Tag: ko-fi

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Prints Are Coming Back??

Look, I know I wrote a blog post about not doing prints anymore. And that IS true for conventions. Buuuuut prints are coming back – with a catch.

WHY CHANGE MY MIND?

Funny story: I turned in my notice at my office job. To get ready for returning to full-time art-making, I took a hard look at a bunch of numbers. For this story, just know that I was looking at the tally of sales I made online.

(I have a separate spreadsheet for convention sales, but I’ll get to that).

After looking at the data, I realized a surprising fact…

Prints made up 47% of all online sales. That’s close to half of everything!

This blew my mind. When I looked at the spreadsheet for convention sales, prints didn’t even make it to the top 3 categories. But prints DID make it in the top 3 sales categories on Ko-Fi, right up there with original art and PDFs.

So people are buying prints. Which goes against what I initially thought in the original announcement.

WHY IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONVENTIONS AND KO-FI?

What makes prints sell better on Ko-Fi than at conventions?

I think it’s two things: prints don’t usually appear on my convention table due to space restrictions. And the best-selling prints on Ko-fi were limited edition AND framed.

Keep in mind that shoppers are, above all, lazy. If you can offer a framed piece of art (original or print), that saves the shopper the time and effort of finding a frame to fit it. Shoppers are willing to pay for the convenience if it means less work for them.

SO MOVING FORWARD…

Prints are coming back – and staying exclusive to online. That means Ko-Fi, crowdfunding campaigns like KickStarter and Crowdfundr, and possibly even Faire.com. (I’m not on Faire yet, but I’m looking to join.)

That said – prints and original art will be collected into art books. So if you have the means to get upcoming prints, great! If you miss your chance, watch for future art book announcements.

The best way to know when new prints and original art is coming out is to be on my email newsletter (shameless plug). So be sure to sign up to get the first sweet, sweet notice when new stuff comes out.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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Alternatives to Patreon

In case you didn’t see it, I had a chat with comics buddy Jade, creator of Ask the Werewolves and Fox Me Gently. In the video (now on YouTube), we discussed why we left Patreon and alternatives to the platform we found.

I highly recommend giving it a watch! It’s less than an hour and a half long. But if you need cliff notes, here are some highlights.

Jade and I Both Left for Security Reasons

I left Patreon in 2018-ish, returned in 2021, and then left again last year. And I did that because Patreon had laid off their security team.

Jade left on March 1 (just over a week ago!) for the same reasons. On top of that, she found out that Patreon is outsourcing its security to an outside company. One that may sell the data of any NSFW creators at any time.

Not only that – Patreon requires creators who make NSFW content to post their IDs for face recognition software (already a YIKES). But patrons are not scrutinized to the same level. Any patron can check off a box saying, “Yes, I’m over 18,” even if they aren’t. If Patreon’s goal was to stop underage consumption of NSFW content, this policy is a failure.

What a Platform Deems as NSFW is Often Never Defined Until You’re Punished

Ko-Fi is a Patreon alternative, but it has its faults. The first of which is that yes, you can mark your page as NSFW. But you’re not allowed to post NSFW content on Ko-Fi.

This is already a “…What?” But don’t worry, it gets worse.

I’ve shared this story in multiple places, but I’ll repeat it here – back in August 2022, my Ko-Fi page got taken down by the platform. They did not email me about it. They did not tell me why they did it. I had to reach out to them and ask why. They only responded, “You’re posting content we disapprove of. Please remove it.”

No specifics. No details. Just that.

By process of elimination, I figured it had to be one of two posts I did shortly before the take-down. It was either this page of The Legend of Jamie Roberts that dared to show off male nipples. Or it was a product listing with the words “Fuck off” in the title.”

To be safe, I removed both. And my page was immediately up.

That scared the hell out of me. So I researched alternative platforms in earnest.

Alternatives DO Exist.

Thankfully, there are sites like Buy Me A Coffee, Stripe, and Big Cartel. Jade and I discuss other options in the video (which you really ought to watch). But we do hope that these are just the start. We both hope that there are innovators out there who want to build alternatives to Patreon and Ko-Fi.

(And now for the shameless plug.)

I chose to build my own alternative from scratch, using Stripe to process payments. I’m calling this Subscribe.

By going to Subscribe, you can choose a Club that works best for you and your budget! To check out the options, head over to Subscribe. Members get early webcomic updates, exclusive crowdfunding rewards, and discounts on commissions. The more you pledge, the more rewards you get.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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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.

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Subscribe Page FAQs

Let’s address some frequently asked questions regarding my Subscribe Page and the Fan Clubs. (UPDATED JUNE 15, 2023)

“What is this?”

Subscribe is the home for my Fan Clubs. I made these Fan Clubs as an alternative to Patreon. For as little as $3 per month, you get supporter-exclusive content. But if you still have questions, I hope this page helps.

“Why build your own service? Why not use Ko-fi or Patreon?”

I’ve written this before in other posts and in emails. But I’ll say it again here. Patreon has, and continues to have, a lot of issues going on behind the scenes (like finding out they let go of their security team and why. Which – YIKES). In the past, that’s why I moved away from Patreon and towards Ko-fi.

However, Ko-fi is starting to not like the latest pages of my webcomic, The Legend of Jamie Roberts. Because how dare I depict male nipples or incorporate the F-word into my product listings?

To be honest, both of these platforms are starting to feel limiting. If I want to make the comics I want to draw and that you want to read, we have to find an alternative ourselves. That’s why I built the Subscribe Page for the Fan Clubs.

For a full breakdown of why I built my own alternative, check out this video or even this post where I chat with my artist buddy Jade, who also left Patreon.

“Do I have to make an account?”

Nope! Stripe processes the payments. All it needs is a name, email, address (if you’re getting things mailed to you), and a payment method. That’s it! No account needed.

“I want to Subscribe to one of your Fan Clubs. Do I pay for one month at a time, or pay for the number of months I want to subscribe?”

The system is set up so that when you purchase a membership, you’re charged for your first month on checkout. After that, the membership renews based on your sign-up date. (e.g. if you join on the 1st, you buy for one month, and you get charged again on the 1st of the following month). So if you only want to pledge for a certain number of months, that’s up to you to track it. You can manage your membership at any time by going to this page.

“Can I buy a Membership for a year so I’m only charged once?”

As of right now, there’s only one way to Subscribe to one of the Fan Clubs for a year, and that is to back one of my crowdfunding campaigns on KickStarter, Crowdfundr, or Ko-Fi. One-year memberships are available during campaigns as an add-on reward.

“My financial situation has changed. How do I cancel my Membership?”

You can manage your memberships here.

If all else fails, there should be a link on your email receipt with the option to cancel your memberships. If you can’t find it, reach out to me at kelcidcrawford@gmail.com and I can cancel it for you. No questions asked.

“Will you list your Club Rewards in your Ko-Fi shop?”

It depends on the rewards. If they DO go to my shop, they are usually posted one month after Club members receive their rewards. Club members, as always, get first dibs.

Still have questions? Leave a comment and let me know. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

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

You. Are. Awesome.

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Seeing Him PDF Now Available for Download!

the cover for seeing him, a transgender romantic comedy comic. On it we see a city skyline in negative silhouette. Walking below it are a young woman and a transgender man, smiling and holding hands.
Seeing Him Written by Kai and Drawn by me. June 2015.

Seeing Him is the story of Kate, a roller skating rink owner, and Adam, a transgender doctor, who fall in love and start making a life together. Also, shenanigans ensue.

Since its publication online in 2015, Seeing Him has had two homes – both of which, unfortunately, ended up closing down.

But the third time’s the charm! Seeing Him is now available as a PDF download in my Ko-Fi shop for $1.

As an addendum: In the original webcomic run of the story, a page in Chapter 2 had a deeply negative reception. After a review of the comic, I – Kelci – have elected to remove this page from the final product. This is because the page in question did not impact the rest of the story in any meaningful way. I have done this for the comfort of the reader, and to reflect the growth of the author and artist behind this project.

So if you have the means, get the PDF comic over on Ko-Fi!

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

You. Are. Awesome.