Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

• What is Crowdbooks?

  Crowdbooks is a platform that help publishing and sell books. Our staff will guides authors through all the necessary steps.

• How does Crowdbooks select projects?

  We select projects for their quality and their originality. Each project must be a complete work with a clear concept and statement.

• Does it cost money to submit a project on Crowdbooks?

  No, submitting a project is free.

• What's the difference between a traditional publisher and Crowdbooks?

  Crowdbooks is either a platform and a publisher but even if projects are selected to be hosted on the platform to raise funds it doesn't mean that we are going to publish them under our publishing brand.

  The main differences are:

  In the validating process
  we really evaluate the artistical value of the project whereas a traditional publisher will only evaluate its potential for sales and marketing success.

  In promotion and marketing
  The traditional publisher is the only one to promote the book. Whereas, it is CROWDBOOKS, the author and its community through social channels and their interactions that will contributes to the promotion of the project, reaching out to a much larger number of potential people interested.

• How does Crowdbooks works?

  Crowdbooks evaluate and calculate the minimum number of pre-orders needed to publish each book according to its specific details (format, materials and publishing run).
  The pre-orders funding system on Crowdbooks is: “all-or-nothing”. Each book project will be published only if the minimum number of pre-orders is reached.

• Does Crowdbooks guarantee projects funding success?

  Crowdbooks cannot guarantee projects funding success.
  On Crowdbooks, backers ultimately decide the validity and worthiness of a project deciding whether to fund it or not.

• Where do I have to be based to submit or support a project on Crowdbooks?

  Anywhere in the world.

Backer FAQs

• Can i pre-order multiple copies of the same book ?

  Yes, you have the option to pre-order multiple copies.

• Do I get notified if a project I’ve participated succeeds?

  You will be notified when a book you pre-ordered reach his goal.

• What payments can I use on Crowdbooks?

  Crowbooks at the moment accept only 2 payments systems:
  1) by Credit Card through Stripe secured payment system
  2) by Paypal

• How secure is it to pledge on Crowdbooks?

  We are using Stripe as payment processor system which meets and exceeds the most stringent industry standards for security. You can learn more about the technical details of Stripe's secure infrastructure here.

  We take your privacy very seriously. Crowdbooks does not store full credit card numbers, but instead, only the last four digits and expiration date. Saving your payment details for future use is entirely optional.

• If I pre-order a book, when is my card charged?

  You will be charged right away, if the minimum number of pre-orders is not reached and/or once the project setup time is expired, you will be reimbursed at the end of the campaign.

• What if my backer's card has expired?

  As backers are unable to update their payment method for pledges that have already been collected, any refunds processed through Crowdbooks can only be sent to a backer’s original payment method.
  If the card on file is no longer active, one of the following typically happens:

  - If the original card used was attached to an account, as most debit and credit cards are, the bank will see the incoming credit on an expired card and roll it into the appropriate account.

  - Our payments processor uses an updater service that will know if a card number is no longer valid and has been replaced with a new valid number. In this case, the credit would have been issued to the valid card number.

  If the two options above do not apply to a backer’s situation, you’ll see an error message when trying to issue the refund. In this situation, the refund will need to be issued outside of Crowdbooks.

• What about the shipping fees?

  Crowdbooks ships anywhere in the world.

  Shipping rates are flat rates divided by areas:

  • Italy
  • European Union
  • North America/USA
  • South America, Oceania, Asia, Africa and Extra CEE
  • Rest of the world

  Backers will be prompted to pay their shipping rate according to the location chosen in addition to the book's price.

• How will my order be packaged?

  Your order will be shipped in a cardboard box carefully packaged and protected.

• How can I obtain an invoice?

  Invoices can be created only if the project succeed by direct communication of a VAT number or Italian fiscal code ( only for Italy ), it can be requested through the contact section.

Author FAQs

• What are Crowbooks' fees?

  - Project published by Crowdbooks
  If a project is published by Crowdbooks under its publishing brand, the authors will have to sign a regular contract, no fees will be applied during the crowdfunding phase, only the sale of surplus copies produced will be regulated by the publishing contract signed previously.

  - Project not published by Crowdbooks
  If authors decide to use Crowdbooks only as a platform or their project is not selected to be published by Crowdbooks under its publishing brand, we only apply a 10% fee to the funds collected including transactions' fees. If funding isn't successful, there are no fees.

• How will royalties be quantified for the authors?

  The authors remuneration (calculated in euros) will represent 10% of the net income made from the book sales after the crowdfunding phase and apply only if the book is published by Crowdbooks under its publishing brand.

• Can I propose my project to other publishers?

  - Project published by Crowdbooks
  If authors submit a project and it is selected to be published by Crowdbooks under its publishing brand they will sign a regular publishing contract and will grant Crowdbooks the rights and power to manage any possible co-publishing deal in behalf of them, we always look for co-publishing deals for our authors.

  - Project not published by Crowdbooks
  If you decide to use Crowdbooks only as a platform or your project is not selected to be published by Crowdbooks under its publishing brand you have two possibilities: either you selfpublish it or you look for a publisher that is interested in publish your book.

• Which informations do I need to provide to submit a project?

  You need to follow the submission process here. You can also read our comprehensive handbook in order to better understand how a crowdfunding campaign works.

• How do I manage rewards for my project?

  Crowdbooks will help to define the rewards and the right pricing according to the book specifications previously agreed.

• What happens if a project reaches the minimum numbers of pre-orders before the allocated time expires?

  If a project reaches the minimum number of pre-orders the campaign continues until the allocated time expires and it's still possible to pre-order copies.

• What happens if a project reaches more pre-orders than expected?

  In case of excessive pre-orders during a crowdfunding campaign that's great! We would be happy if it could always be like this for each project.

• How does Crowdbooks select projects to publish?

  Each project will be presented to the Crowdbooks editorial staff which will determine if the project is a good fit for its publishing brand based on the originality and quality of the content (concept, photographs and text). Other variables assessed by the staff will include the central concept of the project and the way in which the content is shaped around that concept as well as the sense of the suggested narrative.

• Can I propose more than one project at once?

  No, you can submit only one project at once.

• Can a project be edited after launching?

  No, once the project goes live it can't be edited.

• What are some things I should do before launching my project?

  • Consult the Handbook we prepared.
  • Have a plan for spreading the word about the project to your network.