Dave Cook – the writer of cyberpunk graphic novel Killtopia – recently offered some great creating comics tips on planning the promotion of your crowdfunding campaign on his Twitter, which he has kindly given us permission to repost on downthetubes.

For those of you unfamiliar, Killtopia, drawn by Craig Paton, which smashed its original crowdfunding goal, is an incredible cyberpunk graphic novel series set in a mega-city in future Japan, where heavily-armed Wreckers are paid to hunt rogue mechs for money, fame and glory. Rookie Wrecker Shinji and Crash, the world’s first sentient mech, as they are hunted as fugitives across the neon-soaked metropolis by Wreckers, android killers and Yakuza gangs.

Shinji wants to save his sister. Crash wants to be more than a machine. They both want to make it out alive….

Crowdfunding Campaign Promotion Tips – It’s All in The Planning!

Here’s some tips for all comic creators planning to launch Kickstarter’s on that February 2019 pay day sweet spot:

Take the Christmas break to sit down and write out a marketing plan. Think about the following things and write them down…

1) Plan your social strategy. If you only post on your Facebook wall or Twitter, only your friends will see those posts (unless shared). Research Facebook groups and influencers you can share your project with.

With @Killtopia, we asked Cyberpunk fan groups nicely if we could post there.

2) Research Facebook ads (and ignore folk who say they don’t work). Don’t target the 30 million people worldwide who have ‘Marvel’ listed as an interest. The majority won’t be interested in your book. Think smaller, niche, targeted and more local to start with.

3) Reach out to comic press as soon as possible! Don’t send them a press release on the day your Kickstarter launches (Don’t send one at all, actually!) Just and email to say hi, this is my project, would you like to cover it once the KS is live. Tee up that relationship early, maintain it.

4) Think about interesting stuff you can share on social to build a fan base. With Killtopia, we wrote little posts about our influences, shared news from the cyberpunk and anime world etc. Our followers saw we were real fans of those things and we’re now a little community.

5) We also wrote down a calendar of posts: “Today, we’ll share a character bio, tomorrow an early sketch, next week an article on how Akira influenced the book etc.” Over time this will gather interest. Key point – “over time.”

6) A post or targeted Facebook ad gets you 10 new fans who are real, engaged and genuine. Don’t fret, those are ten more than you had. These things are cumulative and they snowball.

This is why you need to do this as soon as possible before your Kickstarter. Not at launch!

Dave Cook

Dave Cook is a writer hailing from Scotland. He’s spent the best part of a decade as an award-winning games journalist before setting up his comics label, Card Shark Comics. In addition to Killtopia, he is the creator of Dark Souls-inspired fantasy saga Vessels and the post-apocolyptic road trip series Bust.

• Dave also wrote this great article on marketing your Kickstarter, published on the Card Shark Comic web site

• Check out our guide to writing a good press release and working with the comics press here

• Killtopia #1 is on sale now from BHP Comics – order it here and step into a neon-soaked future Japan, gripped in a battle between killer mechs and insane bounty hunters!

• Card Shark Comics is online at www.cardsharkcomics.com

• Follow Dave on Twitter @davescook | Follow Killtopia on Twitter @Killtopia | Card Shark Comics on Facebook

• The crowdfunding campaign for Killtopia #2 launches in March 2019 – watch out for it by following Dave on Kickstarter

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

• Roy of the Rovers, Eagle feature on Talking Pictures TV show “Writing on the Wall”
• Creating Comics: Russell Mark Olson on his passion project, Gateway City
• In Memoriam: Cartoonist Ed McLachlan

Categories: Creating Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features

Tags: Craig Paton, Creating Comics, Crowdfunding, Dave Cook, downthetubes News, Kickstarter, Killtopia, Marketing, SF Comics