Ask HN: Is there a crowdfunding site for technical books?

[techspring]

I'm interested in self publishing a programming book and/or video courses. Is there a crowdfunding site focused on technical content? The few examples I've found on Kickstarter and Indiegogo don't seem to have done very well. I assume it's just not the right audience for that type of content.

[mooreds]

Leanpub is close to what you want. You can easily get started and charge your earlier supporters less than later supporters, as the book gets closer to completion.

I wrote a couple of blog posts about the process: http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/1339

[techspring]

Thanks! Did you already have some audience to start with (i.e. blog readers, Twitter followers, etc) or were you starting from scratch?

[mooreds]

I wrote a series of blog posts, was active on some newsgroups, and reached for it to some influencers, but, no, I didn't have an audience. I think the marketing post is linked in the post I mentioned, and that has some more details.