This article raises some questions about large-amount, long-term Kickstarters in general, and THE GARLICKS in particular.
I wish this article had appeared sooner, because there are points raised that I think are good to address here, and I would've loved to have done it two or three weeks ago!
I hope people who've been reluctant to pledge will find their answers here and decide to pledge and put THE GARLICKS over the top!
While the THE GARLICKS graphic novel won't be shipped until May 2013, all non-book incentives will be shipped by August-September. The date I felt best to give was the date the LAST incentive, the book itself, would be shipped.
I considered adding that info to each reward level copy, but I felt I was inching into tl;dr as it was.
It does say in the "story" on THE GARLICKS' front page that "I'll be serializing THE GARLICKS, three color pages a week, over the next year as a webcomic at http://thegarlicks.net." Backers will see THE GARLICKS come together over the next year.
I'm not disappearing down a hole for a year, hopefully to emerge with backer's trust intact.
As for "supporting" me for a year: well, yes. (I prefer to think of it as "employing, since I started this Kickstarter to have a JOB, something I've not had in 1.5 years.)
I'm not asking for backing for JUST that. The amount covers production AND printing AND fees AND taxes AND the cost of incentives AND postage.
There's a breakdown of where the money goes on the front page. A later update details where my money I earn monthly (in the form of a page rate, not a lump sum) will be spent. It's a modest and responsible budget that ensures THE GARLICKS doesn't go off-track because I've under-funded and have to stop working on it to take other work or a job in case of an emergency.
Also on the front page, I mention that the money is to be put in a protected account that is ONLY drawn on when tasks are finished or bills must be paid. I worked this out with a respected financial adviser, Liz Schiller (former president of Friend of Lulu), to ensure that money would be spent ONLY when it was time.
Take a look at tech Kickstarters (which have already spend money outside of Kickstarter on development) or other comics Kickstarters and tell me how many break it down that well. Only one, that I've seen.
(Also, I see Kickstarters promising delivery by dates impossible to achieve, given their timeline for development and manufacturing, plus the time it takes to get the funding from KS/Amazon to bank, which is 2-3 weeks after the campaign ends.)
$40,000 IS a large amount, but given my plan, the costs of executing it, and my desire to execute it smoothly and as a good experience for my backers, it was the only responsible and intelligent amount to shoot for.
Thank you for your support so far, and if you're backing now or soon, WELCOME!
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