I did not mention this before, but The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 was not the only KickStarter on my roster.
NeverEnding, Inc has been running a campaign to expand the character builder’s offerings. And they have just 11 days left! They’re pretty close to their next stretch goal, too. So go check out the campaign if you can. Pledge, spread the word – support it however you can!
Plus, another campaign will launch THIS Saturday, April 3. This one is run by my good comics buddy, Ben Wright-Heuman, and his co-creator friend Rainer Kannestine. The project?
I contributed a short story about the Mothman. And there’s seven other stories about other cryptids to boot!
To celebrate the launch, I’m hosting a livestream on my YouTube channel! Hope you can join us Saturday, April 3 at 12 noon EDT. Yes, “us,” because the creators from the anthology will be joining me on the stream.
Expect livestreams every Thursday and Saturday during the month of April – I’ll be interviewing the creators who contributed to the anthology project.
If you helped bring The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 to completion, I’ll be posting updates on the regular on its KickStarter page.
We’re in the FINAL hours of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 on KickStarter.
If you haven’t heard:
The Legend is the story of Jamie Roberts and their two best friends treasure-hunting with a stolen map in a land full of magic.
The story is a long-running webcomic project, but now…
We’re getting chapters 1 through 4 (plus bonus material) in one book.
The KickStarter launched to get funding so the book can go to print.
We reached our initial goal! And now we’re SO CLOSE to our next stretch goal!
Interested in getting the book? Back it soon – the campaign ENDS MARCH 27 – that’s THIS SATURDAY.
Rewards for backers include, but are not limited to:
Books!
PDFs!
Stickers!
Campaign-exclusive minicomics!
And more!
If we reach 50 backers, I’ll add new bonus material to the book: sketched versions of Chapter 5’s first 3 to 4 pages. Will you be our 50th? Or even our 51st?!
Broke? Share this post, or the campaign link (tinyurl.com/jamie-v1) FAR AND WIDE!
It’s the LAST week that The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 is on KickStarter. The campaign ends March 27!
The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 collects the first 4 chapters, plus bonus content, in one volume. If you love genderqueer protagonists, pirates, dragons, magic, and adventure, this is the story for you!
Early Bird rewards may be all claimed, but there are still other rewards. Like…
$1 – you get a copy of Jamie and Friends’ map made as a desktop background.
$2 – you get the above PLUS the minicomic The Legend of Norsa mailed to you.
$10 – you get the digital background PLUS a PDF copy of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1.
$25 – get the above PLUS the copy of the book with a custom autograph
alternately, $25 – get the digital rewards PLUS two copies of the book are donated in your name to your local library.
Can you back the campaign? Then check it out BEFORE MARCH 27!
Broke? Share the link to the campaign (tinyurl.com/jamie-v1) far and wide with your friends!
(image of Jamie Roberts, a genderqueer young person with messy blonde hair climbing the side of a mud-brick building. They look out at the sea with a soft smile on their face. Text next to them reads The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1 – Funded in the 1st 24 hours)
Jamie is neither boy or girl – they’re a PIRATE! The Legend is about Jamie and their two best friends, Thomas and Daniel, as they uncover an unfinished map to a land they’ve never seen.
So what do they do with this map?
(A picture of Jamie, a genderqueer human with messy blonde hair and green eyes, gesturing with excitement, saying, “Go treasure hunting, of course!”)
So they leave their life on the seas and go adventuring for treasure! Along the way they find magic, dragons, and an ancient history bubbling back to the surface once more.
Right now, the story is on KickStarter to get chapters 1 through 4 – plus bonus content – in one shiny paperback book.
If you back this campaign, you’ll get:
a custom-signed copy of the book,
the map Jamie, Thomas, and Daniel found, complete with their notes and doodles,
your very own orb (make sure it never breaks, or Ranki will escape his prison!)
and more!
Some rewards are ONLY available until March 12, so check out the campaign and back it if and while you can.
“Wait!” you might be thinking. “You’ve already reached your funding goal! So what’s in it for me if I support you?”
Well, we still have stretch goals!
If we can get to 30 backers, then everyone who supports the campaign will get a FREE sticker sheet included with their rewards.
And if we get to 40 backers? I’ll make a NEW minicomic for all backers, The Legend of Azu-Mi.
Plus, I have a NEW gift…
(a black and white line drawing of a dragon roaring into the void. The title, The Legend of Jamie Roberts, is printed along the top)
If 5 people color this page, and use the hashtag #thelegendofjamieroberts on Instagram or TikTok, then I’ll add a bookplate to each book! (Up to a maximum of 50 books.)
Broke? Share this link far and wide with your pirate-loving friends:
http://tinyurl.com/jamie-v1
Some rewards are ONLY available until March 12. The campaign as a whole wraps up on March 27.
By the way, The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Chapter 2’s KickStarter IS STILL GOING. You have until 11:59 pm EST on Feb 21 to back this project.
Not gonna lie – I’ve had 11 successful KickStarter campaigns. Once you’ve had so much success, you fall into a rhythm.
But I HAVE had one KickStarter campaign fail. I learned a lot from that failure, which makes it true that you learn more from your failures than your successes. Because when you’re successful, you develop a groove.
The thing about grooves, though, is that it’s easy to get comfortable inside of those grooves. It’s like when you walk in circles in the dirt – after a while, there’s an obvious path of where you’ve tread.
And if you want to grow, you have to take a step outside of that dirt circle.
Ever since the demise of Project Wonderful, I’ve written off the power of ad spots on blog sites and webcomic sites. It’s easy to write it off, since it can be difficult to make money from posting ads in this era of ad-blockers.
Yet the original reason these became ads were to signal-boost SOMETHING. Someone wanted their product known, so they made a promotional image and paid someone to post it.
Well, I don’t (yet) have a network of peeps to reach out to and ask about posting an ad on their site and paying them for it.
So I made a button to promote the KickStarter, posted it on the sites, and VOILA – insta-ad. I’m still getting traffic on these sites, so the ad spots are seen by the peeps who go to these sites.
Reach Out to Folks Who Are Adjacent To What You Do
I have to thank Jamie (no relation to Jamie Roberts) for this one. I had almost written off this particular tactic.
The Legend of Jamie Roberts is about a genderqueer pirate. So Jamie (no relation) suggested I reach out to LGBTQ centers, and ask for their help promoting this KickStarter campaign. He sent me a list of LGBTQ centers in Ohio (which you can find here). This resource includes contact information for these sites.
I also had a flier for another LGBTQ center, from when I went to Flaming River Con. (One of the few positive things to come out of that show). So I reached out to this center, as well.
All told, I reached out to 5 or so of these centers, and only heard back from 1: the center whom I had a flier for. I think it helped that the contact spoke with me at the show, so they had a face to connect to the email.
So while perhaps blind contacting doesn’t work – what DOES help is keeping your rolodex of peeps you meet at comicons, festivals, and other shows. Reach out to those who are adjacent to what you do and ask if they can help signal-boost you.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Fliers
I made a flier for my local comic shop to promote my KickStarter campaign. Then I sent it shortly after launch. I asked if they could print up copies and set them with their other fliers, and make a social media post, as well. And they agreed to help (I’m very fortunate that the folks at my local comic shop are cool dudes).
I DID notice that a few days after I did that, the number of backers and money raised went up a good 20-25%. Pretty dang good!
So don’t underestimate the power of fliers. Share them with comic shops. They’re usually more than happy to help indie comic creators succeed. If not? Find someone else who’d be happy to share your flier.
Those are what I’ve re-learned in promoting a KickStarter campaign into success. Next time I’ll make a post about how to run a successful campaign. I just realized I don’t have a post about that (yet).
