With the good folks at IDW, Emma Caulfield is about to publish her second comic book, Ripped. That in itself is pretty sweet. What’s really amazing is that she did it with Kickstarter.com. Just. Like. Us.
For the uninformed, Kickstarter is a wonderful place full of peppermint dreams where anyone can ask for help with an artistic project. It doesn’t matter WHAT you want to make: Costumes, a movie, a book, a comic– all that stuff takes money.
Money you can ask for on Kickstarter. This is not quite charity– it is crowdsourcing. People are getting something for their investment. In Ms. Caulfield’s case, she offered signed photos, to follow you on Twitter, DVDs and action figures. All Fall Down‘s supporters are getting autographed books, t-shirts, original artwork, even cameos in the comic itself. (That last one’s my favorite.)
There is nothing to stop you from doing the same thing for your dream project. If you’re not tech-savvy, find someone awesome to help you. (The right video can make or break your fundraiser.) That’s the thing about Kickstarter: You can exceed what you need, but if you don’t reach your finish line in the first place, nobody donates a dime.
Once your project is up, you market the crap out of it. Tell everyone you know. Ask them to tell everyone they know. Post updates on Twitter and Facebook every time someone makes a donation. Keep the energy high and stay confident that you’ll reach your goal. Intention is a more powerful force than you may realize.
If you fail… try again. (We did.) It’s that simple. All Fall Down needed $6,000 to succeed and it raised $7,100. Ms. Caulfield needed $7,000 and ended up with three times that.
To put it simply, Kickstarter made All Fall Down possible. It made Emma Caulfield’s new book, Ripped, a reality. Your dream project could be a lot closer to realization than you think.
What are you waiting for?? Go!
