This all began with a declaration of war on the number 49.95%.

That number was the success rate of comic book projects on Kickstarter as of May 16, 2015, the day I first turned on the mic to record the pilot episode for the ComixLaunch Podcast. 

That number was a problem. More than half of all comic book projects failing to fund was unacceptable to me. And I truly believed that it didn’t have to be that way. 

My theory was that most projects weren’t failing because the creators didn’t have good ideas or worthy projects… but because they didn’t have good launch systems. 

And I had a belief that that was something I could help with… so I did.  

Comics crowdfunding on Kickstarter today is in a completely different space than it was a decade ago. 

Today, more than 3 out of 4 comic projects that launch will fund, by far the highest success rate of any category on the platform.

One of several reasons for that is that comics is the category with the most repeat creators… practice may not make perfect (I’ve still yet to run the PERFECT launch and I’ve taught this stuff to hundreds)… but practice does create a ton of fluency with the structures and strategies required for successful crowdfunding.  

Today, there are hundreds if not thousands of veteran comic book crowdfunders who may have first come to Kickstarter seeing it as a sparkplug that could ignite their creative visions… but have come to see it as the engine that powers their best creative work, year in and year out. 

And I’ve seen the ripple effect of having so many creators find success and bring their dream projects to life, and then give back by sharing insights and knowledge and their growing platforms with other creators coming up behind them. It’s a beautiful thing, and the comics community on Kickstarter is just that… a community. 

And it’s one that the rest of the comic book industry has taken note of. 

When I started this podcast, Kickstarter was almost exclusively the domain of the indie creator, small press publisher, and webcomicer who realized that launching on Kickstarter could not only be a funding force multiplier for their existing audience, regardless of how small… but could also help creators build a more substantial following through discovery on the platform.  Today, some of the biggest publishers, creators and IP in the world of comics are routinely launching on Kickstarter, bringing premium collected editions that in many cases wouldn’t be viable on other sales channels directly to their audience. When I started ComixLaunch, there was a single million comic dollar + project… we’re now seeing one or two seven figure projects launch each year. 

For the first few years of the podcast, there was a lot of concern about the crowdfunding bubble being about to burst… but by the time the 2020 pandemic rolled around and the bulk of the industry went pencils down, it was quickly apparent that Kickstarter and crowdfunding was perhaps the most reliable and resilient sales channels in the industry. 

Today, I hear far fewer creators voice concerns about burning out their audiences… or is this going to go away? Actually, today I’m more likely to hear creators stress about building the systems and capacity to sustainably launch more projects, more often.  

Are there still challenges with comics and crowdfunding? Absolutely. 

The entire crowdfunding ecosystem evolved and become more complex. There are more choices than ever before when it comes to where to launch and what crowdfunding tools to use to support your launches. There are more spam scammers out there following the money. There is fear and uncertainty about how the explosion of AI will continue to impact the entire world… including our little pond of comics crowdfunding. 

When I started ComixLaunch, I was 36 years old, working as a game designer and producer and building my ComixTribe publishing company in my spare time. 

This podcast began as side-passion project. I had launched six successful projects and raised about 120K in funding at the time… 

“I don’t have all the answers… but I do have a natural passion and curiosity for finding them, and then sharing what I’ve discovered with people like you” is what I told my listeners at the very beginning… and I made a commitment to a full season of 24 episodes of this show. 

Well, it’s been over 550 weekly episodes, dozens more launches, million+ dollars raised for ComixTribe since I started this thing… and what began as a passion side-project eventually became a major part of my livelihood and my identity. 

That work has been incredibly meaningful to me. 

What started as a back of the envelope sketch of what an actual business could be ended up becoming real. 

Building out courses and coaching programs and masterminds, all from scratch, and helping hundreds of creators launch successfully, fund their projects, and build sustainable careers has been incredible. I have multiple bookshelves and longboxes of books from creators I’ve coached and worked with in comixlaunch pro, and a wall of thank you letters!

A few months back now, I celebrated ten years of ComixLaunch with the launch of a Comic Book Crowdfunding planner, and came to the realization that I have achieved the goals I set out for that business… but was struggling to set new ones.

I’ve said many many times, on the pod and to my ComixLaunch Pros, what you focus on grows.  But the flip side of that, what you do not focus on withers… 

…And there are some things in my life that need much more of my focus right now.    

It’s been some of the most fulfilling work of my life… but I’ve come to the difficult decision that it’s time for me to take a break from ComixLaunch. 

I think one of the hardest things about starting doing something that you love and that has success and is really meaningful to you and others is that there is no easy, clean, way to stop it or hit the pause button.  

While I’ve had some tremendous support from creators working assisting capacities over the years – my sister Katie (first podcast editor) and then Brant Fowler who has been here for HUNDREDS of episodes, VAs Fred and Loriecel, Clay Adams supporting the ComixLaunch Pro community and doing the spotlights, Bill Coulombe as community assistant, and Jeremy Melloul who helped in the very early days brainstorm and iterate on how this show could help creators – I never built ComixLaunch into an business that could operate without me or that I could walk away from if I needed to. 

And I don’t ever want this amazing thing that we’ve built to ever feel like something that I’m trapped by…

Honestly, the easiest thing would be to just keep rolling. 

As hard as starting something can be… stopping something that has been a huge part of your life, your value, your identity… Stopping can be much harder. 

But, this show has meant too much to me to let it go on just by going through the motions… 

Comixlaunch 550 was a chance for me to put in some deep reflection on the journey I’ve been on and capstone many of the themes this show has hit on over the years… That’s a note I’d like to go out on… or conclude with for now. 

And I’ll be honest, I do feel a lot of guilt around stopping…

I know there are some of you out there who have been listening to this show for years and make it part of your weekly routines. 

I know there are creators who hoped to get on this podcast for interviews coming up that I won’t be able to schedule. 

I know there is a world where I would have found the magic formula to keep this podcast and the ComixLaunch business built around it going forever and ever constantly expanding… 

And while I’ve prided myself on being a relentless sonnofagun who can stick through things… 

…I can’t ignore the reality that I need to take a break right now.

Is this the right decision? 

They say “time will tell”… but once a decision is made, the best course is to work to make that decision the right decision. 

But yeah this is hard… I knew it would be hard, which is why this is only the second podcast in 550+ that I scripted out (the very first one being the first.) 

There may be creators listening to this who take different things from it… 

• Maybe some will want to pick up the mantle… and I already know there are a ton of ComixLaunch Listeners and ComixLaunch Pros who are already doing amazing, supportive content for our community.  To you, I say, keep at it! Many of you are far, far, far more experienced and established than I was when I decided to first start sharing my ideas about comics, crowdfunding or being a creative online, first in blogs and later podcasts… I’m so glad I didn’t wait for permission to start putting my value out there. If you have something to say, there’s probably people who need to hear it… 

• Maybe some who have been listening and know they need to change something they’ve been doing for years… and if I can give myself permission to take a break from this thing I’ve been doing for a decade+… maybe you can give youself some grace too to make a difficult break, too. 

• Maybe some people who are angry… or sad or I don’t know… predicted it… however you feel, those feelings are valid, and I appreciate you for feeling anything. It’s a gift to feel passionately about something… and it’s an honor to have created something that people may miss when it’s gone. 

This podcast feed will still be active while I’m on break… with over 500 episodes, I’ll be scheduling BEST OF content to go out on the usual Sunday release schedule. So much of the mindset, strategies and tactics that I and my guests have shared are timeless… and as someone who returns again and again to favorite books, trainings and resources, always finding something new in the revisiting, you may too. 

And beyond that, we shall see… I’m incredibly grateful that there are creators around the world who have given me their time and attention and have let me into their lives. 

And so gratitude is really where I want to end with… 

I am so grateful for everyone who listened to this show. 

I am so grateful for our longtime sponsors, Comic Impressions, gemini comic supply, and any creator who sponsored an episode of the podcast… or shared a quick plug about their awesome launch at the end of the episodes.  

I am so grateful for the hundreds of guests who shared their stories with me, their lessons learned, their ideas for how comics crowdfunding could be even better. 

I am so grateful for all of the creators who opened up, got vulnerable, and shared their struggles on this show for others to learn from on a coaching call or mastermind style episodes. It’s not easy to lay your problems bare in front of the internet… but it is so valuable for us out there that we are not alone in having them… and to know that there are solutions and great ideas worth exploring on the other side of every challenge. 

I am so grateful for all of the ComixLaunch Pros who got value from this podcast and then took the next step to purchase the programs that have sustained this show far longer than I would have ever thought possible, that put food on my family’s table, and gave me meaningful work to do that I was passionate about.

Our community has done over 1000 launches since the very first cohort joined, nearly 9M raised, and probably most rewarding is the hundreds of great connections and community that was forged.     

As the great philosopher Winnie the Pooh said, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” 

So, much like I ended the very first podcast episode, humbly, with a lot of love, and just a tiny bit of fear, I thank you for listening to the ComixLaunch podcast.

And I can’t wait to see what you launch next. 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio | RSS