The Epic Kickstarter Post
I just got back from the post office having sent out the final batch of the 210 copies of Dragon Slayer to international backers.
I promised myself I would do a blog post detailing as much of the Kickstarter process as I could remember, and there's really no better day to do it than today, right now, right after getting the final package in the mail.
First off, it feels like I've just finished my last final exam in college. A huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders. Since February I've been juggling in my head an extensively complex After Effects file, all the layers, assets, and locations for each of the pages of Dragon Slayer, which sites I need to update and contact (and when), as well as a list of all the art assets I needed to finish up in time for (or during) the Kickstarter.
To be able to let that information slip from my mind is going to be fantastic.
So every year I try to find some colossal challenge to take down. This year it was Kickstarter. You can read a bit more about that in this blog post.
Once I decided that was the goal, the first questions I had to answer where:
1) How much do I need to bring the product into reality?
The trick here is that I can't ask Kickstarter backers to finance the pages themselves. All of the pages where finished when I started the Kickstarter. I wanted to treat my backers how I would like to be treated, and being severely ADHD, I hate waiting. I wanted to be able to pull the trigger on all of the rewards the second I had the head count of how many backers and at what rewards level. Minus a few hurdles, when April 1st rolled around, I got everything in motion and was able to send everything out today (April 24th).
2) How long should I run my Kickstarter?
I chose the month of March, for no particular reason than ease of advertising. This way if someone was interested in backing, they simply had to ask themselves the question , "Is it March?" If yes, the project is still back-able. If not, too late (or too early, time traveller).
3) How many reward tiers should I do?
This was difficult. Each reward tier meant more preparation work. My cousin Brooks helped me with conceptualizing the project as well as in some other areas where he could assist, but all of the actual illustration, coloring, finishing up, and sending off to print was work I had to do alone. My major struggle with this Kickstarter campaign was that as far as realizing all of the elements went, everything required my time, and there was only one me. So if I spent three days building assets for an After Effects video and animating it (and editing and sound mixing and...), that was time that came out of my illustration schedule. Keep in mind illustrating takes away from my writing or blogging. Blogging takes away from my gaming/free time, and so on and so forth.
We went with 10 reward tiers initially, and added an 11th when we where contacted about retailer incentives. We stuck with rewards we knew we could produce with few to no surprises, and whenever possible we stuck with rewards that could be prepared with assets we had on hand. For example, the bookmarks and art postcards were finished going into the Kickstarter, as well as two of the prints. I designed a third print during the Kickstarter as well as several more promotional illustrations that could double as prints in a pinch.
For the higher tiers I added my previous comics as well as bust commissions. My highest tiers (the $500 and $1000) needed more work, and existed solely out of curiosity if anyone would back them or not. I wasn't willing to part with my pages, but if I was a $250 tier might have been more successful .
We also tried to make a decent mix of digital and physical rewards, adding as much value on to each tier as possible. I received a good chunk of comments from people who were happy with the amount of value offered.
4) How should I construct the video/what content should be in it?
I was looking forward to constructing the trailer for Dragon Slayer. I have a film degree, and I am always looking for an excuse to exercise it. Before beginning, I storyboarded out the basic rhythm and plot to the video. Then I began building assets. Here are a few below:
I designed three different layers to provide a parallax effect of pagodas moving against a backdrop of clouds.
I also envisioned dragon scales bristling in the wind while traveling. Above is what one dragon scale looked like. I created to rows that were offset rhythmically, then duplicated those rows to achieve the effect I was looking for. You can view the finished product below:
One of the oddly bigger problems in constructing the video was finding royalty free music. Royalty free at best means it is free and can be used in your own work. Often they require you to properly attribute the source. One of the songs I used did require attribution, the other two didn't, but I attributed all three for safety's sake.
Hunting down the right piece of music was no easy task, and I resorted to searching for Koto or Shamisen music in Japanese for a few hours one day. I learned that the word for Public domain in Japanese is 著作権ふりー or chousakuken free. After scouring sites for hours, I settled with some public domain music I found on Youtube.
After answering those questions, and investing roughly two weeks or so in February writing the copy, editing it, finishing and polishing the video, building the previously mentioned assets (such as the backer reward images). I also built several assets which I didn't utilize as much as I would have liked, like a mystery box for stretch goals.
I also designed a series of masks which were worked into the backer goals, but they went largely unnoticed until I put them on their own postcard:
If Step 1 is creation, Step 2 is promotion. If there's a social media website or service, odds are good that I have an account under the name cheshirecatart. The services I particularly use are Facebook (both for Devin Kraft and Cheshire Cat Studios), Twitter (@devinkraft and @cheshirecatart), Instagram (http://instagram.com/cheshirecatart), Tumblr (http://cheshirecatart.tumblr.com/), and Deviantart (http://cheschirecat.deviantart.com/). These are the sites I update with some frequency, so I tried to stagger the updates as best I could. I also created an event on Facebook to reach some of my friends who might not see me in their feeds.
I tried to have something different to say each day, and whenever I could I tried to update both in the morning and at night. Hootsuite was invaluable in updating via Facebook and Twitter. I started using the momentum I was gaining during the Kickstarter to write and illustrate the second issue of Dragon Slayer. I made it to page 9 by the end of the month.
I also focused on doing Dragon Slayer related illustrations that I could share with my backers throughout the project. I was fortunate enough to have a new image for practically every update (I think 10-12 total). I updated the Kickstarter page primarily when needed.
To drum up support for the Kickstarter, I overcame my fear of cold calls and contacted my favorite sites to see if they would be interested in helping me spread the word. Most of the sites I contacted were long shots, but several came through and helped me out.
Due, I believe, to the amount of time and effort that went into constructing a solid Kickstarter, we were picked up as staff pics the second day. The initial pledge amount was funded in roughly five and a half days due to support from friends, family, and the Kickstarter crowd. You can see the progress of the Kickstarter on Kicktraq.
Once the initial goal was met, we worried about how to continue getting people to support the Kickstarter. We came up with several stretch goals, but as the reward tiers were done so that we could offer the product as close to cost plus shipping and handling as possible, too many additions might have caused the Kickstarter to cost me more than a significant amount of time and effort.
We decided on postcards and stickers, as they would be cool without breaking the bank open too hard, as well as additional comic pages which were penciled, inked, toned, and lettered during the Kickstarter.
The Kickstarter slumped in the middle, which was partially due to me exhausting all of the promotional channels I could think of, and partially due to me being so exhausted that I couldn't come up with any other way to promote it. It was actually nice to have a lull that lasted roughly from the 15th-23rd. I was more mentally tired than anything, as wearing all of the hats of comic creation was starting to wear me out.
The Kickstarter ramped up again for the finale, and the stretch goal of $5000 was achieved just an hour or so before the Kickstarter ended. The final count of backers was 218, and the final amount was $5137, over 200% the initial goal.
For all the time and effort that went into the project, beyond getting everything print ready, I wasn't really afraid of anything except the one unknown factor in this whole equation: shipping.
First, the actual packing and logistics of getting all of the products and rewards arranged and organized was fairly intense. It took me two and a half days total. I printed out the entire list on two giant pieces of paper, then went to town. I think I tried four different workflows by the end of it all.
I also had to take multiple passes at the packages, as I wasn't happy with the density of the backing boards. I initially figured that the backing boards would be enough support, but I could still bend the envelopes, so Brooks, my other cousin Matt (who designed the beautiful Dragon Slayer logo) and I cut up boxes, art boards, and whatever other rigid but light backing materials we could get our hands on. I then took those boards and reinforced each and every package. So some backers are getting the backs of my old sketchbooks while some get the box the chair I sit in came in. Bonus, right?
Going into this I didn't have a solid handle on what it would cost to get the book to backers. Other Kickstarters seemed to be able to do it for about $5 domestic, $10 international. I priced the first tier to give me a little wiggle room on the shipping, which helped as my domestic shipping cost with packaging was fine but my international estimate was a bit optimistic. This wiggle room came in invaluable getting the books to the foreign backers.
I can't say that this number is hard and fast, but one comic with a few light goodies sprinkled in (stickers, bookmarks, etc.) along with a backing board and a piece of cardboard to protect the front came in at about 6 oz or so, and domestic shipping was about $3 for the lighter packages. The international packages came in at $13 on the light side, topping out in the $23 on the heavy side. Interestingly enough, 30 or so international packages cost more than 150 domestic packages combined. That wiggle room came in invaluable for this scenario.
It took roughly 3 hours for the first 150 packages to get shipped, in which time we got to know the lady at the post office pretty well. It took about an hour to get the 30 international packages off. I also had to fill out 30+ customs forms, which took a bit out of this morning as well.
I think the best part about the Kickstarter was getting in touch with everyone I know or keep up with via Facebook. I got to catch up with a lot of friends I haven't talked to in awhile, in addition to making new friends. Interacting with people checking out the Kickstarter was a blast as well, and several people did some phenomenal fanart:
So that's the Kickstarter in a nutshell. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and I'll dispense as much advice as need be. This is only a cursory log, cobbling together the high (and low points). There is so much I learned from all of this and I'm leaving out thousands of little battles here and there, but this is as much as I can post coherently with only a minor amount of babbling.
To everyone who backed, supported, or helped me promote, I can't thank you enough. This is far and away the most copies of my comic I've gotten in people's hands, and it was all doable with your help.
Here's a compilation of all the commissions I did for the top tier:
And last but not least on this insanely epic post, here's pictures of the packages arriving pulled from some of my friend's Instagrams! Thanks guys:
