Posts Tagged ‘Kickstarter’

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KICKSTART MY HEART

by Tom on December 14th, 2009
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The first post was running a little long, so I thought I would break thing up a little bit before talking about the fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three.

You guys are kicking all kinds of ass with the pledges lately. Thank you so much! On Friday, we were 52% funded. Now we're 62% funded! We making big gains, but we only have 17 days left to make goal.

Let me put this out there for you... Next week - Monday, December 21 - is my 32nd birthday. It would be a real treat if we could raise $324 by then. With that amount, we'd be up to $2,500 pledged and that would put us $1,000 away from goal with 10 days left in the campaign.

Extrapolate that... $1,000 with 10 days to go means that if we raised $100 a day after that, we'd be funded!

It's all about the little things. Measurable goals, milestones. If we can take the next step now, we can take a few more steps after that!

Think about it! Let's try to bump the campaign up to $2,500 in the next 7 days. We only need $324 to do it!

Thanks again to everyone who has pledged so far. I appreciate your support!

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KICKSTARTER UPDATE

by Tom on November 20th, 2009
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Since I didn't mention it on Wednesday, I wanted to check in with everyone and remind them about the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. Pledges have slown down a little bit and I want to make sure we haven't lost the momentum that we built up last week!

I notice that a lot of people have been pledging on Friday's. I don't know if that has anything to do with people getting paid, but I thought I would just float that out there. If you think you can pledge $5 from your paycheck today, that would be awesome. You can always increase your pledge later!

I've been trying hard to maintain a level of engagement surrounding the project by posting updates on the Kickstarter page. If you haven't been reading them, it's a good way to stay connected without me having to badger everyone on the homepage.

Most recently, I posted a video update where I discuss the mini grant I applied for from the Iowa Arts Council. I submitted my proposal before I heard about Kickstarter and I got my notification letter this week. If you want to know the outcome, you'll have to watch the video.

I'm also taking suggestions on topics to address with my Kickstarter updates. It's kind of hard to do actual "updates" because the book is already finished. So it's not like I can post something telling you how "I've written commentary for the first 50 comics and I only have 100 more to go!" All of that work is done. The book is ready. I could have it sent to the printer today, you know?

If you have questions about the book that you would like answered or have suggestions to help me promote the book, leave your comments on the Kickstarter page.

...or here, too. That'll work.

Someone had the simple suggestion that I need to be a little more aggressive about how I promote the campaign here in the blog section of the site. They advised that I need to put Kickstarter updates ABOVE the main blog post so you are at least giving the Kickstarter updates a cursory glance.

It's a good idea, but I don't want to do that if I don't have to. I'm trying not to be to overbearing. But at the same time, the closer we get to the deadline, the more paranoid about it I'm going to get.

There are 41 days left in the campaign. Please consider pledging today. Thank you.

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KICKSTARTER UPDATE

by Tom on November 16th, 2009
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Now it's time for the obligatory update on the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three.

I gotta say, when I posted on Friday about meeting the goal of $1,000, you guys responded with gusto! We're now at $1,090 pledged with 32 backers and 31% of the project funded!

You guys kind of pulled the same trick the Friday before last when you pledged almost $350 over the course of a weekend. Maybe it's because Friday is payday. But I like to think it's because you guys are as excited to see this book finished as I am!

I'm starting to think that managing the Kickstarter campaign is all about highlighting smaller milestones among the larger goal. So remember that I am giving away me copy of Monsters, Inc. on DVD along with some original Monsters, Inc. artwork drawn by me after we reach the $1,500 mark.

Only people who pledge before that point are eligible for the random drawing that will award one winner! So the more you pledge means the less competition you have in the drawing! If you've already pledged, you can go back and INCREASE the amount of your pledge at any time to help improve your odds!

I will be sure to post an update of the artwork when it's finished. Until then, keep pledging!

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KICKSTARTER UPDATE

by Tom on November 13th, 2009
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Hey, guys. Just a quick update about the Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three. I know you guys know what's up, so I won't belabor the point.

I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that, as of this writing, the campaign is now 28% funded with $979 in pledges. We're so close to $1,000, I can taste it.

I strongly believe that the success of this campaign will be buoyed by the momentum we keep. So if you're thinking about pledging at all, please do so now. The closer that status bar gets to being 100% filled, the more it will motivate others to help us reach that goal!

If you've been following the project updates on the Kickstarter page, you'll know that I'm considering putting together some original art as part of a giveaway to get people to pledge. The idea is that since I'm starting to replace some of my DVDs with Blu-ray discs that I would make available the DVDs I no longer use and create some original art to go with them. Movies that I'm willing to let go of include A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Wall-E and Iron Man.

I think I'm going to go forward with this. So even though we're on the precipice of $1,000, let's make $1,500 the next goal. Everyone that pledges in advance of the $1,500 goal will be entered into a drawing to win a DVD copy of Monsters, Inc. with some original art on a sheet of 10 x 14 Bristol board from yours truly. Once I have the artwork finished, I'll post some pictures.

SO LET'S GET PLEDGING!

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NO COMIC FOR WEDNESDAY

by Tom on November 11th, 2009
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Hey, guys. Small status update for you.

I don't know if you tried to access the site yesterday. But if you did, you might have noticed it was down. I have no idea what caused it and we may never know. Sometimes Dreamhost likes to stop displaying your web sites to see if you're paying any attention.

At any rate, you'll notice today that I am running a Blu-ray review of Up instead of a new comic. Two reasons for that:

One, the Up review was supposed to run yesterday and (as I previously mentioned) the site was down all day. So I'm making up for lost time.

Two, I forgot my pens at the place where I'm freelancing. I left them there yesterday after attempting to be proactive and completing the comic over my lunch hour. That didn't happen and then I forget my pens. So I wouldn't have been able to draw a new comic if I wanted to.

Not resting on my laurels, however, I made SEVERAL significant updates to my Kickstarter fund raising campaign page for Theater Hopper: Year Three.

Read the updates page where I address questions about the book's eventual availability, the amount of flexibility regarding the custom illustration reward (available at the $20 pledge level) and you get a close look at this:

3D glasses

This is the image that's going on the t-shirt available at the $65 pledge level. Eventually I will sell the design in the Theater Hopper store. But people who pledge to the Kickstarter fund raising campaign at the $65 level or above will get first crack at it.

I know committing to something like that is difficult if you don't have a sense of what the shirt will look like. So I wanted to put the image out there to whet your appetites a little bit.

By the way, you can leave comments on any one of these update posts. If you something you'd like to say about the direction of the campaign or the information you're receiving from me, I would appreciate your feedback!

Lastly, the most important reason to check out the Kickstarter fund raising campaign is because I finally uploaded my project video last night!

I took the time I would have otherwise spent working on the comic and used it to film and edit the video. I'm very happy with the final product and I think it's worth watching even if you think you already know all of the project details. Hopefully you'll find it at least a little bit entertaining.

Again, I ask that you pledge whatever you can to the project. It's very important to me that the book be published this year and your involvement can make that a reality!

Thanks to everyone who has show their support so far. I greatly appreciate your help!

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KICKSTARTER UPDATE

by Tom on November 9th, 2009
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Wow, you guys. I gotta say that I am overwhelmed by the support you showed the Theater Hopper: Year Three fund raising project over the weekend. When I posted about it on Friday, the campaign had gathered $533 worth in pledges. This morning, we're up to $868.04. That's a difference of $335.04 pledged in just a few days and that is GREAT!

I'm kind of chuckling about the .04 that was pledged. That's pretty cool and it just goes to show that you can pledge ANY amount that you're comfortable with.

I have to admit that I'm kind of surprised that no one has taken advantage of the $1.00 pledge reward. Your name and a link to your site from Theater Hopper? Seems like pretty low hanging fruit to me. Of course, I'm pleased that more of you are pledging large amounts. So keep up the good work on that front!

If you've never purchased a Theater Hopper book before, this campaign is a good opportunity to take advantage of the rewards system and to get your hands on all three books at one time.

Pledging $45 or more opens the door to acquiring Theater Hopper: Year Three as well as TWO FREE BOOKS. Don't forget the additional rewards, like getting your copy of Year Three signed and numbered with an original sketch. Lots of great stuff to take advantage of.

I still haven't gotten around to filming my video yet, which is kind of bad. It's just hard to do at the end of the day when you're bone tired and trying to put a 2 year-old to bed. I'm also kind of self-conscious about recording myself if Cami is anywhere within earshot. Which is weird, because I bather in typical loudmouth fashion whenever I record The Triple Feature. She says she can hear me in the basement from our bedroom on the second floor.

I guess I'm more comfortable with that because it's more stream-of-consciousness and I'm free to tumble over my words. I guess I feel like I need to rehearse this Kickstarter video, or something. I gotta get over myself.

In the meantime, if you could help spread the word using the social media links under the project graphic on the Kickstarter page, that would help a lot!

Thanks again for everyone's support. Let's keep those pledges coming!

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KICKSTARTER STATUS REPORT

by Tom on November 6th, 2009
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Earlier this week I was freaking out because I was worried that my Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Theater Hopper: Year Three wasn't going to gather enough pledges before the campaign period ran out.

I'm feeling a little more comfortable today after a flurry of activity the last two days. So I wanted to take this moment to thank everyone who has pledged so far!

As of this writing, $533 has been pledged. The goal is $3,500, so that means we have $2,967 to go before the project deadline of December 31. That's 55 days. In other words, the campaign needs to record pledge amounts averaging almost $55 a day to make goal.

I think that's totally possible. $55 a day is like 4 of you pledging $15 for the book - which comes signed and numbered by yours truly. Or having a couple of you pledge $30 a day to get a copy of the book signed and numbered, along with a custom illustration AND your name printed in the book's "thank you" page. Totally do-able!

There's a lot that I still need to do to help make the campaign a success. Most notably, post a video of myself explaining the project to the uninitiated. I read on Kickstarters blog that projects with videos get 90% more funding. I've just had problems finding time to record myself talking about it. I also want the video to be of high quality. So I have ambitions for shooting locations, lighting and editing.

I might be overthinking it a little bit.

In the meantime, if you'd like to help spread the word, go to the Theater Hopper: Year Three Kickstarter page and access some of the social media tools directly below the project graphic. There are links for Email, Facebook, Delicious, MySpace, Twitter and digg - All of which you can use to let people know about the campaign!

Thanks again to everyone who has pledged so far and show enthusiasm for this project. It's keeping me going!

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KICKSTARTER SPECIFICS

by Tom on November 4th, 2009
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I wanted to take a moment to talk to you guys about the rewards I'm offering over at Kickstarter as part of the Theater Hopper: Year Three fund raising campaign. Pledges have trailed off a little bit since I announced the campaign last Friday and I want to make sure you guys understand how the system works.

First, please know that you can pledge ANY amount you feel comfortable pledging.

Second, please know that I won't see a dollar of the pledged money unless I make my goal of $3,500 by December 31, 2009.

Third, I am offering rewards based on the amount you pledge. They are as follows:

  • $1 - Everyone who pledges a dollar will have their name and a link to their web site added to a special thank you page on the Theater Hopper web site.

  • $5 - The previous reward, plus a high-res PDF of the completed book.

  • $15 - The previous rewards, plus a hard copy of the book signed and numbered by the artist.

  • $20 - The previous rewards, plus a custom illustration inside your hard copy of the book.

  • $30 - The previous rewards, plus your name printed on a special thank you page in the book. Have your name memorialized FOR ALL TIME!

  • $35 - The previous rewards, plus ONE free book! Choose from any of my publications - Theater Hopper Year One, Year Two or Year Three. Any combination. You choose

  • $45 - The previous rewards, plus TWO free books! Choose from any of my publications - Theater Hopper Year One, Year Two or Year Three. Any combination. You choose!

  • $50 - The previous rewards, plus a special 3D-themed 1" button set. 5 buttons total.

  • $65 - The previous rewards, plus first dibs on a brand new t-shirt design featuring an image of 3D glasses.

  • $150 - The previous rewards, plus an avatar set of up to 5 images drawn by the artist. You will also receive the original art as well as high-res, finished digital art.

Without getting overly optimistic, when I look at Theater Hopper's daily traffic, I see no reason why we can't have this project completely funded if everyone pledged just one dollar. Obviously, I would love it if you could pledge more than that. But the point I'm trying to make is that the success of this project can be met if even with a minimal investment. If I'm able to rally everyone to my goal, we could have this fund raising problem solved by the weekend.

So please consider pledging. Even if it's only a dollar. Think about the entertainment you come to this site for - the momentary distraction it provides you. Isn't that worth at least a dollar? Hopefully you value it more than that. All I'm asking is that you not ignore this fund raising campaign completely.

If anyone has questions about the Kickstarter fund raising system, the rewards or anything else tied to this campaign, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Please feel free to leave your questions in the comments below as well.

Thanks.

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KICKSTARTER KICKOFF

by Tom on October 30th, 2009
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I started talking about this earlier in the week (and have been talking about it privately with friends and family for almost a month), but I wanted to let everyone know that I have officially launched my Kickstarter fund raising project for Theater Hopper: Year Three.

I was introduced to Kickstarter by my friend Gordon a few weeks ago. Looking at it, I recognized it immediately as being perfect for helping me raise money for Theater Hopper: Year Three. But I just kind of... stared at it. Like, for the longest time. I couldn't figure out exactly how to make it work for me.

After witnessing Gordon's success with the site, I was motivated to take action, raise the funds I needed to make Year Three a reality and make good on all of the previous pre-orders that people have been waiting to see fulfilled.

For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, the idea is simple. Basically, you put a project on their site, say "I need 'X' amount of money to complete this project" and then people pledge money to your cause at a level they feel is appropriate.

Let me stress that you can donate ANY amount you want. If you want to donate a dollar, great. If you want to donate $7, super. However, there are certain tiers at which the amount of your pledge will yeild specific rewards.

You can see the rewards I'm offering on the Year Three Kickstarter page and I think there are several attractive offers that you might want to take advantage of. But, again, the amount you donate is completely up to you.

Regarding those of you who have already pre-ordered, you will automatically receive all of the rewards up to the $15 pledge level as well have your name printed in a special "thank you" section of the book. If you want to obtain any of the higher-level rewards, contact me directly at theaterhopper@hotmail.com. I am offering the higher-level rewards for 25% off the difference of your existing pre-order. We can work out the details over e-mail and you can submit your pledge to the Kickstarter site as part of the overall fund raising effort.

I am asking for $3,500 by December 31. It's very important that we make that goal in that time period or else I do not see ANY of the money that has been pledged. The Kickstarter system will not charge you as a supporter until the goal amount and deadline have been reached. If the deadline comes and we don't make goal, you won't be charged one red cent.

In order to insure that the goal amount is met, I will be promoting this fund raising drive quite heavily. I just want to tell you up front that I will be talking about it often in case that kind of thing annoys you. I will do my best to keep blogs about movies and blogs about fund raising apart, but I plan on posting reminder messages quite frequently.

As you can see above, I've already removed the advertising next to the comic to make room for the Kickstarter widget that will show you how much money has been raised and how much time is left in the campaign. I'm giving up ad revenue to do this because - at this point - no amount of money from advertising is going to make up for what I need to deliver this book.

At any rate, this is the new status quo regarding Theater Hopper: Year Three. I appreciate your support. Thank you.

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KICKSTARTER BRAINSTORMING

by Tom on October 26th, 2009
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I'm putting together my fund raising page for Theater Hopper: Year Three over at Kickstarter and I'm having a problem.

As you may or may not be familiar, Kickstarter allows you to incentivize your backers with rewards they can earn depending on the amount the pledge to your cause. For an example, check out Gordon's Kickstarter page for his Multiplex book.

My problem is, several people have already pre-ordered strong>Theater Hopper: Year Three and I don't want to leave them out in the cold when it comes to rewards.

All of the rewards that fall under the $15 pre-order amount will be delivered to everyone who pre-ordered a copy so far. That includes their name on a special Thank You page in the book as well as a PDF copy of the book.

However, past the $15 mark, I was planning on offering incentives such as a custom sketches in the book, a special, limited-edition 1" button set with a 3D theme, a new t-shirt design with 3D glasses on them and going so far as to offer up to 5 custom avatar illustrations for the backer's personal use.

What do I do for those people who have already pre-ordered a copy of Year Three, but who also want to take advantage of the larger rewards?

Basically, I am very concerned about alienating anyone. ESPECIALLY the people who pledged their support early on and have been patiently waiting for the book to be produced.

The best idea I can come up with at the moment is to deal with these requests on a case-by-case basis. Meaning, if someone wants the higher level awards, then they can pay me the difference and I will send it to them. Maybe I offer them a 25% off discount of the difference as a small thank you for their patience.

Please tell me what you think in the comments below!

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