The Iceberg Museum
💡The Iceberg Museum Framework takes the 90% of the work used to create your Open World and puts it on display for all to explore for FREE. This creates greater Fan Demand for the remaining 10% normally reserved for your products.
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The Iceberg Museum Framework is like the “Iceberg Method 2.0” — the Bigger Brother of a popular and well accepted approach to worldbuilding called The Iceberg Framework.
The Iceberg Museum focuses on Open Worldbuilding and using Artifacts to foster long-term relationships with Explorers rather than just relying one-off transactions with products.
The Old Way:
The Iceberg Framework
On the surface The Iceberg Museum seems to be nearly identical.
But The Iceberg Museum is massively evolved once you dig just a little deeper.
And my studies are showing this framework to be any micro-worldbuilder’s only advantage to compete with the Iconic Worlds and hopefully one day grow to be one themselves.
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Brandon Sanderson, a well known high fantasy & science fiction author, explains the Iceberg Framework like this:
The top of the iceberg is what makes it into “the book,” the bottom of the iceberg is what you (the worldbuilder) knows.
Brandon Sanderson
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Why hide all your hard work and ideas?
There are two key problems here:
- The Iceberg Method is generally product-centered — not people centered
- A ton of your ideas and details (90%) go to waste
That’s 90% of your work that goes unused — and often unnoticed.
The Iceberg Museum Framework solves this problem.
Flip the Iceberg Framework on its Head
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Build Iceberg Museums. Not Just Icebergs.
Completely flip the old framework upside down.
- Put 90% your world on exhibit for all Explorers to see and explore
- Reserve the remaining 10% of the world in paid products
Iceberg Museum Key Advantage 1: No Idea Left Behind
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The key difference between The Iceberg Museum and the The Iceberg is that the remaining 90% (that would normally go unseen) is intentionally put on exhibit by you — The Worldbuilder in the form of Artifacts to be discovered by Explorers.
- 90% of your work and ideas is not lost
- 90% of your work and ideas is not wasted
- 90% of your work and ideas is not collecting dust somewhere
Now, 90% of your work is out in the wild — strategically planted by you for Explorers to discover to their surprise — like an archaeologist finding treasures in the ground.
The Iceberg Museum allows worldbuilders to:
- create and publish early and often
- get near instant feedback
- make your worlds even “stickier” in Explorers’ minds
And this creates a more immersive world for anyone who encounters it.
Iceberg Museum Key Advantage 2: Grow as you Go
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Whether you’re struggling to grow with your current World or you’re starting from scratch (like me) — Open Worldbuilding with the Iceberg Museum Framework presents a worldbuilding experience with considerably less friction.
Begin Publishing “underwater” content for FREE on Day 1 — not months (or years) later once you finally complete your product (book, comic, script, film, game, etc.)
Begin building your Fanbase on Day 1 — putting artifacts in front of Explorers and immediately opening up a world for them to inhabit, explore and share with their like-minded friends.
Begin Building Demand of your Products on Day 1 — Even if you haven’t started on your product, you can be creating artifacts that point to the product which builds up Fan Demand (curiosity, desire and massive demand) over time.
⚡Next Steps
See Parts I and II of my Iconic Worlds Primer for deeper dives into the Iceberg Museum framework.