AMBER LOVE 15-JUNE-2014 Yesterday I managed to traverse New Jersey and get to the SPECIAL EDITION NYC comic book convention. The trip took longer than I estimated so I arrived and got checked quickly but was still late for the first panel, KICKSTARTER AND COMICS: HOW TO FUND YOUR DREAM PROJECT.
On the panel were Craig Engler and Jamie (his name isn’t in the program), writer Amy Chu, and writer Greg Pak. Pak is the one who you’ll hear speaking first when the recording picks up. There is an unfortunate high pitch noise coming through the mic and have no idea what that is. I think the recording is still usable and the voices are still clear.
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There are important points covered included how someone running a Kickstarter campaign needs to do all the work. Creating the final product is a small percentage of what goes into a Kickstarter. Pak warns that a bigger funded project (something over $40k perhaps) takes about 6 hours a day to manage because you have to answer emails from all the backers and still manage the project.
Make sure your rewards and stretch goals are attainable.
Don’t go overboard thinking you (or your artist) can create individualized gifts. If you have 100 people that paid for a level of unique commissions, make sure your artist/team understand what that extra work involved is.
Engage with other creators.
Engage with potential backers on social media, but, Amy Chu warns, flooding creators or celebrities with “Please RT my Kickstarter” is a poor approach and doesn’t really work. You want to have enough of a relationship with other creators that they will happily share your link. Â Whenever possible, make sure you network in real life with other creators.
Back other projects.
If you want people to know who you are, Kickstarter is a built-in comics fanbase. Plus by backing other projects, someone who you supported is more willing to return the favor.
There’s no “best” time of the year.
The Kickstarter staff have seen successful projects at all times of the year. The only cautionary advice they gave is to make sure your end date is not on a holiday when people aren’t going to be glued to the internet feeds.
Audience Q&A begins at the 27:00 minute mark.
– International/multi-language
– Copyright
– Taxes
– Pitfalls
– 31:31 mark is my question about why some mature content gets approved and others are rejected
– Campaign length & time of year
– When to assemble your comics team
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.