🚀 T minus 7 to Launch
An alternative to unsubscribing; Creating a "character reveal" for Instagram using Canva
Things just got real for me. The Kickstarter for Lump Dog™ launches in exactly one week! The next five chapters of The Lump Sum Saga are finally coming to life. ( You can sign up to be notified when the campaign launches HERE. 🚀 )
Running a Kickstarter comes with so much baggage, but at the core of it all are the questions, “Are there people out there interested in my quirky SciFi story? And can I find them?” I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I want to tell the story. I am equally confident that there are comic fans out there interested in space exploration and first contact. But finding those people and getting them to spend their money takes work and consistent exposure.
One of the implications of this is that my e-mail delivery cadence will be much higher than normal for the next six weeks. I hope to make this a valuable information source for my fellow creators who plan to eventually crowdfund their own comics. I’ll be using Substack to journal my day-to-day Kickstarter-related tasks and will show examples of how to use various tech tools to make running a campaign easier. This is as much for me as it is for you, as I tend to forget how to do specific procedures between campaigns. Goldfish-level memory for the subscriber win!
Fortunately, if this Kickstarter-related blabalanche is not for you, you do not need to unsubscribe. Instead, you can simply turn off the “Launch!” subsection of the site. See the short video below.
Creating a Character Reveal Video
If this substack feed is about the tech of a Kickstarter campaign, my Instagram feed (@gregtjosvold), is where story elements will be revealed. As part of that, I plan to reveal a new character every day and the video above shows how I am using Canva to accomplish this.
T minus 7: Lump Dog Launch Journal
During the Lump Dog crowdfunding campaign, I am recording a journal of my activities each day. The goal is to have a record of what I did so I have something to refer to when I do my next campaign. Hopefully, this will also give you ideas for your own campaigns.
Recent tasks
Created unique KS referral links.
Made the “Explore” video ad with Canva and launched it on Instagram reels.
Produced a “Character Reveal” video and used the procedure described to create reveals for my main characters.
Set up and mailed out Backerkit Launch pre-launch e-mail.
Add a pre-launch message to GlobalComix comments. https://globalcomix.com/my/
Important resources
Tools used
Scrivener
Microsoft Word
Canva
Descript
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Preview
Adobe Premiere
Next up
Promote the pre-launch page on important Discord servers, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., using custom links generated under the Kickstarter promotion tab.
Work on the Kickstarter page video.
Set up a BackerKit landing page.
What I am waiting for
Lenticular cover images
Team biography updates
Oops! Lessons learned for next time
The pre-launch period included Easter weekend and April Fools' Day, which added complexity. I did check for days my wife had off for vacation (so the campaign wouldn’t interfere), but next time, I’ll also check for holidays and special events before establishing the actual launch day.
Snapshot (What I’m currently monitoring)
Pre-launch page followers: 19
Instagram ad spend: $5.06 CDN for 19 clicks