12: Looking failure in its dumb little eye
What did we learn?
This time, I’m going to talk about something I glossed over back in January.
I spent a full year producing the first issue of a comic, and even more time concepting and scripting that comic. In the process, I spent thousands to bring my story to life, hiring on and managing a talented team of artists.
And yet, what ended up happening was the exactly the thing that all indie comic creators fear—
My Kickstarter failed spectacularly.
I thought I did everything right. I partnered with an artist collaborator who brought incredible energy and thoughtfulness to every panel. I made a fun promotional video. Kickstarter even awarded us the coveted “Projects We Love” badge!
But it wasn’t enough.
I was devastated and wanted to give up.
And you know what? I did for awhile. Yet here I am, 9 months later, still writing this newsletter where I've been talking a ton about my next project I’m bringing to Kickstarter soon. But before I get into that, I need to tackle a hard question…
Why did it fail?
There are so many possible reasons. Poor marketing. Pivoting genres against the expectations of my audience. High word density in the preview pages. Pulling the plug a little too early.
But you know why I really think it failed?
I wanted so badly to believe that I could do it on my own. That I could take the success of my previous campaign and use that as a springboard so I didn’t have to rely on friends and family to make the funding happen—I mean most of them don’t even read comics!
The truth is, that line of thinking is absolutely ridiculous. I realize now that I can’t do it alone. I can fully recognize now that I need all the support I can get. And I’ve learned there’s no shame in asking for help. It’s been a hard lesson to learn, but that’s usually how the most important ones are.
Because now I know what I need to do. I need to reach out to everyone I can. I need to promote like never before. I need to tell others to tell others that they need to believe in this project.
And I need your help.
Which is why when it comes to Sunken Kingdom, I’m going to change my approach this time around and humbly ask…
My dear friends, please support Sunken Kingdom, launching September 17th
Here are a few actions you can take to help me succeed this time around:
Back the project
Sign up for the pre-launch page
Share on social media
Share this post
Shout “Sunken Kingdom” three times from your roof at midnight every night until we’re funded
If you don’t support this campaign, well, thanks for reading this far. And if you do back Sunken Kingdom, I will be eternally grateful.
I really hope you’ll consider it.
Final thoughts
One of the craziest things about publishing—which is definitely true of the comic book crowdfunding scene—is that success is often determined by marketing rather than the actual content of said book.
So here’s my failed Kickstarter comic, the 28-page 100% completed Overpowered #1, available for free on Global Comix.
You can decide its merit for yourself.
Are you planning to relaunch Overpowered if Sunken Kingdom does well?