10 top tips for your comic Kickstarter – what’s yours?

YOUR TOP 10 GUIDE TO DOING A COMIC KICKSTARTER

We’ve done a few. There are not many right or wrong ways of doing a Kickstarter but there are some tips you can follow that can give you a fighting chance for success…

1 – Tease early to build expectation, preferably using your own media and email lists.

2 – Have a pre launch page and build followers.

3 – Send a media release for your pre launch and launch and if you have time contact media influencers.

4 – Thursday am is a good time to start your KS – end on a Thursday at 9pm (regarded as premium times)

5 – Avoid launching early new year and during major holidays. March, May, June, October are premium months to do a Kickstarter.

6 – Have a hook or Unique Selling Point for your Kickstarter, but be prepared for it to only appeal to your ‘niche’ audience. Make sure you include some added rewards or have extra rewards ready if you make target early – kickstarters backers are collectors who love script pages, sketches, artwork, prints etc. We experimented with trying to do a KS without these – it don’t work!

7 – Create a video, have a cover and some early visuals if possible. A strong cover works on Kickstarter as it does in the shops. It can make a big difference and is the closest you get to the impulse buy.

8 – Do your sums. It’s easy to pitch low, reach your target early and get momentum but if your creators aren’t doing it ‘just for fun’ and want a decent page rate (approx £250 a page) don’t risk it and ask for what you need. Make sure your postage costs are right and build in some copies going ‘missing in the post’!

9 – All your team should share your project but most backers come from early Kickstarter followers, other Kickstarter backers (so connect early if with similar comics if you can) and email lists. Social media is great for awareness but will not account for many direct sales. However if others not involved with your project get on board it is a welcome bonus.

10 – There is always a lull during kickstarters after the first week and before the end. Take a week off from promoting, it won’t make that much of a difference. Then go for it in your final week!

That’s my top tips. Have you got any? Add them to our comments below and we will add them to an expanded post on our newsletter which goes direct to nearly 7000 subscribers soon! Subscribe to our newsletter here

We recently ran a Kickstarter which got 505 backers and raised £19,000. Pat Mills Ragtime Soldier is now taking late pledges before 7th April, 21:00 here

Our next Kickstarter will be based on JMBarries original work for Peter Pan. Watch out for the pre launch page soon!