Thread: *Completed!* The Lucid Dreamer's Guide to the Cosmos

Hi All:

Join me over at reddit for an AMA - happening now... https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreami...author_of_are/

The percentage is a good idea, would definitely be a good incentive to a potential backer. I don't recall seeing any other campaigns offer that before, I haven't really looked at hundreds of campaigns though, but might want to check if it's allowed under Kickstarter's TOS. Micro investing sites are starting to pop up on the internet, allowing the everyday person to invest small amounts into companies. I think I remember hearing that kickstarter was planning on getting into that industry.

Another suggestion for the luxury reward, perhaps also give physical copies of future books in the series in addition to ebook copies.

@DanielLove Do you think the mods of r/luciddreaming would be open to stickying one of your threads, that way it'd stay on top of all the other threads and would catch a lot more eyes. If Kickstarter would mark it as a "Project We Love" that would definitely bring in more traffic. Have you contacted Stephen LaBerge or Robert Waggoner about potentially sharing the project with their contacts?

And darn! I forgot about the AMA! I knew there was something I was forgetting earlier today, should have made a reminder. I actually had a pretty decent question too. Great AMA though!

@sageous & @Mismagius - Mismagius, you're absolutely right - while Sageous idea was a good one, I've looked into it and it appears it would be breaking Kickstarter rules. So sadly it's not possible.

The idea of further physical books in the series is a good one and something I've thought about for a long time. Unfortunately no matter how inventive I've been with the budget, I've not found a way to balance the books to make it possible - short of having pitched the entire project for multiple books. I wish this was something that was possible.

The idea about a sticky thread at reddit is a good one, I'll have a word with LucidSage, he may be able to do something. I think they'll probably be a little more open to the idea after the AMA and what with the recent popularity of the Saint-Deny free ebook thread.

Getting Kickstarter to mark it as a "project we love" seems to be an exercise in the mystic arts! My last KS project didn't get marked as this until months after it had completed. I've honestly no idea what their logic behind these things are. Perhaps if people could all contact KS via tweets etc. that may draw their attention to it and make this happen?

I've been in contact with Rob and he did a shout out a while back, he's not got the largest social media following - but it was kind of him to do so. LaBerge has become a bit of a hermit these days and is surprisingly difficult to contact, I'll get in touch with Keelin, as she's normally quite quick to respond and perhaps she can get the message through. All great ideas though, thank you!

Here are a few more ideas I'd like to run past you all:

Firstly: reducing the price of the Hardbacks - they seem to have had no backers so far, so I'm assuming they're not priced attractively. I think I could probably reduce the pledge amount required for these if I reduce the contingency budget. It may inspire a few paperback backers to upgrade.

Secondly: Extending the free copy of "Are You Dreaming?" to run for the entirety of the campaign.

What are your thoughts?
Personally I feel these might help a little.

There's a new update and rewards over at the campaign page - check them out when you have a moment.

I've also a few new ideas on project promotion over these vital last weeks - I'll keep you all up to date as and when things are ready!

How is everyone?

Originally Posted by Sageous

Hmm ... Maybe if you hand-write that copy of the book in your own blood...

doppelplus lol

Originally Posted by DanielLove

The alternative or an additional reward option is to offer a company the chance to sponsor the project.

If this is allowed by Kickstarter, perhaps this could bring in some significant funds! It could be some combination of a page in the book (or portion of the back cover) with their message and a link to their website plus perhaps advertising on the project website. The advertising levels could be tiered to allow some smaller businesses or websites to participate along with maybe some larger corporate sponsor who may really only care about a "competitively priced" block of advertising.

Hey everyone,

Sorry I've been a little quiet here recently, there's been so much to do!
I'm still working hard to try and make this dream a reality, and I really appreciate all those who are involved doing everything you can to make this happen!

I'm positive that one way or another we'll get there - and all I can ask is that you continue to remain absolutely awesome and keep steadily pushing to get the word out.

On a completely unrelated note, well kind of, have you all seen the latest Coldplay video?
Regardless of what you think of their music, their latest video has some of the most beautiful dreamlike imagery I've seen for a long time (personally I like this tune, it's nice and positive, good motivational music and perfect message for the campaign).

Check it out...

https://youtu.be/BPNTC7uZYrI

What awesome visuals!! That has to be an all-time favorite. The school of fish swimming in the sky reminded me of an awesome lucid trigger I once experienced (a goldfish floating/swimming in the air in my office).

Regarding the campaign. I was thinking that if someone did step up at the hero level (1 spot), there could still be a good size gap in funding without some other significant backings. I have noticed an encouraging increase in number of backers recently, but they seem to be at the smaller contribution levels since the funds total didn't go up that much. There are 2 backers at the £1,000 level, which is quite impressive. I wonder if they or others might consider something between that level and the £5,000 hero level, in case they didn't quite feel that they could do the £5,000. That might be a touchy ask for current contributors, but £1,000 was originally the top contribution level, so who knows. Perhaps they were previously looking for an opportunity to increase their contribution level and missed the custom and hero options added later. I personally love the custom idea, to basically mix and match or add what you like.

Very cool, and dreamy, video, Daniel; thanks for sharing!

Hi all,

Yes it does seem to be quite a mountain to climb at the moment. There are a few events going on in the background that may help tip the balance over the weekend. On in particular is the 33rd annual IASD dream conference in Holland this weekend. Dr Keith Hearne, who is very passionate about the project, has told me he'll be doing whatever he can to promote and gather interest at the event. As he's a keynote speaker and, obviously, a very well respected and important figure, hopefully his influence will create a buzz.

There are also a few other groups that will be discussing the campaign with the intention to promote and/or back the project. So there is hope, it may just come at the last moment.

So absolutely don't lose hope, there's a good deal going on! Also, as you may all be able to tell, I'm a man with a deep passion for lucid dreaming and I'm someone who likes to have various contingency plans. So one way or another, we'll make things happen. Ideally, we'll just reach the goal and things will run smoothly from thereon, failing that, I'll be running a few alternative ideas past you all.

Let's all assume that our collective passions and effort will be a success - and keep doing all we can to promote and share the campaign.

I may be a little quieter over the coming few days - as I've invested so much time and energy into this project so far, that I'm having to force myself to take a few more breaks than I have been so far; else there's the risk of burning out or making mistakes - neither of which are beneficial. Also, time to think is essentially when trying to plan effective strategies - so I'm just putting a little more of my day aside for that purpose.

So, how and what have you guys been up to in these regards? Is there anything any of you need my help with?

Originally Posted by DanielLove

personally I like this tune, it's nice and positive, good motivational music and perfect message for the campaign).

Check it out...

https://youtu.be/BPNTC7uZYrI

Oh yeah this is goooood!

Doing what I can, however small to get the message out and hoping for up and ups for the Lucid dream world. Thanks Daniel

Fantastic music video, thanks for sharing it! I love surreal imagery like that. That has to be the best music video I've seen in a long time. Most music videos nowadays aren't very good, so it's always great to see one that's done as well as this one. I've always liked Coldplay, it seems a lot of lucid dreamers associate their song Paradise with lucid dreaming.

I recently ran across this beautiful image of Saturn https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/resources/7380/

Just two more backers until the campaign hits a hundred backers! I read that kickstarters will often get a lot of pledges near the end of the campaign from people that wait to back until it's almost over, so hopefully it'll get a flood of pledges soon. I think I'll edit the thread title and add something like "7 days left!", it may grab some member's attention who have yet to see it.

Originally Posted by DanielLove

Getting Kickstarter to mark it as a "project we love" seems to be an exercise in the mystic arts! My last KS project didn't get marked as this until months after it had completed. I've honestly no idea what their logic behind these things are. Perhaps if people could all contact KS via tweets etc. that may draw their attention to it and make this happen?

Oh haha, that's quite odd, I had seen that it was marked but didn't realize they did it after the campaign was over. Perhaps they wanted to highlight it as a interesting project regardless of status or maybe there was a glitch and it was supposed to be marked earlier.

I tweeted to @Kickstarter, if anyone with a twitter account here wants to you can either retweet my tweet to @kickstarter or send a new tweet their way: https://twitter.com/Mismagius_DV/sta...85294225870848

There's several other ways they could feature it that would really help, like making it a Project of The Day or tweeting it out to their 1 million+ followers.

I would donate more than my paltry amount but I am but a poor unemployed student :p. I wish I could though and hope those events over the weekend provide a big boost.

Originally Posted by DanielLove

if you are outside of the EU...

might need to update this post, post BrExit

One good thing is foreign contribution now much cheaper in terms of Pounds

Maybe you should be hitting up Japanese dream groups

Using Facebook Advert you can target to all audiences who read Lucid Dream related books also FanPages like Charlie Morley, Robert Waggoner, FB FanPage of YouTube channels related to Lucid Dream. Those are very passionate people and great target audience. I have set before an advert 1 min long for other niche. I optimised the campaign and I got £0.02 for first 10 sec view, (for each unique view). Thought for other niche could be slightly more.

If need help of setting up the campaign. I am happy to suggest.

@Mismagius - That's a great image of Saturn, I also stumbled across it the other day - I expect we're probably both following the same NASA account on twitter - I just also wanted to thank you for your continued and amazing support of the project, so far you've been one of the most active and fantastic members of the project. I really think that without your help my motivation would have fizzled out quite some time ago, so I just thought I'd let you know that it's really been something I've noticed and appreciated! Also, I'm going to try and run with your idea of getting Kickstarter to pay attention. I'll post more on that below.


@BlairBros - No need to worry, your support is really appreciated, everything helps! I've been a poor student and I can remember exactly how it is!

@Cooleymd - Yes, that is a tricky one. Although, for the next two years Britain is apparently still in the EU, so I think we're okay for the timescale of the campaign. Good idea with the Japanese groups, are there any you can suggest?

@Dragnets - Thanks for the suggestion. I'd actually already run a Facebook advert campaign at the start of the project - it wasn't very effective, generating very few clicks and no noticeable support. I may have done something wrong though, as it's not a platform I'm very familiar with. I think we should be okay however, as I can easily drop Charlie and Rob another e-mail and ask them to give a shout-out directly, they've both already done so and I'm sure they'd be fine with doing it again to give the campaign a final boost.

@Everyone - Running with Mismagius idea of trying to inspire Kickstarter to feature or "love" the project. Can I ask all of you to drop them an e-mail suggesting they take a look and do what they can to raise awareness. You can contact them via this e-mail: [email protected]

I know we've only 7 days left, and it's looking like we'll be needing a bit of a miracle, but I think we can pull together and achieve something amazing. We're lucid dreamers, we're used to breaking the rules of the universe! Also, I did plan the timescale of the campaign to finish on a Sunday and after the end of the month - so there will hopefully be a few potential backers who are waiting for payday before they commit.

I'll be investing a silly amount of time and effort over the coming week, I'll also be working on a contingency plan just in case. So, let's show the world what we are made of!

For those of you who are new to all this, you've 7 days to get involved, so jump on board using the shamelessly giant link below...

www.luciddreamersguide.com

100 backers : D

This is such an awesome project!

Sorry I haven't posted on this thread until now, I just didn't feel like I had anything to contribute- I'm only not a very seasoned or experienced lucid dreamer, but I want to become much better at the craft. I think that a book series like this is such a great way for me and others to learn more about and understand lucid dreaming on a much deeper level and to see how lucid dreaming affects all aspects of one's life.

Also, Daniel, I am a huge fan of your book "Are You Dreaming?". It was of tremendous help to me when I first started to get seriously interested in lucid dreaming. I wish I could contribute more to the goal, as I would like nothing more than for this project to become a reality!

So, sorry I'm late to the party, but I backed the project on Kickstarter, and I have shared the link to it on all of my social media. I will send an email to the Kickstarter support right now. If there is anything else I can do to support this project in any way, please let me know!

@Dreamingnow - Firstly, I'd like to say a huge thank you and also a congratulations for being the 100th backer of the project. It put a huge smile on my face this morning!
Also, please don't feel the need to apologise - absolutely everyone, of any skill level has something to offer the project. This isn't a walled garden or some elitist group - us gnarly experienced lucid dreamers, like myself, have a lot to learn from the experiences and fresh outlook of those who are new to the subject; a fresh pair of eyes and new thoughts are always very valuable!

Thank you for the very kind words about my book and the project, it's hard to express just how much comments like these really do make all the hard work worthwhile

At this point, all I can ask is if you can keep spreading the word and doing whatever you can to get the message out. I'd like to think that this is our project, as a collective group of passionate lucid dreamers. Any success will be our success, not mine. So if we can all invest as much effort as possible over the coming week, that would be wonderful.

@Everyone - I'm going to spend today writing an article, a taster of the kind of content that will appear in the series. I'll keep you all informed as and when it is complete. What this means is that I'll have a little less time today to work on promotion - so if the rest of you could try to cover me while I do this, I'd really appreciate it.

We've now only 6 days - but I'm optimistic that we're going to reach the goal! Let's keep pushing ahead!

Hey there, now i have a question too.
i follow this campaign for some time now and see it as something worth to invest in and back up, even though i cant tell anything about the quality yet. only some weeks ago i finished your other book and the most part of it i liked.
and for some days now i think more serious about backing this project but somehow it seems pretty expensive to me ... (a poor student)

25 £ for a hardcopy = are 30€ right? plus another 8 £ (nearly 10€) for shipping?

maybe you can shine some light on it but i find it pretty expensive when compared to similar books like your old one, EWOLD, robert waggoners, the new coming dream yoga book by Andrew Holecek and so on. they all cost about 18-20€ which i find not cheap but see that maybe because of the smaller circulation and maybe a scientific field there is a higher price than normal books might cost.
and i also understand that this is a book that is not done yet and therefore might cost a little more but paying 40€ for a book i find somewhat too much?!
and sure if this project wont get backed up there will be no book but when everything will go right chances are that one can buy the book on amazon for the typical price and probably without shipment at all right? or will this book be always be so expensive? and if so for what reason?

dont get me wrong i dont want to be negative but i try to understand

@RelaxAndDream

Haha all good points. But...
Kickstarter is not really a shop, it's a fundraiser. It's a chance to support a project you would like to see happen. A chance to be part of history. Something that later on you will be able to say "Yeah, I helped with that book (research...). Without me, it wouldn't have happened."

Anything that you receive for the support is just a bonus, a thank you. Although some of them are unique items, like books with autograph, skype time with the author and so on. Those can not be bought on Amazon.

Happy dreams

@RelaxAndDream - Don't worry, it's a perfectly valid question. Gab has pretty much summed up what I was going to write, but here's a few extra thoughts:

The shipping is the easiest to answer, as that is just the price that Royal Mail charge for overseas delivery plus the cost of packaging materials. The books will be at least as heavy as my current paperback, and I've based the shipping price from the Royal Mail postage calculator based on the weight and size of this. I wish it were cheaper, but I've little control over these things. I'd recommend that anyone who is curious or wants reassurance on these things to visit their website to confirm.

As for the price of the physical books - it's really important to remember that a Kickstarter campaign is not the same as buying from a shop. You're investing in bringing an idea to life, and with that comes all of the costs that would normally be covered by a publisher. As there is no publisher to absorb and invest in these production costs (and remember they have deals with printers etc. and produce books in huge quantities - cutting the costs), books that are crowdfunded required the extra help from backers. Unless you are printing books in the thousands, then this is, frustratingly, pretty much the standard cost. Think of it this way, if you were to buy a printed t-shirt from a high-street store, you'd pay much less than if you decided to print a single custom t-shirt.

So, the answer is that the Kickstarter prices are higher because you're investing in the book being produced from the ground up. Kickstarter backers are, in general, enthusiasts and pioneers who are willing to invest a little extra in an idea in order for it to come to life. Also, backers will have these books far in advance of their sale to the public - and will be involved in the entire process of their creation. On top of all of this, the idea is to kickstart research and other lucid dream related events and content as well - so you'll not only be getting a book, you'll be becoming a part of history, improving lucid dream research, getting a new website, new video content, events and a whole lot more.

Don't think of it as picking up a book from a bookstore, see it as buying a ticket to an improved and exciting future for lucid dreaming

Hi All,

If any of you would be kind enough to start threads on other forums and websites, especially any relevant sub reddits (reddit really brings in a huge amount of traffic) - that would be much appreciated.
I've done quite a few myself, but I think it would be more effective if others shared their enthusiasm also.

Thanks in advance!

Oh, my article is finished and submitted to World of Lucid Dreaming - Hopefully it will be live within a few days. I'll drop a link when it's available.

Hey everyone!

I've some great news today - we've received a very generous pledge that has pushed us up to 77% of the goal!
This is absolutely fantastic and means that now, more than ever, we've a really strong chance of making this dream a reality.

So, now is really the time to push, push and push some more (sounds like a line from a bad pop song).
We're so close to the goal, if we can all put in as much effort as possible - we can do this!

So if you've not backed the project yet, now would be a great time.
If you're already one of the amazing people who've supported the campaign - go absolutely nuts sharing the campaign on-line.

Here's a shamelessly large link :

www.luciddreamersguide.com