Notes on Kickstarter

A lot of comic creators are getting interested in Kickstarter, and for good reason. It's a fantastic service. I used Kickstarter to fund my marketing efforts for Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story. I already had a publisher at Image Comics, so my funds were used exclusively for marketing and promotion. Things like convention expenses, advertising, printing, Facebook ads, etc. I'm told Sweets was one of the very first Kickstarter funded comics to hit shelves nationwide, and that's pretty cool. With a successful Kickstarter project comes lots of questions about my experience with the service and lots of requests for advice on the subject, so here are a few notes for those interested in my experience. And here is the original Kickstarter project listing for those that haven't seen it.

News, and more news.

Lots of stuff going on these last few weeks, here are a few highlights:

The first issue of Sweets is now FREE on ComiXology, grab a copy and see what everyone's been talking about.

I'm thrilled to announce I just received a very nice foreword for the Sweets trade paperback (collected edition) from comic book legend Duncan Fegredo! This really made my day. If you're not familiar with Fegredo's work, pick up the new issue of Hellboy that hit last week, I highly recommend you pick some up today, and since it happens to be new comic Wednesday at your local comic shop, pick up the new issue of Hellboy that came out last week.

I recently did a new audio interview with Comic Book Page Podcast, hosted by Elizabeth Amber. Give it a listen. Please note, There are a few strange stuttering pauses during the conversation, that's just a little bug in the recording process and we had to restart a few times.

10 Questions

Enjoying the 10 Questions series by Time. Some of them have movie trailers or commercials in front, but they're worth the wait. Here's the full list, and here are a few favorites:

SWEETS Issue 4 and Early Accolades in 2011

Issue 4 of Sweets hits the shelf tomorrow (Wed January 5th, 2011) so please pick that up.

Now, on to the topic at hand.

I enjoy creating comics, but I never enjoy reading my own comics. I love reading other people's comics very much, I buy as many comics as I can afford, but I'm a little too close to my own work to enjoy it as a reader. I mostly just see the things I could have done better or the opportunities I missed in every single panel of artwork. Same goes for my story. I see every flaw and it's magnified every single time I flip through an issue. I've heard many other creators say the same, so I guess that's normal. But I have to be honest, when I read a positive review of my work I often question the sanity of the person giving that review. If they dig what I'm doing, they're obviously a little crazy, right?

"I’m looking forward to Sweets #4 (Image) by Kody Chamberlain. As you’ll recall, this was one of my favorites of 2010." —Justin Giampaoli at 13 Minutes

See what I mean? There's obviously something wrong with Justin. This guy needs large amounts of therapy. Justin might as well start a group therapy session with Neil Kleid, Rob Guillory, and Kevin Colden because they've all got mental problems of various levels of severity: 

"Scott Chantler’s TWO GENERALS should have been on folks’ radar as should have been Kody Chamberlain’s SWEETS." — Neil Kleid 

"…Kody Chamberlain’s SWEETS is something so subtly brilliant that I think a lot of folks will be giving it a second look in 2011." — Rob Guillory

"As far as new comics, I really dug Peter and Bobby Timony’s Night Owls, Kody Chamberlain’s Sweets, Thor: The Mighty Avenger, and all of the Batman titles." — Kevin Colden

However, positive reviews and accolades go a long way to helping promote a new comic like Sweets, and good promotion helps us earn a living doing what we do. So it's essential to our survival.

And when a writer and producer on shows like Family Guy and The Cleveland Show says something nice about your comic, you have to share it, right?

"I still read a lot of comics.  ”The Boys” is a favorite.  ”Crossed” is incredibly disgusting and awesome.  Terry Moore’s ECHO. Kody Chamberlain’s “Sweets.” There’s a lot of good stuff out there." — Kirker Butler

But how can you take someone so talented like Kirker Butler and reveal to the world that they're one step away from a mental institution? And when a fan-favorite writer of X-Men and Deadpool is asked which creators should we be looking out for next year and replies:

"Honestly, most of the names I could say are names you already know. Jason Aaron continues to kick butt, and I want to see what Kody Chamberlain does next. Lots of talent out there." — Victor Gischler

You're right. You absolutely have to post that on your blog. But posting that comment for public viewing reveals to the world that Victor Gischler isn't a very good judge of quality. He's worked hard to create a veil of credibility, and now I've blown his cover. I do feel responsible, and the guilt weighs on me like a three ton elephant.

I've worked with Josh Fialkov for years on a comic called PUNKS, so I already know how nuts the guy is. But you can't possibly read this without flashes of Hitchcock's Psycho stabbing you in the head:

"SWEETS - Look, I've known Kody Chamberlain for nearly a decade now. I've seen him grow and change and turn into one of the best writer/artists in comics. The work he's done on "Sweets" has been nothing short of spectacular. He's working on a level that the rest of us can only dream of. Once the series wraps up and the TPB hits the stands, I've got a feeling the rest of the industry is going to shit their pants for him." — Josh Fialkov

Speaking of Psycho, I don't know Ron Richards very well, but this quote is more than enough to convince me he can't be trusted. In fact, I can't help but take the entire iFanboy concept with a grain of salt after reading this:

"One of the most enjoyable mini-series from Image Comics that began in 2010 for me has been Sweets by Kody Chamberlain. Clearly a labor of love, Chamberlain has crafted together a world, set in New Orleans, that you simply can get lost in while reading, savoring the amazing artwork and watching the crime tale unfold." — Ron Richards of iFanboy

And when a respected publication like Comic Heroes from the UK includes Sweets in their list of Contemporary Crime Classics, you can't help but dismiss the entire publication as hateful, slanted propaganda.

That brings me to Rob Levin. Rob was a long time editor at Top Cow, so he knows comics. After reading Sweets #1 in July 2010, Rob hasn't been able to buy a comic since:

"I’ll go to a comic shop this week and buy a new comic, my first new, non-collected book since I bought a copy of Sweets #1 off Kody Chamberlain at SDCC." — Rob Levin

I know what you're thinking. It's possible Rob read Sweets and was so blown away he just couldn't tolerate drudging in the bowels of lesser entertainment. No. The truth is that I ruined comics for him, and it's taken him a half a year to recover. To me, that makes Rob Levin the smartest man alive. He's got me figured out.

Having said that, I'm told by respected professionals (and my wife) that being self deprecating hurts more than it helps, so just take the compliment and shut the hell up. 

Done.

Looking forward to a great 2011!

I originally posted this as a reaction to a news story about Comic-Con, but I figured I'd share it here as well. My thoughts on Comic-Con:


I was set up in the Image Comics booth all week pimping SWEETS #1, and I had a fantastic Comic-Con. I was flooded by people all week long specifically interested in comics and meeting the Image Comics' creators. In fact, the Image booth was packed, non stop action all week long for every creator at our booth. One quick look around, and I could tell Rob Guillory, John Layman, Jason Howard, Ryan Ottley, Andy Kuhn, and Phil Hester had people swarming all week long.

I'd say that comics have certainly been overshadowed in the press by movies and TV, but lets face it, the press NEVER cover comics anyway. If the film and TV stuff was pushed out of the convention, the media would simply loose interest all together.

Photo by Philip Simon

But the ATTENDEES still love comics and that's what it's all about. Lots of comic readers also love DEXTER, and that's cool with me. If it ever gets to the point where the attendees ignore comics in favor of TV, that's when I move on. But that hasn't happened. In fact, I'd say the attendees were swarming around the comic booths MORE than they were around the movie booths. I don't do many panels, so I can't speak on that subject, but our KICKSTART YOUR COMICS panel was packed, standing room only. People were eager to learn more about how we used the Kickstarter.com site to launch our comics and we were flooded with follow-up questions at our booth the following day. I wasn't at the Image Comics panel, but I'm told it was also standing room only.

I think we, as industry professionals, can look at the 'spectacle' of Comic-Con as a true opportunity. I was able to get coverage on G4TV not once, but TWICE, I was on camera several times as the Spurlock documentary crew followed John Layman at our booth, and I also did an interview with the crew filming Comic-Con in 3D for a separate documentary. I did 2 or 3 podcasts a day for comic and non-comic audiences, and I was even interviewed by a Jonas brother. Yes, I know the Jonas Brothers aren't exactly what we'd consider our normal "comics audience," but one of my main goals of Comic-Con is to reach out and EXPAND my audience.

Mission accomplished.

If we go into Comic-Con with an optimistic view and carefully plan our attack, a lot can be accomplished at that show. If you just sit around and complain about GLEE all week, you'll miss an amazing opportunity to reach an impressionable pop-culture-friendly audience that only comes around once a year.

New Interview The Frontiersman issue #6

BrokenFrontier.com has a web magazine called The Frontiersman, it's a PDF magazine with great content. I did an interview recently, some great questions asked. Give it a read!

Books I reference often

Here's a stack of books I reference more often than the rest on my shelf, and I thought it'd share them on the blog. Sadly, all of the Andrew Loomis books (bottom) are out of print, but PDF versions are available if you spend a bit of time searching Google. I'm now the proud owner of all the printed Loomis books, and if you can find them, they're well worth the price of admission.

0001 - Why write this story?

0001 - Why write this story?

Thought I'd get started today on my little 'insider look' at the making of a comic book/graphic novel. Before I get started, here's my disclaimer: I don't claim to be an expert on any of this, but with a bit of confidence, smarts, and help from my friends, I can probably work my way through most of it. These journal notes are NOT intended to be perfect, essay style entries. Comic book deadlines are hell, so I make no promises on the quality of the information I'm presenting. You'll find typos, grammar problems, logic errors, constantly contradicting information, and all sorts of things that will annoy and offend those with an eye for perfection. I publish these entries in several different places, please feel free to choose your favorite and stick with it, or jump around if you'd like.

| Digital Webbing Forum | Blogger | WordPress | DeviantArt | MySpace |

So toughen up, don't sweat the small stuff, and enjoy the process of making comics, presented in no particular order:

Lets talk about "ideas" for a minute. I've got a massive amount of 'raw ideas' in my notebooks waiting to be hatched. They include high-concept premises, raw story arcs, interesting personal experiences, newspaper clippings, interesting scenes, character sketches, dialogue chunks, anecdotes, scene transitions, etc. These pieces don't really have a home. They're just random idea snippets without a purpose.

Then there are those OTHER ideas. The stronger ideas that build themselves inside my head and try to claw their way out. They actually devour those other 'raw ideas' and use them to fill in holes and create something I didn't expect to find. I don't normally do this intentionally, there's a subconscious evolution of these ideas that just sort of happens. Sometimes I can snap in a piece and it fits great, but most of the time, the pieces just build themselves in the background of my mind. The PROBLEM with these ideas is they have no patience. They're constantly trying to sneak out onto the page. And I suppose that's a good thing.

The story idea I'm going to discuss here is one I've had for a few years. I've been beating it back, sitting on it, waiting until I had enough writing practice and art chops to pull it off. I'm not sure if I'm 100% ready, but the time feels right to give it a shot.

I've been asked a few times why I 'decided' to start writing my own stuff instead of just continuing to be a freelance artist, and the truth is that my plan all along was to write my own stuff. It was just EASIER to start freelancing as an artist first, then transition into writing, and I knew I had a lot more to learn about writing before I was ready to jump in. But, yes, I have thought about WHY I wanted to start writing. I think the desire to write is born in one of two places, or a combination of the two:

For the first group, writing is like breathing. They've got stories in their heads that MUST come out. These stories can ONLY be told by that particular creator because the stories are personal, real, and authentic. The stories are part of the fabric of that individual. So they write. If they don't write, these stories build up stronger and stronger like inflating a balloon. The writing is the RELEASE of that energy, not the source. The advantage these writers have is an endless source of ideas and inspiration. Ideas are a fountain waiting to be turned on. The danger is a story might be so personal it never reaches a wide audience, and suffers forever in obscurity.

The second is the desire to BE a writer because they're a fan of quality writing and strive to become one themselves. It's the pursuit of a career they find interesting and inspiring. So WANTING to write is the source of energy. This second group is often on the 'hunt' for new ideas and is probably the group that most often gets writer's block. The advantage with this type of writer is they know how to reach a wide audience because they ARE that audience. The danger here is the writer will spend a career re-creating rather than creating and never realize it.

I think both groups are valid and I know very skilled and successful writers from each of these groups. But if you happen to be a healthy mix of BOTH, you've got a real shot at greatness. I do think you can survive and thrive if you only have ONE of the two, but you've got to be able to overcome the limitations of that group to succeed. As of today, I haven't figured out where I fit in, but this particular story contains a little of both groups. I'm curious to see where it goes from here.

Thanks for reading!

— Kody Chamberlain