I got notice earlier this week that my proposal to the Xeric Foundation was rejected, which is sad-making for sure, but it’s got me thinking about how I’m going to fund the first Girlbot book. I really want to make it happen this year, but the problem is that a bare minimum run of 1,000 books will run me $7,000 American, according to my current calculations.
Now, this is really important to me, and the way I see it, I’m going to need to take a chance on pre-orders if I want to make this happen. So right now, I’m mentioning the idea so that you guys won’t be surprised in a month or so when I start yelling at you about my new Kickstarter project. I’m pretty nervous about the whole proposition, but I think it will be exciting to watch it happen. That is, assuming I don’t just fall on my face in the attempt, which is a definite possibility.
Nevertheless, I’m not discouraged, and I’m going to give it my best shot. You lovely readers have been so supportive of me in the past, and I hope that trend will continue. Check ya later.
I will totally throw in if you do a Kickstarter! Whichever way you decide to go, best of luck and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I’ll throw in what I can, I would love to see this book get made!
Yes, Kickstarter is the way to go. I’ve seen more obscure webcartoonists raise twice that amount in 1-2 weeks for similar purposes. You’ll get even a better deal that you’d have got from Xeric. Also, more fun and more interactive with your fans.
You should check out Shaenon Garrity’s Kickstarter projects. She seems to be pretty successful at getting collections of her comics funded. Last week she raised $10K in just a couple days to fund the complete collection of Narbonic.
I’m sure I’m missing something, but wouldn’t it be better to get a real publisher to accept your book, instead of a ‘pay us to possibly make money later’ publisher?
My plan right now is to self-publish, assuming I can get the money together. That’s actually the best way to make decent money off of an independent comic like mine. Getting picked up by a “real publisher” is no guarantee of success, especially since many of them will only give you a tiny slice of the money they make from sales. With a book I publish myself, I get to keep all the profits and all the rights. But I also have to do all the work myself.
Curious if you saw this:
http://www.xericfoundation.org/xernews.html
Oh, yeah, I saw the news. Too bad I won’t be able to apply again before they cut off that branch of funding. That would have been a nice feather in my cap. Ah, well.
Hi Diana, this is old news I know but I also tried and did not get the Xeric the same round you didn’t –
Nice meeting you in Michigan at Kids Read Comics!