Friday, July 13, 2012

Kickstarter to UK

Kickstarter comes to UK soon. That's cool.
Also, they've become a major force in the publishing market. Here's an article from The Guardian. 
Not all of Kickstarter's comics projects are graphic novels, but the majority are. Even with these caveats, Kickstarter is in the conversation for the number two publisher of graphic novels. Clearly, crowdfunding is making a huge impact in the graphic novel market," said Publishers Weekly. [...]
"I really like pre-selling things as a way of bringing them into the world – it means we're making enough for the people who want them, we can afford to make them as well as we want, and it means that people are getting something real. We aren't worrying about marketing costs. We don't have to get a record label, and then try to persuade them to make the thing we want. We just do it," Gaiman has said.

Couldn't agree more. Crowd-funding is a hugely exciting invention which is levelling the playing field more than anything else since the Web itself.
Of course I'm sure most Kickstarter projects are less successful than, say, Amanda Palmer's record, as is true in all the world, and I have a sneaky feeling we will never actually find out the real causes of what makes one a flop or a hit. I also have a feeling we will never stop trying!

2 comments:

Russ said...

Kickstarter rocks! So many worthy projects have been funded via Kickstarter.

This project is one of my favorites:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1530433688/the-american-drive-in-movie-theater

I'm looking forward to when his book is published and available!

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Cool.

I've donated to many projects, and often been happy with the product. Like the "Glif", for example, an iPhone stand.
Biggest downside is the many months it often takes until actual shipping.