KickstarterForum.org

I am not a quitter.

I would never consider pulling the plug a mere 4 days until funding ends, I am thinking of pivoting and throwing a Hail Mary pass down field.

A quick side note--have any of you heard from family and friends about how "hard" it is to pledge? I had one Aunt who still has yet pledged (she loves my art and wants to help) but she could not figure out the pledge portion. I have to admit, maybe I am not as savvy as I would like to think but it took me a good minute to realize that once you enter the amount--you simply press enter on your keyboard. I think in this touchscreen era, we are trained to look for everything ON SCREEN so I was looking for a PAYMENT button next to the box where I typed my pledge amounts. Would a quick "How To Pledge" on any of my future campaigns or as an Update seem wise? Or would any admins scanning my campaign be put off?

Ok, back to my actual question. I really think my problem is twofold. 1. Not enough traffic/name recognition which effects unknown artists. And a really muddled and confusing story page and reward tier. What if I cleaned up the story page section and since a lot of tiers are locked up due to pledges, on the top of the story section post revised reward and pledge tiers and easy to pledge instructions.

*Or should I let it be? Let it live its natural life span and if I fail to fund on the 8th, just retool and relaunch?*

I love you and I love crowd funding. I am buzzing with energy right now. Yesterday was another day without even a dollar pledge. I had a 11 hour day on a dead furniture sales floor (post Black Friday week traffic slump in retail) and I crashed at 9:30pm an awoke at 7am. I have had about 4 hours of sleep since Day One so I feel good but my mentor and artistic idol David Delamare (if you wish to read the story of how he and his manager helped me just go to my Update section, Wendy Ice--his partner in life and business and he changed my life a decade ago) did a soft launch yesterday. They emailed me in the afternoon about how uncertain they were about the goal, but folks they are planning on creating an art book that will be kept in the family for years. I love actual books and I really wanted them to make it. He is so talented it is beyond words and things were slowing down and soon the idea of Kickstarter grew on the both of them.

*I think anyone reading this far understands that I need to get to the point quicker*

I awoke this morning and checked his campaign. AND I NEARLY FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR. They are at 17% funded on the morning of Day 2!!!! AND THEY GOT A STAFF PICK RIGHT OUT OF THE GATES!! They are awesome people (I emailed them yesterday about how I had lurked here and was scared to join, an how I did and how amazing everyone here is and to jump in the water is fine!) Ok, the diatribe has ended. Here is the Alice Book campaign > http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/195 ... david-dela

InfiniteHorizonsUly wrote:Or should I let it be? Let it live its natural life span and if I fail to fund on the 8th, just retool and relaunch?

My advice would be to clean up the main page, but not attempt to adjust the tier rewards.. they are what they are, so let them stand. Also, don't try to give instructions, as most the money you need for your funding will come from people who know KS. As for family and friends having issues... give them a call and step them through the process.

However there is no harm in streamlining the main information page. But then let it run its course. If you don't get funded, really work to make a clear and simple pitch both in rewards and description. Then re-launch.

Once your new campaign is up, and David Delamare has hit 100% funding, you could ask him to mention your new project in one of his updates. He'll probably have a good number of backers by then.

Seeing as you have 3 days to go, I would keep your reward tiers and prime for a re-launch. Like vaporstarter said, I would clean up the main page though.

Have you considered doing any kind of giveaways to generate buzz? I think you have some great art. You could do a giveaway in terms of iphone or desktop wallpaper, fb wallpaper, do Q&A aimed at young artists with the aim of building up an email list. I've been thinking about adding a component to CrowdfundingPR.org to help creators to giveaways of prototype products or art to generate interest before a campaign is launched.

Vapor and Sbrigg,
I will try to keep this concise. Your help and time to post have come at a turning point in this hopefully long crowd funding career I am launching. I do not see Kickstarter as a way to make a lot of money. I see it as a way for honest and soulful creative types learn how to market their artistic visions to the world. I see it as a way for ll types of artists to learn how to sell themselves, market their visions and--for the lucky few--be able to make a living from the fruit of their artistic creations. This will be a future where the patronage system of old is turned on its head. Instead of nobles keeping a "zoo" of artists, we creators (weather I make an amazing pen ~Apollo pens~~ or an illustrated book about Alice in Wonderland **$26,000 by DAY TWO!! STAFF PICK WITH THIER FIRST PROJECT!!) will be supported by micro-patrons, some pledging even one dollar but all lifting us up to the moon.

I call it the Power of 500. I told myself if I one day could inspire 500 people with my art, show them with my OCD style technical pen drawing what one person could do in one year--what creative, or business venture could they bring to life with the same dedication? I promised I would keep this short! I know!
But one day when I do not have alive project I will shoot the old blurb card I used to paste on the back of my prints when my wife and I used to sell at craft fairs a decade ago. The first words on the blurb, were, "I want to inspire you. . ."

I will clean up the main page. I want to make it simpler to understand. I will not post a "how to pledge" because, you are right--I will be preaching to the choir. Maybe people do not think my art is worth the pledge amount. That is ok. I will learn as I go along. If my campaign gives up the ghost Sunday night then I will have a Redux ready to go and ready to submit again. I will not give up. I love this world. I love you guys, I had a very bad experience back in the early 2000's when I had a licensing deal that went nowhere. I was--well, it does not matter. But it was because of what happened that I was scared to join this forum. Thank you again for all of your help.

I do not want to bore all of you with my writing, but David and Wendy are amazing people that changed my life in 2001. If it were not for them, I never would have shared my art with anyone. This campaign still hurts. I am being honest. My wife Danielle is forced to listen to verbal discourses that put any of these long written diatribes to shame. But I finally figured out why this means so much to me. . .for the first time I found a place where I could collate all three of my loves--visual art, writing and music--into one project. So when people do not pledge for days--again, it is stupid to feel this way--it hurts because I have shared all three of my creative selves. But, the market will bear what it will bear. David and Wendy have already given me so much I will always be in their debt--even if I knew it would boost my campaign and insure funding I could never ask them. . .it would not feel right. On their own they mentioned me on Facebook and linked to my project. I will be up all night working on cleaning things up. Thanks so much for the advice. It means the world--no, it means the mulitverse to me!

I just did not respect the medium. I rushed into things. Perhaps I have damaged myself beyond repair on Kickstarter. Only time will tell. All I can do is keep chugging along until I am dead.

I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .

So I spent the night cleaning house as best I could.
And I checked the Alice Book page and again was blown away by the power and magic of Kickstarer! 31k and still climbing!! Anyway, because I was so caught up in the rising pledge level and had never drilled down into the depths of the project page I never found what I found today.

They decided to name me as a supporter. This made me emotional. They also linked to my campaign. They are the reason I became an artist that sells their work. They are great and kind people and I am so happy this crazy rocket ride to the moon is happening to them. Guys, two months ago all my work was buried away. Only one company (Alisdair over at visualgallery.com) believed in me and sent me small jobs over the years I think just to keep my technical pens from clogging. I spend most of my days selling furniture and stay up till 4am pursuing this dream that will not die. We have a 3 year old and another on the way. My wife and I never share days off. Now more then ever I need Kickstarter. Even if I only ever fund small projects, there is always a chance over the years I find people who like what I create and one day I can switch over to at least a part time working artist.
Edit:spelling

Ulysses, I do believe you deserve to have a successful campaign. I'm glad to hear that you're not going to give up.

If your first campaign isn't successful, I'd very much like to help out on your relaunch. Maybe you could share your pre-relaunch link which would allow feedback before it goes live.

Wow. I wrote another Magna Carta but there was a glitch in the matrix because after I hit submit it was gone.

Welp, I need to be more concise. Sbrigg, that would be so much help. It is looking like an angel backer (other than awesome moms and rich aunts, I dont believe in them) or the fabled Kickstarter Effect on turbo is the only chance I have. I was blessed to have kicktraq tweet me out around Thanksgiving (wow, inside the campaigner bubble that was 3.7 million years ago) and I made it a point to say I was an outlier, despite the fact the projections are spot on. Well, I
finally saved enough to have MY FIRST PRINT AS A 16X20 giclee!!

The time at the printer was very interesting. I filmed it and also a quick pitch with me holding it so you know its an actual 16x20. I fear my reward tier of _125 may be too high. The scaled up 16x20's are the point of the project. But KS is also a place to test your product and see what the market will bear. Since this is a creator type forum, I feel comfortable telling you that I was charged 50 for the print. What sucks is that the heart of the campaign may be perceived as a money grab by a delusional, unknown artist. But I got scared and added 5 of the 11x14 and all the swag. What a cosmic blunder! The one tier that is in the red may be the one where backers may think I am price gouging.

Anyway, Sbrigg--you rock! You are a super sized jar of Awesome Sauce and a stack of Badass! I will keep getting up, keep dialing it in until the admjns block my IP. Then, I will drag my desktop to Starbucks and resubmit until I am funded. I am looking at the print RIGHT NOW and know it is 8.7894 times crisper and denser then what the backers see on screen. I go on too much, I know--but there is no space or way for me to prove that the print is much better than the jpegs I had to upload on KS.
Long days and pleasant nights.
:::: Ulysses ::::

I do not see Kickstarter as a way to make a lot of money. I see it as a way for honest and soulful creative types learn how to market their artistic visions to the world. I see it as a way for ll types of artists to learn how to sell themselves, market their visions and--for the lucky few--be able to make a living from the fruit of their artistic creations.

Great quote there ^^. I also like the long-term view you are taking with raising money via crowdfunding for your art and attracting patrons.

Have you been involved in the online art community at all? I'm not too familiar, know devianart was/is pretty big.

You may also consider the ways in which your art can be incorporated into other projects (book covers, journal covers, etc.). I remember one user on the forum was doing a campaign for leather pouches and another was doing a campaign for dragon coins, and they were thinking about working together (offering dragon coins in leather pouches) to help cross-exposure.

Sal

Sal,
The advice and mentorship that members like you and Vaporstarter give is helpful beyond words. I also know that many potential crowd funders lurk before they join (at least that is what I did) and the culture of inclusion and help fostered here and elsewhere in the greater community is a beautiful thing to behold. Hell, maybe if the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna had been a little more open Hitler would have been a modest and forgotten artist and 100 million people would not have had to die under the boot of a madman.

See, I need to stop going on tangents! I am off to a good start today working on the relaunch and I have to remind myself to stay on topic!

Crowd crux was about half of the emails I saved and began firing off to David and his partner/manager, Wendy Ice. I do not deserve the mention on their wildly successful first run. I can only imagine what they are feeling (well, sleep deprevation and exhaustion are a given) having a Staff Pick a 36k first 3 days and being featured in the KS newsletter on their first campaign must be mind boggling-- but the only reason I begged them to launch was I knew that there was an entire Facebook generation that had yet to discover the art of David Delamare. I also knew that Wendy is an amazing marketer and once she jumped into the warm yet rip current prone Sea of Kickstarter she would become a crowd funding master. I can not stress enough how much they changed my life. By inviting me into their home and speaking nwith me about art and how I could market prints of my art, they instilled a boost of confidence I still use to this day.

I have a problem with believing in myself. I also have a problem caring what people think of me. This stems from growing up (late seventies and early eighties) when seeing a little half black child with a blonde haired blue eyed mother was very uncommon. We were always treated differently and always stared at. I found refuge from the often painful world in my imagination. I loved to read and soon was drawing the covers of little paper books I would write about my pet snake, Clyde.

When I grew up and found that people made a living writing and creating art I always dreamed that one day I would be able to do so as well. 30 years later I am still dreaming. For a few glorious years almost a decade ago I got a small glimpse of that life. Yet, we sold at craft shows 5 days a week and spent the nights restocking (well, honestly Danielle was diligent enough to reprint and rebag all the pieces sold that day, I tried to put it off). In reality I had only 2-3 hours to create and this is why the pieces took a year each to create.

I got shafted on the printing estimates. I wanted to keep the printing local and trusted the pricing of a popular fine SRT printer here in San Diego. Friday I had them run a 16x20 for Proof of Concept. They charged me $50. They screwed up the first print but the second one came out perfect.

So when I relaunch I can show the backers what their print will look like and they will know my work can be scaled up. I also will be able to price the 16x20 limited editions at $50 pledge level due to someone reaching out to me who was mortified when they found out how much I was charged. This person has an in house printing set up. The printer I used only had Aurora paper and tried to tell me it was just as good as the Epson ultra smooth. Because of the help I am getting I can offer the same quality at a fraction of the price.

Sal, I have opening a deviant page and a blogspot on my to-do list for early 2014. I really need funding to get some art supplies and an actual drafting table so I am trying to take my time and not rush the relaunch. But once its live I should began to get my work out there as much as possible.

I dream of doing concept work or book cover design and if any other artist has made it this far down another too long post I am down to cross-promote!
::::Ulysses::::

Hi, my name is Shalom and I need help. I put up a kickstarter campaign http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/197 ... e_location and was full of excitement until I realized that me being an unknown artist my project will unlikely get any pledges. I need tips and ideas on how to get my project for others to see and support before the campaign ends. All help would be greatly appreciated.