Love the arts? Music, theater, film, sock puppets, fingerpainting and yes...PUBLISHING! Writers, sit up on your hind legs and perk your ears because this just might be a paying venue for you to check out, as in moolah, as in you won't have to eat Ramen Noodles for each and every meal.

Kickstarter is a site of projects, big and small, that need support, such as, oh, let's say an author who would like a bit of money to eat while writing said book.

You simply develop a project and submit it. A project is something with a clear end, like a novel, or an anthology, or a biography on Big Foot (assuming you can find him -- try the Pacific Northwest). One stipulation: no self-help books. I know. That's kind of a quirky disclaimer, but hey, it's their website and they can do what they want.

You decide how much money you'd like to raise, START your project, then advertise like crazy. Let others know you've got a project so they can pledge some money. There's a deadline, so if you don't meet the revenue goal you set, you're a loser and out of the game. But if you do make your goal, ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! You get the money, minus a small percentage to pay to Kickstarter, to finish your project.

If this has piqued your interest, hop on over to Kickstarter and check it out. Even if you don't have a project in mind, you might get an idea, or you might want to support a project that's already there.