In the last few weeks I received many messages in which people advised me to start a kickstarter campaign in order to push the project forward. I'd already heard of kickstarter.com but I couldn't quite imagine in which way it might be helpful for me. It wouldn't make sense to ask people to pay ... say ... my income for a year or something like that, would it? What would I do the next year? Ask for money again? No, if I were to launch a kickstarter campaign it would have to be for funding something with a lasting effect. Something that would lift the Wormworld Saga onto the next level.
The Wormworld Saga is a true digital comic. Not only does its atmospheric artwork look best on a screen - the light effects on the dark and gloomy backgrounds can truly shine there - but the scrolling layout, that works like a charm on a screen, makes it practically impossible to print the graphic novel in a book format. However, the day I loaded the Wormworld Saga Online Graphic Novel into the browser of an iPad I realised that I would not have to bother any longer with chopping my work into pieces in order to fit it into a page layout - I'd found the perfect way to enjoy it.
The Wormworld Saga Online Graphic Novel looks and feels great on a tablet device. Not only can you literally hold the story in your hands but navigating the scrolling format with a touch interface feels intuitive and smooth. I think, this is the best way to enjoy my work and therefore I want to create
The Wormworld Saga App
The main purpose of the app is to provide an inexpensive product through which I can monetize the Wormworld Saga. By buying the app you would directly support me and my work and would make sure not only that there will be more chapters in the future but that they will come four times as fast as now! Like I stated in a blog post below, my goal is to create 4 chapters a year as soon as I'm able to work full time on the Wormworld Saga.
But this wouldn't be the only incentive for you to purchase the Wormworld Saga App. I consider the app to be premium content for those fans who really want to get everything out of the project. The app will have a list of features that will make it desirable for fans. That's important because the app will NOT replace the free online version of the Wormworld Saga. It will just be there for those, who want more.
Now, there's only one tiny problem: I can't create an app and it costs a whole lot of money to pay others to do it.
And that's where kickstarter.com finally comes into play.
For those who haven't heard of kickstarter.com yet: it's a platform to fund creative projects. You launch a project with a specific funding goal and you try to raise the money in a given period of time. If the money is raised, everybody is happy. If the money is not raised inside the timeframe, nobody pays anything - again, everybody is happy (well, except for the project owner...). But it's not just a donation thing. For your support of the project you receive rewards depending on the sum you contribute and all in all it's a very cool thing with a lot of interesting projects to discover.
Well, and now the Wormworld Saga App is one of these projects and I kindly ask you to consider to support it. I have created a video, which you can watch on the kickstarter page, in which I describe everything in greater detail. And I have created a range of interesting rewards for supporters of the project.
If you were waiting for an opportunity to give the Wormworld Saga a substantial push: here it is.
Let's kickstart the Wormworld Saga!
(have a look into my studio in the kickstarter video!)
Super Sache!
ReplyDeleteDirekt mal "gepledged", auf den Print freue ich mich definitiv :)
Wird es bei der App eigentlich eine schoene und passende Hintergrundsmusik geben? Scheint fuer mich eine perfekte Kombination zu sein.
I'll get two, thanks for your wonderful posts!
ReplyDeleteHey, you should think about designing t-shirts to support your project.
ReplyDeleteI'm chomping at the bit to buy something off you. But I don't own an iPad and I don't intend to ever get one.
ReplyDeleteHow about something for us lacking in apple hardware? Surely, there must be a lot of us.
@ joe:
ReplyDeleteThe app will be available cross platform so if you happen to get an Android tablet or a smart phone with a large screen that would work, too.
But even if you are not inclined to read the Wormworld Saga on a mobile device, supporting the app may be worthwhile for you because it is planned to provide me an income so that I may be able to work full time on the project. And that would mean, that you would be able to read 4 chapters every year instead of only one. The free online version will not be harmed by the app. It will be endorsed by it!
Ich glaube schon, daß die WWS auch als gedrucktes Buch funktionieren würde, die Farben wären nicht so intensiv, aber trotzdem, es gibt genug Leute die ganz altmodisch auf Papier stehen - ich zB...
ReplyDeleteUnd Danke für die Positionierung vom Bildchen, dafür nen Platz zu finden war sicher nicht einfach.
I just read chapter one. It looks like the beginning of an epic story. you definitely have my support.
ReplyDeleteI find it a good idea and am willing to support you, but I don't understand why you are asking us to pay you twice: if people are supporting already your work, why ask a payment for each episode?
ReplyDeleteLove the idea and have kicked in a little, but I urge you to reconsider print. While it may look better on the screen, I think it could still look really good if printed well, and you'd sell so many more copies, IMHO. Think of all the kids who could read in bed, but who don't have iPads...
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
@ rz:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support! And you are more than welcome to receive more detailed information about the matter. What I'm trying to build here is a business that will support the Wormworld Saga in the future. I'm very thankful for the donations I received but they don't amount to a sum that would be able to support the Wormworld Saga. I would have to collect donations for several years in order to pay for the development of an app. the kickstarter campaign is designed to yield a fast result in order to speed up the progress on the Wormworld Saga substantially. Furthermore, the funding goal of the kickstarter campaign includes only the development costs of the app. The fees I'll have to pay if the funding goal is reached and the costs of producing and shipping the rewards amount to severel thousand dollars that are not part of the funding goal and I will take them from the donations I received so far over the website. What I hope for the future is, to be able to run the Wormworld Saga on app and print sales only and to abandon the donation button completely. I'm honestly not trying to become rich here. :)
@ Paul R. Pival:
I totally consider print! If a publisher knocks on my door and wants to edit the Wormworld Saga into a print product, he's welcome. I don't think that this would be the best way to enjoy the Wormworld Saga but it should work.
But on your thoughts about selling more copies:
Average sales of graphic novels hover around 5.000 to 10.000 copies. And the worst thing is, that most publishers would prohibid to put the same content for free on the internet. And when the book hits the shelves, those who earn the most money with it are the publishers, distributors and retailers.
Honestly, at the moment I'm more inclined to think about the kids that will sit in bed and hold an iPad or Galaxy Tab or Xoom or, or, or...
I swear I got emotionally stunned when I began to read your graphic novel. Those initial phrases..I'd love to come back to the worlds I daydreamed when I was 6.
ReplyDeleteBut also your style caught my heart. Those warms lights and fresh greens...you make me remember feelings from my childhood with your paintings.
I've no more words to describe that. I'm really happy to find you. I'll be watching your projects and stuff!!
Btw: have you seen Braid the videogame? you would love that style (maybe you already know it )
81% and new awesome videos ! So close to the goal, with a comfortable time to go to the end line.. but let's not sleep on the trophy already, we have to spread the word and continue the run =). Thanks to all !
ReplyDelete@GUille : Just to say that you're right, Braid is really in the same kind of mood :)
ReplyDelete