3 community monetization tactics

(4 min read) How to serve devoted superfans with high-value, luxury, and/or niche products they demand

Author

Avi Gandhi
September 03, 2024

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I think in the current knowledge work age, a lot of the work you do is intangible and immaterial, and you wonder if it’s going to outlive you…We take great pains to make sure that the books that we create are going to stand the test of time, that people really feel a sense of pride to have them in their spaces. 

Today, we’re talking to one of my personal favorite Creators - Jason Killingsworth, founder of Tune & Fairweather, which publishes (among other works) the highest quality books you’ve ever seen (seriously - look at this) about the video game worlds created by FromSoftware - developers of Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Demon Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro.

We’re going to break down Jason’s business model for creating incredibly high-quality creative products, including how he navigates FromSoftware’s IP, deal and royalty structures with Creators, and the costs and benefits of crowdfunding. 

Let’s get into it!

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Fandoms have big benefits…and risks

Fandoms are hotbeds of Creator businesses - epic worlds, deep lore, and beloved characters are ripe sources of community and inspiration for creative people.

FromSoftware’s games have expansive lore and are notorious for being extremely difficult; as a result, they’ve spawned an entire genre of copycat “Soulslike” games, and a community of millions of players across the social web. 

Building a creative business within a fandom community comes with a massive benefit: a large, high-demand customer base. Tune & Fairweather gets this benefit from FromSoftware superfans (like me).

The most devoted fans of these games just want to be surrounded by reminders of the games.

Building on top of fandoms also comes with a huge risk: the IP holder. 

Publishers like Nintendo have been very litigious - for a while, YouTube was just a dumpster fire of DMCA takedown notices on people trying to make videos about Nintendo games. 

Most video game companies don’t take this approach; they understand that content Creators aren’t cannibalizing their businesses - they’re marketing them. FromSoftware is one of these companies. 

It’s a virtuous cycle: FromSoftware creates amazing games, then there's fans who are Creators in different ecosystems (YouTube, we're doing work in print, etc.) and everybody is refracting that light of player attention back onto these games and reminding players why they're special. 

Jason views Tune & Fairweather’s work as falling within the same category as YouTube content. In fact, he takes great pains to be even less risky. 

We don't use any official concept artwork -even though it is about Dark Souls and the likenesses of those characters. We have illustrations in the book that bring them to life. All of the content's original.

I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t comment on the legal validity of this approach - but it seems like FromSoftware is fine with it.

I’ve even seen a picture of [FromSoftware game creator Hidetaka] Miyazaki with a picture of You Died. That’s the closest I’ve come to handing him a copy.

Creators can partner with Creators too!

One of the most beautiful things about Tune & Fairweather’s books is that all this original writing and artwork is done in partnership with other Creators in the fandom. 

Well-known Creators involved in past books include:

Of course, these kinds of partnerships have a cost, and Jason’s deals for the Creators range from flat fees on artwork to publisher-style advance + royalty deals with co-authors. Jason is very pro-Creator, being one himself:

Once, one of our contributors invoiced us for some illustration work, and I just negotiated him up significantly. I said, “You’re not capturing as much value as you really should for how hard you worked on this project and the quality of the contribution.” 

Some MBAs might hate this approach, but in Jason’s eyes, it’s good business: 

The illustrators we work with, I love their work. My hope is that we get to team up for a project in the future. If they feel like they've gotten squeezed and have been shabbily treated, then why would they want to work with us again? 

Jason brings this type of thinking to his deeper co-author relationships as well, and is very transparent about how these deals work:

  • Creator co-author receives a small upfront advance of $1000-$3000

  • Advance is recouped by Tune & Fairweather from initial revenue

  • Creator co-author then earns a royalty that increases from 10% up to 15% as sales increase

We try to deliver value that's commensurate with the cut that we take as part of that publishing agreement. I take that really seriously, and I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how I can add even more value to the arrangement that we have with our collaborators.

Crowdfunding can enable higher quality…at a cost

One of the ways Jason delivers value to his partners is by running crowdfunding and pre-order campaigns. They’ve done three Kickstarter campaigns, including the massive Soul Arts campaign that raised €1,828,876 ($2M). These campaigns de-risk the projects and generate revenue early on, which can lead to high initial royalties for co-authors, but they come at a significant cost: the headache of fulfillment.

One of the downsides of the crowdfunding experience is that it introduces a lot of logistical grit. You say, “Here are all these rewards, there's all this fun stuff, these different tiers.” And then after the campaign ends, as a creator, that is where a lot of the headaches begin.

Running Kickstarter campaigns isn’t easy, as it requires getting address information from backers, sorting through and fulfilling personalized orders, and managing costs.

The benefit, though, is that it automatically returns the money if it doesn’t get funded - so you don’t have to worry about not raising enough and then losing money on fixed costs.

Printing is very expensive - and if you make the kind of books we do, the production costs are eye-watering. 

Now that he’s built a large email list and cult following, he takes the risk of doing pre-orders. He can’t easily return the money if he doesn’t get enough interest, but he is less worried about that happening these days.

I hope Jason’s Tune & Fairweather business inspires you to pursue your craft at the highest level. He’s found ways to de-risk (through fandom, crowdfunding, and Creator partnerships), while delivering on his vision:

We want to make the most beautiful, collectible versions for the biggest, most hardcore, most committed fans of these games…Why shouldn't video games be represented in that luxury fine press category? That’s the hole we're trying to fill.

What do you think? 

Reply to let me know, and if you liked this article, please forward it to a friend.

Thanks for reading!

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Written by Avi Gandhi, edited by Melody Song,
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