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....

by Clay Adams

David Taylor felt overworked. 

With a busy day job leaving little time to work on the Kickstarter campaign for his noir thriller DECADES, he felt constantly behind the eight ball. 

Especially when his campaign took off beyond his expectations. 

And when he came down with Covid in the first week, he had to ask himself:

“How do I get through it?”

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

• how to market a reprint of an older book on Kickstarter
• tips for pitching your comic series
• plus: time management for busy crowdfunding creators

How to Market A Reprint of an Older Book on Kickstarter

David never meant for this to be a big campaign. 

DECADES was a book he’d already completed, and the Kickstarter for the trade paperback collection was always intended to be low-key—simply a way to get a reprint done and buy some time while he worked on his current series.

“I...

by Clay Adams

Robert Krisch was surprised.

It had been a year since he'd run a Facebook Ad campaign, and he felt pretty pessimistic about their performance after the enhanced IOS privacy protections were put in place.

But as his campaign for TURNER FAMILY TERRORS #3 moved into the Dead Zone, Rob’s Facebook ads were performing three times better than they did on his last Kickstarter. 

Now, with a carefully planned PR strategy and only so much money to go around, he had a choice to make:

Stick to the game plan or throw more money at ads?

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

• How to build a foundation for Kickstarter success
• The power of community 
• The benefits of working with a PR Firm

Building a Foundation for Kickstarter Success

Two years ago, when Rob was first starting out on Kickstarter, he didn’t have an email list or an audience he could regularly write to. But he knew an important part of...

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...

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...

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...

 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...

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...

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...

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...