A couple of weeks ago we completed our first IndieGoGo fundraising campaign to help support my new project – the Fear of Singing Workbook/CD. It turned out to be an amazing experience on a variety of levels.

First, the obvious. We raised almost $3,500 (including donations made through the IndieGogo site and off-line donations) and this will help with the costs of editing, obtaining, photo permissions, sound recording for the CD and other expenses. So, the campaign made all that do-able and we’re so pleased!

What came as a surprise though, is how different it feels to work on the book now, post-campaign, compared to how it felt before. Before, it felt a little like a stab in the dark… “I seem to be writing a book”. “Damn! I really do seem to be writing a book!” Kind of like even though I was doing it, I couldn’t quite believe it. This is my first time and I felt a little bit like I was only pretending. But now, with 70 people investing their attention and their money, I know for sure I’m writing a book! It’s a different feeling to know that people have put their faith in me.

When we started the campaign and made the video for the homepage, I felt “outed”. My private project was suddenly public. Now that it’s over I feel “entrusted”. The mission of the project, teaching non-singers to discover their inner singer, touches people’s sense of… what? Curiosity? Optimism? Justice? Nobody should feel they don’t have the right to sing. Nobody should be stuck with the status of non-singer. Singing for non-singers – rah rah!

I was already like this – kind of crazy excited about teaching non-singers to sing. But now I feel like other people are getting it and that feels great. Thank you so much!