Novelists can fund their next book by opening a FanBell Wishlist / Project Support goal: name the specific cost — editing, cover design, or a launch budget — set a target amount, and let readers contribute cash directly from a bio link, with no crowdfunding deadline, all-or-nothing threshold, or follower minimum required.
FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and charges a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays (FanBell — Pricing). Stripe's payment processing is charged separately on top of that platform fee; Stripe's published standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction, with different rates for international cards and other payment methods (Stripe — Pricing).
A recurring reader message for many novelists is some version of "when does the next book come out?" or "how can I help you finish it?" — the same question webcomic artists field from readers waiting on the next installment, which is why how webcomic artists fund their next chapter follows a similar playbook. Traditional publishing answers that question with an advance, and self-publishing answers it out of the author's own savings — but book income is not reliable either way. The Authors Guild's 2023 Author Income Survey, based on responses from 5,699 published authors, found that full-time authors had a median book income of $10,000 and total median author-related income of $20,000 in 2022 (Authors Guild — Key Takeaways from the 2023 Author Income Survey). A funding goal that readers can contribute to directly, without a publisher deal or a crowdfunding campaign, gives novelists a third option: ask for support toward one clearly named cost.
What is FanBell's Wishlist / Project Support for novelists?
FanBell's Wishlist / Project Support is a cash-toward-a-goal tool: a novelist names one specific target, such as a developmental edit or a cover commission, sets a target amount, and readers send money toward it directly from a link in bio. Each contribution moves a visible progress bar on that novelist's FanBell page (FanBell — How it works).
A Wishlist / Project Support goal is not a store, a pre-order, or a book box — readers are not buying a shipped product or a tiered reward package. A goal is closer to a tip jar with a stated purpose: readers see what the money is for and how close the goal is to funded. A FanBell goal has no all-or-nothing threshold — there is no requirement to hit the full target before contributions count — and no fixed campaign window that forces a launch date. A novelist can leave a goal open for months while writing, or reset it for the next project once the current one is funded (Project Support) — the same reset-and-relaunch pattern behind how cosplayers fund their next build between conventions.
How is fan-funded book support different from Kickstarter?
FanBell's Project Support differs from a Kickstarter book campaign in three structural ways: no all-or-nothing funding threshold, no fixed campaign end date, and no campaign to relaunch between books. The fee stacks differ as well — Kickstarter charges a 5% platform fee plus 3–5% payment processing on successfully funded projects, while FanBell charges a 12% platform fee plus Stripe's separate processing on each contribution.
Kickstarter states that funding on its platform is all-or-nothing: "If a campaign ends without reaching its funding goal, no money changes hands. Backers are not charged, and the creator receives no funds" (Kickstarter Help — Why is funding all-or-nothing?). Kickstarter's fee page states that successfully funded projects pay a 5% Kickstarter fee plus payment processing fees of between 3% and 5% (Kickstarter — Fees). Kickstarter also caps campaign length: projects "can last anywhere from 1 day, to a maximum of 60 days," and Kickstarter recommends 30 days or less (Kickstarter Help — What is the maximum project duration?).
Kickstarter is a strong fit for a single, big, time-boxed book launch: Kickstarter's own 2025 year in review reports that its Publishing category raised more than $45 million in 2025, its second-biggest publishing year ever (Kickstarter — A Year in Review: 2025 Highlights). A 60-day campaign cap is a worse fit for a novelist who wants a standing "help fund the next book" option that stays live between releases without resetting a campaign each time — which is the gap an always-open Project Support goal fills.
| Funding path | Fee/cost structure | Deadline model | Minimum required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional publisher advance | No platform fee; the publisher pays an advance against royalties and the author earns no royalties until the advance "earns out" (Authors Guild), under a grant of rights to the publisher | Tied to a signed contract, not a campaign | Most large trade publishers require a literary agent; Penguin Random House's own guide lists "Find a literary agent" as step two of getting published |
| Kickstarter campaign | 5% Kickstarter fee plus 3–5% payment processing on funded projects | All-or-nothing: campaigns that miss the goal collect nothing (Kickstarter Help) | No follower minimum, but a fixed campaign length of 1 to 60 days (Kickstarter Help) |
| FanBell Wishlist / Project Support | 12% platform fee when a fan contributes, plus Stripe processing charged separately at a published US standard rate of 2.9% + 30¢ | No deadline or funding threshold; the goal stays open | No follower minimum |
How much does it typically cost to publish a novel?
Self-publishing a novel typically costs a few thousand dollars, varying by genre, length, and how much the author outsources. Reedsy's self-publishing cost guide estimates a total self-publishing budget of $2,940 to $5,660, with professional cover design averaging $930 (Reedsy — How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish a Book?).
Reedsy's $2,940–$5,660 range is exactly the kind of cost a Project Support goal is built for: specific, finite, and easy for a novelist to name plainly to readers. "$930 toward my cover artist" reads differently to a reader than a vague "support my writing" ask. A goal does not need to cover an entire publishing budget either — some novelists fund only the piece that is hardest to pay out of pocket, such as a developmental editor, and cover formatting or ISBN costs themselves. Print-format novelists weighing a physical run face a comparable line item, which is the same cost how comic creators fund a print run walks through.
How much money do novelists make from a single book?
Book income is uneven and mostly modest, which is why reader-funded support works better as a supplement than as a replacement for other income. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $76,910 for the "writers and authors" occupation in May 2025, a category that spans technical, corporate, and editorial writing roles rather than book authors alone.
Book-specific income runs far lower. The Authors Guild's 2023 Author Income Survey reports that the median book income across all 5,699 surveyed authors, part-time included, was $2,000 for 2022, and that full-time self-published authors had a median book income of $12,800 that year.
"The median author income for full-time authors from their books was $10,000 in 2022, and their total median earnings from their book and other author-related income combined was $20,000." — Authors Guild, Key Takeaways from the 2023 Author Income Survey
Those Authors Guild figures describe the industry broadly, not any individual novelist's outcome, and reader contributions on FanBell should be read the same way — a direct, optional way for existing readers to help fund a specific named cost, not a projected or guaranteed income stream.
What should a novelist's funding goal actually name?
A novelist's funding goal should name one concrete, finite cost — a developmental edit, a cover commission, an audiobook narration — rather than "support my writing career" in general. Kickstarter's creator handbook gives crowdfunding creators the same advice about scoping a goal to a defined amount of work.
"Your funding goal should be the minimum amount you need to make what you promised and fulfill all rewards." — Kickstarter Creator Handbook, Funding
Common goals for novelists include:
- A developmental edit or line edit for the manuscript in progress.
- A cover design commission for the next release.
- A formatting and proofreading pass before publishing.
- A launch-week ad or newsletter budget to get the book in front of readers.
- Audiobook narration for an existing title that doesn't have one yet.
Each of those five goals is bounded: each has a real quoted cost and a clear finish line, which is what separates a book-funding goal from an open-ended "buy me a coffee" style ask — the same specificity behind how travel creators fund a next trip. For a full walkthrough of setting the goal amount and writing the page itself, see how to create a Project Support goal.
Should novelists combine a funding goal with other paid offers?
A book-funding goal does not have to be the only paid option on a novelist's FanBell page. FanBell lets a creator publish several offer types on one page — Project Support, Creator Services, Paid Private Questions, Tips, and Personalized Shoutouts — and keeping each offer scoped to one purpose keeps the page easy for a reader to act on.
Paid offers that commonly sit next to a book-funding goal:
- Creator Services: paid manuscript feedback, a first-pages critique, or a custom fanfiction commission for readers who want something written specifically for them.
- Paid Private Questions: a quick, text-only answer about the writing process, publishing path, or the next book's timeline.
- Tips: a no-strings way for a reader who enjoyed a free chapter or newsletter to say thanks without buying anything specific.
- Personalized Shoutouts: a short recorded message for a reader's book club or launch-day celebration.
BookTok creators who field constant "what should I read next?" requests may find that a paid reading-list service, not a funding goal, is the better fit for that specific ask — see selling custom reading lists as a BookTok creator for that offer. For a broader breakdown of which FanBell tool fits which writer request, the best FanBell offer for writers compares all five side by side.
How do you set up a book-funding goal on FanBell?
Setting up a book-funding goal on FanBell takes four steps: enable Project Support in the FanBell dashboard, name the specific cost the goal covers, set a target amount, and publish the page so readers can contribute. Creating a FanBell page is free, with no monthly fee and no follower minimum.
Novelists coming from social platforms with book content — BookTok, Bookstagram, a newsletter, or a Discord server — link their FanBell page from their bio and mention the goal directly when readers ask about the next release. FanBell does not read or plug into any platform's DMs; creators redirect readers to the link themselves. Pairing the funding goal with the writer persona page at FanBell for writers and BookTok creators is a useful starting point for seeing how a goal fits alongside other reader-facing offers.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about reader-funded book goals cover three things: whether a following is required, how a FanBell goal differs from a Kickstarter campaign, and exactly what fees come out of a reader's contribution. Short answers to each are below, with the fee stack stated in full.
Do I need a following to start a book-funding goal?
No. FanBell has no follower minimum for Wishlist / Project Support or any other offer. A goal can be useful with a small, engaged readership just as much as a large one.
Is Project Support the same as a Kickstarter campaign?
No. A Kickstarter project is a single, time-boxed, all-or-nothing campaign that can run for 1 to 60 days and pays a 5% Kickstarter fee plus 3–5% payment processing when it funds. A FanBell Project Support goal has no deadline and no funding threshold, and it costs a 12% platform fee plus Stripe processing only when a reader actually contributes.
Can I fund more than one book at a time?
A FanBell goal should describe one specific cost at a time so readers know exactly what they are contributing to. A novelist juggling more than one project can update the goal's name and description once the current goal is funded, rather than combining two asks into a single unclear goal.
What exactly comes out of a reader's contribution?
Two fees come out of each contribution, and both apply only when a reader actually pays. FanBell charges a 12% platform fee per paid transaction, with no monthly fee and nothing owed on an unfunded or inactive goal. Stripe charges its own payment processing separately, at a published US standard rate of 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction, with different rates for international cards and other payment methods.
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