Kickstarter Wows, Whoas and Woes

One of the things that I wanted to make explicitly clear in my Kickstarter video was that I have been truly blessed by those close to me.  The Tellest series has always done fairly well, and beaten my expectations thanks to friends and family who help to spread the word, and believe in the material.

Even in spite of that knowledge, it still blows me away to have $843 pledged already in less than a week.  At this point, it's almost a sure thing that enough money will be raised to be successful.  At some points over the last few days, the project's projections surged past $6,000!

Still, there are some things I've learned about this campaign.

First and foremost, Tellest is so out of left field that I can't possibly result to mimicry to try and emulate someone else's success.  Do a search for medieval superheroes and you might find some pictures of the Avengers re-imagined in period-piece armor and costumes.  This makes it incredibly hard to promote the Kickstarter project.  It is nice to know that the Tellest books are pretty much one-of-a-kind though.  Seriously, why has nobody ever thought of this before?

Second, it is really hard for a publishing project to find any traction on Kickstarter.  Seriously, I picked the wrong hobby!  While indie gaming projects are raking in high 5-figure numbers (and sometimes low 6-figure), I'm scrounging for what I consider to be on the low end.

Whereas friends, family, and people who are already keen on the Tellest books have graciously given their time and their contributions to the Kickstarter, the real challenge is finding the people out there that don't know they're fans yet.  The Enemy Within was popular on Kickstarter for a day or two before it got buried on the site.  The only hope at this point is some kind of grass-roots campaign to try and pick up the pace.  Maybe, if I'm extremely lucky, the Kickstarter staff will reevaluate my project and feature it at some point over the next week or so.

In the meantime, I'll just keep chugging along.  Every now and then I'll blow up Facebook or Twitter, trying to get that one extra person that might be toeing the line.  There's still a whole lot of time for the pace to go either way.  Who knows?  The project might nosedive at this point and never find its feet again.  In any case, this has been a very interesting learning experience.  It'll be something I'll remember either way.

Kickstarter is Live

Sorry for all the real quick, concise updates over the past week.  Without further adieu, I present to you the Kickstarter for The Enemy Within:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/181624749/the-enemy-within

Tons of people have shown their support over the past (almost) two years.  If you can't pledge any money, don't feel bad.  But, if possible, please pass along this project.  I'm sure there are some people out there who will thoroughly enjoy the Tellest universe, and the stories therein!

On your marks, get set...

Just a quick update today.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting another post before the Kickstarter project went live.  The video production portion of the campaign went a little longer than I expected, thanks to a late winter illness.  Now, all we're waiting for is Kickstarter's approval.

If you want, you can see the video that we put together on the Kickstarter page.  We're still expecting to put a few tweaks on it here and there, but that's the basis for moving forward.

The Day is Nigh

Just over a month ago, I let you know that I was planning a kickstarter campaign for The Enemy Within.  That time is getting ever closer.  If all ends well, we should have it live by Friday of this week.

With that in mind, I'd like to invite you to preview the campaign as it stands so far:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/181624749/2003747840?token=f7380f29

The most important piece of the puzzle, the video, is still in limbo.  I was under the weather last week, and could barely breathe let alone speak with a normal voice.  In fact, I'm still not 100%, but I'm committed to bringing this project to life sooner rather than later.

There are also small touches that I'd like to add to the kickstarter page this week as well, such as pictures of the artwork that Rhianna has been toiling away at.

What I'd like you to do is take a look at the rewards, and make sure I'm being fair and honest.  If something seems out of place, please bring it to my attention.

In the days leading ahead, this project won't be live.  This is just for your perusal at the moment, but when the campaign is live, I will most likely be reaching out for your help in promoting it.  I am only as strong as my network, and all of you have been wonderful every step of the way.  If you could help me through this latest stride, it would mean the world to me.

Thank you!