You may know of Kickstarter, the crowdfunding site where you can ask people to finance your invention or, in this case, postcards.
Julian Gough, past winner of the National Short Story Prize, set out to raise $1500 to pay for his trip to Las Vegas, where his next novel is set. He called the project a literary experiment. Forty-eight hours later 148 backers have brought his total to $5108.
Crowdfunding always involves giving your donors or sponsors a reward. In this case, that consists of a PDF version of a new short story, updates on his travels posted on his Kickstarter site, and (for everyone who kicks in more than $10) a postcard from Las Vegas.
So far, 56 backers opted to pledge $25 or more, for which they get the story plus a coffee- or whiskey-stained postcard with "a couple of creative lines about my stay in Vegas." He says, "It may be truth or fiction. You'll never know."
For $40 your postcard will have coffee, beer or whiskey stains plus lipstick. You can also give him a key word to inspire his message on the postcard.
If you want a bullet hole through the postcard, that will run you $100. Yes, eight people have opted for that so far.
Nice work if you can get it!
