How to Responsibly Kickstart Your Self-Published Comics
It's really not that difficult to be an ethical crowdfunder.
Solutions must always be a priority when identifying problems. My recent series of posts on the state of the Kickstarter Comics category are intended to be observational, but, in the observation of a thing, critiques of said thing inevitably emerge. Thus, I noted the abundance of projects in the Comics category that are not actually comics, identified issues with the practices of super-creators and the curators of the Comics category, and pointed out the uselessness (to comics readers/collectors) of the “Project We Love” designation. These observations are evident in the surface-level examination of the daily comics launches, a daily ritual for me since August 23. Patterns emerge, as do problems, as documented in the aforementioned posts (and a few upcoming).
Before I press into that critical territory, however, I thought it an interesting exercise to explore my own Kickstarter launch planning and preparation practices, in an effort to transparently demonstrate an honest intent to responsibly and considerately (with respect to both backers and fellow self-publishers) participate in Kickstarter for the purpose of producing and publishing my own comics. Right now, I have fifteen publications on my production calendar through December, 2025. That’s a lot for the two-person operation that is Flatline Comics, and it will shift and evolve during that time. But it is pretty well set in stone for the next four months. Allow me to take you through what we’ve got planned for the end of 2024/beginning of 2025 and how we manage projects to ensure fast fulfillment and avoid bad practices that give a black eye to all self-publishers in the Kickstarter comics community.
Our last Kickstarter, for the first issue of our new Vicious Circus: Big House Big Top horror series, ended on September 8. Everything about this book, with the exception of the lettering and two pages of art/colors, was complete when we launched the Kickstarter on August 25. That work was completed days before the Kickstarter ended, and I fulfilled all digital rewards on Monday, September 16. Page files went to our printers on Wednesday, September 11, and I approved proofs for the metal cover on Friday, September 13 and for the standard editions on Monday, September 16. So, all books are currently being printed, exactly two weeks after the Kickstarter ended.
Here’s the current status of this project:
Patreon digital fulfillment: Completed
Kickstarter digital fulfillment: Completed
Kickstarter print fulfillment: Awaiting printed books (all with printers since September 11)
Up next for us is the fourth of our annual Vicious Circus Halloween specials, 24-page single-issue stories written by me and illustrated by Oscar Pinto (who was just featured in DC Comics’ Joker World, so check that out) with colors by Vito Potenza. I hope to launch this one by October 13, but that date is pending a few necessary developments:
Completion of print fulfillment of Vicious Circus: Big House Big Top
Completion of the final covers of the Halloween comic (works in progress)
Completion of the last pages of art for the Halloween comic
Vito is coloring the first half of the pages
Oscar is finishing illustration of the second half
I will letter pages as I receive them
This year’s Vicious Circus Halloween Special includes a collector box holding a signed/sketched copy of all four Halloween specials!
All of this is do-able within the next 3 weeks. I’ve worked with this team for many years, and I am completely confident in their reliability based on experience. In particular, the previous Kickstarter’s comics should arrive to us for shipping well before, hopefully within the next 7-10 business days. Launching on October 13 means the Kickstarter will end on October 27, and I’ll be able to digitally fulfill on Halloween itself! That’s important for this book. I want backers and Patreon supporters to have it to enjoy for the actual occasion. We will hit that mark.
At the beginning of 2024, I undertook a non-comics dream project and began the creation of a Dungeons & Dragons-compatible source book featuring my own world of heavy metal and punk-inspired character classes and adventures that I call Lords of the Pit. Assuming all goes well with the Halloween Kickstarter and fulfillment, I’ll have a 2-week window in November to launch the next of those books, this one a full adventure module called The Cacophony on Wings of Night. We are full bore at work on completing this book right now. It’s my primary writing project at the moment, and it’s extended itself from 24 to 32 pages. My partner in all things, Amanda Rachels, is handling most of the art, so we’re keeping it 90% literally in-house. It’ll be ready, but we’re also ready to shift it to later in the crowdfunding schedule should there be any delays in funding or fulfilling Halloween. The comics are the priority.
After that, the next annual Vicious Circus tradition is up: the Christmas Special. My plan is to launch this one on December 8, if we have a realistic opportunity to fund Lords of the Pit in November. If not, I’ll target December 1. I am currently finishing the script, and the artist, Guilherme Medeiros, will begin line art in mid-October when his schedule clears. He works quickly (and beautifully), as does our colorist, Alivon Ortiz, so, again, I have high confidence that this comic will be ready by the time we launch, which allows us to fulfill digitally by the actual Christmas holiday. We hit a similar deadline in a similar timeframe last year.
The first Flatline Comics entry for 2025 is not quite as certain, but my current plan is to take a breather for a few weeks after Christmas, then launch the next issue of my apocalyptic steampunk epic, Last Ride of the 4 Horsemen, by mid-January. More than half the art is already done for this one, but (by agreement) art production takes more time. As I write this post, only 8 more pages (and covers) await creation, and I believe they’ll be ready for January. If not, we’ll reorient to a backup plan. Writer Erica J. Heflin has a trio of original horror one-shots we’re packaging together for next year, and they only need covers. We’ll likely move them back to January if Horsemen is delayed. Regardless, we’ll only Kickstart the comic that is completely (or 95% or more) produced by the launch date.
Aside from proudly sharing my upcoming comics with you, my point here is this: it’s not difficult, even with a stacked production/self-publication schedule, to be responsible to the Kickstarter community of which you are a part, both backers and fellow creators, and only launch comics that are ready to be printed and produced by the end of your campaign. Anytime a successful Kickstarter fails to deliver on its promised fulfillment date (or soon thereafter), that failure bleeds across the whole platform and puts its stain on the rest of us. Backers recall the bad campaigns FAR more than the good ones. Just have a quick conversation with one or two about the Kickstarters they remember most.
Just this morning, I received a Kickstarter update on a comic by an acquaintance that I backed well more than two years ago. Fulfillment still isn’t complete on a comic that was promised in November of 2022. While digital fulfillment was (poorly and ineptly) handled in December of 2023, that was still more than one year late. Printing allegedly commenced in March of 2024, but TODAY brings a new update again making paper-thin excuses for print fulfillment still being incomplete. Dude, if your Kickstarter from 2022 remains unfulfilled on September 22, 2024, cancel your bullshit small town convention appearances and pack your damned books to ship. They’ve launched (and failed to fully fulfill) several other Kickstarters since 2022, and this is how Kickstarter comics backers become former Kickstarter comics backers. And it’s just one example of which I’m personally aware.
If we want this godsend of a self-publishing marketplace to grow and flourish, we ALL have to tow the line when it comes to treating backers like valued customers and colleagues like their reputations matter as much as our own.
Have a great Sunday!
Kevin
Good luck with all the campaigns! Sounds like you’re got a good production system in place.