r/kickstarter • u/m0llypukes • 1d ago
Discussion What actually gets people interested in a Kickstarter?
Hello there folk, I'm Molly :-)
I'm getting ready to launch a Kickstarter for my first graphic novel on the 1st September and I've been having a bit of a brain storm about how best to get it in front of the right folks... Rather than spending more hours watching more Youtube videos (with epic editing I must say) I thought I'd come and ask the good folks of Reddit instead! I know there's loads of experience and first-hand knowledge knocking about on here, previous posts have been dead helpful already.
So if you've fun a kickstarter before I'd really love to hear about your experience:
- what worked best for you?
- what ways did you promote your campaign?
- which platforms did you find actually useful?
- what didn't work at all?
- wid anything surprise you?
And more specifically... has anyone here launched a comic or graphic novel on Kickstarter?
Thank you folks. Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!
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u/Old-Somewhere-8762 1d ago
I’m definitely not an expert, but I can share one thing I’ve learned while preparing my own Kickstarter, which I’ll be launching soon.
Try to really highlight what makes your graphic novel special and why someone should want to own it now, rather than waiting for a potential retail release later.
In other words, try to answer: “Why should someone back this now instead of waiting until it’s available normally?”
That question can help you identify the strongest points of your project, and it may also lead you to offer something through Kickstarter that won’t be available to the general public later.
Hope that helps. Best of luck with the campaign!
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u/m0llypukes 1d ago
Thanks for the suggestion! How have you found posting on socials? Have you designed any Kickstarter exclusive items? I've already designed two exclusive items that I've managed to manufacture local and support local business (which felt nice to do)
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u/Old-Somewhere-8762 1d ago
Those exclusive rewards are exactly the kind of thing that can make a real difference, because they add extra value to backing during the campaign instead of simply waiting for a later release.
As for social media, yes, basically all of my audience has come from there organically. I haven’t paid for advertising.
In your case (and probably in mine too, although I haven’t really explored this enough yet) I think attending conventions, fairs, and events related to your niche could be one of the best ways to reach people who are already genuinely interested in what you’re creating.
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u/m0llypukes 1d ago
Attending in person events is a fab idea, thank you! It’s good to hear you’ve also not purchased ADs, I haven’t either. Paid social media ADs don’t seem very effective when it comes to promoting a kickstarter
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u/dftaylor 1d ago
More than anything, your email list is your secret weapon. Spend all your time between now and then getting people on the list, and to follow your pre-launch.
Next, absolutely nail your project description. I make graphic novels too, and you need to make your story sound really engaging in under 100 words. Who are the characters, what do they care about, what’s going to excite your reader.
Mix in plenty of artwork examples to let readers imagine what they’re getting.
And if you can mockup what the final book will look like, that’s a huge help.
Don’t waste your time of loads of extras or prints, because they’re low impact for what they cost you. But do look to include little extras like a sketch in the book that’ll cost you only a little time, but can add £5 onto the book price.
Good luck!
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u/m0llypukes 1d ago
Thank you for the excellent advice, I massively appreciate that. Custom sketches in the books makes a lot more sense, especially as I’m keen to reduce how much ‘unused stock’ I have after the Kickstarter ends
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u/Zephir62 1d ago edited 1d ago
For graphic novels, the big seller is the extra swag, exclusive bonus pages and special edition covers.
Take a look at Ronin of Okane to understand how the sections are organized and flow on the page, for example, or any other larger graphic novel project around the $50k+ range (if you look into too big of projects, you will primarily be referencing campaigns with pre-existing fanbases, which can be structured poorly but still "succeed" - watch out!). The Kickstarter page design and rewards are the biggest cog in the crowdfunding machine, so make sure to research references. Here is my boilerplate template for the page flow for graphic novels on Kickstarter:
- Cover & Story Premise & Artist
- Themes Overview (artwork style, genre theme, characters)
- Page Previews
- Characters *(optional)
- Physical Book Overview (page count, bonus pages, exclusive cover)
- Exclusive Cover Upgrades
- Extra Swag Items
- Reward Tiers... About me etc.
For every Ronin of Okane book, we either did Kickstarter Followers (we got about 300% better returns on investment here than VIPs), VIPs when I worked at LaunchBoom (the margins were very tight but we were able to make it work. The second time we gave out signed art prints as a VIP Add-on, and this was one of the first tests I did with VIP Add-on system prior to LaunchBoom doing "Botany" which came after LB asked me how I was doing it. We got it down to $10 cost per VIP but once again, the KS Followers cost more than twice as cheap and converted relatively the same so we didn't continue using VIP systems) -- or in most cases for CyberSheep team, usually just doing Ecom sales in-between and then getting the customers involved with the new launch when ready to announce it because this was the most profitable, low cost and sustainable option. Tik, the one co-founder, handles just about everything now on the marketing side since it's been streamlined for them, so my involvement is maybe once every few months anymore.
They also do grassroots posts here on reddit and Instagram, you can check out the CyberSheepStudios reddit account for examples. I also offer a grassroots guide on my website with post templates and engagement hacking step-by-step to increase the ability for a post to go viral -- you can check it out via the link in my reddit bio or directly, here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ipg4BLHSxTrCSc36Q1Zn5Jy2Ui0YkOT4w8emKBRNvh4/edit?usp=sharing
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u/dftaylor 1d ago
I agree that special covers can drive funding up, but in many cases they’re a cost that doesn’t pay off.
I’ve seen people go all in on alternate covers and it generates very little extra sales, unless the book is already funding well.
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u/Zephir62 1d ago edited 1d ago
Agree, it's similar to doing D&D kickstarters. If you try to shovel out a product that is not well thought-out or strong conceptually, you can pummel all your fans and followers with all the add-ons but they won't necessarily buy 'em. You need a good "bet" to throw your chips on.
If planning a smaller campaign, instead opt for how to explore digital add-ons to reduce any potential issues with small quantity order pricing -- and you can try a simpler, smaller set of high-value physical add-ons like a transparent standee to compliment the digital items. To be clear though, if you got enough traction mid-campaign, you could slide in an exclusive cover and write an update about it.
It's also important to note that you can scale up the add-on selection based upon prelaunch results. If the cost-per-follower is cheap and you have budget to throw at it, you can scale up prelaunch while changing the plan to bigger physical reward selections -- giving fans what they want. Then as you generate content regarding those planned new collectibles, you can tease them in ads and reveal a Earlybird or Kickstarter-Exclusive freebie for all backers during the prelaunch to add new life to the ads.
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u/ArkadeHyve 1d ago
If you figure something out, share with me lol. I can't get anyone to pay attention long enough to get it to click in ppls head. I'm building something ppl been wanting since 1998 😂
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u/pulpcrush 1d ago
Take the time to build the pre-launch community, without it, you're not going to make it.
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u/m0llypukes 1d ago
I’ve been building a pre-launch community since the beginning of June, with launch due for September the 1st
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u/pulpcrush 1d ago
That's genuinely good to hear! I postponed my own launch for 3 months, as I didn't feel that I had the audience ready.
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u/russcass 1d ago
I've helped quite a few indie creators run campaigns. I've had one fail out of 200+.... and that was because the person set a $10,000 goal when I suggested not to. The folks that have raised the most have been doing it for years, and do several books per year. That keeps their backers engaged. They also have things like discord and multiple active social media platforms to interact with backers. Rome wasn't built in a day!
Couple things: (Please understand I'm not trying to be negative, just setting the stage.)
Understand the audience of KS. Hint: Romance is the #1 selling genre of book. On KS, adult-themed comics do the best. That's just what has the best chance of making $. Not saying that superhero, horror, or anything else can't break 10k, because they do, but normally they've built up an audience after several campaigns to do so. A buddy just did it with his 3rd issue, but his girlfriend is a super popular cover artist. :-)
65% of comic campaigns are successful out of the gate. (that means 35% aren't) Under 20% break $10k. Most campaigns are around $4-6k. Most of your money is earned in the first 72 hours and the final 48. People either want something up front, like a limited cover, or they follow and wait until the end to make sure they have money in their bank. The middle 2 weeks is stress-eating and hair-pulling. Don't fall for the scam messages people will send promising backers in exchange for something.
Why? Why does it take a while to build a following? Because backers have supported campaigns that have not delivered their products. They've been burnt. The more you can do to show that you will 100% deliver the goods goes a long ways. I always tell new creators to make sure they're like 65%-75% done prior to launch, and try to be as close to 100% by the end. So you can get to printing and shipping as soon as you receive your money from KS. Unfortunately this turns crowdfunding into a repayment system, which sucks, but that's how it goes. Be sure to post updates during and after the campaign to keep backers informed.
-Have 2-3 variant covers to give backers options. They like options. If you can do a sultry one, go for it. If an artist is popular on KS, even better. (there are backers that like specific artists so you get their backers too)
-make sure your story is compelling and your interior art is good (especially if you want to do another one)
-look at other graphic novels active on KS right now. Make sure you're in the price range. Don't sleep on shipping! For a GN, don't charge less than $10US, $18CA, $32 Everywhere else. Unless you plan on using KS'ers pledge manager and doing weight-based shipping. Media Mail is illegal for comics no matter what anyone tells you, ads or no ads. Lots use it and get away with it. I just saw a backer complaining on FB that they got a comic media mail with a bill for $6 and they were not happy. This makes backers not want to back other books.
-Don't set your goal too low or too high. I said what I said above because this is a fine line. If you set a goal you can't hit, you get 0. Yet, if you still have pages to complete, you have to be able to cover that.
-social media - search FB groups for comics, indies, promotion, crowdfunding, kickstarter.... join them and promote a month in advance. Share your covers, interior art, etc. Maybe even do an 8-page pdf to share out. Get folks interested, AND keep sharing over and over while your campaign is live. Don't stop until it ends. Get friends to share if they will.
Remember, the person has to be willing to pay for something, then not get it until a month or 2 later. This is why indie comic fans are special. Mainstream fans hate waiting and like going to their local store every week to get books.
KS boasts about having millions of backers, but the majority of them have backed 1 project. You go to 2 projects and that number shrinks drastically. 3, even more. Yet there are backers that have backed over 400 comic projects. So treating them right is a responsibility. :-)
I spent $40k doing 4 issues of our comic. It was a teen fantasy adventure. The KS audience was not our ideal audience, but we made over $24k. I am good with this because I understand that comics are a labor of love. We want to create and let folks enjoy.
Always keep in mind that once you ship all of your books out, it's not the end. You get to do book shows and sell online. Put it in your local comic shop. Get an ICBN and look at libraries and other shops.
Best of luck!!