Where is that Kickstarter Money!?

Where all the money goes.

I have run 22 kickstarters. 21 of them were successful and raised easily over $100,000 combined.

That seems like a lot of money, doesn’t it?

Well, what if I told you I NEVER made a profit on a campaign?

The truth is, I have to structure my kickstarters to pay for all of the artwork, printing, shipping, and taxes. Some people are able to risk the cost of production and art before they launch, relying on the campaigns to pay them back. I am not in a position to do this. I try to pay for some artwork leading up to any campaign, and most of the time I put anywhere from $500-$1000 into the book before launch, but I cannot and have never been able to afford the complete cost of the art prior to launch.

I’m going to show you exactly where my money goes. If you’re a new creator, this may provide some useful insight on the costs of creating comics. If you’re a reader and a fan, this will give you some clarity on where all of the money goes.

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For my latest campaign, The Neverland 1-4, my goal was $5,000.

I raised $5,227.

After error backers and Kickstarter fees, I will get $4,666.46.

I still owe my artist $1,500 for pencils and inks.

I owe my colorist $1,300.

I used a print cost estimator with my goto printer, Comixwellspring and found that it will cost me roughly $750 to print all of the comics I need.

I use the estimator on Pirateship.com to find that my shipping cost will be roughly $750 as well.

All of this adds up to $4,300 leaving me with $366.46.

Sales tax in Ohio is 6.75% which translates to $315.

That leaves me with about $51.50 to spare.

I also need to pring stickers, pinups, purchase shipping matierials (gemini mailers, tape, bags/boards)

The $51.50 will cover the stickers but the pinups and shipping materials are on MY dime. Fortunately, I have a ton of these items set aside from previous campaigns so I won’t have to spend much more to fulfill this campaign.

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So, ALL of the Kickstarter money goes to expenses. None of it actually pays me for my time (of which I spent months) working on this book and running the campaign.

I WILL print a very small amount of overrun copies for me to sell at conventions, but that is the only real profit I will see from this campaign.

This is issue 4 of a 5 issue series. During the next campaign, I will raise funding for the single issue 5 AND a complete trade edition of the book. The goal here is a longterm one; to print a large printrun of the complete trade and have stock to sell online and at conventions. With the book completed next year, I will also seek a distributor on hopefully sign a deal to release the complete series in comic shops.

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Indie comics is a marathon, not a sprint. Most people aren’t going to make a ton of money crowdfunding comics. I wouldn’t be here with all of my books created without Kickstarter though, and I am ever so grateful to my readers and fans for the support over the years.