by Clay Adams

Mark Abnett was a victim of his own success.

All five issues of his comic THIS LAND were completely inked before he launched issue 1.

The plan was to serialize each issue on Kickstarter in order to cover the cost of coloring and lettering the last three issues (issues 1 & 2 were already 100% complete). 

So over the span of 14 months, Mark ran Kickstarters for issues 1-4 and regularly fulfilled ahead of schedule, giving his backers confidence in his ability to deliver. 

A few campaigns in, Mark realized his plan was working well. 

Maybe too well. 

Because his supporters knew if they were patient, they could save on shipping by skipping the middle campaigns. 

So, now Mark had to figure out:

How do you run successful Kickstarter campaigns when your most ardent backers are sitting them out? 

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

• How to Build Loyalty in Your Kickstarter Audience
• Variant Cover Strategies for Kickstarter Comics Creato...

by Clay Adams

Daphne Lage wanted to push herself. 

A veteran of several campaigns, she’d crunched the numbers, done her homework, and knew what running a successful Kickstarter would take. 

But this time, she was determined to attract new backers to the fourth issue of her book EGORAVEN and reach a personal best in funding.

Her goal? 

$6,000. 

The only question was:

What would it take to get there?

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

• the importance of the pre-launch page, catch-up tiers, and studying other campaigns 
• why (and when) you should get involved in the Kickstarter community
• plus: are podcast appearances the unicorn you should be chasing?

Use the Kickstarter Pre-Launch Page to Drive a Big First Day

As a Kickstarter veteran, Daphne had already built her mailing list and made it a habit to study her past campaigns. 

“ListLaunch and ComixLaunch were both huge in helping me focus on what I needed to do in building my mailing li...

by Clay Adams

Michel Abstracto had a good problem. 

His campaign for TALES OF INTOXICA funded quickly, within the first minute of being live, and he plowed through his planned stretch goals faster than anticipated. 

And with plenty of days left on the clock, he wondered—

“What now?” 

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

• how to build a rabid fanbase that's ready to support on day one
• the limiting beliefs that hold creators back
• plus: secrets of live-streaming your launch

How to Build a Rabid Fanbase That's Ready to Back on Day One

Hitting his goal so quickly was no accident.

Michel put a lot of thought and effort into building his audience ahead of time. On the advice of a friend, he went through the ListLaunch Course before jumping into crowdfunding, giving himself a solid base to draw from. 

But the key to getting your audience ready to back on day one?

“It always seems to come back to engagement, specifically audience engagement. Fro...

 by Clay Adams

Lynsey G and Jayel Draco of Oneshi Press were threading a fine needle.

Their TRACY QUEEN series is very much Not Safe for Work. Although the story is full of heart and touches on some very important topics, the book contains some nudity and adult situations. 

Because of that, the two creators felt limited in how they could talk about the book on social media and in ads—after all, they had to beat the algorithms, which clamped down on such content. 

So how would they reach the audience they knew would love it? How would they locate podcasts, websites, and other creators willing to help promote the book?

And as launch day grew nearer, they found themselves wondering…

How sexy is too sexy?

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

• how to promote a NSFW comic without getting banned on Facebook  
• the benefits of working with a PR service for your comics Kickstarter
• the most important thing for growing your comics brand

How to Adve...

by Clay Adams

George O'Connor felt like he was chasing his tail. 

He’d spent months putting together TODDLER-POCALYPSE, an anthology he co-wrote that was drawn by a dream team of collaborators.

He'd painstakingly put together his page and made a plan for Kickstarter success.

But once he hit launch, he quickly found himself fighting to maintain a delicate balance between life, work, and spreading the word about the campaign.

And as the “very busy 25 days” went by, George wondered if he’d ever get that balance right…

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

• how to find your dream team collaborators
• the power of a good subject line when cold contacting artists
• how to harness the power of streaming video to promote your project 

How To Find Your Dream Team Collaborators

Over the last couple of years, George curated a Twitter timeline of talented and positive artists that continually made him wish, “Man, I’d love to work with them.”

And then...

by Clay Adams

Jack Holder had put in the work.

He’d been slowly building up his audience, Kickstarting books, and delivering on his promises. Now, with the launch of Legends of the Realm #1: The Floated Dream, he was having his best campaign yet.

And that's when he noticed something interesting.

A large number of backers were opting for digital rewards. And Jack couldn’t help but wonder:

“Can I get them to upgrade?”

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

• How to turbocharge your audience building
• The beauty of digital rewards
• Why your attitude determines your altitude

How to Turbocharge Your Audience Building 

Jack spent several years growing his audience. He focused his strategy on building out a robust email list, but it hasn’t always gone as fast as he’d like. 

And when Covid hit, his job got even tougher as conventions shut down. 

“A surefire way to build up a newsletter for burgeoning creators is a newsletter signup sheet [at your...

by Clay Adams 

David F. Starr worried his list wasn’t big enough.

Not only was he concerned about hitting his outward-facing Kickstarter goal for his book A-Z Baby Animal + Scientists: ABC Fine Art Book for Everyone, but like many other creators, he had a private goal he wanted to hit as well. 

David had spent months building his list in anticipation, but now that it was time to launch, he found himself wondering:

“Did I put in enough work?”

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

• how to grow your mailing list--and convert them into backers
• tips for finding a printer for your publishing project
• why managing your expectations is the key to Kickstarter success

Building Your Audience Ahead of Your Kickstarter Launch 

David knew that the success of your Kickstarter launch is set months before it starts. He got to work building a mailing list well before his planned launch, but he wasn’t sure how people in his network would react to being asked...

by Clay Adams

Kurt Zauer was kicking himself.

Caught in a time crunch, he didn’t have his Kickstarter page peer reviewed before launch, which led to some embarrassing errors in his tiers. 

And as he played clean-up in the first few days of his campaign, Kurt made a promise to himself:

He’d never make the same mistake again.

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

• the importance of “backwards planning”
• how to fight the Dead Zone with gratitude
• plus: two key ingredients to Kickstarter success

The Importance of “Backwards Planning” Your Kickstarter Launch

Based on this experience, Kurt came up with a system for getting his page ready in time.

“Backwards planning will help you avoid delays. Call your launch day X-day. Think about everything you want to accomplish before X-day. How much time do you want for your friends/peers to have to look at your page to review and give feedback? A week? Then your page has to be ready to go on Xday-7.  How ...

by Clay Adams

M Sorcier felt like she was banging her head against a wall. 

A quiet, introspective type, she was struggling to stay energized throughout her 21 day campaign for Sacrimony #2. How many times—and in how many ways—could she say, “Hey, please check out my comic?” It was especially hard on those days when she didn’t get any backers at all. 

So M decided to do something about it.

She decided to chill the heck out.

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

• Why taking it easy during the Dead Zone isn’t "giving up"
• How to grow your audience between campaigns
• Plus: the one thing you *must* do before you launch

Zen and the Art of Kickstarter: Why Chilling Out Isn’t "Giving Up"

M has made peace with the fact that trying to generate excitement during the Dead Zone can be draining and often futile. With no opening day excitement or final 48 hours FOMO, she knows it's harder to get people interested.

“I’m never going to try and force hype dur...

by Clay Adams

Frank Martin knew the risks.  

He'd heard the advice to stick with one thing until it was successful. To pick his genre and focus his efforts there as a specialist. 

But that's not where his passion lies, and he knew if he faked it, his audience would sense it. 

So the question nags him every time he launches a new project:

"Will my audience show up?"

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

• The mindset shift that led to Frank's success with Facebook ads
• The benefits of Kickstarting one-shots & two-parters 
• Plus: Why you need a little “sexy indifference”

Frank’s Facebook Ad Strategy

One way Frank mitigates this fear is by constantly looking for ways to grow his audience. He's tried viral giveaways to varying success, but ultimately decided his efforts would have better results elsewhere.

So, like many comic creators, he turned to Facebook ads. Frank freely admits he's not an ad man, but over time, something about ads clicked--i...