by Clay Adams 

Tom Leveen felt satisfied. 

Of his four Kickstarter campaigns, the latest, for his prose novel REBELLION, was his worst-performing. 

He did not reach his stretch goal. 

It’s the first time he didn’t earn a Project We Love badge.

He lost quite a few email subscribers during the campaign.

And he had very few returning backers. 

In fact, his fans REALLY did not respond to this campaign at all across social media. 

So why did Tom feel like this campaign was a success? 

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• why you should use trackable links for your crowdfunding campaign
• when to panic over unsubscribes to your mailing list (hint: never)
• plus: Comics vs. Prose on Kickstarter

Lesson 1: Understand the Limitations of Your Crowdfunding Project

REBELLION was never meant to be a high pressure campaign for Tom.

He deliberately set a low bar for the goal, and he capped the campaign at 15 days, both of which allowed him to bypa...

by Clay Adams

Kelly Yates felt daunted.

He’d never run a Kickstarter before, and as he prepared his campaign for AMBER ATOMS, he realized just how much there was to learn about the platform.  

But Kelly doesn’t give up easily. 

And if he had to learn the entire Kickstarter process from A to Z, so be it.

He would persevere.

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you'll learn:

• how to grow your comic book audience
• the most surprising weapon in your arsenal
• plus: how to escape the Kickstarter dead zone

How to Grow Your Comic Book Audience

One of the first things Kelly realized was that he’d have to bring the crowd to the crowdfunding platform. The only problem?  

He didn’t have a way to contact past customers. 

“I wish I’d started my subscriber list years ago. I’ve met a lot people at conventions, but I never captured any of their information along the way. I could have had a substantial subscriber list at this point. Lesson learned!”

He jumped righ...

by Clay Adams

David Lucarelli was nervous. 

It had been four years since his last Kickstarter campaign. And because all conventions were canceled due to Covid, he let his newsletter atrophy during the pandemic. 

So as he readied his campaign for the director’s cut of TINSELTOWN: LOSING THE LIGHT, David couldn’t help but wonder…

“Is anyone still paying attention?”

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• how to re-engage a cold audience ahead of your Kickstarter
• creative ways of spreading the word during the Dead Zone 
• plus: it's OK if some of your efforts backfire

How to Re-Engage A Cold Audience Ahead of Your Kickstarter

David had built his mailing list over the years the old fashioned way: through a lot of hard work.

“Mostly doing sign ups at conventions and in-store signings. I also had a landing page, and an email signature with a link to it. I participated in a few group giveaways too, to funnel even more people onto the list.”

Wh...

by Clay Adams

Gene Jimenez felt confident. 

He’d done the groundwork, made a great book, prepped his audience, and now was certain his campaign for TRIBAL FORCE would fund quickly. 

Then he hit launch. 

After a decent first day, momentum slowed. By day 4, the pledges had run dry and he was scared.

And with a long month ahead of him, Gene wondered…

“Is Kickstarter the right place for me?”

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• how to grow your audience before your campaign
• how to turn around a slow start on Kickstarter 
• plus: best practices for promoting your campaign on podcasts

How to Grow Your Audience Before Your Campaign

Gene started in comics in the early ‘90s. At the time, Image Comics had just exploded onto the scene, and independent publishers could put their books up for sale in the direct market and get orders in the 3,000 range—a number which seemed “bottom of the barrel” then, but now seems like a huge print run for indie...

by Clay Adams

Scott Harris-King felt burned out. 

He was about to hit launch on his fourth Kickstarter campaign in ten months, and the only "breaks" he’d taken in between were for fulfillment. 

So as he readied himself for yet another go at crowdfunding, he wondered…

“How can I keep up this pace?”

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• how to find and hire an artist for your comic book Kickstarter
• why cross-promoting is essential for crowdfunding success
• plus: how to avoid burnout--for you and your backers

How to Find and Hire an Artist for Your Comic Book Kickstarter

Fortunately, Scott had already started thinking about ways to combat burnout before he began working on the book. One way he decided to lighten his load was by hiring someone else to draw it.  

“This was my first issue of The Crimebusters working with an artist, as I drew the first four issues myself. It was actually a very smooth process (which I have learned from other...

by Clay Adams

Shawn Lewis felt stymied.

He’d just hired a well-known marketing company to help spread the word about the second campaign for his comic IMMORTALIS, but the results weren’t what he expected. 

In fact, the experience left him questioning everything he thought he knew about crowdfunding. 

And as he pored over the analytics, he wondered…

“Is social media really that important?”

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• why social media marketing may not be for you
• where backers really come from… and how to find them
• plus: coordinating sales channels--Kickstarters and comic-cons 

Is Social Media Marketing Really That Important to Crowdfunding?

In thinking about his experience with the marketing company, Shawn came to some difficult conclusions about why it didn’t work out. 

“I assume it’s because we don’t have that name recognition to stand out on social media, so the analytics didn’t have a big enough sample size to get any ...

by Clay Adams

Peter Taylor felt screaming terror.

The four campaigns for his alternate history series WREN had performed modestly, largely relying on family, friends, and a small but committed following on Kickstarter.

Now he was ready to branch out with a new series in a new genre, one he’d hoped would appeal more to the native Kickstarter audience. 

But his email list was small and “stubbornly refused” to grow. And as he readied to launch the first issue of PIONEERS, Peter found himself staring into the unknown and wondering…

“Am I making a big mistake?” 

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• how to have fun while promoting your campaign (hint: it’s not social media) 
• one small trick to help you fight the terror and succeed on Kickstarter
• Plus: how launching a new comic can help grow your audience

When Opportunity Knocks, Make a Comic Book For the First Time

After more than forty years in IT/Finance, Peter found himself with an opp...

by Clay Adams

Karla Medrano had two problems:

Money and time. 

As a busy wife, mom, nurse, and business owner, she had to be intentional when it came to planning her week and making sure she set aside time to push her project forward. 

She’d already invested plenty of her own money to make LUNA #1 “The Awakening” happen. But she needed additional funds that only Kickstarter could bring. 

So she signed up for the ComixLaunch course and got to work on the modules. But even though she had the best of intentions, she wasn’t able to finish before she needed to hit launch. 

As the campaign went live, Karla was painfully aware she only had a month to get the word out. And as she looked at her busy schedule, one question in particular kept haunting her:

“How am I going to do it?”

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• marketing strategies for your Kickstarter comic
• the limits of social media marketing
• plus: where Kickstarter backers really come from 
...

by Clay Adams

Patrick Kellner was shocked. 

In prior campaigns for his book GAGE AND THE DRAGON'S TEAR, he’d learned to expect a big bump on day one followed by a few more days of steady growth. 

This time around, after a little action on day two, the Dead Zone set in early. 

Suddenly he started questioning everything: “Was it something I did? Is something wrong with the campaign? 

“Is this the end of my creative journey?”

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• how community can help propel your Kickstarter 
• the key marketing principle behind cross-promotion
• plus: why you shouldn't "change horses mid-stream"

How to Weather the Dead Zone; or, “Don’t Change Horses Mid-Stream”

Patrick was feeling the pressure to make something happen. But as he took a step back and analyzed the situation, he realized that he shouldn’t let panic drive his decisions. 

“I didn’t want to try and throw something new in the mix in the middle of a campaign. ...

by Clay Adams

Sam Johnson was feeling the time crunch. 

Running a Kickstarter can feel like a full-time job, so he usually builds his crowdfunding campaigns around off days from work, but he’d already used most of his year's allowance of holidays on his Kickstarter for Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman. 

Now, with a brand new campaign for his long-running Geek Girl series about to launch, he knew he’d have to run it around his busy schedule. The only question was:

How do you work two jobs without burning out? 

In this edition of the ComixLaunch Spotlight, you’ll learn:

• best practices for serializing your comic on Kickstarter
• how targeting the collector’s market can bring in new readers
• plus: time management strategies for busy crowdfunders

How to Build Your Comic Book Audience Over Time

Sam first launched Geek-Girl with a short, black & white comic that came out into 2009, focusing on Ruby Kaye, a.k.a. Geek-Girl, and her college world, friends, and its me...