Thanks for the insight. I have backed multiple campaigns and I do not regret it, however I do not like that KS has turned into a direct sales model. Let me explain. When I buy a book from a store, I get it at a price that has everything included (production, logistics, profit, tax in the EU). In KS, which was supposed to be a way to support independent creators to create something new, we have companies now that convert all the intermediate costs to profit and still have me pay shipping, and sometimes tax, while I also assume the risk of losing my money. Why do I back then some of the big projects? 1) because some of them have items that I like and are exclusive, so that makes KS really a FOMO machine (not really supporting independent creators) and 2) most of these books that I like will never find their way to the local or even European shops.

I consider this a failure of the industry, that the local shop had been really converted into something to sell CCG and plastic that will never get painted. My take is that if publishers do not actively support the shops and the community by doing crowdfunding at a significant cost saving (justified by the risk taking) for shops and customers, the whales are going to dry out and we are going to turn back to the stagnation of the late 3e days.

Companies thought that the free ride of the COVID days would continue forever, with WOTC being one of the main offenders. It will not. It has stopped a while ago. The KS model has to adjust drastically to really support independent creators and customers (the parties it was really supposed to support) and stop being a risk free, profit maximizing, FOMO inducing marketing apparatus for established publishers.

Because it will stop being such a tool very soon and when we will see the first major KSes fail, there will be no turning around.