Travis Corcoran recently ran a very successful Kickstarter — $95k+ raised — for a book called Escape the City which is a practical guide to the non-fa

My friend Travis Corcoran recently ran a very successful Kickstarter — $95k+ raised — for a book called Escape the City which is a practical guide to the non-fantasy version of this dream. > Seven years ago I moved from the city to a farm where I taught myself to garden, raise animals & cook "farm to table". I show you how. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tjic/escape-the-city-a-how-to-homesteading-guide/description https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tjic/escape-the-city-a-... If you're interested there's a button on the Kickstarter page to buy copies via BackerKit. IIRC you get immediate access to a GitHub repo with most of the book already in it, although don't quote me on that.

voldacar 6y ago
I saw his interview on justin murphy's podcast - he seems like a super interesting guy! Glad to hear the book is doing well
LunaSea 6y ago
Why would someone need 90K to write a book while already having a profession? Interviewing three people is also apparently worth 5K. And the book's photos are black & white ...
- pjc50 6y ago
  For the same reason as raising a billion dollars of series A funding: it's not about what you need it's about what people will give you. Despite all the defensive language, kickstarters are really pre-sales. 90k sales for a book is very respectable but not overwhelming. It means he's found a great market for this book.
- TuringNYC 6y ago
  To determine whether there is a market for the book, not via soft commits like "interest" but with hard commits like pre-sales
- tjic 6y ago
  Author of "Escape the City" here. I didn't "need" $90k to write the book. I chose to sell copies of a book, at typical book prices. Thousands of people chose to buy the book. That's where the $90k number comes from. > And the book's photos are black & white ... "The food is terrible...and the portions are so small". The wonderful thing about the free market is that those who want to buy a thing can, and those who don't, need not. Cheers!
  - LunaSea 6y ago
    > I chose to sell copies of a book, at typical book prices. If we want to be technical you weren't selling copies of a book, you were selling the promise of finished copies of a book. > "The food is terrible...and the portions are so small". It's great to see how you take valid criticism. > The wonderful thing about the free market is that those who want to buy a thing can, and those who don't, need not. Absolutely correct. However, that doesn't prevent me from expressing valid criticism. But good on you for writing this book. I think it's a very interesting topic and will probably buy a copy. I just wish people were a bit more honest about their goals sometimes.
  - thegjp210 6y ago
    Comments like this are why I love HN. Will order.
- bluntfang 6y ago
  Always good to look at "How To" books with a healthy dose of skepticism. Probably more relevant to the "get rich quick" type books, because if they got rich quick, why would they be selling a book to give away their secrets? Although I find things like farming and agriculture and outdoors to have a less capitalistic shade and more of a genuine "i want to help people achieve their goals and not die" shade.
  - tjic 6y ago
    This is an excellent point @bluntfang. I'll be very upfront: homesteading is a money losing proposition. It's a consumption good - it costs more than any (monetary) profit it brings. And my writing about it is ALSO money losing. I'm a coder. When I write and sell novels, the opportunity cost is huge - at an hourly rate, I lose about 90% of what I could otherwise be making coding. Writing about homesteading is much better - I only lose about 50% of what I could otherwise be making. I write because (a) I am more driven to create and share my ideas with people than I am to make a marginal dollar, (b) I am ideologically in favor of people moving to the countryside and living a different lifestyle, so writing is an ideological / political choice.
- emilecantin 6y ago
  The kickstarter was for 2K, which seems like a reasonable "minimum sales" target to start a printing run. The fact that 90K was raised seems to prove there is demand for that kind of book.
dkarp 6y ago
thanks! I've placed an order

voldacar 6y ago

I saw his interview on justin murphy's podcast - he seems like a super interesting guy! Glad to hear the book is doing well

LunaSea 6y ago

Why would someone need 90K to write a book while already having a profession? Interviewing three people is also apparently worth 5K. And the book's photos are black & white ...

pjc50 6y ago
For the same reason as raising a billion dollars of series A funding: it's not about what you need it's about what people will give you. Despite all the defensive language, kickstarters are really pre-sales. 90k sales for a book is very respectable but not overwhelming. It means he's found a great market for this book.
TuringNYC 6y ago
To determine whether there is a market for the book, not via soft commits like "interest" but with hard commits like pre-sales
tjic 6y ago
Author of "Escape the City" here. I didn't "need" $90k to write the book. I chose to sell copies of a book, at typical book prices. Thousands of people chose to buy the book. That's where the $90k number comes from. > And the book's photos are black & white ... "The food is terrible...and the portions are so small". The wonderful thing about the free market is that those who want to buy a thing can, and those who don't, need not. Cheers!
- LunaSea 6y ago
  > I chose to sell copies of a book, at typical book prices. If we want to be technical you weren't selling copies of a book, you were selling the promise of finished copies of a book. > "The food is terrible...and the portions are so small". It's great to see how you take valid criticism. > The wonderful thing about the free market is that those who want to buy a thing can, and those who don't, need not. Absolutely correct. However, that doesn't prevent me from expressing valid criticism. But good on you for writing this book. I think it's a very interesting topic and will probably buy a copy. I just wish people were a bit more honest about their goals sometimes.
- thegjp210 6y ago
  Comments like this are why I love HN. Will order.
bluntfang 6y ago
Always good to look at "How To" books with a healthy dose of skepticism. Probably more relevant to the "get rich quick" type books, because if they got rich quick, why would they be selling a book to give away their secrets? Although I find things like farming and agriculture and outdoors to have a less capitalistic shade and more of a genuine "i want to help people achieve their goals and not die" shade.
- tjic 6y ago
  This is an excellent point @bluntfang. I'll be very upfront: homesteading is a money losing proposition. It's a consumption good - it costs more than any (monetary) profit it brings. And my writing about it is ALSO money losing. I'm a coder. When I write and sell novels, the opportunity cost is huge - at an hourly rate, I lose about 90% of what I could otherwise be making coding. Writing about homesteading is much better - I only lose about 50% of what I could otherwise be making. I write because (a) I am more driven to create and share my ideas with people than I am to make a marginal dollar, (b) I am ideologically in favor of people moving to the countryside and living a different lifestyle, so writing is an ideological / political choice.
emilecantin 6y ago
The kickstarter was for 2K, which seems like a reasonable "minimum sales" target to start a printing run. The fact that 90K was raised seems to prove there is demand for that kind of book.

dkarp 6y ago

thanks! I've placed an order