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I'm starting a Kickstarter NOW!

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:32 pm
by Mr. Big
I've mentioned before about how I want to get the books of my webcomic reprinted in color, and how color printing is expensive as hell unless I get it mass produced.

Well, even though I said I would never use Kickstarter again (UGH), unfortunately this is my only option unless I can find a rich comic fan to invest money into me, so I have to bite the bullet and reluctantly use it, alas.

Here's a WIP of a text. Some things I still need to add, but it's a start, I guess. A lot of this is based/ripped off on other successful KS campaigns for comic books.

Also included information on reward tiers, again based on what I see in other successful campaigns, and whether I can realistically provide them.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16_HKII ... sp=sharing

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:34 pm
by Mr. Big
One issue I'm wondering is this: Kickstarter doesn't accept PayPal, but I received a couple of emails from people last time saying they want to pledge, but doesn't have credit card and only have PayPal. What do I say if I ever get these messages again? How can I accommodate them?

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 9:12 am
by Perrydotto
Mr. Big wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:34 pm
One issue I'm wondering is this: Kickstarter doesn't accept PayPal, but I received a couple of emails from people last time saying they want to pledge, but doesn't have credit card and only have PayPal. What do I say if I ever get these messages again? How can I accommodate them?
It's very common for Kickstarter campaigns to have Paypal donation options linked at the very top of the campaign description page.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:09 pm
by Mr. Big
Perrydotto wrote:
Thu Sep 06, 2018 9:12 am
It's very common for Kickstarter campaigns to have Paypal donation options linked at the very top of the campaign description page.
Oh, this is good! Will keep in mind.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:17 pm
by Madeline
I feel bad about not helping, but I’m not sure what I can do at the moment.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:19 pm
by Madeline
comedy option: offer people a chance to pet your cat at a $12,043.51 tier, make it limited to five slots, and then post lots of pictures of your cat being cute with captions like “you know you want to” and “look at this fluffy boy, just begging for pets”

“The famous inspiration of ‘Ask a Cat,’ now available for pets ‘n’ purrs” (note: the history of advertising has taught me that it doesn’t matter whether or not this statement is factually true)

“I guess it’s okay if you’re loaded and with surplus cash but don’t want to pet an adorable cat. Plenty of famous people hate cats. Hitler hated cats, for example.”

“Pay to pet the famous kitty, and you, too, may get your picture taken with a feline celebrity. Opportunities are limited. You don’t want to look back on your deathbed and realize that you missed your opportunity to travel to Tennessee on your own dime and immortalize yourself via cat selfie. Live without regrets. Seize your chances while you can. Be a legend.”

a la the evil strategy of making it a big obvious joke while making it look appealing to somebody to drop a huge wad of cash on the big obvious joke option

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 7:15 pm
by Mr. Big
You're lucky I wasn't drinking anything when I read that :lol: I think I'm good for now, though. Others gave me suggestions, and I think I nailed down the text.

Just need to design graphic charts of the reward tiers, as well as the shipping charts.

Also, I need to draw the new book cover. Probably should do that first before I launch it, at least :v:

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 4:32 pm
by Mr. Big
Image

Designed cover for the remastered book. Wanted to combine the look of old comic book covers from Harvey/Gold Key and manga takobons.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:02 pm
by Mr. Big
Looking at some of the past successful Kickstarters for webcomic books, I noticed that one of the most common items offered for backers is signed bookplate. Basically a sticker that says "This book belongs to", with author's signature.

That's what I'm getting from looking it up, at least. Should consider offering that.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:57 pm
by Madeline
Two words: monogrammed. handkerchiefs.

That’ll get the pledges just a’rollin in :twiright:

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:59 pm
by Madeline
But don’t take my word for it, let’s hear what Mr. linkdex [Bot] thinks!

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:56 pm
by Mr. Big
Got this in the mail this week:

Image

Expect to see "Printed in China" somewhere in the book

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:15 am
by Mr. Big
Been working more on it, creating graphics to go with it.

Image

I'm aiming to launch the kickstarter on January 15. The text is pretty much done, and the reward tiers seem to be good.

Now comes the hardest part: the video. I'm thinking of doing an animatic with Princess Kat explaining the Kickstarter. Anyone here interested in voicing Kat?

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:30 am
by Perrydotto
I would be, but my recording environment is not exactly great atm :deflated: Depends on when you need it, I guess?

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:35 am
by Mr. Big
Perrydotto wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:30 am
I would be, but my recording environment is not exactly great atm :deflated: Depends on when you need it, I guess?
I still haven't written the script, so not for a while on my end, either way. :-I

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 3:38 pm
by Mr. Big
Here's a draft of the Kickstarter if anyone wants to leave feedback. Still need to do some tweaks, but this is basically what I'm aiming for.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 5:11 pm
by Mr. Big
Updated the rewards chart a bit to make it easier to read, and reworded the "Risks and Challenges" section to make it more transparent.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:29 pm
by Mr. Big
Wrote the first draft of the script to the video. The idea is that Kat is narrating, talking about the campaign and what's being offered.

Suggestions for fixes are welcomed!

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 11:24 am
by Mr. Big
Haven't written in a while, but things are moving along with the book!

I commissioned Bill Holbrook to do a drawing to go with his introduction (some of you may remember an avatar I had for a while of Kat holding a tail umbrella, that came from his illustration). It came out good and will add nicely to the book.

I'm also having someone do a check on the book to make sure it's formatted correctly and stuff. All in all, it should be ready by the time I launch the campaign. I'm aiming to launch on January 15.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:51 pm
by Mr. Big
I just made it official that January 15 is when I'll launch the Kickstarter. I'm hoping to get the books printed by May, when I go to convention circuits.

Here's the finalized cover

Image

I really, really, hope this one succeeds. I'm gonna need all the help I can get.

Re: Because color printing is expensive...(help me with this Kickstarter)

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2018 3:56 am
by Mr. Big
A couple of updates on the Kickstarter:

1. Getting more editing work done for past comics. This new edition should have better flow for easy reading. Also redid some of the colors on the early pages so it looks better in print.

2. I got the voice track for the Kickstarter video, which I just finished editing. I'm going to create an animatic where Princess Kat explains the campaign and what's in it. Here's a sample storyboard:

Image

I hired Emily Koch to voice Princess Kat. You might remember her for voicing Rainbow Dash in the "Double Rainboom" student animation years ago. She did a great job!

3. Been contacting around printers, gathering price quotes for the book. In addition to money, I'm also considering time because I'm hoping to have the book debut in May, but there's a chance it won't get shipped until a bit later because I may have to get the books printed overseas in China to keep the costs down, which can take up to 12 weeks including shipping (vs. domestic, which is about 5 weeks). Luckily, I'll also be debuting a second "Ask a Cat" book in 2019, so I'll still have something new to showcase early in the convention season (The "Cat" book will be in black and white, so I'm just gonna use POD for that)

Re: Because color printing is complicated (My comic's upcoming Kickstarter)

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:21 am
by Mr. Big
I'm almost done putting together the book files. Just need to work on the final chapter, which also happens to be the longest story I ever done for my comic (44 pages!).

After this, I'm going to get it checked one last time, but other than that it will be finished.

In the meantime, you can check out the preview for my Kickstarter page, including an animatic with Kat's voice! I think it's pretty much set, but if you have any comments, feel free to share.

Re: Because color printing is complicated (My comic's upcoming Kickstarter)

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 2:29 pm
by Mr. Big
I finished getting the last chapters edited. There's still a last-minute final check, but the book's pretty much done.

(lies down and sleep for the rest of the week)

Re: My comic's upcoming Kickstarter (UPDATE: Final edits done)

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:36 pm
by Mr. Big
It was a months long process, but I just finished making final edits for the book.

The book is now truly done! :party:

Only thing left to do is to Kickstart it in a couple of weeks.

Re: My comic's upcoming Kickstarter (UPDATE: Final edits done)

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 12:52 am
by Madeline
:yay:

Re: I'm starting a Kickstarter this Tuesday (TOMORROW!)

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 2:08 am
by Mr. Big
TOMORROW :flail:

Re: I'm starting a Kickstarter TOMORROW (1/15/2019)

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:06 am
by Mr. Big
And it's live! Will close this thread and open a new one