So! You wrote your script, made your indie comic and built a solid following through your marketing skills. What’s next you ask?
Crowdfunding!
We’re going to go under the assumption that you’re a 1st time indie comic creator and you financed this project with your own money.
How do you get a return on your creative project? Building a Kickstarter is a decent place to start. (After all it’s tough to get a publisher to pick you up as a 1st time author).
This substack post will go through everything you need to build a successful kickstarter. More specifically, it will give you a guideline to follow so that you can maximize your crowdfunding.
Before reading on, please be sure to subscribe for future Pat Murphy Guide to Comics posts!
Introduction
After you get all the tedious nitty-gritty stuff done, like getting your Kickstarter account set up, introduce your project!
At the beginning of your campaign page, create an introduction section. Tell your audience what you are creating and why you are so passionate about the project! Tell them how many pages of story you have, whether it’s in black and white or coloured, if it’s digital or printed and the format (standard size is 8.5 x 11 inches). Be sure to explain the genre of the story, where you’re at in production and the people who helped you build this project.
I can’t stress this enough: tell people why you’re so passionate about your project! What’s your values? Why do you think this indie comic is so important to get out there for the world to see? Answering these questions will help you get more engagement.
Give People A Sample
Give your audience a taste of what they’ll see if they back your project. Include the cover for your book (wouldn’t hurt to include another variant cover as well). Then post the 1st 5 pages of your story. Make sure they are complete (ie/ fully colored and lettered). People are hesitant to back a project if they don’t know what they’re getting into. Giving people a taste of what’s to come gives people more confidence in you and your project!
Here’s a sample of the 1st 2 pages of my indie comic Echoes of the Triumphant #3! I’ll be using them for my upcoming kickstarter.
Why People Will Love your Project
Ask yourself why people should pick up your book. It goes without saying that you should express your commitment to quality storytelling. You should also express the amount of effort that you put into your project. On top of that, you ask yourself more questions and answer them in this section of the campaign page.
How does your book honour the genre?
What inspired you to go on this creative endeavour?
Who do you want to give a voice to?
What impact will your book make on society?
People want to feel as though they are a part of something meaningful. Expressing this will go a long way when it comes to getting backers.
The Story
Give a brief summary of your story. Tell your audience about your character(s) and their flaw(s). Give details about the plot, story and character development. But don’t give too much away!
(Even big time studios give away too much in their trailers)
Make sure you leave a nice hook at the end of this sector to keep your audience engaged!
The Press
It doesn’t hurt to boost your credibility. Send your book to critics to get their opinion! If they like it, then be sure to add their comments to your Kickstarter campaign page!
(If not, well… we won’t tell anyone)
It doesn’t need to be huge. Just add some positive sentences from critics similar to the picture below:
The Team
I recommend showing your appreciation and giving credit where credit is due!
Thank the professionals who helped bring your vision to life by putting up links to their social media and websites so that they get the exposure they deserve!
Rewards
List the rewards that you plan on delivering. Be sure to be financially pragmatic with your rewards. For example, take the printing and shipping costs into consideration when you’re setting the price for your print rewards.
Here are some examples of some rewards to give out:
Digital Copies of your book
Physical Copies of you book
Copies with backer credits (a thank you page in your book for everyone who backed this reward)
Additional merch like posters, stickers and t-shirts
I can’t stress this enough: make sure you’re tech savvy enough to know how to deliver your rewards! Have a plan on how you’ll send your digital copies. I always send them via email but you can always send them via dropbox. You’re going to have a hard time getting backers in your next kickstarter if you can’t deliver rewards.
It wouldn’t hurt to add some pictures to your rewards like so:
Budget
Include details on your budget. Explain why you need to raise this amount of cash. Include the payments you made to your team (your artist, editor, letterer, cover artist, etc). Include estimated printing and shipping cost. And include any other additional costs such as marketing and advertising costs.
About Me
Tell people about yourself! Explain why you’re so passionate about comics! Explain why you’re so passionate about your project! Tell you story. It doesn’t hurt to use humour. Be as open and transparent as you can. Anything you to connect with others will help you in the long run.
Kickstarter Video
After you finished up with your campaign page, I highly recommend that you take the time to make a Kickstarter video. Even though they are not necessary, campaigns with Kickstarter videos tend to do better than those than don’t. It shows that you’re willing to put in the extra effort for your project. It may seem daunting at first to make your 1st video. I can assure you, it’s never as bad as it seems! Premiere Pro is an excellent tool to use as a beginner. (There are tons of Premiere Pro videos out there in case you get confused).
When you’re building your video, you can do 1 of 2 things. You can either give people a taste of your story and leave a hook at the end. Or you can introduce yourself and include what critics have said about your book.
Let’s start with the 1st option. Keep it simple by introducing your character(s), your world and the gist of your story. It goes without saying that you should include artwork from your project in the video. People love pictures! Then introduce your hook! Say something along the lines of ‘Will our hero rise up to the occasion? Or will he/she let his/her flaws get the best of them?’
Here’s an example of a Kickstarter video I made for my last campaign. The link can be found here.
The 2nd option is another decent way too, especially if you’re not video savvy. Simply use your phone, laptop or iPad to record a video of yourself talking about who you are and your project. Then if you can, merge it with another video of a critic giving it a positive review. Here’s an example of a video that I made that has a critic giving my book a positive review! The link can be found here.
Again, videos aren’t necessary. However, it is highly recommended that you make one to make your Kickstarter as kick-ass as possible!
Conclusion
It takes a lot of effort to build a successful crowdfunding campaign. I can’t guarantee success if you follow this guideline. I can guarantee that if you follow this, your 1st kickstarter will be a lot less of a painful process than my 1st kickstarter. Like anything you do in life, if you keep at it, try again, put hard work into it, good things will come. It will take time but it will come.
If you have questions, be sure to hit me up in the comments!
As always,
Stay groovy!