by Clay Adams

Jim Whiting had a choice to make.

After years of Kickstarting his own series, Margo: Intergalactic Trash Collector, Jim was now faced with a different task entirely. His latest project, DarkARTS, was an oversized pin-up book featuring work by various artists. He knew he couldn’t rely on his established audience to come out and support it—and there was no guarantee the audience for a book like this even existed. 

Before hitting launch, Jim wondered, “How the heck am I going to market this?”

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

• How to choose the best category for your project
• When you should identify your target audience
• Why “pocket” rewards can save you

How Do You Choose the Best Kickstarter Category?

The first challenge Jim faced was deciding on a Kickstarter category. It didn’t fit neatly into any of the available options, so he had to decide:

Would this be a “book” project or a “comics” project? 

“I originally wanted to promo...

by Clay Adams

Newton Lilavois was in the hospital.

With only four days before the big Kickstarter launch for his webcomic, “Crescent City Monsters,” Newton was about to go under the knife for knee surgery. 

He’d spent a year posting his comic online, working through the ComixLaunch Course, and meticulously planning his campaign. 

But now, facing surgery and a painful recovery, he had to ask himself:

Should I postpone?

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

• Newton’s Facebook ad strategy for campaign success
• Why you should plan your stretch goals before you launch
• When “failure” isn’t really failure at all

Knowledge is Power: Google Analytics and Your Kickstarter Page

So: did Newton postpone his launch?

Before we answer that question, let’s talk about the well-crafted plan he was thinking of putting off. 

Because Newton is a member of the ComixLaunch community, he knew he needed a marketing plan, one that went beyond simply screaming into the soc...

by Clay Adams

Rene Pfitzner felt like he was flying in the dark. 

It was his first-ever Kickstarter campaign, and there were a lot of unknowns. But he’d methodically worked his way through the ComixLaunch Course and felt like he had a solid plan in place. 

Now it was time to put it into action. 

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

• How to build an audience before you launch
• The importance of having a pre-launch plan
• How to drive traffic to your Kickstarter campaign

Should I Post My Comic For Free On The Web?

Rene knew that in crowdfunding, the crowd brings the funds, but YOU have to bring the crowd. 

He had been following the YouTube channel of creator Jason Brubaker (reMIND, Sithrah), a Kickstarter veteran who recommends building an audience by posting your comic for free online. A quick check of the most funded comics Kickstarters of all time reveals that—yes, posting for free online helps.    

Where did Rene post?

“I’ve mainly focused on...

By Clay Adams

Jerry Willoughby was feeling determined.

After his last Kickstarter failed to fund, Jerry knew he needed to expand his marketing efforts if he wanted his new campaign to succeed. So, heeding the old Henry Ford maxim that “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping a clock to save time,” he decided to go all in on Facebook ads.

The only question was: “Would it work?”

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

• Why you need enthusiastic collaborators
• The key to a successful Facebook ad—and when to implement it
• Jerry’s specific ad strategy that led to successful funding

Lessons Learned from a Failed Kickstarter

Before he launched again, Jerry took a long, hard look at what went wrong last time.

“The biggest lesson I learned from my last failed campaign was that you can't launch with no audience. I thought that the same people that backed me in 2012 would come out to back me five years later. I never kept in contact and didn't warm t...

By Clay Adams

Will Allred had his back to the wall. 

It was the final week of his campaign for DIARY OF NIGHT, and the funding total sat at a seemingly insurmountable $2,000 shy of his goal. With the clock ticking, Will had a difficult choice to make: cancel the campaign and try again later, or double down on his efforts to secure a win at all costs. 

Will dug deep and doubled-down. 

In this spotlight you’ll learn:

• The most important Kickstarter metric to watch
• How to get more people to your Kickstarter page
• The biggest comics Kickstarter mistake

The Key to Running a Successful Comics Kickstarter

Will had already tried—unsuccessfully—to fund DIARY OF NIGHT once, so the thought of cancelling didn’t appeal to him. But the task ahead seemed daunting.

“That last week was brutal. By this point, I was nearing exhaustion, and still had around $2,000 to go to meet the goal. I still had hope, though. I had a backer that I knew I could depend on to back at the maximum level, wh...

by Clay Adams

Melody Peña was terrified. 

After years of posting her comic, THE VELIGENT, online, she was ready to launch her first Kickstarter and put it into print. But as she built out her campaign, too many fears swirled around her head. 

What if she didn’t make her goal? What if she overlooked an important detail? What if there was a hidden expense she hadn’t accounted for? 

What if, what if, what if…!

She shouldn’t have been so worried. 

In this spotlight you’ll learn:

• Where to post your webcomics online
• The best day of the week to launch your Kickstarter
• Why you need premium, higher tier options

How Long Should You Build Your Audience Before A Kickstarter Launch?

The phenomenal success of Melody’s Kickstarter just goes to show: it’s never too soon to start building your audience. 

“We have been publishing my art for about forty years, so I have a following… I have also been posting the comic for a long time and have a smaller, but decent following for it, too...

by Clay Adams

 
How do you kickstart a comic if Kickstarter isn’t available in your country?

If you’re TALES OF THE TWELVE STARS writer Albert Lim, you go indie.

…Indiegogo, that is.

In this spotlight, you’ll learn:

• The major differences between Indiegogo and Kickstarter
• The biggest challenge Albert faced with the Indiegogo platform
• His best advice to new comic creators 

What If Kickstarter Isn’t Available in Your Country?

When comic book writer Albert Lim discovered Kickstarter isn’t available in Malaysia, he wasn’t surprised.

“Finding venues and events where I can sell my books is a challenge… While they do exist in Malaysia, many of them are not very well-known.”

But he didn't let lack of access to the number one crowdfunding platform stop him from launching his book. Albert buckled down, did his research, and found that one site was available to him: Indiegogo.

As he prepared for launch on the unfamiliar platform, Albert drew on his Martial Arts training to...

By Clay Adams

Amélie Hutt was feeling overwhelmed. 

She’d never run a Kickstarter campaign before, and the learning curve was steep. Everything leading up to the launch was new, stressful, and humbling. And she didn’t like the feeling of vulnerability that comes with launching a campaign.

“I shy away from success,” she says. “I shy away from asking for things. I have to get over that.”

She did. 

In a big way. 

In this spotlight, you’ll learn: 

• How Amélie grew her audience online before the launch
• How she uses Patreon to supplement her business
• Amélie’s one big Kickstarter regret

The Secret of a Huge Kickstarter Launch

What do The Order of the Stick, Steve Lichman, and Penny Arcade all have in common?

They were all popular webcomics long before becoming six- and seven-figure Kickstarter campaigns.

Because of these comics—and projects like them—Amélie knew that getting her work in front of as many people as possible before launch was a key to a successful Kickstar...

By Clay Adams

Kevin Joseph had a problem. 

After drawing five issues of TART, the indie comic about a time-traveling demon hunter, Kevin's TART co-creator, artist Ludovic Sallé, decided to make a career change away from illustrating comics...

Right in the middle of a story arc.

Instead of getting down, Kevin got down to work.

In this ComixLaunch Creator Spotlight you’ll learn: 

•         How Kevin recovered from losing his artist collaborator and took bold action to find a replacement.

•         How he grew his audience between issues—and during the dreaded Kickstarter dead zone.

•         The one crowdfunding technique Kevin won’t try again.

How to Replace an Artist

First things, first: Kevin needed an artist.

And he decided to go bold.

“We met Karl Moline, the incredible artist who co-created Joss Whedon's Slayer-in-the-Future comic Fray, at a convention. We asked what his next project was and he mentioned he had a small window without any projects coming up. Wi...