Kickstarter 2016 Collaboration Brainstorm

Covers from this year's Succesful  Kickstarter! 

I’m pondering doing another Kickstarter or series of Kickstarters for the cover of John Haynes: The Man Who Rules the World and the Isis and E’steem projects I have planned for release in 2016. But this time I want to do things a little differently.

For next year’s cover projects I’d love to bring in a comic artist like Bill Walko as a partner. I believe with a partner I believe I could get more exposure for the project. With all of us promoting the project on our websites and our social media more people would be aware of it. Which could lead to more donations.

With an artists’ name attached to the project people from day one people on social media would know who is designing the covers for the books. And with the artist officially attached to the project from day one I believe donors would be able to know what would to expect in terms of the finished cover and I could have a set date for the final products’ release on Amazon, Smashwords and other online retailers.

I also believe with the artist attached to the project from day one it allows us both an opportunity to build on donor anticipation. If an artist has a following their fans can get on board with the project and put in donations for it.

And along with building that anticipation I can also offer more rewards to donors. Instead of just offering paperback copies of the new book with the cover art on it or a series of older titles, I can also offer something like the eBook to donors. Or the artist could take that time to offer commissions of people’s favorite characters.

Having a partner means we both can work on the Kickstarter rewards. For example, I can work on the shipping of books and possible eBooks and if they wish reward donors with sketches, or a commissioned peice if the donations meet a certain goal mark or make a donation for a certain amount of money. 

Of course bringing in a partner has its challenges. With a partner there’d be equal responsibility. I’d need someone who I could trust to pull their own weight on the art side. That means we’d all have to work together towards sticking to the deadlines in order to have a successful project.

There’s the issue of breaking down the costs of the work and paying for the rewards and the time and labor for the project.  After the project is funded I’d make every effort to make sure we were both paid equally for our labor and efforts.

All of this is still in the planning stages. But I’m looking to build on the success of last year’s Isis/E’steem Crossover Kickstarter and working towards making next year’s books the best they can possibly be. Bill Walko’s new covers got a positive response from readers and I’m looking to carry that momentum into next year’s publications. I believe if readers see the quality of SJS DIRECT publications continue to improve they’ll be willing to give them a try and share them with their friends and family.