Spirit Owners Look to Fund a Print Edition

The owners of The Brentwood Spirit have launched a 30-day campaign to raise $20,000 to fund a print edition, to go along with their online news.

Spirit owners Steve and Toni Bowman are partnering with Kickstarter.com to help them raise seed-money.

Their deadline is April 19.

“Print costs more than Web so we’d need this commitment from our readers to get it off the ground,” Steve Bowman said in The Spirit.

Kickstarter has helped raise more than $100 million for the arts in the past three years.

Toni Bowman said many in Brentwood don't own or use a computer regularly.

She said The Spirit is supported by advertising, and advertisers want to reach the whole community, not just those with computers.

"It's dollars spent in print advertising that will support the online version, indirectly," she said.

If the Bowmans can raise the money through Kickstarter, they can skip going to a bank, and Toni Bowman doubts banks have money to loan.

To find out how to contribute, go to Kickstarter.com and watch The Brentwood Spirit’s short presentation. 

As with all Kickstarter initiatives, pledged money will be collected only if the goal ($20,000) is reached by the specified date (April 19).