Another “Super” Kickstarter!
We’re back, talking with Joshua Crowther about his current Kickstarter. Let’s dive right in!
What happened with the previous KS?
That’s a loaded question. There’s a lot of factors, but I guess the top reason it failed was I got greedy. I took a leap of faith with Super and paid for the art out of my own pocket, and I was trying too hard to make sure I recuperated the costs. That resulted in a high goal and inflated reward prices, but placing that burden on backers wasn’t fair. This time around, I wanted to make sure the experience was more rewarding for backers.
What lessons did you learn that you’re going to do differently?
I think the primary thing I learned is that I need to show more respect, and everything I’m doing differently is based around that principle.
The first thing I did was drastically reduce reward prices. It’s not fair to backers to have to pay more than retail. They are jumping on board early, so they deserve a good deal. Also, everyone who is helping you on Kickstarter deserves recognition for that. In the original Kickstarter I was already going to put everyone on the Thank You page, and only some tiers were KS exclusive. But Thank You pages aren’t enough! In this new Kickstarter every pledge level is Kickstarter Exclusive. All of them. It doesn’t matter what level you pledge at, you are receiving something special that is only available by being part of the Kickstarter experience.
Finally, part of respecting backers is making things fun and that meant doing something a little crazy…I set a $3 goal.
Why is the goal so low? What do you want for this KS to do that it’s needed such a low goal?
When setting a goal, Kickstarter says to think about the minimum amount you would need to get your project finished and into backer’s hands. The first time around, I didn’t do that. I already paid to get Super illustrated, and I was thinking about getting that money back. This time, I sat down and thought about the true goal, “If one person wants me to print one copy of Super and send it to them, how much money would it take?” Well, since the book is already illustrated, the answer was $3.
A side effect of setting such a logical goal is creating the most overfunded comic in Kickstarter history. That’s right, as of June 14th (2 days in) we are 28100% funded, which is already a record in the comic category. That means every backer not only gets a comic, but they are a part of Kickstarter history. Which is fun!
A lot of people think of crowdfunding as just a platform for pre-orders, but I think avid Kickstarter backers, such as myself, know that’s flawed thinking. Crowdfunding is about being part of an experience. It’s about being there for something new, and that’s an experience I wanted to give to my backers.
I know you’re trying to fill a niche with Super. Do you see that niche needing to be filled even more with Convergence doing something weird to DC and Marvel doing something to their entire universe with Secret Wars?
Want to know the horrible, awful truth? I hardly read DC and Marvel, at least the new stuff. I read Batman, Gotham Academy, the new Star Wars line, and Thor. I’m also about 3 issues behind on all those titles. That’s not to say I don’t read comics (in fact I read about half a dozen issues every day), but I primarily read Image , Dark Horse, Vertigo, and other Kickstarter series. I have no idea what’s going on with Convergence and Secret Wars….Somebody wanna fill me in?
With the proliferation of costumed heroes in movies and on television, do you ever think your character should put on a costume to do what he does?
No, I don’t think it makes sense for him to wear a costume. Not just because I’m going for something realistic, but for some other reasons as well. This question is actually addressed in some dialogue in issue 4, however, so I don’t want to say too much about it just yet…
Any final thoughts?
Yes! And it’s also about setting another record in the comics category. I want this Kickstarter to have the fastest turnaround of any KS. I back Kickstarters all the time, and one thing that always irks me is how long it takes to get rewards. Not only am I going to get backers their digital rewards nearly immediately upon funding, but I am also working with local printers to get the product into backers hands in record time.
In keeping with that goal, backers can already download all the standard PDF of all 3 issues immediately upon pledging. That means you get something the moment you hit the pledge button. Cool, right?
If you want to know more about Super you can download the whole first issue by following the link on the Kickstarter page here.
