An Ignorance of Romance on Crowdfundr – Off to a Good Start!

We’re off to a strong start with An Ignorance of Romance on Crowdfundr! Shout-out to our backers so far – you are *mighty*.

Also, I (Kelci) just came back from Pittsburgh Indie Expo, where I had some promotional zines for An Ignorance of Romance for free for attendees to nab. I hope to see some folks from PIE in the comments (maybe even signal boosting this campaign and backing us)!

My next show is Detroit Zine Fest, were I will have more promo zines for An Ignorance of Romance. I hope attendees are ready for me to gush about this webcomic project!

You may be thinking, “I see this is a Keep-It -All campaign. Does that mean you get my order right away?”

Yes, and your payment is processed the same day.

“So what are you doing with the money before the month ends?”

Right now, our next step is booking the domain name. Possibly two, so one could be a back-up. We have enough raised to cover that, plus the cost of hosting this webcomic ourselves.

“Why aren’t you posting this on Webtoons or Tapas?”

I’m opposed to Webtoons’ treatment of their artists, especially the ones they have under contract. They also started using and embracing AI art, which is antithetical to our ethics and what we’re doing. So on those alone, we’re not posting to Webtoon.

We *might* mirror the webcomic on Tapas, but Tapas has formatting standards that would mean changing the comic art. So let’s put a pin in that for now.

Kai and I want to host this comic ourselves so we have more control over how the webcomic looks, and so we can cultivate a community outside of the Webtoons or Tapas culture. The fans who have been with us since 2013 know that we respect the folks who engage in our comments section, and that any bad actors are removed ASAP. We don’t have time for trolls, and neither do you. And we want to respect our readers and their time.

If you have any other questions about the webcomic, please leave us a comment! We read them all.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

Now on Crowdfundr – A New Collaboration, “An Ignorance of Romance”!

Announcing: a new collaboration with Kai (co-creator of Seeing Him) on a new webcomic project! “An Ignorance of Romance: Adventures in Wooing” is now on Crowdfundr, looking for support.

An Ignorance of Romance is the story of an unfortunately straight young man named Lian, tasked by his father The Duke with embarking on a quest to find his True Love™. Assisted by his squire, the two encounter Amber, a warrior woman searching for her lost husband. Adventures and attempted seductions ensue!

Here are some sketches we have finished so far for production!

Kai and I are running a small Crowdfundr campaign to cover the cost of domain registration and webhosting costs so we can host this comic ourselves. We also want to cover the labor for the first handful of pages of the webcomic.

We have some fun rewards available, including (but not limited to):

  • Early access to the webcomic pages!
  • Commissions!
  • And even the opportunity to be drawn as a character in the comic!

This campaign will run for one month, starting March 28 and ending on April 27, 2025.

And full disclosure – we are running this as a “Keep It All” campaign, not “All-or-Nothing” like KickStarter. This way, we can start production as soon as possible!

If you have any other questions, check out the campaign first!

Broke? Share this campaign with your friends! Sharing is caring and helps more than you know.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

Why I’m Sharing More Free Resources and Downloads

I want to very quickly write why I’m sharing more free resources and downloads.

“But Kelci,” I can hear some people say. “You’re a broke artist. Shouldn’t you charge for more things in your Ko-fi shop?”

I’m not putting resources behind a paywall. Trust me, I’ve been that broke art student just wanting to learn more, but was unable to because it had a price tag imposed by the provider.

When it comes to resource sharing, I would rather provide them for free. Tips are appreciated, but only by folks who have the means to do so. If you are broke, just download them for free. Pay me back later if you feel called to do so, but the resources are there for you.

I also have an aversion to charging for resources, blog posts, etc because for the last decade, we’ve been living with the Online Grifter Economy. And I don’t want to contribute to that, even accidentally.

The Online Grifter Economy has been talked about in varying degrees, from Tom Nicholas’ video about Griftonomics to Folding Ideas’ case study on the Mikkelsen Twins to even an episode of the If Books Could Kill podcast talking about The Four-Hour Workweek. So all I’ll say about it is a rough definition as I would put it – it’s a type of grift where the seller over-promises “life-changing” deliverables and sells advice at a ridiculous mark-up to take advantage of people desperate for change. Doesn’t matter whether the advice they sell is outdated, as long as the grifter makes money on it.

Often the key way to spot these people is if they call themselves “gurus,” or have an almost obsessive focus on “productivity.”

This kind of grift stems from people trying to make a quick buck off the internet, when the original intention of the internet was to have information freely available for everyone for as long as the website could be maintained.

Call it what you will, but I want to see a return of an internet that shares information freely. Not within the walls of social media platforms run by fascists that demand you login first to see the information. Not behind a paywall on Patreon or some “online learning” course.

And definitely not on a “virtual reality” website that demands you use a fake currency (looking at you with a stink-eye, Decentraland).

To that end, I want to work to make this kind of internet a reality. And so I’m keeping my Resources tab updated as much as possible, and I will provide resources on my Ko-fi shop as free downloads. So things like the Master Convention Packing List, the Tabling At Conventions for Beginners’ slideshow, the Small Validations Teachers’ Pack, and the upcoming Promoting Your Work Without Social Media are all going to be free for everyone for as long as the resources are available. If Ko-fi collapses, I’ll find a new host for the resources. (Perhaps they may even move here).

I’m also going to update this blog more often with any new resources I find that I think are worth sharing. Keep your eyes peeled for the first one, which should come out soon.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

P.S. Last week I wrote about coordinating a boycott. I’m still working out the details, because effective boycotts need a target, a ‘why’, a call to action, and a goal/deadline. I have most of these figured out except the exact ‘call to action’ details.

Updates to My Website (and Life) This Week

Today I’m sharing some updates I’ve made to my website and my life this week.

RESOURCESI’ve added new resources, including zine libraries where you can download (and in some cases print) free zines!

MEMBERSHIPS – “Fan Clubs” has been replaced with “Memberships,” which directly links to my Ko-fi Memberships page.

WIDGETS – I removed some outdated widgets. Also updated my “Upcoming Appearances.” More appearances to come as soon as I confirm some events behind-the-scenes.

THUNDERBIRD – apparently Google has been doubling down on being evil, so I’m moving my calendar events from Google Calendar to Thunderbird. Thunderbird is much more secure, anyway. Also Thunderbird allowed me to import the previous calendars, so moving was a breeze.

CONTACTING REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS – I already knew about 5calls.org as a resource. But my mind was blown when someone on Bluesky recommended “just make a short list of the issues so you only have to make one phone call to your rep.” I thought that was GENIUS. I will be making lists more often.

Sub point – Resistbot is available on Telegram. Just text RESIST to 50409. Resistbot makes it easy to sign petitions and send letters to your reps and to the op-ed sections of your local newspapers.

Sub point – Reddit now has r/onethingtodo, which gives one thing that’s easy to do each day to reduce the amount of suck in the world.

YOUTUBE STREAMS – I set up the next livestream this week. You can find it now on my channel.

Yes, I am aware YouTube is a Google product. I’ll be looking into alternatives to YouTube over the next few weeks.

MARTIAL ARTS – I’ve started taking martial arts classes through a local dojo! It’s only been a week or two, but I’m making progress.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I need to get back to the studio to work on some comics. More substantial updates will be coming soon, including a call for a boycott and the conditions for it.

Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

The Membership Campaign’s FINAL COUNTDOWN

a header shows kelcidcrawford on ko-fi. Under the "Memberships" tab are 3 options - Digital Club at $3 per month, the Zine + Sticker Club at $5 per month, and the Art Club at $10 per month

It’s the Ko-fi Membership Campaign’s FINAL COUNTDOWN (queue “The Final Countdown” by Europe).

To celebrate, I’m running a YouTube livestream on the final day, Jan 31 at 6 pm ET. Feel free to tune in, watch me draw, and let me answer any questions you may have about Ko-fi.

As a reminder, we are at 10 members currently – we’re trying to get to 12 members by the end of Jan 31! By doing that, all members (new and current) will get a Little Caticorn mini-print, a Prince Odinon mini-print, and a Caticorns zine.

If you’re interested in becoming a member, head to my Ko-fi Memberships page and check the options that work best for you.

Broke? There are two free things you can do: Subscribe to my YouTube channel and spread the word about the Membership Drive! Sharing is caring and helps a lot.

Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

P.S. I’m also available for Valentine’s Day commissions. More info is on my Commissions page.