Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a website that is used to crowdsource fundraising for entrepreneurs and their projects, also called crowdfunding. It is particularly popular for creative projects, due to its ability to connect creators directly to their fandoms and help to monetise independent projects that might not otherwise find mainstream success. 
For this reason, many fans also use it to fund fan projects.
==Some Features Fans Find Attractive==
==Similar Sites==
*Indiegogo
*Patreon
*GoFundMe
*Ko-Fi
==History==
Kickstarter, which went online in 2009, was originally used to fund industrial design campaigns, small indie projects and to a lesser extent, charity causes. As of April 2012, the average amount received by film/video projects was $8k, and $5k for music-related campaigns.Three Years of Kickstarter Projects at NYTimes.com, April 30, 2012; accessed Sept 19, 2021
In 2012, Amanda Palmer broke site records by raising $1m for an album/book/tour project.Amanda Palmer Kickstarter finishes with record-breaking $1 million at TheVerge.com, June 2, 2012; accessed Sept 19, 2021. Her crowd-funding and use of the money was the subject of much discussion in fandom and on the wider internet.Amanda Palmer’s Accidental Experiment with Real Communism on The New Yorker, October 2, 2012; accessed Sept 19, 2021: Amanda Palmer, the singer who raised a spectacular sum on Kickstarter to fund her new solo album and then asked for volunteers to play with her for no pay when she went on tour with her band, Grand Theft Orchestra, a few months later, is the Internet’s villain of the month.
Another ground-breaking fandom-related project funded on the site was the Veronica Mars movie in 2013, which reached its $2m goal in 12 hours and went on to raise $5.7m total.Kickstarter funding brings ‘Veronica Mars’ movie to life on CNBC.com, March 12, 2013; accessed Sept 19, 2021Veronica Mars Kickstarter Breaks Records, Raises Over $2M in 12 Hours on Wired.com, March 14, 2013; accessed Sept 19, 2021 
This prompted many experts to wonder if it was the start of a new era in crowd-funding, in film production, and whether it would shift the relationship between fans and TPTB towards fan service at the detriment of 'quality'.Will The "Veronica Mars" Kickstarter Revolutionize Indie Film? on BuzzFeed.com, March 20, 2013; accessed Sept 19, 2021Did Veronica Mars Ruin Kickstarter? on Slate.com, March 15, 2013; accessed Sept 19, 2021'Veronica Mars' & Kickstarter: Is this the future of movie financing? in EW.com, March 16, 2014; accessed Sept 19, 2021‘Veronica Mars’ a fine bit of fan service, but not much else on PopOptiq.com, 2014; accessed Sept 19, 2021Joss Whedon: What the 'Veronica Mars' Kickstarter Means for 'Firefly' on ScreenRant.com, March 15, 2013; accessed Sept 19, 2021‘Veronica Mars’ Already Did Fan Service. Now It Can Just Be Itself. on TheRinger.com, July 19, 2019; accessed Sept 19, 2021
==Some Fanworks and Fan Projects That Have Utilized Kickstarter==
* Pesterchum
===Webcomics===
===Zines===
* Not Without You, a Steve/Bucky zine
* Yuri-on-Ice art zine
* Hannibal fanzines
===Video Games===
* Homestuck video game (Not a project by fans, but intended for fans of the game)
* Hatoful Boyfriend
* While not a video game per se, 'Pokemon Go Home' is a fan project based on the popular mobile game Pokémon Go, which was designed to promote community engagement in Birmingham, UK using the game.
=== Web Series, Films & Documentaries===
*The web series A Finger Slip, an adaptation of the popular John/Sherlock fanfic A Finger Slip by Pawtal, was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter in March 2014. It raised $17,386 of its $10,000 goal.A Finger Slip: Web Series on Kickstarter. Accessed September 5, 2017.
*Looking for Leia, a documentary about "the girls and women of Star Wars fandom", was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter in August 2017. It raised $29,546 of its $25,000 goal and was featured as a "Project We Love" by the Kickstarter staff.Looking for Leia on Kickstarter. Accessed September 5, 2017.
*Star Trek Continues, a fan-created web series continuation of Star Trek: The Original Series' third season, raised portions of its funding through successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns.Star Trek Continues: Kickstarter Campaigns, Wikipedia. Accessed December 18, 2017.
* Critical Role funded an animated version of their early adventures
* Ramshackle funded an animated version of the webcomic.
===Musicals & Theatre===
* A fan-made Kingdom Hearts parody musical, Fandom Hearts 2, was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter in June 2016. It raised CA$1,005 of its CA$1,000 goal to stage a production of the musical in Toronto's Buddies in Bad Times indie theatre.Fandom Hearts 2 - A Fanmade Kingdom Hearts Parody Musical on Kickstarter. Accessed September 5, 2017.
==Projects About Fandom==
* Slash, an independent film about a teen boy who discovers slash fanfiction online, was successfully funded via Kickstarter in 2015, raising $45,232 of its $45,000 goal.Slash – a teen comedy about erotic fan fiction on Kickstarter. Accessed September 5, 2017. The project, which was conceived by a straight, male director who is not in fandom, caused some controversy among fans who felt the film misrepresented slash and erased the female history of the genre. Aja Romano wrote about these issues for the Daily Dot in an article entitled, 'New Kickstarter for a slash fiction film unsettles the fandom community'.
==Fan Comments==
===Pro===
In 2013, a number of meta pieces were written in response to criticism of the Veronica Mars movie campaign: 
===Con===
==References==