The Kickstarter Diaries (part 1) | The Phantom
I'm keeping a diary for my Kickstarter. Plus, I wrote a Phantom story!
Hey folks. This week I’m going to share my diaries for the Gourmand Go Kickstarter. Spoiler alert—we are fully funded, as of today! Also, my first ever Phantom story is in stores (if you’re in Australia). Let us go go go:
The Kickstarter Diaries
Day 0: 24/10/2023
I’m calm. I should be calm. My campaign manager, Darren, and I made sure the campaign page was perfect yesterday and all there is to do is wait. I know what time to launch, I have a TODO list to follow, I have drafts of some emails and posts ready to go.
Ok I’m not calm. I’m nervous as hell and my kid won’t go to sleep. In the end I let him sleep in my room. Not like I will be sleeping.
Day 1: 25/10/2023
Well I noticed that the sample pages on the campaign page didn’t have the most recent version of the lettering, so I had a minor freakout and got Darren to replace them. Not that anybody is likely to notice the difference. Still, it gave me something to do while I waited for Go Time. Had an early lunch and then I hit the button at 11:30am, as planned.
Pledges started coming in pretty quickly, so I didn’t have much time to fret. One sharp backer snagged the original art for Harry’s cover of the book very quickly and the pledges kept rolling in all day. I was really hoping to 25% of the goal on the first day, but we hit that in just a few hours. We’re a bit shy of 12 hours in and closing in on 45%, which is amazing. I know the rest of the campaign won’t be this easy, but I’m really gratified. Thanks to all the early backers!
The missus put the kid to bed tonight and I went to the gym to try burn off some nervous energy. Tonight, I think I’ll manage some sleep.
Day 2: 26/10/2023
We hit 50% by the time I woke up this morning, so, under 24 hours. Also, Kickstarter gave us a “Projects We Love” badge, which I was hoping for. I think that means they promote us a bit.
Much less traffic as the day wore on, aside from bots and grifters offering to manage the campaign. Already have an excellent campaign manager, thanks.
My first episode of the Phantom hit newsstands in Australia today and that caught me off guard. Lots of great feedback, including from some of the campaign backers. I heard from a couple of folks who bought books from me at conventions earlier in the year and have been following both the KS and the Phantom eagerly. There’s nothing better for a sensitive writer’s ego.
Did a podcast interview at lunchtime: My Kind of Weird with Anthony Pollock. We pitched something to read, watch and listen to at each other. I pitched the Morass, a novella by Zachary Ashford; the band All Them Witches; and the TV show Legion. We talked about heroes and rockstars and cartoons and it was a lovely old chat. It was great to think about something other than Kickstarter or day job work for an hour, although we did mention it at the end.
We finished the day at about 66%. I know the target is still a long way off, but I am way less anxious about it than I was.
Day 3: 27/10/2023
Much less activity today. I posted less and I hope people aren’t too sick of me at this point, because most of the campaign is still ahead of us. We hit 75% of the goal for a brief period and then dropped back a bit when someone withdrew a pledge. I was pretty sure that backer was a grifter and was surprised to see them pledge in the first place.
Caught up with my friend Talie Helene for coffee. I haven’t seen Talie for probably six years and it was great to have a chat, as brief as it was. We spoke about school and work and AI and creativity and crowdfunding. Lovely to be out in the real world and away from a screen for a few minutes.
We hit the benchmark Darren was hoping for today, and we’re hopeful we’ll fund on Monday.
And now I must turn my attention to some other pressing matters. I am desperately in need of a haircut and I want to get that out of the way before my family trip next week. Yes, I am going on holiday in the middle of a Kickstarter. At this point I don’t know if that’s genius or monumental stupidity.
Day 4: 28/10/2023
We made 81% late this afternoon. It’s coming slowly but surely now, and I’m feeling pretty good about it. The Full Lid and Fanbase Press shared some details around the place and I hope that will draw some folks.
Went for a short run this morning. The weather is nice and it was good to get out of the house. I’ve spent most of the day writing interviews and social media for this campaign though and I am already getting sick of saying “Gourmand Go”. Not sick of refreshing the dashboard to see how we’re ticking towards the goal, though. 85% now.
Still badly need a haircut. I guess it’ll have to wait for next week.
Day 5: 29/10/2023
Busy today with a school event and a kid’s birthday party. Beautiful weather. I only checked Kickstarter progress about a million times.
We didn’t do much business today. Only 3% gained. A lot of folks were busy with the Shadows and Stanley awards and various other events. Still, we are closing in on the target now and I think we’ll get there pretty soon. But I admit I am a bit demoralized.
One thing I did manage to the haircut. We went for groceries after the party and the barber shop was still open. Feels good to be rid of those curls—they were driving me nuts.
Tomorrow we’ll start the Halloween promo. Let’s see if that moves the needle a bit.
Day 6: 30/10/2023
In the office today and busy at work. Pledges came in slowly but picked up in the afternoon, and I can see some of the social media gaining traction. We’re 95% funded now. I think yesterday was just a day, where everyone was busy with Asylumfest and the Darebin fair, and various awards. Maybe they were getting haircuts, too.
Day 7: 31/10/2023
Happy Halloween!
I was supposed to do a podcast interview at 2am this morning. Left my phone charging in another room and missed it. Woke up to see the messages and I’m massively embarrassed.
Lots of social media activity this morning, continuing on from yesterday afternoon. We passed the 100% mark at about 2:30pm, so Gourmand Go is now officially funded, right on the 1 week mark! Holy smokes. I have been anxious about this for about three years now.
HOLY SMOKES, WE ARE FUNDED!
Two more weeks to go. Darren and I will now start solidifying our plans for stretch goals.
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Big thanks to those readers who supported the Kickstarter so far. If you’d like to help us shoot the moon (I’ve heard there’s a man up there, made of cheese, and I bet he’d be good eating), please push this big old button right here:
Of course, every like or share of this article helps as well.
Gourmand Go Artist Spotlight
I spoke about Harry and Gavin last update, so today let me mention a couple of others.
I wanted to work with Cristian Roux ever since I saw his Falling Star comics—a grim and plausible look at refugees through the lens of superpowers.
Cristian’s style in this is more cartoony than much of his other work, but with his trademark immaculate finish and I couldn’t be happier with the pages. Cristian is a deep thinker and he worked really hard to find the most innovative and exciting storytelling choices on every page. They’re dynamic and hilarious and horrifying and utterly beautiful. Just look at the composition of this panel:
My scripts typically describe a layout for every page. Some artists stick to it, some vary. But Cristian's pages come together in a way I could not have scripted.
Also note that Graeme Jackson has brought some of his own magic to this panel--just look at those lighting effects.
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Back when I was putting the Gourmand Go team together, I observed to Aly Faye (I will talk about Aly in a coming post) that the roster was looking very male. Aly encouraged me to put out a call for artists on her Women in Comics Australia Facebook group. A number of fantastic creators put up their hands and Laura Renfrew impressed me immediately.
I always loved her art style, which has a really fluid, contemporary indie-cartoonist style. It’s cute and expressive without ever getting twee, and there is a slyness in the storytelling that I really admire. That was exactly the style I wanted for the “Dog Food” chapter, which introduces the robot dog Fitzel.
Once again, the link for this bad puppy is right here:
The Phantom
I have a piece in the latest issue of The Phantom! The Phantom #1956, which I think is in stores today. Part 1 of my story The Pinstripe Wizards, with art by the artist known only as Kay. (Except when he's called Boris Kay, or sometimes Kay Boris). This my first superhero comic, roughly 20 years after I made my photocopied minicomic zine.
Pinstripe Wizards was really fun to write. I wanted to do something a bit off the wall, and so we have a 1970s Phantom fighting evil at a rock concert. I had two goals for this one: a really cinematic style, and an emphasis on Kit and Diana's relationship. I hope you cats enjoy it.
Yes, the Pinstripe Wizards bear some resemblance to a little ol' band from Texas. Also, discerning Melbourne music fans might recognize the Mawitaan Concert Hall.
Ok, that’s it for today. Next week, more diaries—or maybe less, because I will be on holiday. Let’s see how it all goes.
Live wrong and prosper,
— Jason