Don't Crowd Your Crowd-funding...!

My last post was looking backwards to the time spent in Bendigo (and Melbourne), but there's never enough time in life to look back for too long. So tonight, while Mrs K watches a dubbed movie on SBS, I thought I would spent a little time talking specifically about what has taken place in the past two months (or so).

Mostly, it's been trying to keep my three Kickstarter campaigns going, or winding them up. Somewhat foolishly, I think now, I had three going in reasonably quick succession. I started Iron Outlaw on ANZAC Day, finishing it on 8th June. Dillon Naylor's Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles commenced on 25th July (or was it a little before, when I lost track of the date?) and it concluded a month later on the 24th of August. It felt like the Air Hawk campaign began a week later, although it was actually the 3rd October that it was launched and concluding just yesterday (2nd November). It sounds like there was plenty of time between the events, but when one has to take other factors into consideration...there really wasn't! Moral: Don't Crowd Your Crowd-funding campaigns!! To be honest, though, most of Dillon's campaign was carried out by Dillon and designer Jeremy Macpherson.

Firstly, while down south (as those who have followed this Blog will know) there was limited access to the internet available to us ... and our internet usage was limited to the local library or using my granddaughter Charlotte's computer. And, of course, I wasn't really in Bendigo for the campaigns, was I?! Rosie (the dog) demanded our love, care and attention (in that order)! I've always tried to keep for posterity the video campaign of the various Kickstarters I've run, and why should today be any different? Let's start with Iron Outlaw, right?!

This was the first one that ran, designed by Rob Feldman. However, designer Ryan McDonald-Smith felt that a more hard-hitting approach was needed. So, he reworded my original text and also supplied a brand new video...

I didn't have any input into the Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles video. Overseen and approved by Dillon Naylor, here it is right now. It ran for the complete campaign. Thanks to Dave Watts for the original theme (composed in 1997), artwork by Dillon (and Glenno Smith), clip assembly by Josh.

Finally, there were two clips that featured in the Air Hawk campaign. Initially I used a video that I designed (and one that I can't seem to locate any more). However, it wasn't long before Frantz Kantor came to my aid and asked if I would mind if he designed one! Of course I didn't! I'm usually reluctant to include my talking head on a video, but Frantz convinced me otherwise. Here are the two clips: the first the long version, the second used as a reminder towards the end of the campaign...!

So, there we have it; all for posterity!

Now the task ahead is to work on completing these campaigns, by getting these books out to the public! Iron Outlaw's book has arrived, and already all books have been sent out (I completed those last weekend). If you missed the Kickstarter, you can still obtain a copy here on this website. I'm also hoping to have a book launch (in Melbourne preferably) in early 2026. Already the feedback has been positive. (I am quite proud of the book.)

Dillon Naylor's new book Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles is soon to arrive, and a Brisbane book launch is planned for that one (more news on this with my next post). And, my beloved Air Hawk? Sadly, designer of that project, Don Ticchio, has had some major surgery. I'm planning to come down to Sydney to the Sydney Comic Arts Market Place (SCAMP) in less than a couple of weeks, and will see how well Don is doing then. (if you're in the vicinity, come along and say "G'Day!" -- I'll be there on Table 23 with Rob Feldman. It's my first comic festival in Sydney for many years!) But, perhaps, more news about that, and other future projects, ought to be held over until my next post: I have, after all, many address labels to prepare now that these Kickstarter campaigns are over...! Until then...