So, only eight days left in our Kickstarter campaign (The Bestiary: Feral - A field guide to the new world). So far so good, overall:
Funded in less than one day
Kickstarter “Project we Love” on day three
Four stretch goals blown away
Over 250% funded at the time of this writing
182 backers
We snuck over the $14K CAD mark on Saturday but then slunk back below last night, leaving us at $13,991 CAD with just over a week left to go.
It’s hard to track and decode backer attrition. That said, I’ve been contacting those backers who have, for one reason or another, pulled their pledges. For the most part, it’s as expected: cutting down on costs, too many campaigns to back, etc. It’s home to a great community, Kickstarter. Most people are on there to support your creativity, and while I don’t begrudge backers for needing to cut back here and there, I wonder about the process. Not in a “why me??” way, but in a “how do you really decide where to cut back?” way. This is probably an exercise in futility, but I do want to know how I can improve going forward, right?
But, I can’t focus on that tooo much. Yes, I want to listen to the hows and whys. How I can get more backers? How can I minimize backer attrition? Why are backers dropping off?
So it’s back to basics, really. We’ve introduced another stretch goal, this time focused on backer count. It’s not just about the monetary goals. More backers, mean more supporters.
Higher backer volume means we’re hopefully building our very own Feral community. A group of people who want to see what’s going to happen… not just to Sir Clancy in those early days compiling The Bestiary, but also to Sir William Gray, battle-scarred vampire hunter/Templar and formerly in the employ of the largest fur-trading force from the other side of the ocean (Feral: The Beast Within), searching for the killer of his wife.
Unfortunately for Bestiary co-creator, Kevin Manklow, more backer volume will also mean WAY more work.
If we hit 200 backers, Kevin has committed to rewarding every physical tier (an actual printed book) backer with a signed (by Kevin) and numbered original, custom "Skull of the beast" sketch.
Cool, right? And a lot of work, right??? That’s a lot of skull sketches. Still, once complete, many backers will have an awesome, unique reward coming their way, and we’ll have more content for, I don’t know, a skull-specific sketchbook we can put together for future convention sales.
Anyway, it’s been an amazing ride so far. A bit of a rollercoaster, and I won’t deny that I obsess every morning to see if more people have backed out or come on board, but that’s part of the excitement.
For the last week, we’d love to get to that final 200 backer mark, so if you know anyone who hasn’t jumped on the Bestiary ride, share the love, please and thanks!
With that in mind, here are some other amazing projects you can look at after getting more people to back The Bestiary ;)
The Hell issue #1. A comedy horror comic
The year is 1996. Grunge and pop punk dominate the alternative charts. Video is the physical media king. R.L Stine's 'Goosebumps' are dominating the kids book charts and 'Scream' is about to change the face of horror. It's Halloween night and it's the end of the world as Sunny and Dawn know it. Welcome to 'The Hell'.
A new epic fantasy novel: Conspiracy: Wahrheit Book 1
Conspiracy: Wahrheit Book 1 is filled with epic battles, classic fairy magic, mysteries, noble warriors, spies, assassins, and did I mention dragons? It's a high fantasy adventure with a healthy dose of political intrigue and set in an expansive world.
The book already exists in rough draft form, so I can estimate the final version will be about 180,000 words (give or take), which is roughly 600 pages in print or 18 hours of audiobook. Did you see that TRAVIS BALDREE has agreed to narrate? I know, right?
Tracy Queen #1-3: I Want More - An NSFW Comic
Another great one from Oneshi Press’ Jayel and Lindsey: The heiress to a crime syndicate leaves behind violence to pursue pleasure… but everyone wants a piece, and her past won't let her go.
Night Wolf #1-6: Urban Fantasy Werewolf Coming-of-Age Drama
We’ve promoted this one before, but it’s hard not to throw more support behind another werewolf project!
Born into the outcast breed of werewolves known as the Monoki, eighteen-year-old Rodney Marcelli is reluctantly pulled into an ancient war between good and evil, during a modern time where the line has blurred. With the help of Snow Paw, the Pureblood Monoki, and the supernatural evil slayer, Night Hunter, Rod must learn to master his newly found lycanthropy and mysterious kinetic energy power that only he possesses. Rod must fight the Dark Covenant in order to avenge his friends and family, and to save the girl he loves from the master vampire, Lord Malice. Rodney Marcelli is Night Wolf!
Check out the preview on the Kickstarter page.
Another entry in Christie Shinn’s Demon Bitch… saga?
From the campaign: This book was inspired by true events (like everything else) COVID-19 sucked for everyone and it brought out all the stupid. I got pro and anti-whatever and whomsoever and other bullshit people screaming and shaming at me in Dolby - then getting pointlessly mad and forgetting about it at all.
Okay. That’s all for now. Let’s get to 200 backers! See you soon.
Mike
Newsletter #23: Easy come, easy go...