My name is Mike Spring. In addition to writing the weekly What’s New on Home Video column for Comic-Watch, I’m also a comic book writer and the publisher of Outtatime Comics, home of Uncaped and Red, White & Broke. I’ve heard a lot of people in the indie comics scene proclaim that Kickstarter (or IndieGogo or Zoop or BackerKit) is the future of independent comics, and as a somewhat seasoned veteran of the Kickstarter scene, I tend to agree with that. More and more creators are turning to crowdfunding to bring their comic books and graphic novels to the masses. Even some of the bigger indie comics publishers are using the platform to fund bigger or more expensive releases. Many of you reading this have probably pledged on one or more comic book campaigns by this point. I myself am what Kickstarter calls a “Superbacker,” meaning I’ve backed over 500 campaigns, almost all of them comic-book related. (Personally, I define being a Superbacker as “I have a serious self-control issue.”)
As I mentioned above, I’m also a comic book creator. Full disclosure: I am in the process of running a Kickstarter for my latest graphic novel right now, which is what inspired this article. As you read this, there are probably a few days left on the campaign. I’m not going to use this column as an advertisement for my book (although if you want to check it out, you can do so here: tinyurl.com/8bitslasher), but I will refer to my own campaigns as examples. Because the behind-the-scenes of running a Kickstarter is probably more fun, more unpredictable, and more stressful than most backers realize.
Quick note: for the purposes of this article, I’m going to focus on the perspective of a truly independent creator, not companies like Boom and Dynamite who use crowdfunding as a pre-order platform.
So, first comes all the pre-work. Before you can fund anything, you have to have a decent chunk of your comic book done already, at least enough to preview in the campaign itself. Some people will have a few pages done, some will have the entire book finished and ready to print, and most fall somewhere in between. I like to have all the pencil and ink work (as well as the script, obviously) done on my book before I launch so I can get the books out as fast as possible once the campaign ends. All of the money I pay my artist comes out of my pocket before I launch a Kickstarter. Then I know that once the book funds, I only have to cover the coloring, lettering, printing, and shipping (which is still quite expensive.) For my current book, which is a 48-page squarebound graphic novel, let me give you some financials: (Please note that these are specific to my campaigns, not necessarily indicative of other people’s numbers.)
- Artwork: Approximately $2,400 (all pre-paid)
- Cover Art: It ranges, but approximately $1,000 total for a few different covers (pre-paid)
So those are things that I’m not even trying to necessarily recoup with the Kickstarter funds. Here’s where that money goes:
- Coloring: Approximately $2,000
- Lettering: Approximately $1,000
- Printing: Approximately $2,000
- Shipping: Approximately $1,000
My funding goal is $7,500. Now, assuming we hit that, then Kickstarter takes its fees, and you usually lose a few dollars to expired credit cards, dropped pledges, etc. So that means if we just hit our $7,500 goal, then I’ll pocket about $6,500. If you add up the expenses above, you’ll see they total $6,000. That’s not a lot of wiggle room. But I can make that math work – and hopefully we’ll make more money than just hitting our goal — so we’re going full steam ahead.
Now comes the pre-launch. First, you have to build out the campaign itself on Kickstarter. This means adding all the reward tiers (usually a dozen or more, depending on variant covers, package deals, early bird specials, etc.), creating a campaign write-up, uploading photos and artwork, getting approved by Kickstarter, getting your bank details verified, etc. It usually takes a few days to get approved by Kickstarter. Once you do, you can generate a pre-launch page, where people can sign up to be notified when the campaign goes live. This is a valuable tool, and I personally try to make sure I have at least 100 followers before I launch.
So once you’re approved and you’re ready to launch, the big day comes. Maybe you do a live event, maybe it’s a softer launch, but you click that button and take the campaign live. Now you can just watch the money come rolling in! (And this is where I really wish there was a ‘record scratch’ emoji.)
See, you’re thinking, I’m gonna plaster the campaign all over my social media feeds and all my friends and family are going to pledge on it! And then people on Kickstarter will see it and see how cool it looks, and they’ll pledge too! And I’ll blow past my goal, and then I can buy a Ferrarri, or at least a Mint/Near Mint copy of Hulk #181.
And this is where Kickstarters get weird. I’ve run six successful Kickstarter campaigns, and if I someday I finally crack the code on what it takes to get the backers you need and/or want, I think I will die happy. Trust me when I tell you it will bot go how you think it’s going to go.
- Your mom? She’ll definitely pledge on your campaign.
- Your best friend in the world? No thanks, not interested.
- A person you went to elementary school with and haven’t seen in 20 years? Oh, they’re in. And they’ll buy the collector’s package, too, pledging way more than the base price.
- Your fellow creator friend who also runs Kickstarters and you’ve pledged on three of them already? 50/50 chance they pledge on your campaign. Usually only if you remind them.
- Those hundreds of friends and followers you have? Radio silence.
- That one fan who buys every single thing you publish? They’ll be backer number 1.
The people you are 100% sure will pledge on your campaign will absolutely not pledge on your campaign. The people you figure there’s zero chance will pledge on your campaign will show up out of nowhere and drop $50 or $75 dollars. The only thing that’s predictable is that it’s unpredictable.
That said, the pledges will come, and hopefully they’ll come in fast and furious. Now, here’s what happens: The first two days will usually make you about 30-40% of your total funds. That’s where all the people who were following the project will usually pledge. Plus, you show up on the Kickstarter home page as a new project, which gets you a lot of eyeballs. So usually, the first two days are great. You’re on cloud nine, watching the pledges roll in. And then… day three hits. Day three starts the Dropoff Period. Which will last for exactly 26 days (assuming your campaign is 30 days, which is the standard length for most campaigns.) This time is also known as the Dead Zone, the Wasteland Period, the Drought… you get the idea. Unless you’re a big name creator, the pledges will effectively drop to a trickle at this point, usually getting a couple of new ones a day, but not much more than that. You’ll also get some cancellations of pledges or adjustments during this time, which always stings. I’ve had days where I wake up and I’m down $50 from where I was the night before. Look up “demoralizing” in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of a Kickstarter creator seeing a canceled pledge notification.
During the Dead Period, a lot of your success will depend on the Kickstarter algorithm, and this one can cause you to shake your fists at the sky and curse the Kickstarter gods. See, the Kickstarter algorithm can make or break a project. Get placed near the bottom of the project pages and you can fall off a cliff. Work your way up to the top, and it can lead to more and more pledges. How do you get to the top? Get pledges. How do you get pledges when you’re not near the top? Not easily. You need pledges to get to the top of the page and you need to be at the top of the page to get pledges. It’s a wonderful catch-22.
Now, fast forward to the last 48 hours of the campaign. Kickstarter will message all the campaign’s followers at this point and let them know that the campaign is ending, which usually spurs a bunch of people to pledge. All those pledges triggers the Kickstarter algorithm and suddenly your project is on top of all of their discovery pages again (sadly, just in time for your campaign to end.) You can usually count on getting a solid 20-30% of your total pledges in the last two days of your campaign. Which can be a lifeline if you’re floating around in the dead zone under your goal (like my current campaign is.) But if you don’t hit the goal, you don’t get the money. Not a single cent. See, Kickstarter is an all or nothing platform. If you don’t hit your goal, you don’t get any of the funds, period. So hitting that number is really, reeeeaaallllly important.
And then, it’s all over. You (hopefully) funded! Now you can start to breathe again. You can actually post things on social media that aren’t just disguised pleas for people to pledge on your project. Your spouse or partner or best friend will sigh a sigh of relief at not having to hear you whining anymore about how people aren’t pledging and you don’t understand why not because your book looks so cool and your previous campaign went so well and so on and so on. (Not that I would ever do that. I’m totally just speculating.)
In about two weeks, you get the money from Kickstarter, and then it’s on to finishing the book, printing it, creating and sending out surveys (which is a whole other nightmare), and shipping out the rewards. Now… now the real work begins!
Mike Spring’s current Kickstarter campaign is for the 48-page original slasher film/video game/comedy mash-up graphic novel, The 8-Bit Slasher. You can check it out here: tinyurl.com/8bitslasher