I found this via @choosenick on Makeshift's linkydink group (http://linkydink.io/groups/makes...). As Nick mentions, this is what Help Me Write (a Makeshift product) could have been.
It's basically Kickstarter + journalism/blogging.
It's strange that it doesn't show (w/o signing in I presume) how much a piece is looking for. I don't know off-hand how much I have to contribute to having a piece of content realized.
I'd love to see something like this realized, but it's just damn, crazy hard to innovate in the journalism space. Push comes to shove, how much are people *really* willing to spend for a piece of content to come out? I'd bet it's extremely low.
@byosko agree, 100%. And for those don't write professionally, money is usually a poor motivator. See @nireyal's post on the "rewards of the tribe" - http://www.nirandfar.com/2013/02...
Although I'd like hear @LenKendall's (from CentUp) take on this.
@RyanHoover I like anything that supports independent journalism. That said, I've not been a fan of centralized platforms, whether it's Kickstarter, or this.
The reality today is that people jump from one website to another. They don't want to have to create multiple accounts on different websites, and unfortunately most publishers have opted to create their own unique registrations/payments. We (CentUp) are working to decentralize the content compensation process and just let people use a single sign-on to support lots of different publishers.
All that said, I like the trend that's emerging with this kind of site and others like it. Advertising is becoming less relevant, and direct to publisher compensation is becoming more palatable for information consumers.
Product Hunt
The Fundraising Playbook
Product Hunt
Western Tropic