We wanted to do something different with our Kickstarter campaign for PATHS, something bold and ambitious that would make our project stand out from the crowd.
To do that, we first spent months looking at both successful and failed comics Kickstarters, seeing what they did well, what they did not so well, and most importantly, what they did to make us become backers. Here are three that we loved and were influential in the creation of the PATHS campaign:
Legend of Novo
- The pitch: a young woman travels through time to learn from humanity’s mistakes
- The project specs: a 35-page, full-color comic
- The goal: $10,000
- The result: 270 backers, $11,361 raised
- The lesson: clarity of message is key
The Novo campaign is a lesson in clarity. Creator Amir Avitzur clearly and succinctly tells us what his comic is about, who he is and why he made it, and how the funds will be used to make his comic dream a reality. He also does a terrific job outlining the story by putting the focus on its characters.
I have to admit, I’m still stunned this 35-page book from a first-time creator raised over $11,000. Notably, Novo managed to raise that much with under 300 backers. On average, each of the 270 contributors chipped in $42. Given that the average contribution to Kickstarter campaigns is $25, that’s huge! Normally, I would attribute that bump to a particular reward tier, but honestly, Novo doesn’t do anything special or unique when it comes to rewards.
Instead, I think Novo was so successful and managed to generate such a jump in the average donation because its pitch is quick, clean, and heartfelt.
Lovecraft
- The pitch: in an alternate universe, HP Lovecraft the writer never existed, but his many horrors do and Lovecraft is the man who hunts them
- The project specs: a 64-page, full color comic
- The goal: $10,000
- The result: 1,816 backers, $54,467 raised
- The lesson: it’s not just a Kickstarter campaign, it’s an event
It’s a bit of an unfair advantage, what with creator Craig Engler having an instantly built in audience thanks to his film and TV work and the media coverage that hand-delivers to the project. He likely could have pitched a comic about a tomato on a quest to find a cure to rot and been successful (actually, that’s not such a bad idea…). Still, Engler’s pitch, particularly his log-line, is incredible. He complements the pitch with a fantastic cover image and ties everything together by making the Lovecraft campaign an event.
This isn’t just a comic Kickstarter, it’s Lovecraft: The Blasphemously Large First Issue. You’re not just backing a comic, you’re backing a special “limited edition” double issue. I confess, I was actually looking forward to hearing updates on this project and checking up on it regularly to see the total raised and the backers gained. This didn’t just happen by chance. Engler brilliantly made me want to not only read his book but become a part of this event.
Aggregate
- The pitch: a Choose Your Own Adventure-style graphic novel set in a post- apocalyptic future filled with giant robots and spider cats
- The project specs: 100-page, black and white graphic novel
- The goal: $10,000
- The result: 464 backers, $30,507 raised
- The lesson: make your project and your pitch unique
I grew up devouring Choose Your Own Adventure books, so creator Ben Bishop’s clever nostalgia hook sunk in deep. He took it a step further, by not simply offering a unique comic project, but by presenting it in a unique way. The entire Aggregate campaign page is designed to look and read like a comic, complete with hand lettering. Brilliant!
Not every comic project can offer such a unique format spin like Aggregate’s “split decisions,” but every creator certainly can put in the time an effort to actually design their project page.
Project Keys
Based on the lessons learned from Novo, Lovecraft, and Aggregate (among many others), we set three primary goals with the PATHS Kickstarter campaign:
- Deliver a clear, succinct and heartfelt pitch
- Make the campaign an event
- Make the campaign and the project page unique
The first goal is straightforward, but to accomplish the next two, we decided to take a huge risk. We opted to make the PATHS Kickstarter a unique event by doing something we’ve never seen another comic crowdfunding campaign do: give away the first issue.
How did we arrive at this drastic decision? For months, we poured our hearts into that debut issue, investing countless hours and a significant sum of money, and our original plan was to hit Kickstarter to raise the funds for a print run of PATHS Prologue. We hoped we’d exceed our goal and raise enough money so I could pay the artist fees to create the next issue in the series. But when I stepped back and considered why we were heading to Kickstarter in the first place, that was the primary reason: I wanted the funding to pay the artists to continue working on the books. That’s when I realized how we could make the PATHS Kickstarter a unique campaign as well as an event – we’d give away our first issue!
And that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re thrilled to offer PATHS Prologue — all 22 glorious pages featuring the artwork of Danny Setna and Ignacio Corva — to everyone for free! PATHS isn’t just a Kickstarter campaign, it’s a launch event!
Just One Problem…
We love that we’re giving potential contributors a unique proposition: read the free PATHS Prologue issue and then, if you love it and want more, chip in! Just one problem: very few people are actually seeing this offer on Kickstarter.
Since launch on May 26th, we’ve had a huge outpouring of support from friends and family and they pushed us to an impressive 34% of our $8,000 goal. However, we’re seeing scant returns from actual Kickstarter visitors. That’s because since our launch nearly two weeks ago, PATHS has been buried on the Discover Comics section of Kickstarter. To find us, you have to hit the “Load More” button not once, not twice, not three times… but a ridiculous five times! As someone who has chipped in on a number of Kickstarter comics and actively searched for worthy projects, I’m not even sure I’ve ever gone that far. It feels like PATHS is in the Kickstarter comics graveyard.
I’ve contacted Kickstarter support in hopes they’ll give their algorithm a tweak or rework some sort of manual process, but I’ve yet to hear a response and PATHS remains buried. The average visitor still has to dive into the nether realms to find PATHS on Kickstarter.
So along with sharing the details on how we created our Kickstarter campaign, we’re here to ask for a boost out of Kickstarter’s crowdfunding mire. Check out our free 22-page prologue issue, share with all your comics loving friends, and if you want more, join us on Kickstarter!
Read Our Free Issue!
http://issuu.com/pathsprologue/docs/prologue_issue
Want More? Kickstart PATHS!
Thank you! Together, we can create more PATHS!
Paths 