Registration closes May 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT
Live Intensive For Serious Fiction Authors
Fund your next novel before you produce it — and step into Release Day already in pure profit.
Wednesday · May 20 · 1–4pm Pacific · Live on Zoom
your next novel fully funded by the readers who already adore your work — watching the crowdfunding tracker tick past 100% funded → 200% funded → 300% funded.
“After funding my own self-published albums directly from my superfans — and running multiple six-figure campaigns of my own — I'm pulling back the curtain on every secret behind a six-figure crowdfunding launch, so you can skyrocket your own direct-to-reader success.”
The Shift
Write. Publish. Hope.
Build buyers first. Then build the book.
Most authors finish the book, then look for buyers. Reader-backed authors build the buyers first.
The Host
Leah McHenry
6-figure recording artist · 3× 7-figure founder across digital products & ecommerce
A Letter From Your Host
I've spent years building direct-to-consumer brands around fandom, storytelling, collector experiences, and emotionally invested audiences.
Across my businesses, we've generated nearly $30 million in revenue through ecommerce, crowdfunding, launches, and direct audience relationships — without relying on publishers, outside investors, or traditional gatekeepers.
What I started noticing was this:
Fiction authors were trying to launch books using completely outdated models.
They were:
Meanwhile, the brands winning online were doing the opposite.
They were:
That works incredibly well for fiction audiences.
Because fiction readers do not buy like normal consumers.
They buy immersion. They buy identity. They buy belonging. They buy worlds they want to live inside.
That's why some fiction campaigns completely explode while others quietly disappear.
Reader Backed™ was created to teach fiction authors how to build launches that readers are genuinely excited to support before release day ever arrives.
$30M+
generated across Leah's businesses
6-Figure
crowdfunding campaigns, repeated
$50K+
raised by students on first campaigns
0
publishers, agents, or investors required
A Diagnosis
Not because the writing is bad. Because the strategy is.
The successful campaigns treat crowdfunding like fandom.
Receipts
300% funded — before launch day even arrived.
Representative campaign visual · 1,247 backers · $148,250 raised
A Featured Case
He raised it because his readers spent more — an average of $225 each — because he sold a collector experience, not just books.
That principle works at every level. You don't need a Sanderson-sized audience. You need better positioning, better launch preparation, better reward design, and better reader psychology.
Those things are learnable.
The Curriculum
Walk away with a launch model you can put to work the same week.
Session One
The psychology and architecture behind the campaigns that go viral. Why some authors raise $10K while others raise $100K+, and why average pledge size matters far more than follower count.
Session Two
The core build decisions every campaign hinges on — platform, tiers, products, structure — and the quiet mistakes that cap your ceiling before launch day.
Session Three
The waitlist, opt-in, and pre-launch runway strategy that separates campaigns that hit hard from campaigns that launch to crickets.
Bonus
Get the workbook for free ($97 value)
Every framework, worksheet, and planning tool used during the intensive — yours to keep and reuse for every campaign you launch.
Why Now
Amazon visibility is unpredictable.
Readers want immersive collector experiences.
Direct-to-reader brands are quietly winning.
The authors who understand this shift early will have a massive advantage over the next few years.
What's Included
Two Ways In
$27
$97
Everything in Standard, plus:
Both tickets include the full intensive and workbook. VIP adds recordings, the Money Menu, and the private Q&A.
The Fiction Empire Promise
Show up live. Pay attention. Implement what you learn. If you genuinely feel the workshop wasn't worth far more than the ticket, I'll refund you.
