It totally does! If you did only one thing right, it must be the video. Most people ONLY click on the video to judge whether or not they want to back your project. Only some actually read all the input on the page. The ones that don't look at the video just look at the pictures in the description. But the majority judge you by the video.

The video needs to grab them, and draw them into the world of your project. If you can do that, then they will go over to look at the pictures and consider the rewards. And thats where you need to have good structure and easy to understand rewards. Because it only takes a nano-second of confusion to have a potential backer click away.

But hey Wolfy, if you're ever at a loss for a video you can always bring out the nibblies and DANCE! :D :carrot:

I like those titles! I think people would like the option to pick which one their names show up on! :)

I had a few levels in my (fully written) Kickstarter project.

Digital editions, all that stuff, plus the ability to have your name appear in a list of victims of a cataclysm (rare!), the ability to have a headshot of your original character appear on the computer of a villain looking for super-humans to blackmail with notation of your ownership and URL, and the top was having your character - same legal stuff and credit - appear "in the flesh" as a super-human the "Top Secrets"* have to get something from.


*(The "Top Secrets" are like an Avengers-style group, controlled by an evildoer who knows a specific life-destroying secret about each of them. So theoretically, your character has just retrieved OR stolen something, and the team has to figure out how to get control of it.)


I would've gone ga-ga and donated for that type of thing myself, so I figured I'd run with it.

Now, there it sits in pre-launch. Foreveeerrrrr...

XD

That all sounds really neat! I like how you found various ways to incorporate backers into the comic itself, beyond plain thank you's and a cameos.

So what do you need again to make it happen (sorry if you posted that already and I missed it) ? Or did you just decide to not go the KS route?

It's a multi-tier problem.

Kickstarter doesn't work well for me > because my browser and connection aren't great > because moneys.

So essentially it's on hold until I can purchase a new computer and afford a better connection to *attempt* funding. Like the old saying, having money to make money. :P

But I'm not complaining, really. I've just been plowing along with that project through different means. Seperate issues, released digital-only unless something else comes up, etc.

Well that really stinks, I'm sorry to hear that :( I'm glad you're going further with it in the ways you can though.

I also wanted to mention that, if you ever chose to go to Kickstarter for a Unicorpse comic, I'm not kidding when I say that would be a huge success for you. People would absolutely love it. I'd draw you a pinup for the book/to give as a reward if you wanted :) It's just a golden idea. I found Unicorpse.com for the first time and I thought it was hilarious.

The cards sound pretty cool. For the 900 you have I like that you have them all ready to go (so no further costs). Because they're so easy to slip into packages, that would be an awesome addition to give to people. You could put at the top of the Kickstarter "All backers who order the $15 tier and up will also receive a free character card with their book! *Limited amount remains" The reasoning is to not clutter the reward text, but still offer that incentive to back at the $15 and up.


For you (assuming you do a Sketchbook/Production Book):

$1 Thank you in the book (be as creative as you want with this)
$10 Digital Version of the book as well as digital wallpapers and Thank You
$15 Physical and Digital Sketchbook copy plus wallpapers and Thank You
$25 Physical Book copy, plus digital copy and Thank You ( you could consider getting rid of the digital copy in this tier, and instead include the physical sketchbook, which would be a more powerful package, but save the digital versions for the $50 tier. But double check prices and added shipping weight for media mail).
$50 Physical and Digital copies of the book, sketchbook, Wallpapers and Thank you, signed (and maybe numbered)
$100-$125 All of the $50 reward plus a sketch on the inside cover of your book! *Limited*

Since you can't do Cameos, can you offer original pages or artwork at all? Or could you do a special cameo pinup? That would help me figure out the higher rewards.

And you're welcome :) I just hope I can help in some way.

You are now beholden.

I am serious guy. This is serious post. :whistlin:

Cool, thank you so much Renae. I'm obviously being little over ambitious there then.

Basically I need to be faster and cheaper.
I don't see there being a real issue getting production under 4 months, especially if (to bring costs down) I drop interior colours and go for grey scale instead, and possibly look to save on inking costs too. This in turn drops the book production price, and some of the savings can still go towards colour products.

I understand the reasons for doubling costs to get to the funding figure, but as long as costs are covered in their entirety, dropping that should cause any problems should it?

I think I'm less worried about the rewards and all the things involved there than I am getting to an achievable funding goal.

Revised 44p BW softcover book.
CREATIVE
Pencils + Cover Inks + 14p sketches - me (no cost)
Inks - £25p/page @ 28 pages (£700)
Colours - £65p/page @ 7 images (£455)
Lettering - me (no cost)
Logo - £100

REWARDS
100 copies (drivethrucomics / BW) - £140 + delivery
200 bookmarks - £75
200 postcards - £75
50 A3 card stock prints - £45
PDF copy - no additional cost
Cameo / Design-a-character / Sketches / signed copies / WIP access / wallpapers / thank yous- no additional costs (coloured @+£65 each)

PROMO (upfront costs)
10 A2 posters - £90
200 A5 Flyers - £45
QR code / Layar - ??
Website - no additional cost
Video - Basic - £250 / Fancy - £600+

Minimum costs excl. Shipping - £1975.

This kind of setup puts me in the £4k /$6k range without shipping costs, but if I drop the A3 card stock prints and go with smaller or roll tube items I may be able to make it work a bit better.

I would highly suggest to not drop the color, because color is a HUGE success factor for a book. Not just on Kickstarter, but afterwards to Publishers as well (if that's the path you choose later). I would instead drop the page count to a standard 22 pages. That would bring creative costs to £4,000 with a £8,000 campaign. That's still a high number, but the lowest you can go to get a color book according to your creative costs. (Do you have a link to your book, btw? :) )

And I would also suggest to not try to guess how many of each thing you'll sell. The way I've always done it is pretend you're ONLY selling the book and configure pricing from there. This is because it will give you an overestimated scenario to go by, which is by far a safer way to look at everything. I know it might be hard to understand, but let me try to show you with the math.

1) £8,000 campaign (assuming) with the core reward tier at £10 means you'd have to sell 800 books to achieve your goal.

2) 800 multiplied by the UK fulfillment cost per backer of £5 is £4,000

3) Add that to the creative costs of £4,000 and it brings you to £8,000.

4) That already leaves you with not enough funding for fees, a buffer (HUGELY needed for all campaigns, I'll explain later) taxes, or anything else you've mentioned. Fees for £8,000 would be around £800K, and I would suggest a buffer of at least that same amount. So already your campaign is short £1,600.

However, because of the nature of Kickstarter, there will be other things bought, so I believe that 1,600 will even itself out. International pledges will as well (just make sure you charge the proper amount!) because the amt they pledge for Int. Shipping goes towards your funding goal, which means less books needs to be printed (which means less printing cost to balance out the int. shipping cost).

I am sorry if that's hard to follow, I've done this so many times (calculating campaigns) that I am sure at this point I just run ahead with numbers and reasoning. But PLEASE trust me that you cannot wittle down your funding goal to a more pleasing number unless your creative costs safely fit into half of that goal. A lot of campaigns do that run into HUGE trouble later on from wittling down too much. They often run out of money, delaying things hugely or inevitably. You have to be realistic. You must at LEAST double the creative costs to give you a good idea of what you're looking at.

For the other rewards, all you need to do is be sure you price them at least double what they fully cost you as well. But don't bother using them to figure out what will happen in your campaign.

Assuming you go for this scenario (though I advise at least a color cover to show on the main page!) are you doing the pencils for free in this scenario or am I misreading it?

Also, what is the £600 for the video for?

And as always, if you feel you wish to try things another way, go for it! :) My reasoning is but one way. I'll be here if you have any other questions!

Haha I think drawing Unicorpse would be fun! Now get on that campaign Wolfy! :carrot:

Similarly if anyone is confused as to why their (or someone else's) Kickstarter failed/funding is stagnate I can try to help there too if you post a link. Sometimes a simple change is all it takes, and sometimes a total overhaul might be needed.

Thank you doesn't seem quite enough Renae. I'll be sure that, should I get this thing off the ground, you're getting a thank you page all to yourself. Well, maybe a shared one with my wife.

I'm going to digest that and have a thunk. I don't have much on the book at the moment. I've done some cover work (just to keep myself entertained more than anything).

There's 3 images on my site (I'm on the train home from work now, typing on my phone so I can't easily paste in images or links).

The site is www.crashedmedia.com and the covers are all on that first page. The first and then two further down the posts.

I've also sent you a PM with a link to the layouts for the first issue (only as its passworded and they are VERY rough).
Also the colourist I'm working with at the moment is 'Jets' over at www.jets.deviantart.com
That guy is talent on a stick and has turned another image from just lines into sheer epicness.

The £600 figure for the video was for a fancy pants version with a 30 second teaser for the book itself utilising some shiny After Effects wizardry like the super slo-mo Sky Sports/Movies adverts (I work at an art gallery/cinema/production house called FACT -www.fact.co.uk - so I chatted with the video guys there who gave me that figure). The £250 would be the basic video using some tasty kit to make it look good (Canon 7D, nice lenses, Arri Redhead lights etc) although I could just as easily do a super lo fi shoot on phones or GoPro's and rely on my charming personality and rapier-like wit to carry it off *snort*

Sent ya a message back about inker/colorists! :)

I cannot say if the video money would be worth it or not (I've little experience with the outcome of using one), but if you can afford it I don't see why not try it. Just please remember to avoid a video that's all glitz and no passion (I could show you a video that has amazing effects, but no content and got little backing). People want to see the art, and feel the story. Try not to TELL your audience what your book is (I.E.: This book is awesome and is like Star Wars mixed with Ben10! You will love it because it's amazing!). Show them why it's amazing instead.

There's lots I could say about the video but I feel like I'm yabbering on too much in this thread already, lol! ;p

Sounds perfect. I shouldn't have any problem putting that together.

Original artwork shouldn't be a problem. I have plenty of production sketches laying around that I can freshen up. I couldn't offer original pages because everything is done digitally, but I could definitely do things like sketch cards, or small commissions for people.

Yes, there is an option under every reward for "Shipping in the USA" only. There is also an option for "No shipping Required" (for digital downloads and other non-physical rewards).

And you can always list any price you want for International Shipping. As it is, I probably put my Int. Shipping costs a little too low for my KS for Mongrel: SOB.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941044501/mongrel-sob-graphic-novel


Ed

Hi Renae,

Ours has definitely moved forward in fits and starts. Best day = 1st day, due to pre-launch hype and planning. We had several nice days that may or may not have been due to social media pushes and/or advertising. Then again, we had some doldrums as well. We shook up the rewards, adding a few, reducing the price on a couple that hadn't drawn interest. We've hit a couple of stretch goals, but we'd like to get a bit further along. With 5 days left, any insight would be welcome.

Ed
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-graphic-novel

Hi Ed! :D

First of all CONGRATS on almost doubling your goal amount! That's no easy feat :)

Overall I think you did a good job with your campaign, and you should be darned proud of it! However, I feel the main problem that kept your campaign from being as big as it could have been, was that the Video/Page TELLS you why to buy the book and how great the story is in words (video) and text (page) but you do less of SHOWING people why to buy the book and how great the story is. As a backer, I want to be introduced to your book in a way that draws me into it's atmosphere, and the video is the BEST way to do that. You made a a good and professional looking video (which is why you've been successful!) but it could have been GREAT if you were to introduce your book a different way.

With the campaign almost over, it's too late to suggest those changes to the video (which would be an entirely diff. post) , but it's not too late for some smaller tweaks that may garner more pledges in the final few days (as you should experience a bump of at LEAST half of the initial spike, if all goes well).

Mostly what I'm suggesting are changes in the information page, because scanning over it, there's not much gripping me and putting me into the world of your comic. So a few suggestions for your consideration:

1) Change the photo image (the one that shows up in Kickstarter searches) to a close up of a different werewolf (maybe bloodly muzzled werewolf?). I personally found the RED Werewolf images in the video (the ones that were more wolf like in the face) to look more interesting and terrifying. It should hopefully get more people to click on your campaign to check it out.

2) You need a GREAT image right at the top of the page underneath the title. You have an image of the books, which is cool for further down the page, but when people first check out your campaign they're going to still be deciding, and the first thing they should see is a gripping image that embodies the atmosphere and scariness of a Werewolf in Chicago (just taking an iconic panel of the Werewolf killing/hunting with the city in the b/g would be awesome if you have it). Or at least some kind of awesome panel of a bloody werewolf fight. Anything as long as it grabs the attention.

3) Following the short blurb of what the book is about, you need to have a more interesting preview of a bunch of artwork. This can be full pages or select panels that are super interesting that will give more of a visual/atmospheric punch. I would suggest getting rid of the talking page that's at the bottom of your current page, because it's not a page that would sway me to buy the book (though I'm sure it's super interesting in the book itself). If you have some newer B/W panels that would work well for this, I would suggest coloring up a few of those panels ASAP and putting them up. Focus on delivering images for the most interesting parts of your book to the average backer, not what YOU as the creator find most interesting (something that happens too often)


As an example, the images most interesting to me in the video were at :32, :41, :55, :59 . Dark city, bloody images, scary werewolves.

Whatever you choose they should be color images/panels. And ALWAYS link the images to larger versions of that image, not your website. When people click on an image it's usually because they want to look at the details.

4) Consider adding short "intro to the characters" after talking about what the KS is for. Don't get into too much text detail, but try and get people invested in the characters so they WANT to know what happens to them.

5) Also consider purchasing a Facebook ads for a few days. This is a GREAT way to garner attention.

6) Do you have any interviews set up for the final days? I would suggest trying to set up a few

7) Ask people to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr (does you project have it's own account on those sites?)

8) Don't add any more rewards, there's almost too much up there already. Your energies should be focused on setting up a better information page and then spreading the word as much as possible.

I'm a little concerned you didn't ask enough for your campaign though. How much did you initially need for creative costs for that 3rd chapter?

I'll try to think of more, but I think you've done a good job overall. :) I'm so happy for you and your success!

One very important fact is not being mentioned here: They started a Kickstarter to give it away for free.

Hi
First I'd like to say a huge thanks to Renae and all who contributed to this thread making it a treasure trove of info/advice on running successful comic kickstarters.

So I'm working on a new graphic novel world myself.
I have a few questions myself if you don't mind.

1) Issue release wise: What would you advice to begin with - is beginning a kickstarter for only a single issue viable? Or would it be preferrable to sell multiple issues, with the first completed issue having its artwork used as the marketing tool for the rest so to say. Because if the kickstarter is just for a single first issue, then where'd you get the art to promote that issue unless you already funded/completed that issue and its creative process - and do single issues sell well? With that said my first issue is a work in progress still.

Is it advisable to kickstart a project to fund creative process for new incomplete issues, and if so, what would be expected, i.e. would backers expect a certain time frame to complete those promised issues and send them copies when complete - or is it more advisable to only promote the publishing/distribution of completed work?

2) Advertising - obviously you can't just toss a project on kickstarter and expect it gain exposure unless you're actively advertising/promoting it. So what are the best ways to promote your kickstarter. If you're working with a known artist with connections etc that's one way to go I guess, but what would you advice as far as pre-launch hype, and for how long to do that, and the different avenues of promotion for unknown creators etc. Are there particular sites/social media/press to target etc. Not any random promotion technique would be effective, that's why I ask what works here for those with experience.

Anyhow I have more questions that I may post later, and apologies as I'm sure much of this was covered before so if in that case you can ignore question or refer/link to previous answer/resource.

Here is a quick link to my project about and my blog/art pages- it's hardly a launch till now but this post has a quick synopsis - with more of world/plot focus than character focus in this particular 'about', and my 3d art attached.

On deviant art page the about is on front page

http://darukin.deviantart.com/
http://darukin.blogspot.co.uk/
http://worldzedd.com/

Basically only one page is up, and of course a fully fledged site / blog will be in makings.

With that said I am working with Ray Dillon on this particular comic so you probably heard about it =)

Clearly I've got a lot to plan for this that's why I ask all this now, as your experience/advice in this would be invaluable
Thanks in advance!

Rami Ali

Would it be a good idea or a bad idea to run part of the comic I hope to get funding for online free before a Kickstarter? Or should I save a "preview" and have it be part of the actual Kickstarter page?

http://fav.me/d5scm1s <---- The comic in question is Sharkpony and the Glitter Riders. I think I need to do some sort of preview because people keep assuming it's a straight up Magical Girl comic which dissuades those I think would find it really entertaining. It's about 4 meaty dudebros that get transformed into 3 Magical Girls and a killer crime against nature called Sharkpony.

I have all the art for Issue 1 done by the way. Just have to organize things for the Kickstarter, which will be tricky between doing other stuff to pay bills.

Hey Renae - Thank so much for taking the time to do this. It's an invaluable resource.

So I'm getting ready to launch a Kickstarter, and am really swinging for the fence, trying to raise money to print a hardcover 130 page graphic novel. I just got a quote back from a printer that priced 500 copies at just about 6k. Now if I double that, I'd need to as a STARTING goal of 12k, and I don't realistically think that's something I can raise the first time out, but I did some numbers and wanted your feed back on them:

Printing: 6k
I have a $35 reward that I'm going to be pushing pretty hard--it includes digital special features as well as a dvd of short films that go along with the comic--so assuming I make the whole 6k from here, that's 172 books.
Shipping: Assuming shipping is about $10 a book, that's another 1,720
Fees: Kickstarter/Amazon takes about 10%, which would be another 700 or so.

Minimum asking price: Around 8k

Does this sound doable? Or am I leaving myself too little room for error?

Thanks so much

Clay McCormack

Hey Sarah! :D

You are in a good position because your content is all done, and you don't have creative costs you MUST raise to complete this. So basically, you could run the campaign for however much you want.

I would suggest that you focus on raising some money to put towards the creative process (basically, focus on raising some money to pay yourself for all the hard work you've been doing.) Now bear with me as I crunch some numbers! :)

Lets just say your intent is to raise 2K for creative purposes, so you'd be looking at a 4K campaign (I suggest $3800, it's a nice number). You could go less or higher if you want. Going for 1k creative costs would be a 2k campaign, and so on.

So you have: 22 page B/W comic w/ color cover

If you went with Ka-Blam to print, I'll estimate a $2 printing per issue, and overestimate $2 for packaging/shipping. So $4 fulfillment price per issue of your CORE reward. I would charge $10 for a physical copy of this, with some digital components to go with it (like that poster, and any other digital art you have)

My suggestion of rewards for you:

$1 Thank You (make it themed for your book)

$5 Digital Version of the book plus digital artwork

$10 Physical copy of the book plus digital artwork

$15 Physical and Digital copies of the book, plus digital artwork.

$25 Signed and numbered Physical Copy of the book, along with everything else in the $15 bracket.

$50 Sketch Version of the Physical Copy ( Ka-blam has an option to include a sketch cover) As well as everything in the $25 bracket.

$100 Cameo in a special Poster for the book (Just an idea for this slot, but you could draw a special pin up that includes a few backers) as well as the $25 (or $50) reward.

$250 Full Color commission by Sarah Elkins as well as the $50(or $100) reward Tier

That should be enough to get it started anyway. If you can do a sketchbook, that'd be cool too, but in your case you don't need it.

Basically, because your book is all done, you're good to go! :) On the KS I wouldn't say you're already done, because that can turn some backers off, but the great thing about it being done, is that you'll have a FAST turnaround time of a month or two, and then you can run another one, and keep funding for your work coming in.

I hope you go for it, Sarah! :)

Hey, Clay! :D Cool to see you in here!

Before I dig into it, I need to know:

Are there any creative costs or are you just trying to raise a certain amount to have a print run for further distribution (to have copies to sell outside the KS)? Is the content done, if not when will it? Is it full color or b/w?

Hi! :D Of course I know all about you! Ray has talked about it a bunch! I love your work, btw!

GN's generally will sell better than single issues on KS, but a single issue is fine to start with. However, if you have content that runs over 48 pages, you may as well do a small GN (look at Fairy Quest by Humberto Ramos on KS). Single issues are pretty expensive to print unless you got a deal somewhere, and GN's will generally fit into the most sellable bracket ($25) better than a single issue, and most people prefer GNs over multiple single issues as well.

Raising creative costs for an entire GN usually means a pretty large campaign. If you have Ray's art and a GREAT video and layout, I think you could do it, but of course the higher the funding needed, the more risk that it may fail. A single issue would be an almost for sure thing, but less money overall earned. It depends on how high you want to reach.

Artwork for a KS, you will need SOME art, but you don't need the whole issue. Basically to start you just need iconic images for the video (maybe just select panels), and maybe a couple pages of the most interesting part of the book. Just be sure to make that video REALLY good if you're going for a GN.

If you don't need that funding for #1, then you can use that money raised to put towards #2 if you want. You don't need to offer the second issue as a reward, I think backers would be happier not having to wait for a second issue anyway. Just say you're raising funds to help kick-start the series (which is true), and offer #1 as the core reward (assuming you go for the single issue)


Pre-Kickstarter: For a few weeks before the KS make sure you have as many social sites for your project (Twitter, FB, Tumblr) as well as a main site (could use blogger for that) established, and start gaining attention/followings for them. Do this by following a LOT of people on Twitter and engaging with them, and putting up Facebook ads (if you can afford it) to start drawing attention and followers to the project. Try to start out with a strong piece of art, then a few weeks before the campaign, have a piece of art to put out every few days (images made for the KS campaign is fine) to keep up interest. Let people know you'll be launching a campaign soon, so people are aware of it.

Also contact as many news sites/blogs as possible (doesn't matter if they have a large following or not) and ask if they'd be interested in posting an interview/article about your project. Have a few come out before the Kickstarter, but you want most of them to hit right in the first few days of the campaign (those are the days when you'll see the most activity). You could also try making it known on your sites that if anyone is interested in highlighting your project on their site, you'd love to put links in your book for them (include a special page just for their links).

During the campaign, there's more to do, but most of the work comes with starting everything up.

Basically, the two things I've seen work wonders are A) Facebook ads; and B) magically getting retweeted by someone with millions of followers. Not just them hitting RT, but actually posting about it personally.


I hope all of that made sense!

Just for further distribution. All the content is done and ready to go. My comic isn't full color, but it's a sepia tone that is going to require 4 color--i tried going 2 tone, but I wasn't happy with the look.

My angle with the project is to present it as a whole multimedia experience, as I have original music and short films that go with the comic. The only other printing expense would be like $100 for custom dvds and sleeves to attach inside the book itself, but I'm just going to eat that cost - all of my other rewards are either digital, or something I can ship with the book.

When I was doing my numbers, I was using $35 as a number to base it off of, as the $35 dollar reward has the book, dvd, music, and some other stuff and it's the one I'll be pushing the hardest.

As it stands I've blocked out 8 reward levels.

thanks so much!

Okay, so to be sure I've got this one fact straight: You want to raise 6K for further distribution, AND you will use books out of the 500 printed to fulfill your Kickstarter rewards.

If that's true, then yes, you can charge less than $12K because it's different than when someone needs purely 6K exclusively for something, THEN extra for fulfillment.

You're in the same situation at Sarah in that the book is totally done and you don't need creative costs, so you can practically do whatever you want. :har:

Shipping/packaging in the US will be more like $5 total per book, and Int. should be around $16 (using priority boxes, so be sure the book fits in the $16 Int. Envelopes or see if there's a first class option that's cheaper) So I think your middle ground estimate of $10 is right on for balancing the two costs so it should all work out.

For you, 8K is close but let me show you the numbers for an 8K campaign:

8,000 (funding goal) divided by 35 (core reward cost) = 228 books sold (if nothing but books were sold)

228 (core reward books bought) multiplied by 10 (average shipping) = $2285 shipping/ packaging.

Also 10% fees (slight overestimate) = $800

A Buffer amt to cover refunds, reshipped books (Int. books get lost a lot), and dropped pledges: This can be anything you want, but I would go with at LEAST $500. This is an amt that many don't even consider that's VITAL.

So total with this campaign, you have a total cost of 9585 for this campaign.

So there's a CHANCE you'd be out $1500 if you purely sold 8K worth of books. Even considering that you will sell lesser, digital rewards that cost nothing for fulfillment, there's a chance you'll be slightly in the red, but you MAY balance out at 8K. If you can absorb those costs in case they do arise, then you'll be fine. If not, then I would suggest bumping up the funding goal a bit.

A couple things:

Does the 6K include taxes/shipping from the printer?

Kickstarters are a lot of time, do you need to pay yourself for that time (handling correspondence, shipping/handling efforts, etc)?

I would suggest taking the book off for sale on your site for awhile, because part of what makes Kickstarter so appealing to backers is that they want to help make projects a reality. If it's already a reality and for sale somewhere, then they will care less about it.

Do you have something to offer at around the $15-$20 mark? That's a popular bracket for those that don't want to pay $35 for the book and you don't want to miss those sales. A sketchbook is always what I suggest, because it's inexpensive and something you can add onto the main book at the $50 mark.

What other rewards do you have?

Have you set up websites/social networks for your project?

There's so much more! But I hope some of that helps a bit! :) I think you're mostly right on track though!

Thanks again for helping me work through this, Renae, getting my head around these numbers has been a pain.

I guess I misunderstood further distribution: This Kickstarter would mark the first time I'm printing this graphic novel. I intend to fulifill using books I'm raising money to print, and the rest will be sold outside kickstarter.

So, I actually looked at the quote incorrectly. The total price to get 500 books printed and taxes and shipping to me is just over 7k (I'm thinking about going for 1000 books though because it's only 600 more for twice the books!)

So here's what I have broken down money wise:

Total print cost: 7k
Number of books it'll take to cover that at the average level of $35: 200
Shipping costs of those 200 books at an average $10: 2k
Which puts my number at 9k, plus 10% for Kickstarter: 700
For a total goal number at $9700?

If so, I feel like that's......going to be really really hard to hit for me.

Paying myself for time would be ideal (in which case this campaign would have to be more like...60k or something to make up for all the work I put into it already hahaha) but for the first one I don't think I can do it

All I have on my website are digital versions of single issues, what I'm presenting through Kickstarter will be unique to Kickstarter

Right now my awards are as follows (rough numbers):

Lowest, as yet unpriced: A digital download of a special features book that includes sketches, excerpts of early versions of the script, process material, and the two stories I did in Heavy Metal Magazine which were the origin for the project

10? - (not sure how to price this or if to use it at all, just came up with it) Dead Meat Kickstarter thank you postcard with small sketch on the back

35 - The Hardcover book, the digital special features book, and a DVD of the short films that go with the comic

50 - Book, Digital special features, DVD, Digital soundtrack album download, small sketch inside the book

100 - Book, Digital special features, DVD, Soundtrack download, large sketch inside of yourself as either zombie or zombie hunter, and a thank you in the book (limited to 50)

200 - Book, Digital special features, DVD, Soundtrack download, Large Sketch, Thank you in book, and a page of original art from the book (limited to 10)

300 - Book, Digital Special features, DVD, Soundtrack download, Large Sketch, Thank you in book, and a character in future issues designed/named after you (limit 2)

500 - Book, Digital Special Features, DVD, Soundtrack download, Large Sketch, Thank you in book, any 2 pages of original art or double page spread (limit 10)

1000 - Book, Digital special features, DVD, Soundtrack, Large Sketch, Extra special thank you in book, and you will be retroactively drawn into the comic in a key scene before it goes to print

I feel like I'm giving away some pretty cool stuff, but I wonder If i'm giving away too much too early?

I've got my main site
(http://eatdeadmeat.com)

Facebook
http://facebook.com/deadmeatcomic

and Twitter
@DeadMeatComic

And I plan on bombarding any websites and blogs etc that I can to get the word out.

Seeing this whole thing started in Heavy Metal Magazine, my shoot for the moon secret plan is to see if I could get Kevin Eastman to write me an intro (after he's seen the book and decided he liked it, of course!)

But a guy can dream...

Thanks so much again

Clay

Thanks! I just have to get in a spot where I can organize it. I want to do some extra art for the Kickstarter page to make it shiny as well as some new art/prints to go with it to offer as rewards. At the moment we have no wiggle room on bills here at my house so I'm trying to keep pace with things, it's hard to take time to do side art that doesn't have a 100% chance of paying immediately. I'll find a way though!

The things you stumble over on a slow Saturday night.

Interesting thread, with some strangely bitter posts that are essentially chastising people for paying for something they want to own.

One thing I'd like to address...the idea that funding print versions of online material is some kind of scam is absurd.

Give you a good example:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...editi?ref=live

This was an awesome online strip that Ryan had paid out of pocket to produce a tiny print run of, but he couldn't find anyone willing to publish the book without essentially robbing him blind. He wanted a physical book to sell, but couldn't fund it on his own. So he reworked the hell out of the strip, spent tons of unpaid time writing new material, and used his "connections" to get help with pin-ups and backup stories.

And he broke the bank, essentially demonstrating that the market knows more than most publishers do.

Here's the Kickstarter we ran for BAD KARMA:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/badkarma/bad-karma

We raised that money on faith alone, really, since we had precious little material finished when we launched the campaign. I'm a full-time professional comic book writer, Jeremy is a full-time professional comic book artist and writer, Alex is a full-time (NY Times best-selling) novelist and comic book writer, and Seth is a part-time professional comic book writer. People are willing to support a new project from us partly because they trust us based on work we've done in the past. But we wanted to do a project we had complete ownership and control over, in a (really) nice edition for the shelves of readers. Kickstarter was our best shot at doing so.

-BCM

Hey B. Clay! :har:

Thanks for posting in here! I'm so happy about your Kickstarter's success! :) Do you have some pointers for people? I'm sure they'd love to hear them!

CMcCormick: I haven't forgotten about you! I have a bunch of stuff to say about the campaign, just haven't had time to write it all down! Will try to tomorrow! :)

Renae -

First of all, you're amazingly patient.

One thing I would recommend, and it's not always possible, since one of the reasons you're raising money for a book is often to pay to have it created, is to have as much of it done as possible beforehand.

We probably could have done that, but in many ways, it was funding the book successfully and setting concrete deadlines that spurred us to make sure the work got done, and to track down collaborators (letters! colorists!) qualified and available to do what we had in mind.

We're in the hole out of the gate, but printed enough copies to cover any losses we've got once sold, and are looking at the book as both a way to introduce our collective identity, and as a gateway to introducing new concepts that we can expand on later.

-BCM

Okay, so here's a bunch of stuff! :D

I'm going to present a few scenarios for you to choose from, so I can get a better idea of what you're overall goal is, and to show you more options:

Scenario A (what you're currently trying to do): Doing a hardcover version where you have to purchase 500 books from the printer (is that their minimum amt? can you order less?) means you won't make any money for yourself until you reach a certain amount of books sold. For you, it would be around 300-ish books (or around 10K earned overall). It might be a bit less than that, but just for over-estimate purposes. This means until you reach that threshold, if that campaign earns less than that, you will likely not have any money for yourself personally to take care of anything (in other words, you'd be doing everything in your spare time, hoping no extra costs occur), BUT you'll have 200 books or so that you can further sell to turn a profit on. However, this means further time and effort to sell/ship those books. If you can sell all 500 books (or earn the equivalent funding on other rewards) then you'll have around $3K just for you to keep, which you can use to purchase those extra books if you wish.

I worry about the way this is set up because I KNOW what it's like to run a campaign for NO money, and it's incredibly rough. However, I don't know your financial/time resource situation. if you're able to give the time and are able to cover any extra expenditures that could arise if the campaign goes under 10K, then you may as well go for it :)

Scenario B: If you went a POD route for a softcover book (lets use Createspace.com for the example) It's $9.95 cost per book, but you only have to purchase however many you sell, meaning you can run a SMALLER campaign, and in the end earn yourself some actual money. For instance:

a 6K campaign would garner you between $2k-$3K IN POCKET for your creative costs. Anything earned more than that would garner you the same ratio in-pocket (10K campaign would be $4k-$5k in pocket).

You would not have extra books on hand unless you order them, but just my opinion; the energy spent on selling extra copies is better spend creating another book. ;)

This scenario is for a slightly less cool book, but money in pocket.

Scenario C: If you went back to a Grayscale book, you'd be in even better shape. The sepia is cool, but the end result is you're paying and charging for a COLOR book, but still have the effect and value of a black and white book (not a comment on the worth of toned books, just how people in general view these types of books). If the book is sepia toned, people will expect to pay B/W pricing, but you're having to charge higher for your rewards because you're paying higher printing costs. The higher pricing for sepia print on this type of book may turn some people away.

If you went Grayscale, your costs would only be around $5-$6 per POD book, and you could offer a cheaper book to the public that would garner more buyers (IOW more of an audience to follow your NEXT campaign)

Anyway, those are just some options for you! :)

As per your rewards:

1. Overall I suggest wording things differently. If you're including all of a previous reward, it's best to choose wording like "including all of the $__ reward". This allows people to quickly see the one thing they're purchasing a higher tier for, and gets rid of the static, cluttery words from previous rewards.

2. Your $50 and $100 sketches are WAY TOO CHEAP!! :har: Charge at LEAST at the $150 or $200 levels for sketches. If it's just a quick doodle (like really quick) then $65-$100 is okay. Especially if you choose the hardcover campaign, then you'll likely have to spend a lot of time on a lot of sketches, for no money.

3. I will suggest a sketchbook again. It's a cheap and easy way to include another physical item to backers with some cool content (sketches, script, anything)

4. If you only are giving 2 cameos, bump up the price to $350 or more.

And I hope you don't think I'm silly for saying this, but the DVD is a REALLY cool addition to your book, but the general public may not care as much for it unless they can get behind the main BOOK first. So your video really has to sell the story,atmosphere, or whatever it is that makes your book special. If they like the book, THEN they'll be interested in the extras. Overall, I suggest focusing less on selling the extras, and concentrate your selling efforts on the book itself. Trying to sell a person a Book AND movies AND soundtrack as the core reward can be a bit confusing as to what they're supposed to like most, so make it easy by focusing efforts on the book.

Kevin Eastman: That would be awesome! Have you just asked him? I bet he'd do it.

Hope any of that helps :) Whatever you choose, I think you'll succeed.

Thanks for this! :D Great advice!

Thanks Renae that's very helpful, means a lot!
And indeed you are very patient!

All the Best!
Rami

Hey Renae,

Thanks so much for that extensive breakdown!

So, I spent basically all evening yesterday running numbers and doing them out, and I came to the conclusion that because of the way shipping the books really sort of hoses you, if I offered my book as low as $30, the only way I would break even is if my goal was set at $13k or so, and I managed to sell about 400 books, leaving me with only 100 books in inventory. Any other goal amount less than this and I lose money that I really don't have.

SO, what my plan is right now is to re-think my approach. I'm probably going to postpone my campaign for a month or so, but my new tactic, if successful, will cover cost of printing, cost of shipping, and kickstarter fees with a much lower goal - and one that doesn't hurt me the more books I sell!

And if it don't work, then hey, I'll just rethink it again for Kickstarter Campaign part 2: Kick Harder!

Thanks again so much for all your help - can't wait to see Peter Pan!
(and let me know what stretch goal I'd need to raise to get you and Ray to do a pinup for my book ;) )

-Clay

Renae and others have posted some good advice on here.

Just to throw my 2 cents in from my experience (I didn't meet my goal which was way to high).

Be prepared to do a lot of work recruiting (especially if you are new to creating a comic and have no following.) Be prepared to work just as hard after you launch. Just don't think you can sit back and have strangers throw money at you.

Besides social media, find other ways to spread the word. Go to local comic shops or game shops and introduce yourself to the owners and see if you can leave info there or have them help spread the word.

Find comic blogs that you can go on and talk about your project and the kickstarter experience.

Build everything up towards your opening day. You want big numbers right away cause as the sooner you reach your goal, then the more likely a stranger will jump in on the project. People like to support projects that succeed and that they know will get them a reward in return, so it is critical to get your percentage up high right away. People don't want to support something they don't see being successful.

You will need more than just your friends and family to help with so start making connections before and plan ahead.

Hope this helps any of you looking to start and good luck to you when you do!

Also if you do run a campaign - please make sure to use your updates and stay in touch with your backers. From a backer perspective, I've only supported a couple but one keeps us updated and I would probably support again but the other guy has not and regardless of how I enjoy it, I will not support him again. Don't make people feel like you took their money and then stopped caring. It doesn't take much to update and it is easy to lose people along the way.

Kevin

@Renae- Well since you seem to be very knowledgable on the subject of kickstarter I have a couple of questions. Ok so my webcomic http://pt.thecomicseries.com/ is about 60 pages in and I thought I would do a kickstarter for the first GN. The comic is black and white and I figured I would get it colored through the kickstarter, but reading some of your other posts I'm not sure that is a good idea. Now I think it might be better to go with just gray tones to save on printing. I would appreciate your insight on this. Actually that is all I need to know at this time.

Hi Domja! :)

I think it's a great idea, actually! You have all the content done (besides coloring) so there's no reason why you shouldn't do this.

Lets assume you'll need $3500 creative costs total ($2500 for coloring, which is about $40 a page, and $1000 for your own expenses), which means about a 7K campaign. Of course if you need less than $40 a page, the funding goal would be less, but I highly suggest earning a bit for yourself to cover your time expenditures for this.

Now let's just assume you'll do a Soft Cover edition from Createspace.com, which would bring total fulfillment cost (per US backer) to around $10 each. So you should charge this in the $20 tier, with digital extras/thank you. You could use Ka-blam, but it's more expensive (by around $2.15 extra per copy, pushing it to the $25 tier).

This is just a starter example for you. :) Using these calculations, Any amt earned over the funding goal, will yield 50% pure profit, just for you (as your content is done, and after the goal amt is achieved, the coloring is paid for).

Let me know if you have further questions, or if I didn't answer what you were asking about. :)

Thanks Renae. That is very useful info. I was gooing to aim for the end of the year but now I will probably do it alot sooner. Do you know of any colorists looking for work? I doubt I have quite the network that you have.