When talking with fellow members of The organization Kids Comics Unite about crowdfunding campaigns the subject will ultimately turn to fulfillment. Rightly so, as the reason for running a crowdfunding campaign is most frequently associated with an end product. There are other instances which defy that commonly held outlook, but for the purposes of publishing and comics for kids there’s an understanding that everyone benefits in some way, usually materially. The creator gets to see their project (book, zine, comic, graphic novel or novella) printed and backers receive a copy of some sort.
It’s the creator’s primary responsibility to see that happen. Proper preparation should result in an accurately communicated time-line and updates about that should be substantial and consistent. Logistics can get hectic and it can take a lot of effort to make sure every backer receives what they are owed, but the effort can be rewarding in a number of ways.
It can be fulfilling to be tagged on social media when a backer receives their stuff. Some may simply derive satisfaction from a job well-done. But all that work put into a campaign can yield other fortunes if one can mine for the opportunities.
I’ve only just started to consider the possibility that there might be a repeatable method behind the events which followed my first crowdfunding campaign. Maybe it’s a kind of chaos magic or time will reveal it was all simply a set of ideal circumstances whose only through-line was my applying the same project to any situation that came my way. I’ll describe them here and you can decide.
2022 a Year of A Tiger’s Tale
After some 41 weeks of lead-up, Volume 1 of my crowdfunded graphic novel series A Tiger’s Tale reached its funding goal over-night. The good will of one of my project’s proponents, Ryan Claytor, moved me to reschedule the launch of my campaign from Tuesday the first of February to the night before. My core backers were quick to act on that surprise change of date, the resulting campaign launch-boom was quickly followed by Kickstarter’s acclaimed Project We Love badge. 29 days later the campaign ended at nearly 300% of its initial funding goal.
The public campaign ended at the very beginning of March. While there would be a couple of weeks worth of lag-time while Kickstarter processed campaign fees and released funds I immediately shifted gears to attend to a grant opportunity which I’d been made aware of while campaigning.
The Make More Comics Arts Grant was founded in 2020 by Will Hoffknecht of Patterson, California with the goal of providing direct cash payments to support new and creative works in small press comic creation. The 2022 award was the second award granted and news about the 2023 grant will be announced later this year. For more information visit makemorecomics.com.
Its deadline was the end of that same month. With hard copies of that actual book unavailable I had to quickly assess what would be achievable for submission. The work done writing press releases and the story behind the crowdfunding campaign made much of the writing achievable. Instead of the full graphic novel, I opted to have a set of custom booklets quickly produced by a local print-shop.
The specifications for my samples booklet were as follows –
- 11 x 17 (tabloid size), folded
- 8 Pages
- Saddle Stitched
- Printed Full Color
- It contained the project’s title, tag line, a single paragraph synopsis, website and all 60 pages of A Tiger’s Tale volume1 as a series of double-page spread thumbnails.
This booklet accompanied my grant application along with the associated requested materials. I doubt I would have been able to assemble the necessary materials on time if I had not already been working, both on the book as well as the campaign.
To my surprise and delight I would receive an email on Tuesday May 10, 2022 stating that my project A Tiger’s Tale volume 1 had been selected as the 2022 grant recipient. I would have to wait until its official announcement on June 1st of that same year, before I could say anything.
“PATTERSON, California – The Make More Comics Arts Grant is proud to announce the winner of the 2nd Annual MMC Grant. Out of all the qualified submission packets we received the judging panel has chosen Patrick Lugo and his continuing comics project A Tiger’s Tale, Vol. 1 as our 2022 award recipient.”
On the heels of that announcement I received another fateful invitation. A Local art gallery, who had hosted my work in the past, reached out. They were planning their first in-person gallery show after several years of hiatus. I was invited to submit work to the forthcoming 32nd Annual Children’s Book Illustrator Exhibition and made a point to include both the information of the crowdfunding campaign as well as the grant.
My work had been featured at Hayward’s SUN Gallery a number of times During the development of the graphic novel that would become A Tiger’s Tale, the directors would have me present the most recently completed original art on their walls. To honor both their return to in-person events and my recent grant announcement, the gallery chose to feature my project and its original art “front and center.”
The 32nd Annual Children’s Book Illustrator Exhibit at the Sun Gallery, in Hayward California took place from August 26 to October 15, 2022. A reception and book signing for the artists was hosted at the gallery on Saturday, September. 10th 2022 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. Worthy of note was the fact that another local member of Kids Comics Unite had art from an award winning picture book on display. The result was an impromptu regional gathering when the reception was joined by other KCU members.
Shipping copies of A Tiger’s Tale volume 1, along with rewards came to a conclusion over the summer of 2022. In the time since I’ve sold a couple of copies directly to interested readers via the aTigersTale.com online store. But it was at this gallery show where I sold the largest number of copies at any single venue.
Other opportunities followed in the wake of these events, those include a couple of work-for-hire comic gigs and publishing opportunities, the decision to launch my own modest Patreon page, as well as a full schedule of commissions. My most recent crowdfunding campaign is currently neck-deep in its production phase, but that hasn’t stopped opportunities like Kids Comics Unite’s very own Crowdfunding Crucible from making themselves known, and the year is not done yet..
