Want Me to Share Your Kickstarter?
Three things you can do to help both of us...
Hey everybody, it’s Crotchety Clay, back with my first missive for February.
Why crotchety?
No reason—I’m actually in a pretty good mood!—but this post may rub people the wrong way, so be forewarned.
Just remember: I’m trying to be helpful.
Got it?
OK, here goes:
A lot of folks ask me to share their Kickstarter projects, and while I can’t share them all, here are three things that will make it more likely…and that will help you sell your project—with or without my help.
1. A Great Project Image
This acts as your cover in the crowded comic book shop we call “Kickstarter.”
What’s going to make yours pop off the shelf?
For my money: something clean and simple.
Not so much going on that it can’t be read at thumbnail size—which is how most people will first encounter it.
So, usually one or two figures max, with good contrast between foreground and background elements. Make it pop!
This choice may be the single most important decision you make before your campaign. Choose wisely.
How should you frame your image?
A lot of people fret over the placement of the play button.
I don’t.
Why?
Because the job of your project image is to get people to your page.
Again, they will first see it as a thumbnail, with nary a play button in sight.
Once a prospective backer clicks your link, the image has done its job. Now it’s up to your page to make the sale.
You have made a great page, right?
Then who cares where the play button is at that point?
TLDR; have a great project image I can share with my audience
2. Your pitch! Right up front, even!
Don’t make me have to go searching for your pitch.
Or worse, figure out how to pitch your book myself.
Have a nice, tight, compelling pitch right up front. Something that’s been road-tested at a con or with a group of trusted peers.
Make sure it’s grammatically correct and spell-checked, because it’s not my job to do that… and I don’t want it to look like it’s my typos you’re reading in an update.
What makes a good pitch?
Something that hooks the reader and makes them want to know more.
And, yeah, I know you want to save all your surprises for the read… but you do have to tell me enough to make me want to read it.
What makes a bad pitch?
Vaguebooking.
“This is my brand new twist on unicorns!”
OK, great…but what’s the twist?
That’s what’s going to make me want to read it.
(If I care about unicorns.)
And if you want to use the tried and true convention of saying “It’s X meets Y,” please leave it at that. I can understand two things mashed up, but three or more is a jumble.
“It’s Blazing Saddles meets The Walking Dead” is how I pitch DEADSKINS! And that—plus the Ben Templesmith cover—is enough to sell it at cons.
It’s a clear melding of two things most people in my target audience know.
But if I was like, “It’s Star Wars meets Gone With the Wind meets Young Frankenstein with a twist of Sophie’s Choice, but with unicorns” you’d have no idea what the hell I’m talking about.
And yet I hear that pitch all the time.
(OK, not that exact one, but you get it.)
So: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
And put it where I can find it.
TLDR; have your road-tested pitch at the top of the page
2. Your bio. AKA: WHO ARE YOU????
Once, in college, I had a meeting with my advisor to sign up for new classes. This was back in the olden days, when you had to make your selections on paper.
And after having a nice, amicable chat with the guy, he asked me to hand in my course selections.
So, I did.
And as he looked in vain for my name at the top of the page, I saw him turn purple before he bellowed with rage:
“WHO ARE YOU???”
And you know what?
He was right to be pissy.
If he was going to sign me up for courses, he needed to know who “me” was.
Putting my name on it was my job, not his.
Just like it’s your job to have a bio on your page that clearly identifies you and why I should trust you to tell this story.
If you have a lot of relevant credits: great! List them. Wow me. This is not the time to be humble.
If you don’t: that’s fine! But put together a few sentences that tells me a little about you and what led you to create this thing. And hopefully do it in a way that makes me think I’ll be in good hands if I back it.
Of course, I’m always happy to put in a personal word…
(“Jane’s written some of my favorite comics on Kickstarter. I always know she’ll deliver the goods!”).
…but please don’t make me have to write your bio!
(“Jane wrote…uh, what’s it called again?” Spends the next 10 minutes Googling Jane.)
TLDR; include a bio on your page, preferably something I can cut and paste
And that’s it! Three elements you should have on your page anyway that will make it a lot easier to share.
(Not just for me, but for anybody.)
Final Week for DEADSKINS!
Our horror/comedy mashup (it’s Blazing Saddles meets The Walking Dead—get it?) is live for one more week, so if you’ve been waiting to jump in—or just want to check out the page to see if I followed my own advice—click the image below…
…or this handy-dandy button:
Personal Appearances
Heroes and Wizards, Webb City, MO, Feb 8th, 12 pm
This Saturday, Mick Beyers and I will be making a triumphant return to Heroes & Wizards Comics in Webb City, MO to celebrate the release of DREAMQUEST 2!
(Were you a backer? You should have gotten your rewards by now—let us know what you think!)
The shop is located at 530 N East St, Webb City, MO 64870 and we’ll be signing from noon until our version of Beatlemania subsides. So, if you’re local, come out early!
And if the two of us are not enough to get you there, the fine folks at the shop have other enticements…
EvilleCon, Evansville, IN, Mar 14-16
Then in March, I’ll be at EvilleCon in Evansville, IN for the first ever 5D’s reunion. Looking forward to hanging with Ted Lewis, Greg Abbey…and you?
(Mostly selling anime stuff at this one, but I’ll have comics on the secret menu.)
That’s all for now. Sorry if the advice rubbed you the wrong way, but I do hope it was helpful.
Lots happening in the world of comics and pop culture right now. Back soon with more…
- Crotchety Clay