This whole Kickstarter thing 0

[Oat Willy1]

The most curious thing is happening now with publishers that sell their comics mainly on Kickstarter. They price the 'standard' version of the comic at around $30, which is crazy enough. $30 for a $4 or $5 comic. But then they have a bajillion alternates selling anywhere from $50 to over $100 for a 'metal' or foil cover variant. Or a 'nude' cover, which you can't even just buy normally if you want it...it comes in a set of 2 with the non-nude version, for like $75-$100 lol. Or you have to buy the 'mega-lot' of like 7 books to get the one 'mega-lot' exclusive limited to just that lot.

How long will the market sustain this BS? It has to collapse at some point right?

[Flanders82]

I don't have much to add. I'm as confused as you are. I was on kickstarter only a few days ago and was browsing the most popular comics when I had similar thoughts and no desire to purchase anything. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Flanders82

[D2]

I actually play the long game with these. Eventually what happens is, the schmuck that spent the money puts it on eBay, where they sit and sit… until they accept an unreasonable offer from me to buy the item that no one cares about and is willing to pay for. 

[Ed Hanes]

Seems interesting to raise the money to fund a comic..but, personally, I have enough to read and collect just from the traditional method

[Oat Willy1]

Yeah, I hate to begrudge these creators for trying to make $ and as much of it as they can, but it's just so ridiculous with the pricing. Way worse than the 90's with the gimicky chase covers. Then there's the whole store variant covers thing where you have to buy the trade dress version if you want the virgin version because they're only selling them in sets priced at $50-70. But that's a whole other topic

[Sigur Ros]

Anything to bypass the publishers is a good thing.  

I was only interested enough to buy once.  $20 book written by Grant Morrison, signed by Donnie Cates.

Been over 2 years, still not released.

[valiantman]

On 6/17/2023 at 10:31 AM, Sigur Ros said:

Anything to bypass the publishers is a good thing.  

I was only interested enough to buy once.  $20 book written by Grant Morrison, signed by Donnie Cates.

Been over 2 years, still not released.

 

[DougC]

If you believe you can self publish a 22+ page physical book and fund it by selling them for $5 each, you may be abit behind the curve...

$30 is a premium for popular titles, I would say the average for what I usually back is in the $20 range. You might be able to sneak a $5 PDF of the previous book of a current KS though.

Some titles I actively support with a premium payment like Jason McNamara's Sucker, it is fun to be drawn into a comic and I like his work.

[Dr. Balls]

For me, it seems like creators are trying to nail both markets: A) the comic collector who will buy something to read, and B) the collector who wants to buy something "exclusive". The end result desired is that A) the book is well-written and becomes a hit where more people want to buy it and B) the exclusives become super valuable, driving up the demand enough that the creator will make more exclusives.

I don't think you can nail both. If you want your book to be read amongst thousands - it needs to have an inexpensive entry level. The only way you're going to get deeper discounts on printing is to up your quantities, change your paper stock and get away from Print On Demand. The only way you'll up the quantities is to get more sales. Double-edged sword.

If you want your book to be a collectors item that triples in value when it comes out, you have to have enough demand for your exclusive. But that requires more people wanting than having, and you need a good story/art for that - and with exorbitant price tags, you're not going to have as many people gambling on a read for $60.

Add to the fact you are one person unable to negotiate printing prices, have zero distributorship and would be lucky to find 1% conversion of your social media followers. People say that it's "easier" to self-publish - but the reality is that it's harder, more expensive and lacks results. I've toyed with doing my own comic for almost 30 years now - and none of the components (time - especially, and art, plotting, printing, distribution) can come together to create a situation where it makes sense to invest in something like that.

I feel for all the small-scale creators - it's not easy for them, and Kickstarter is only getting worse. It's like the 90s all over again with overselling stuff that never comes out.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Dr. Balls

[Crimebuster]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:05 AM, Oat Willy1 said:

The most curious thing is happening now with publishers that sell their comics mainly on Kickstarter. They price the 'standard' version of the comic at around $30, which is crazy enough. $30 for a $4 or $5 comic. But then they have a bajillion alternates selling anywhere from $50 to over $100 for a 'metal' or foil cover variant. Or a 'nude' cover, which you can't even just buy normally if you want it...it comes in a set of 2 with the non-nude version, for like $75-$100 lol. Or you have to buy the 'mega-lot' of like 7 books to get the one 'mega-lot' exclusive limited to just that lot.

How long will the market sustain this BS? It has to collapse at some point right?

 

As a indie creator who self-publishes through Kickstarter, I'm in contact with a lot of other Kickstarter publishers, and I can say that the vast majority of comics being funded through Kickstarter are personal passion projects that aren't making a dime. What you're describing only applies to a small percentage of the comics on Kickstarter, mostly ones being published either by large established companies, or books in the T&A market. Yes, those people often put out 35 variants with nude and normal versions and super high end, high priced variants. Most projects don't, or only have a few of those options for the handful of backers who want them. 

That's the key to your question: this market only exists because the backers want it. Kickstarters are only funded if the buyers want it to. It will continue as long as that's what the backers want. If they didn't want it, the projects would fail. 

But there are dozens and dozens of great indie comics on Kickstarter that don't remotely resemble what you're describing. If you try scrolling past all the T&A you should see that. 

[Turnando]

Ryan Browne is a genius of a comic creator. He publishes using the regular route via a major comic publisher but he also does Kickstarters for special projects... incredible stuff.

https://imagecomics.com/creators/ryan-browne

I like Kickstarter a lot. 

Ignore the mountains of junk and find the treasure buried beneath.  There is plenty there.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Turnando

[Ryan.]

On 6/17/2023 at 3:44 PM, Crimebuster said:

 try scrolling past all the T&A 

That's blasphemy around here.

[Greengiant]

With Kickstarter and Indigogo, people that are publishing their book is putting the cost in for printing and shipping the book. Also, they feel they can charge the cost because you are not just getting the book but all of these extras with the book (stickers, bookmark, fridge magnet) with the main character on all of those items.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Just be glad that scamming isn't rampant enough for someone to start a Creator Blacklist, unlike some other hobbies.