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Hey Mythopoeians! Today I want to take a step back and talk a little bit about the challenges and lessons learned from the first six months of 2022. This is a long read, but in all honesty it's been a while since we've done anything like this, and I think it's important in the spirit of transparency and, well, mental health. This year has been, without a doubt, one of the most challenging years of my life, and the difficulties faced from this campaign and Glow: Book 1 contributed no small part to that. 3PL
With Quartermaster, I think we just were a little bit too small for them to really matter. Nothing against them, but we found our fulfillment constantly pushed back which was a really tough pill to swallow. On their end, it was a challenging year as well with a lot of the same market forces at play leading to delays everywhere, but unfortunately that often left us as the low man on the totem pole as the queue from their warehouse fulfillment grew with other larger projects. Another aspect we should've thought more about was geographic location. QML is located in Florida and I'm located in Los Angeles. That's around 2,568 miles or 4,132 km between the two locations. The distance added another layer of complexity to things like ocean freight, and a lot of small customer support issues could've been solved had we been in driving distance. Lesson learned - for our next campaign we're going with a local fulfillment center, which incidentally has quoted us cheaper rates and we have a prior working relationship with (Bear with Me Toys - the manufacturers of the Tanvir Plushie!) Europe / Brexit |
 Snippet from the journal. | In any case, we have some cool covers cooking up. The story itself along with codexes is now wrapped up, but we're waiting for a launch window for the project. Per usual this year, we're backed up and need to get the Skies of Fire Collected Edition off the ground first. Not withstanding, the past few weeks have been really great from a creative standpoint for Glow. Truth told, I've been blocked on the writing for quite some time now. Last year I wrote a draft all the way through to #8, but just wasn't happy with the story that came out. It felt convoluted, confused, and I didn't really know where to go. I had an idea of the themes, and a large sort of ... point... where I wanted to hit plotwise, but there were a lot of things that were up in the air. I kept drafting and redrafting, pitching Vince new ideas to which I would see him furrow his brow intently (never a good sign lol). He's been monumental in lighting the way, but it's been a maze of a story this entire year. |
I went back to writing analogue in a journal for Glow at some point, pushing down little anecdotes of lore in lieu of any new pages. Finally, a couple of months ago I made the decision to scrap what I had written for #8 and parts of #7. As often the case, I found myself revisiting old plot points and exploring character motivation, still so stuck, stuck, stuck.
Work in progress...It's been hard to find a way through, and what's more I've on more than one occasion let other concerns of distract me from writing. So, that is to say I'm working my way back into a rhythm and this week was has been good. Really good. I think I broke a key beat of the story, and for the first time in a long time I'm happy with what I'm producing. I've switched to late evening creative writing from early morning too and with the rest of the stuff going on in my life that seems like a good time.
So yeah, the struggles. Is there anything more stereotypically writeresque than having writer's block besides maybe procrastinating actually writing? Truly sometimes a miserable form of alchemy, the craft of writing :)
Work in progress...It's been hard to find a way through, and what's more I've on more than one occasion let other concerns of distract me from writing. So, that is to say I'm working my way back into a rhythm and this week was has been good. Really good. I think I broke a key beat of the story, and for the first time in a long time I'm happy with what I'm producing. I've switched to late evening creative writing from early morning too and with the rest of the stuff going on in my life that seems like a good time.
So yeah, the struggles. Is there anything more stereotypically writeresque than having writer's block besides maybe procrastinating actually writing? Truly sometimes a miserable form of alchemy, the craft of writing :)
communication
Throughout these challenges, I've been reminded about the beauty of fans and the generosity and spirit you've come to embody through this thing called crowdfunding. I know things have changed since 2014, but one of the principles I've learned and constantly need to relearn in all of this is that communication is key.
Back when things were looking especially dire, those closest to me urged me to reach out to Kickstarter and communicate what was going on behind the scenes. Somehow, that still was very difficult to me - I have a announce things when there's good news mentality, but I know that can lead to large gaps of silence (like the last few months with Skies of Fire). When I did write that post, the response from all of you moved me.
So many times this year I've felt so... inadequate. Some of it has been out of my control but some of it comes down to my own shortcomings and mistakes. I know how much I have to learn when it comes to handling all of this, but still I need to remind myself that the most important part of my job is communication - to you, our fans, to our artists, Vince, vendors, and everyone else that helps us make these wonderful worlds.
I know there have been times this year where I've been lacking, and I know I need to and will do better. Thank you for being patient with us as we go through all of this. I don't take it for granted one bit, especially not when my butt's being kicked to the curb by *gestures wildly* this.
Thank you for being empathetic to the challenges we've faced.
Thank you, for being critical and helping us get better.
Thank you, for sticking with us and fostering our growth.
- Ray
Back when things were looking especially dire, those closest to me urged me to reach out to Kickstarter and communicate what was going on behind the scenes. Somehow, that still was very difficult to me - I have a announce things when there's good news mentality, but I know that can lead to large gaps of silence (like the last few months with Skies of Fire). When I did write that post, the response from all of you moved me.
So many times this year I've felt so... inadequate. Some of it has been out of my control but some of it comes down to my own shortcomings and mistakes. I know how much I have to learn when it comes to handling all of this, but still I need to remind myself that the most important part of my job is communication - to you, our fans, to our artists, Vince, vendors, and everyone else that helps us make these wonderful worlds.
I know there have been times this year where I've been lacking, and I know I need to and will do better. Thank you for being patient with us as we go through all of this. I don't take it for granted one bit, especially not when my butt's being kicked to the curb by *gestures wildly* this.
Thank you for being empathetic to the challenges we've faced.
Thank you, for being critical and helping us get better.
Thank you, for sticking with us and fostering our growth.
- Ray
This post was syndicated from Kickstarter updates.
Ahoy Mythopoeians!
Some big news in the world of crowdfunding this week with BackerKit announcing that they would be launching their own crowdfunding platform to rival Kickstarter. BackerKit, for those who don’t know, is the number one backend platform for crowdfunding fulfillment, and one we’ve used on our campaigns since the beginning of our journey as creators.
Some big news in the world of crowdfunding this week with BackerKit announcing that they would be launching their own crowdfunding platform to rival Kickstarter. BackerKit, for those who don’t know, is the number one backend platform for crowdfunding fulfillment, and one we’ve used on our campaigns since the beginning of our journey as creators.
BackerKit has already announced a slew of creators on their new platform, including tabletop giants Cephalofair Games, the publishers of Gloomhaven. In fact, if you look at the wall of announced creators / publishers, over half of them are tabletop game publishers.
This is interesting as it clearly reveals the demographics of crowdfunding as a whole: according to Kickstarter, 28.8% of all funds raised on the platform have gone to the Games Category. As of writing there are almost two times (607 versus 345) the amount of campaigns in Games versus the next largest category, Design. Games - specifically Tabletop Games - are the undisputed 800 pound gorilla of crowdfunding. Comics stand at a measly $169 million total raised, peanuts compared to the $1.82 billion raised in Games.
The official statistics published by Kickstarter.
Gamefound is another growing platform that’s been making a lot of waves recently. Initially launched as a preorder / backend platform, the site now features multiple $100k+ projects on the front page, including major licensed products like The Umbrella Academy board game (based on the comics, not the Netflix TV series).
As of publication, Gamefound's front page projects.
What does this all mean for crowdfunding in 2022? Hard to say for sure, but here are some hot takes:
- Decentralization is on the menu. One of the biggest advantages Kickstarter has had over the years as the first mover in crowdfunding is a massive audience. That audience now seems to be fragmenting now. With a number of options now available, it's likely that the crowdfunding segment is going to continue fragment into smaller fiefdoms rather than being consolidated to one large kingdom like it has been on Kickstarter for the past ten years.
- Crowdfunding is probably less friendly now to new creators. For large established creators, it won’t be a problem migrating their fanbases over, but how will new creators find an audience? I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the advantage of more centralization is more theoretical eyeballs if your project rides the algorithmic waves. I’m interested in seeing how these new emerging platforms support new creators versus courting existing ones.
- People who back crowdfunding don’t like blockchain. Kickstarter announced last year that they would be moving to a blockchain-backed platform. The backlash was huge. It’s safe to say that Kickstarter’s previously solid reputation took a hit from the controversy, which has directly led to some of its largest creators to migrate away from the platform. We actually experienced this ourselves when we planned to mint a collectible Glow NFT, only to receive huge backlash from our fans. It was frankly shocking how many people got angry over the idea of it, and something we’re steering well clear of for the foreseeable future.
The Glow Collector's Book Plate, originally intended to be minted as an NFT but later given royalty free (including source files) to all of our backers of Glow: Book 1.
And to close, here are some questions I have about the state of crowdfunding going forward:
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Ad astra, into this strange new decade and beyond!
- Ray
- Is crowdfunding recession proof? Crowdfunding actually saw a boom in the 2020 pandemic fueled recession, but many projects (including ours) have since struggled with the ensuing inflation and supply chain issues that have resulted. All indications are that we’re entering if not already in another recession. How does crowdfunding, an idea born in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, fair this time around?
- Are tabletop games in a bubble? We’ve been talking to distributors recently, and the amount of product entering the market every week is frankly astounding. How many board games can the average enthusiast own? Play? Back? It’s a legitimate question as we’ve only seen boom times since board games started blowing up because of Kickstarter. Will those boom times last? I personally own around 12 board games, and I already think that may be too much real estate taken up in my house. How does the bread and butter who support this segment feel?
- Is crowdfunding now just another term for preordering? I see so many projects now from huge companies, it makes me wonder how much these companies view crowdfunding as just another revenue stream / indicator for demand (preorders) rather than an incubator for talent like originally intended. It may be nostalgia talking, but I do hope that there will always be room for discovering new projects, new creators through crowdfunding. Part of me isn’t sure though…
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Ad astra, into this strange new decade and beyond!
- Ray
These Savage Shores #3 by Ram V and Sumit Kumar. Mythopoeia Recommends!
Happy May Mythopoeians!
The weather is warmer, the people are restless, and our world is slowly but surely reopening. That is incredibly worrying, given that our closest historical analogue, the Spanish Flu of 1918, saw three waves of infection, with the largest coming in the fall of 1918 after the initial social distancing implemented in March 1918 was eased just in time for the summer. Sound familiar?
The truth is that as a whole, humans in 2020 are dealing with this latest plague tremendously well, at least from a historical context. It certainly doesn't feel that way, but as of today 253,381 people have died from COVID19 around the world. If this were 1918, the number would probably be much higher. Modern technology has allowed us to share information about the virus and its spread in unprecedented ways. That of course has its own slew of problems which we are also seeing played out through information warfare between China and the USA and the future of privacy looking rather cyberpunk.
Which brings me to today's topic... the News of the Day. I don't know about you, but after two months of vigorously absorbing almost any and all news about the virus, I'm just fatigued. That's despite the number of infections going up and only a few indicators that things have gotten better since March. We are an impatient species, but the virus has no use for the social anxiety that's resulted in us being forced to stay inside. It moves and spreads and kills regardless. Consuming news is a choice... one that we make on a daily basis. The news is a form of story that reports the truth, but is not in and of itself the truth.
Finding the truth requires a lot of thought. Asking where the news is coming from, the facts being reported, and cross checking with other sources to see if others are corroborating what's being said. Many of the loudest demagogues will purport this same process of critical thinking.... only to willfully or complicity spread their ignorance to others.
Chinese history is said to be one of unification and dissolution. We come together, we fall apart, same as it ever was. same as it ever will be. I was reading Ram V and Sumit Kumar's excellent These Savage Shores recently, and came across a similar sentiment expressed in its depiction of colonial India. Ancient lands, long shattered, forever one.
The advent of the digital age has allowed us to see this same cycle of unification, dissolution, and unification in quicker and quicker cycles as information is shared, authority is decentralized, and truth is shattered into a thousand narrow shards. Pessimistically, it seems people draw comfort these days in uniting under the ugliest common denominator. All of which we experience is through a human lens that, limited to just one lifetime, yearns to seek progress, change, blame, and fault, all under the auspices of an egocentric worldview -- surely, we have sacrificed these past few months. Surely there is a reason, a plot, a blame!
Nope. Disease knows no borders, holds no grudges. It enters and kills and cannot be seen with mortal senses. Just because you, Ray, are tired of hearing about it doesn't mean it's not still happening. I write this to remind myself heading into this summer of tentative easing, while I wait and fear when the next domino will fall.
Ray
The weather is warmer, the people are restless, and our world is slowly but surely reopening. That is incredibly worrying, given that our closest historical analogue, the Spanish Flu of 1918, saw three waves of infection, with the largest coming in the fall of 1918 after the initial social distancing implemented in March 1918 was eased just in time for the summer. Sound familiar?
The truth is that as a whole, humans in 2020 are dealing with this latest plague tremendously well, at least from a historical context. It certainly doesn't feel that way, but as of today 253,381 people have died from COVID19 around the world. If this were 1918, the number would probably be much higher. Modern technology has allowed us to share information about the virus and its spread in unprecedented ways. That of course has its own slew of problems which we are also seeing played out through information warfare between China and the USA and the future of privacy looking rather cyberpunk.
Which brings me to today's topic... the News of the Day. I don't know about you, but after two months of vigorously absorbing almost any and all news about the virus, I'm just fatigued. That's despite the number of infections going up and only a few indicators that things have gotten better since March. We are an impatient species, but the virus has no use for the social anxiety that's resulted in us being forced to stay inside. It moves and spreads and kills regardless. Consuming news is a choice... one that we make on a daily basis. The news is a form of story that reports the truth, but is not in and of itself the truth.
Finding the truth requires a lot of thought. Asking where the news is coming from, the facts being reported, and cross checking with other sources to see if others are corroborating what's being said. Many of the loudest demagogues will purport this same process of critical thinking.... only to willfully or complicity spread their ignorance to others.
Chinese history is said to be one of unification and dissolution. We come together, we fall apart, same as it ever was. same as it ever will be. I was reading Ram V and Sumit Kumar's excellent These Savage Shores recently, and came across a similar sentiment expressed in its depiction of colonial India. Ancient lands, long shattered, forever one.
The advent of the digital age has allowed us to see this same cycle of unification, dissolution, and unification in quicker and quicker cycles as information is shared, authority is decentralized, and truth is shattered into a thousand narrow shards. Pessimistically, it seems people draw comfort these days in uniting under the ugliest common denominator. All of which we experience is through a human lens that, limited to just one lifetime, yearns to seek progress, change, blame, and fault, all under the auspices of an egocentric worldview -- surely, we have sacrificed these past few months. Surely there is a reason, a plot, a blame!
Nope. Disease knows no borders, holds no grudges. It enters and kills and cannot be seen with mortal senses. Just because you, Ray, are tired of hearing about it doesn't mean it's not still happening. I write this to remind myself heading into this summer of tentative easing, while I wait and fear when the next domino will fall.
Ray
Happy April Everyone!
It’s been a few weeks of up and down. Two weeks ago I was worried that Vince was mortally ill, but realized he would be fine when he started posting memes and browsing the web again. This past week has been extremely productive as we hone in on our “virtual sabbatical.” While we do this, the internet at large wonders what will happen next across a multitude of economic and social axioms. Truly extraordinary and terrifying times we live in!
The need for change and action contrasts sharply with disagreements about what to do and how. On a micro scale this has played out in our little industry of comics. I guess, to be more specific, the direct market comic book sans superhero industry of America.
Caveat emptor, I write these things as 30 minute stream of consciousness babbles so apologies in advance for the roughness around the edges…
-------------
Right now, comics are facing an existential threat. The major distributor of comics to the direct market, Diamond Distribution, is dying. They’ve halted distribution and are unable to pay the comic publishers. Retailers have been frozen from buying any new product and the entire industry has coalesced around a facebook group called Plan C that feels a little bit like the Last Alliance. Artists and Publishers and Retailers alike all gathered together to try and plan for the end...
But like all Last Alliances, this one has been rife with petty squabbles and disagreements. Many parties face pressing problems which all seem to stem back to distribution.
The established model of Diamond is to run through a physical catalog and preorders to drive interest and estimate sales to the direct market (comic book stores). That works perfectly well for Marvel and DC, whose properties drive the industry and whose strategic importance is as a creative intellectual property farm rather than as a revenue generator by corporate. Their comic divisions are judged against each other in a bicameral system, and the entire comic industry suffered a major crash in the 90s from which it is still recovering from. All that is to say they have limited interest in growing the industry more than duking it out for the blasted wasteland that’s remained.
Many in comics know that the system is broken. Some artists like ourselves have chosen a more direct to consumer pathway and built fanbases directly online. Nonetheless, this pandemic has hit us all hard. We were the canary in the coalmine in the USA with Emerald City Comic Con convention scene and now we’re facing an existential threat that admittedly covers the spectrum of retailers, including ours.
Small publishers like ourselves have offered to help by offering steep discounts to our product. Because we are independent, we have our own distribution supply chains that we can leverage. And by supply chain I mean we mail the stuff ourselves or work with other small companies to do so.
From a retailer standpoint, they need a fast and reliable way to buy wholesale products with built in curation. They don’t like buying from independents because they are unreliable when it comes to release (guilty) and find indie books in general hard to move. We’ve never had a problem moving our books at retailers, but for us, the margins were too low comparatively and our print volumes too small for us to seriously consider pushing out to retailers in any real way.
A lot of people claim that the industry is going to be just fine when this is all over. It’s not like we’ll just let all of retail up and die, right? Well, I personally think that remains to be seen… there’s a lot of parts to this economic conundrum we find ourselves in right now and anyone who says they know for certain is for certain full of shit. Even if this next recession isn’t the existential threat that many of us fear, there is a sense that should the entire comic industry come together, we might be able to change things for the better.
‘Might’ being the operative word.
It’s hard getting people to agree and interests to align. Even in the face of a great terror from beyond…
That was kind of the plot Game of Thrones, right? It’s a funny thing, fantasy sans mythology. In some ways the plots we weave in these genres are the purest expression of wish fulfillment and many associate that desire to juvenile naivete. But then we see the metaphorical play itself out over and over again in real life as we wrestle with the one life we are given, uniquely enlightened from the past yet with patterns so painfully similar, vibrantly disappointing rhythms of mistakes made and forgotten. In between the rhyme schemes we imagine and hope for a better tomorrow, of change, and the possibility of the endless to be determined.
Gotta love that multiverse.
Ray
It’s been a few weeks of up and down. Two weeks ago I was worried that Vince was mortally ill, but realized he would be fine when he started posting memes and browsing the web again. This past week has been extremely productive as we hone in on our “virtual sabbatical.” While we do this, the internet at large wonders what will happen next across a multitude of economic and social axioms. Truly extraordinary and terrifying times we live in!
The need for change and action contrasts sharply with disagreements about what to do and how. On a micro scale this has played out in our little industry of comics. I guess, to be more specific, the direct market comic book sans superhero industry of America.
Caveat emptor, I write these things as 30 minute stream of consciousness babbles so apologies in advance for the roughness around the edges…
-------------
Right now, comics are facing an existential threat. The major distributor of comics to the direct market, Diamond Distribution, is dying. They’ve halted distribution and are unable to pay the comic publishers. Retailers have been frozen from buying any new product and the entire industry has coalesced around a facebook group called Plan C that feels a little bit like the Last Alliance. Artists and Publishers and Retailers alike all gathered together to try and plan for the end...
But like all Last Alliances, this one has been rife with petty squabbles and disagreements. Many parties face pressing problems which all seem to stem back to distribution.
The established model of Diamond is to run through a physical catalog and preorders to drive interest and estimate sales to the direct market (comic book stores). That works perfectly well for Marvel and DC, whose properties drive the industry and whose strategic importance is as a creative intellectual property farm rather than as a revenue generator by corporate. Their comic divisions are judged against each other in a bicameral system, and the entire comic industry suffered a major crash in the 90s from which it is still recovering from. All that is to say they have limited interest in growing the industry more than duking it out for the blasted wasteland that’s remained.
Many in comics know that the system is broken. Some artists like ourselves have chosen a more direct to consumer pathway and built fanbases directly online. Nonetheless, this pandemic has hit us all hard. We were the canary in the coalmine in the USA with Emerald City Comic Con convention scene and now we’re facing an existential threat that admittedly covers the spectrum of retailers, including ours.
Small publishers like ourselves have offered to help by offering steep discounts to our product. Because we are independent, we have our own distribution supply chains that we can leverage. And by supply chain I mean we mail the stuff ourselves or work with other small companies to do so.
From a retailer standpoint, they need a fast and reliable way to buy wholesale products with built in curation. They don’t like buying from independents because they are unreliable when it comes to release (guilty) and find indie books in general hard to move. We’ve never had a problem moving our books at retailers, but for us, the margins were too low comparatively and our print volumes too small for us to seriously consider pushing out to retailers in any real way.
A lot of people claim that the industry is going to be just fine when this is all over. It’s not like we’ll just let all of retail up and die, right? Well, I personally think that remains to be seen… there’s a lot of parts to this economic conundrum we find ourselves in right now and anyone who says they know for certain is for certain full of shit. Even if this next recession isn’t the existential threat that many of us fear, there is a sense that should the entire comic industry come together, we might be able to change things for the better.
‘Might’ being the operative word.
It’s hard getting people to agree and interests to align. Even in the face of a great terror from beyond…
That was kind of the plot Game of Thrones, right? It’s a funny thing, fantasy sans mythology. In some ways the plots we weave in these genres are the purest expression of wish fulfillment and many associate that desire to juvenile naivete. But then we see the metaphorical play itself out over and over again in real life as we wrestle with the one life we are given, uniquely enlightened from the past yet with patterns so painfully similar, vibrantly disappointing rhythms of mistakes made and forgotten. In between the rhyme schemes we imagine and hope for a better tomorrow, of change, and the possibility of the endless to be determined.
Gotta love that multiverse.
Ray
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