The Big Launch

This Saturday, July 11th, 7" Kara Volume 2 is going live on Kickstarter!

And I am super excited!

I've been talking about 7" Kara Volume 2 A LOT, and have been steadily working towards launching the Kickstarter for awhile.  In fact, my work on 7" Kara has been the inspiration behind both the Intro to Comic Craft series and the Watercolor Basics series, and I hope they have inspired you to try watercolor and pursue your own comic goals.

A 3D mockup of what 7" Kara Volume 2 will look like.

I have lots of awesome tiers (pledge packages) for people interested in supporting 7" Kara!  You can pledge and receive pdf copies of Volume 1 and 2 (readable anywhere- phones, tablets, computers!), print copies of Volume 1 and 2, original watercolor art and custom inked sketches, adorable wooden charms!  I'm also putting together packs for homeschool and classroom use- activity packs, coloring pages, and even virtual classroom visits!

I realize some of y'all might be new to Kickstarter, but may have heard of it.  Kickstarter is an online platform that allows individuals to help fund projects and ideas they're excited about.  A Kickstarter can be held to fund a new tabletop game, to help an indie studio finish an indie video game, to help musicians fund the recording and editing of a new music video, to help raise funds and attract further investors to tech projects, and of course, to help fund comic projects!

Comic Kickstarters are a bit different than other Kickstarter campaigns, let's use tech Kickstarter campaigns as an example.  For most Kickstarters, most pledges are just donations towards an idea that backers would like to see come to fruition.  While there may be tiers that result in fulfillment, those tend to be the very expensive tiers.  Comic Kickstarters are really more of a preorder system with the funds raised used to cover the printing and shipping of the book and additional materials.  So with comic Kickstarters, you can purchase physical rewards at a much cheaper level.

Once the Kickstarter campaign is over, the funds raised go towards the manufacturing and shipping of the rewards offered.  In some Kickstarter comic campaigns, the artist sees some income or profit, but most run pretty lean.

I'm Kickstarting Volume 2 of 7" Kara to offset the costs of printing Volume 2 in bulk.  I've talked about using Print on Demand CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) to print Volume 1 in the past, but the cost of printing Volume 1 this way is too high to allow me to earn income from the sales.   I have also personally sold almost every copy of 7" Kara sold- and while that sounds charming, it really means that I'm paying a lot of money and time to table at conventions in the hopes that I can sell a few copies of 7" Kara.

Kickstarter will allow me to crowdfund the necessary upfront funds to print Volume 2 in bulk, which affords me a much lower individual book price.  This also allows me to offer Volume 2 at a more reasonable price to fans and customers.  If the Kickstarter goes well, I'd also like to reprint Volume 1 through an offset printer, and print Lilliputian Living (my Lilliputian worldbuilding zine) as a small perfect-bound book.

My goals for the 7" Kara Volume 2 Kickstarter are threefold:

• Raise the funds to print Volume 2 (and hopefully reprint Volume 1) through a local offset printer.  This would bring the cost per volume down significantly and would allow me to offer a wholesale price to libraries, bookstores, and comic shops.
• Offer pre-orders for Volume 2 and orders for Volume 1 via Kickstarter.  Most conventions have canceled this year, and most of my teaching engagements have done the same, so this would offer a much-needed source of income.
• Attract attention to my work via a successful Kickstarter.  Within the comics community, a successful Kickstarter campaign is an important hallmark of a comic artist's career.

You can help make those posts a reality by backing the Volume 2 Kickstarter on Saturday! 

On Launch Saturday, I'm hosting a virtual Pajama Party on Youtube to celebrate the launch.  First day backers at the $25 Volume 2 Physical Book tier (or higher!) get free sketch requests all stream long. So if you want to see your character or portrait drawn live, back on Day 1!