Kev F comic art: Richard The Third Kickstarter is live!

Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Richard The Third Kickstarter is live!

The Kickstarter campaign for my 4th Shakespearean graphic novel Richard The Third is live, as of Tuesday August 1st, and runs until August 31st. And, of course, I'm already starting to get obsessive about my stats.

It could be because I've not got the Edinburgh Fringe happening this year, so I can't obsess about my ticket sales on an hour by hour basis. So, instead, it's my Kickstarter that's filling that hole. Pathetic. Anyhoo, I launched it about half an hour ago, as I type this, and already we've raised over £250 of our £750 total.

Realistically I'm hoping to raise a lot more than that. But it's worth setting the bar low because, as I've learned from my first effort trying to support my 2018 Socks show, if you don't reach your declared target, you get nothing. Whereas, once you've exceeded the stated total, you just keep going and it's sure to come in.

In 2020 Findlay Macbeth raised £1308, from 70 backers; Prince Of Denmark Street raised £2024, from 100 backers; and Midsummer Night's Dream Team raised £2198, from 83 backers. Now watch me get way over-analytical...

Here's Findlay Macbeth's funding graph. £1308 pledged, £1169 received after deductions and non-payers. Target (of just £750) achieved in first four days.

Prince Of Denmark Street's graph showed us hitting the £750 target in three days. That said, with £2024 pledged, I ended up only receiving £1787. You have to be aware that some people will pledge money but then pull out after the campaign closes.

Midsummer Night's Dream team reached its £750 target in four days, with £2198 pledged and £2006 received. So, by all measures, we could see each Kickstarter was improving upon its predecessor, the third one bringing in nearly twice as much as the debut. Of course I went and blew this winning streak in 2022 by trying to raise sponsorship for a colouring book, which failed to reach its meagre £350 target. This tells us that people on Kickstarter, and in my circle of friends and acquaintances, are supportive of graphic novels, and less interested in novelty products. Lesson learned there.

In its first hour of being open, Richard The Third has reached 49% of its target. Let us see how this progresses as I keep teasing people with information and bits of the book. On which subject, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish writing and drawing!

UPDATE: Funding goal achieved by 11.37am - three hours after opening! That beats a previous record of three days. This will no doubt have been helped by me running a fortnight of pre-launch status for the campaign, which attracted 51 people registering their interest, and asking to be notified when the campaign launched.

We currently stand at £850 (out of a required £750). Though obviously I need to get more than that to actually cover the printing and postage bill, and would like more still to buy me the time to comfortably finish the writing, drawing and publishing job properly.

UPDATE: 10pm Tuesday, we're up to £1179, which is ten quid more than the £1169 Findlay Macbeth ended up taking in after a month! Not a bad first day.

Weds 2nd 9pm: £1321.

Thurs 3rd 9pm: £1321. Some further promotion needed.