Gadget, computer game and tat aficionado Stuart Ashen’s book, Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of, has broken records by becoming the fastest to reach its fundraising target.
The book, which reached its target in 12 hours and still has donations rolling in four months later, is based on the popular series on Stuart‘s channel, and is being released through Unbound, a non-traditional publisher whose business model aims to enable more niche subjects to find their audience through crowdfunding. In his launch video for the campaign, Stuart says the business model “works far better for me than the usual [publishers] in the book world, mainly because they are keen to publish books on niche subjects and [don’t] demand something ‘safe’ they [can] control the content of.”
Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of focuses entirely on the most obscure games that can be found, with Stuart promising that the “bare minimum of entry is that it’s almost impossible for anyone to have fun playing the game”.
Launched in May, the campaign is currently the top-funded book on the Unbound website. Speaking with TenEighty, Stuart says: “I’ve been blown away by the support for the book. I knew there would be an audience, as other retro gaming books have proved popular recently, but smashing the funding goal within 24 hours – and now reaching over 400% of that total – is way, way beyond what I expected.”
Unbound publishing adds, “It’s a huge success for us, and a great one for Stuart too”.
On the content of the book, Stuart explains that, “Readers can expect a fun and detailed look at some of the the very worst commercial games released before 1995, and laugh at my pain as I had to find them all and play them.”
The crowdfunding model has proved successful for Stuart in the past, with an Indiegogo campaign raising $73,690 for his debut film, Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild. Those wishing to still donate and receive pledge rewards, which range from a digital copy of the book to playing the featured games with Stuart himself, can do so via his Unbound page.
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