Goodness knows I’m broke beyond reason. I can’t tell you how many stories on this site I’ve seen and want to purchase immediately, but I can only do it every so often cause there are so many other things i have to worry about paying for first. I can’t pre-order swap like many others can and sometimes I feel like they take it personally, when really, I just don’t have the means to get their books at that time. 

My anxiety has also felt crippling at times during this campaign I’ve been running. To have been in the top 3 of the nerdist contest at one point and then dropped to 10th was crushing. To then go almost 20 days without a pre-order was even more so. I hit a moment where I was convinced I was going to take down my book and forget it, cause I’d never be able to compete with the other incredible authors on here.

Then I picked myself up, despite the angst, and kept fucking going. I got 26 pre-orders in a week. I launched my website. I’m nearly half way to Quill. Like @Ricardo Henriquez said, IT’S WORTH IT. Putting yourself out there to a world that might not even give a crap is BRAVE. You can do anything you believe you can do, you just have to keep faith that you have what it takes, cause the truth it, you do.

1.  You listed anxiety as your primary concern, so I’ll address that first. In the US we call self-promotion "hustling." Most creative people I know are not very good at hustling, some because of the anxiety issues you mentioned, and others because they feel their art should speak for itself. For the most part, crowdfunding is a hustler’s game. There are some who manage to succeed without hustling, but they are the rare exceptions. One alternative avenue you might want to consider, if you feel strongly about your craft and narrative but hate hustling, is to pursue publishing through a more traditional route, i.e. send your manuscript to agents and attempt to get a book deal that way. There will still be anxiety in dealing with agents and facing rejection, but you won’t have to deal with the anxiety of asking your acquaintances to part with their money.

I’m not sure if this helps or not. You’re not alone here, this is an amazing community. We’re here for you.

You and I have a lot in common: we are both queer, our first language is not English, and we both struggle with anxiety.

I read your excerpt and I reached out to you because I thought it was good. You have talent and you have a good story to tell. I believe in it and I’m sure many others will.

Crowdfunding is not for everybody. For people like us, it requires getting over many fears and it triggers anxiety in its worse way. But this is my conclusion after getting my book funded: the struggle is worth it.

I’m half way through the production process of my book and I cannot tell you how many times I have cried just moved by small things that I never thought would happen to me. When I received the first round of covers with my name in it; when I read my own bio in the back of my book’s jacket and realized what a long way I have come since I came to this country 15 years ago. I say do it. Go for it. Face your anxiety and keep pushing because the price is worth it.

Now, to how you are funding your book. My position on this is not the most popular in the site but I stick by it. You are not only selling your book you are selling yourself, your story. This campaign is not about reaching to people who will read your book, it is about reaching to people who care enough about you to help you make your dream come true. When your book is out on bookstores you will get readers and fans of your work, now you are looking for supporters. The ladies of my town’s senior center where I volunteer giving rides on election day bought my book. They will never read it and that is ok. They bought it because I’m nice and they think my accent is hysterical. I’m thankful to them.

This means that it doesn’t matter if your circle doesn’t  speak english. 1/3 of my books were sold to friends and family in Chile, of them 2 speak English. That means that about 300 people who can’t read my book paid for it anyways. 

Sit in front of you computer, open an excel sheet and make a list of every single person you know (everybody) every friend you have on facebook, every relative, every acquaintance. Then go through the list and think how much can each person afford to support you (not if they will or not, but how many books you think they can afford to buy) then either go and talk to them or send a personal message to every single one of them asking them to get your book. Follow up, over and over. People will forget, not because they don’t want to support you, but because you are not a priority and that is ok. follow up until they pre-order.

But for this to work you have to be brave, that is all I ask you. Be brave because people like me have your back. I cannot get you 750 orders, but I can get you 10 and the support of my Syndicate. Just know you are not alone.