Almost over

We're winding down to the end of our campaign, and it doesn't look good for success. Folk would argue that I haven't harassed every single person I could have, nor taken advantage of services for promotion; my answer would be that for the amount Kickstarter takes from each successful project, it doesn't make much sense to do all the work myself.

In the end, I was curious about it, and am glad to have tried it. Like everything, the system has its flaws and it's difficult for a small fish to compete against whales.  Regardless, I don't regret our efforts, and look forward to Plan B (which we're still mulling).

I never assumed self-publishing would be easy, and nothing good is ever achieved without sweat!

Finding an audience

Kickstarter continues to be a humbling experience. I honestly thought that the all-ages appeal of Lil' Ninja would easily attract pledges, but there isn't much interest thus far in our 'baby'. 

It seems I misjudged KS on several levels: with a limited pool of members, there are so many comics fighting for attention that mine has gotten lost. At the same time, harassing folk to pledge is unpleasant for all involved, and usually results in indifference.Thousands have been exposed to the link to my project, with no results. It's rather frustrating, but strangely enough, only strengthens my resolve.

How do I explain this paradox? I'm too old to give up quite so easily on my self-publishing goals; also, my ego has been worn over the decades to withstand a lot worse than this! I'm using Kickstarter as a learning experience, I've been given much to consider.

In the end, my challenge is to find an audience. I need to have the folk who'd be genuinely interested in supporting Lil' Ninja aware of her existence; this seems incredibly daunting, but I've always felt that a grassroots approach (word-of-mouth) coupled with a great product will ultimately find success. It's just a question of time and determination.

There are still days left, and we'll see how things turn out.

Rollercoaster!

It's been a busy week, with downs and ups.

Working on our Lil' Ninja pitch made me realize that funding for Slam was trickling in at a glacial pace. Compared to other projects, it didn't look good about reaching our goals within the time allotted, so I decided (after a lot of soul searching) to pull the plug.

A depressing decision indeed, and yet with a positive upside.

It's clear to me that my cross-hatched graphic novel featuring an egg detective is a hard sell, compared to generic super-hero fare. In order to find an audience, I'd need longer exposure, and a much smaller (and attainable) monetary goal; rather than shooting for a 100 page book, I may reformat the concept as a daily strip, eventually to be collected. As a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes, the idea is certainly appealing, and I'm looking forward to this phoenix rising from the ashes of my Kickstarter defeat.

Once Slam was out of the picture, I was able to replace it with Lil' Ninja, which I believe has much more market appeal and a smaller dollar goal. Later, I'll ask folk to check out the new pitch, and have high hopes that the first issue of our pint-sized heroine will be completed.

All in all, I'm discovering the ins and outs of crowd-funding; it's not what I (naively) expected, but the reality is that I either adapt or find alternatives. The learning process has been a roller-coaster, but well worth the experience.

Onwards!

Kickstarter: week one!

My Kickstarter experience has been pretty great, so far. I'd been intimidated to actually launch my project, but the process was relatively straight-forward. It's a thrill when new backers pop up, although the raising-money aspect has been slower than expected.

Considering this is my first experience with crowd-funding, I'm sure to learn a lot; even if we don't meet our goal, my hopes are to establish a list of interested potential buyers of our wares. At the same time, just getting one concept 'out there' is a cool feeling.

My next step is promotion; I have a list of sites to approach, and will do so as the deadline gradually rears its head.

Mulling the success or failure of this pitch only strengthens my resolve; no matter what, I will find a way to get my concepts moving forward, I have that much faith in them. The key is finding our market, which is the biggest challenge at this point.

January goal accomplished; next stop, Kickstarter!

The last week has been quite productive. With the assistance of my lovely partner (as well as Sarah, my computer-literate daughter), we have completed two video 'trailers' that will be used in our Kickstarter project pitches.

I should be listing one (hopefully both) later today. This blog will be updated with links.

In case there are new folk to this blog, please feel free to look thru the archives; I'd discussed my concepts in detail over the years, as well as including lots of artwork and interesting stuff.

Onwards!

 

Lil' Ninja jumping forward (literally!)

Things are indeed moving forward.

Last week, I knocked out a snipet of animation with Lil' Ninja (the new name for our Ninja Baby concept). It felt good to flex some old creative muscles, and the results were quite fun. With luck, we'll finish her Kickstarter video this weekend.

At the same time, I'll be working on the Slam McCracken video later today. I have a solid vision of what I hope to accomplish, looking forward to the finished work.

I've really enjoyed focusing more on my many concepts; my partner and I just can't shake the feeling that big things are in store in 2014!

 

A slowly rolling snowball....

My first Friday focused on STP was a good one; I worked out a quick storyboard for my Slam McCracken Kickstarter pitch video, sketched out a quick animation which will be part of my Ninja Baby pitch video, and went thru all of my concepts with fine tooth comb.

To that end, I've decided which were more developed than others; it's tricky, I'm fond of all of my 'babies', but have to admit some are less 'half-baked' than others. What excites me is eventually having different creative folk help flesh some of these out; fresh perspectives can only improve what I've already come up with.

It's tough sometimes to maintain my enthusiasm. When weary physically, a future in self-publishing seems quite the impossible task. These moments always pass, and I know in my heart (as constantly mentioned to my lovely partner) that success will come!

Hopefully, I'll have videos and pitches ready by the end of January (fingers crossed).