Kickstarter vs Crowdfundr: A Breakdown

For years, I ran campaigns on KickStarter. All to make comics and merchandise like buttons a reality.

Then KickStarter started getting into Blockchain. And I wrote my piece on THAT decision (in that I thought – and still think – it’s a BAD IDEA).

But where could I find a substitute for Kickstarter?

Enter: Crowdfundr.

They not only sponsored the Small Press Expo in 2022.

They NOT ONLY have campaign links that are easier to share than KickStarter campaigns.

They had a representative reach out to me AND CHAT WITH ME to answer questions I had about the platform.

AND…Crowdfundr built their site with comics creators in mind.

That said…is Crowdfundr the complete replacement we need?

Let’s break it down: Kickstarter vs Crowdfundr

To run a crowdfunding campaign of any sort, you need these key things:

  • Easy-to-share URLs.
  • A clear funding goal.
  • A set timeline to get funded.
  • An audience of any size.
  • A simple way to customize your campaign to make it easy for fans to back you.
  • Minimal fees.

So how do these two platforms size up with these keys?

Easy to share URLs

First off – KickStarter has a tendency to make their URLs extra long. It makes it a pain in the ass to share their links.

I’m not the only creator who has resorted to using TinyURL or Bitly to shorten a KickStarter link. Some creators will even buy a domain name just to make sharing a link easier. (I don’t recommend this. Domain names are an annual fee and you only run your campaign once.)

With Crowdfundr, you can set the URL yourself.

I have run one campaign on there so far but I can STILL tell you, without looking it up, that you can find it at crowdfundr.com/dragon-baby.

Braindead-simple.

A Clear Funding Goal and A Set Timeline to Get Funded

These two tie in together. I’ll get into why in a second.

If you run a campaign on KickStarter, you need a set amount of money to raise and a deadline to get that funding.

But KickStarter runs on all-or-nothing funding. If you don’t meet your funding goal by the deadline, you lose any money raised up to that point.

This is meant to be a fail-safe for backers. The idea is that they won’t be charged for a campaign that failed to meet a funding goal. Nobody wants to waste their money on a project that fails out of the gate…right?

I’m sure a lot of people who backed “successfully funded” campaigns on KickStarter have a LOT to say about this. Looking at you, Mighty No. 9.

And I’ll be upfront – there are KickStarters I have backed that met their funding goal…and then nothing came of the project. They got their funding, and then all I heard were crickets. Just because a project got its funding doesn’t mean they follow through on making said project real.

But maybe the asking goal wasn’t enough to fund the project. What then? Run a second Kickstarter? How would that look to backers of the first campaign?

Here’s where Crowdfundr has a leg up, in my opinion.

Crowdfundr lets you choose: all-or-nothing, or get paid immediately.

When I ran the Crowdfundr for the Dragon Babies keychains, I chose the get paid immediately option. What that does is this: when a pledge comes in, the payment is processed immediately.

No waiting period. The payment just showed up. And payments went directly to me. (I kept getting PayPal notifications when a new backer backed the Crowdfundr).

Whichever option you pick, you have another Crowdfundr tool to use: changing the campaign deadline and asking goals AFTER launch.

I actually did this with the Dragon Babies campaign because of Small Press Expo promotional reasons. Basically, if Crowdfundr wanted to help boost my campaign, I had to have the campaign run DURING Small Press Expo.

Anyway, let’s say you run a campaign on Crowdfundr to get a comic to print. You meet your goal (great!). But then shipping books to backers costs more than you expected. It quickly becomes apparent that you have no money left after printing the books to actually SHIP them.

(This has happened to too many creators on KickStarter.)

Crowdfundr can let you update the asking goal and post an update to your backers explaining the change.

If you keep your backers in the loop on the regular, they will support you. ESPECIALLY if you have to ask for a little more help.

“But what about payment processing fees?”

We’ll get to that.

An Audience of Any Size

Unfortunately, KickStarter has a leg up on this one over Crowdfundr, at least for now.

KickStarter has an algorithm for potential backers to browse campaigns based on: projects they’ve backed previously, favorite categories, and favorite creators. It functions a little like YouTube in that way.

Because of this, it’s easy for potential backers to find a creator they have never heard of.

This makes it easier for a newbie creator to post their campaign on KickStarter and get entirely new customers. That’s how beginners can start a reader/fan base.

With Crowdfundr – at least for now – you have to drive traffic to your page yourself. Crowdfundr does not have a built-in search engine or algorithm to find random campaigns based on your likes.

Because of that, Crowdfundr makes more sense for people who have a fan base already built outside of KickStarter.

A Simple Way to Customize Your Campaign So Fans Back You

I really want to rant about add-ons right now but I gotta build up to this.

First: both platforms are comparable for writing your About page. When writing your campaign pitch, KickStarter and Crowdfundr have the same formatting tools.

They also have the same Risks and FAQ sections. Again, minimal differences.

Setting up rewards?

OH BOY, TIME TO RANT.

When setting up rewards, you want to make them relevant to your campaign. You also want to keep your options simple, so backers aren’t overwhelmed with decision paralysis.

To that end, KickStarter implemented a two-step system: Base Rewards, and Add-On Rewards.

Base Rewards are what the backer sees immediately on the campaign page. Ideally, you only have 3 or 4 options, plus or minus an Early Bird tier or a Limited Edition reward.

Once you pick a Base Reward, you get taken to the Add-ons page. Here, you choose extra rewards to get bundled with your Base Rewards.

KickStarter sucks at add-ons.

There. I said it.

Digital add-ons? Fine. Because shipping costs aren’t involved.

Physical add-ons? Good luck figuring out additional shipping for THAT.

Because here’s the thing: when you choose physical add-ons with KickStarter, they stack on top of the Base Rewards.

Meaning shipping costs ALSO stack.

It’s VERY easy to overcharge on shipping with the add-on system on KickStarter. And that sucks for the backer.

Not only that, but I’ve had it happen where a backer wants just one element of a reward bundle, but can’t get it unless they pledge to that tier.

It’s like saying, “Oh, I just want the comic and the sticker. But the only reward tier you have is for a comic, a sticker, and a print. I don’t want the print. Just the other two.” How do you fix that? By making another new tier?

Crowdfundr, on the other hand, is way more intuitive.

Their rewards are all a la carte.

Meaning: you can list out the reward components individually. And then backers can make their OWN reward bundles.

When I ran the Dragon Babies Crowdfundr, I got SO MANY variations of rewards. Two keychains to one backer? Done. A keychain, sticker, and zine? Done! A keychain and a commission? Done! Just a sticker! You bet it’s done!

Not only that, but Crowdfundr will simplify shipping costs: when a backer picks multiple physical rewards, the system chooses the more costly shipping price, and makes shipping free on the other items. It’s a simpler way to bundle shipping.

Minimal Fees

KickStarter charges a 5 to 10 percent fee for running a campaign on their platform. And that’s on top of credit card and payment processing fees.

So when you raise funding on KickStarter, you have to budget losing up to 10 percent of your funding to fees and upcharge your asking goal to compensate.

Crowdfundr as a no-fee option.

…I know what I said. They have an explainer breaking it down.

BONUS

Did you know Crowdfundr can turn your post-campaign page into a store?

Well, they can! That way, your easy-to-share URL can still be put to use after you wrap up the campaign.

Because of ALL of that…

My next crowdfunding campaign will be on Crowdfundr.

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know if you still have questions or concerns.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

Coming Soon: Vanita and the Demon King

A thousand years ago, the Demon King and his armies marched across the lands, terrorizing the people who crossed their paths. Only one man stood up to the Demon King, and his name…was Richard.

vanita chuckles at richard's name

At least, this is the history Vanita grew up with her whole life.

Her story takes place in the present day. But one morning, on her usual jog in the park, she comes across the legendary Demon King himself – heavily beaten and close to exhaustion in the bushes.

And so begins this domestic story of a trans girl trying to make sense of the fabled Demon King passing out on her couch.

The Origins

This concept all started with this sketch.

concept for vanita and the demon king page 1
concept for vanita and the demon king page 2

(In the beginning, the Demon was a Golem, but the more I researched it I went, “Nah. Demon.”) So I started with this sketch and the notion of wanting to make a slice-of-life/romance story. But I made it a fantasy with a demon king because…fantasy is my MO.

(To be honest, if I have an idea for a story but it doesn’t click with me for some reason, I’ll transplant it into a fantasy setting. Then the story clicks. It works 98 percent of the time.)

The Twist

So I started scripting the story as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge in 2021. I was a rebel that year and drew thumbnails for the script of Vanita and the Demon King.

As I scripted the story, something happened that surprised even me…

Claudia, from The Case of the Wendigo, showed up.

vanita meets claudia from The Case of the Wendigo

And that’s when I went, “Wait…is this…a spiritual sequel to The Case of the Wendigo? Is this another Charlie & Clow adventure?!”

Yes.

I know! I’m surprised, too. It only took…4 or 5 years from The Case of the Wendigo going to print to the beginning of production for Vanita and the Demon King.

The story is 90 percent scripted with an outline in mind for the very end. I only have roughly 20 pages or so left to thumb.

After That…Will There Be a Crowdfunding Campaign?

Yes!

At first, I thought I would need to pivot because of Journey of the Mystery. But thankfully that project is being handled separately. By doing that, it frees up time to focus on getting Vanita and the Demon King funded before launch.

How?

Well, I’m looking at running a campaign on either KickStarter or Crowdfundr. Both have their pros and cons, which I’ll talk about more tomorrow.

Whichever platform I pick, though, I hope to launch it soon.

The goal is to get certain back-end costs covered. A domain name for a website and website hosting are the two biggest concerns right now. Extra funding after that can help with overhead during production.

If you would like to see more development sketches – or get the first notice when the crowdfunding campaign launches – sign up for my email newsletter.

Your email is secret with me. I don’t sell it anywhere. Plus I only post once a week unless it’s a special occasion. Like if you’re Subscribed to any Clubs I run.

I hope you’re excited about Vanita and the Demon King! I know I am.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

What’s Next for Journey of the Mystery?

So I made Journey of the Mystery during the 24-hour comic day challenge. All 24 pages. Done.

What’s Next for This Comic?

I had a chat with the project organizer of the Comic Book Jamboree. And we’re figuring out the next steps to get this book to print together.

Which…is exciting!

It also means that any crowdfunding campaigns for this comic are not happening soon.

I think that’s fine for now. I had another crowdfunding campaign in mind anyway. One for another comic idea, Vanita and the Demon King. I’ll talk about that story in tomorrow’s update.

But I DID ask about one thing I wanted to do with Journey of the Mystery. And thankfully, I can move forward with this idea.

journey of the mystery, a comic coloring book by kelci d crawford (and you)

Here’s a Coloring Book download of Journey of the Mystery!

Believe it or not, I wanted this comic to do double duty from the start. I wanted a finished version and a coloring book version of this story, so that it can be told AND exist for you to make your own.

If you want to download this coloring book version, head over to my Ko-Fi shop. It’s there now for $2+, and any extra you give gets you access to behind-the-scenes things through the Digital Club for one month.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

24-Hour Comic Book Day – DONE

I DID IT. I successfully made 24 pages of comics in 24 hours!

Technically I did it in 22 hours and 11 minutes. And BOY am I still exhausted.

Here are some teaser pages of the story I made in the challenge.

journey of the mystery page 1
journey of the mystery page 2
journey of the mystery page 3
journey of the mystery page 4

And that’s just the first 4 pages!

I also streamed the process of making this comic on YouTube. As I’m writing this, an archived version is not available yet but will be soon.

What’s Next?

Well, I made this comic with the folks at Comic Book Jamboree. Right now they’re judging the entries from folks who participated in the challenge. I at least made the top 3! Check out the official page to see the other finalists. Their work is *chef’s kiss*.

No matter what, though, I have plans with this comic. I hope to get it to print soon. And maybe even…make a coloring book out of it. I mean, this coloring page on Ko-Fi was the inspiration for this story.

Stay tuned for more updates.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

24-Hour Comic Day with #ComicBookJam

Join me, starting on Jan 7, 2023, at 11 am EST – for the 24-Hour Comic Day challenge! I’m joining the fantastic folks at Comic Book Jamboree with #ComicBookJam.

As a heads up – I WILL NOT be responding to the live chat during this challenge. Why? I signed up to do 24 pages in 24 hours. This will require my total concentration.

I WILL, however, be checking in once in a while. If you comment or act in bad faith, I will put you in time out or block you.

If you would like to see the other artists – or join the challenge – check out the Eventbrite page, as well!

That’s all for now. Thank you for watching!

You. Are. Awesome.