KICKSTARTER

FAQ

• What is the ultimate format of the final book?

  The final book will be a cross between a graphic novel anthology and an art book. Some of the creators are contributing a standalone piece of art in the form of a one-page pin-up style piece. Others are contributing 2-5 page short comic stories. It's a case by case basis, and the final book will be as varied and diverse as the creators participating.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST
• Do I still get a THANK YOU if I pledge $20 or more?

  Yes! All pledges above $20 get THANK YOUs on the website, in the digital comics, in the paper comics, AND in the anthology book. We stay thankful no matter how much you pledge!

  Last updated: Fri, Nov 11 2011 4:33 am EST
• Do I still get the DIGITAL COMICS if I pledge for the paper comics?

  Yes. If your pledge entitles you to a paper comic book or an anthology book, you also will receive the digital version of that book as soon as it's available. You won't have to wait!

  Last updated: Fri, Nov 11 2011 4:36 am EST
• Will you ship my reward outside the US?

  Yes, but we would super appreciate it if you could add $5 for shipping outside the US. That would be awesome. Thanks!

  Last updated: Fri, Nov 11 2011 4:36 am EST
• What if I want 2 different sets of rewards? I can't select more than one pledge.

  Right, there's no automated solution. What you can do is select one pledge and add the cost of the other pledge, then message me saying what you want. The technical term for this is "double awesome."

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:26 am EST
• Why are single issues being published? Won't that waste money when you can just publish the collected book and send the rest of the $$ to do good?

  The single issues have multiple purposes: (a) they allow us to do a rolling release schedule of offering content as it is delivered without having to wait for all the slackers before anything sees print, (b) this could potentially create positive cash flow that can make smaller but consistent donations to the protesters, (c) the single issues (especially digital) will enable us to be more inclusive of up and coming artists whose work might not fit in the collected book, (d) single issues allow people to pledge at much lower entry costs than the book so we are able to include more people... plus the pledge amount for each format is designed with the unit cost in mind so as to generate as much money as possible for donations. Just think about the pledge amount versus average SRP for these formats: pledgers are contributing $5 for a digital comic, $15 for a floppy comic, $50 for a hardcover book... 5 bucks may not be much but there's no marginal cost... as opposed to the nightmarish marginal cost of a hardcover book. So no matter what format you pledge to buy, you can rest assured we will maximize the good done with those dollars.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:39 am EST
• When will those single issues be released prior to the hardcover?

  We intend to start releasing the single issues in roughly May 2012 and the collected book in roughly Sept 2012.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:38 am EST
• Are the single issues being printed independently like the hardcover, or will a publisher put them out into the direct market?

  The current plan is to print them on-demand unless we have enough pledges that it's more cost effective to do a traditional print run. If we elect to go to the direct market, we have various options: we can partner with an established publisher who'll eat the print costs but may or may not break even and pass along profits, or Halo-8 can distribute through its deal with Diamond and wouldn't take a cut of profits but we'd have to pay the print costs. So again it comes down to how many we're printing and if we determine it's more beneficial for us to hand off the print costs and send more Kickstarter money to the protesters or if it's worth risking some of the Kickstarter money to pursue revenue. We're fairly pragmatic about this stuff. Also, we may do smaller profile issues on-demand but issues with really high profile talent or stories to the direct market... we can be as flexible as we want.

  A lot of people are trying to draw comparisons to what went down with Womanthology and we're cognizant of some of the challenges that project faced. We're not going to enter into any deals now before we know how big this project will grow. We're comfortable doing it at the current scale and we're also aware there's the chance it could explode exponentially. Since we're secure in our abilities to produce and distribute the project, we're going to keep all our options open and not commit to any particular deal, partnership, or pipeline until we're confident we have the right information to make the best choices.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:42 am EST
• What are the expenses of the project if you reach your goal? How much goes to the protests?

  Our goal is to keep the hard costs as low as possible. Our team is balancing two goals: (a) to create a time capsule in the form of an enduring piece of art in a hard format rather than a more ephemeral digital format, (b) to financially support the protesters. Printing a hardcover book is expensive. In fact, it's way more expensive than you'd think. So we have to be really careful about how the money is spent. Currently (and this is subject to change), the plan is to limit the hardcover books to pledges & pre-orders. We are going to see how many hardcover books are pledged for here, and then we are going to open up a non-Kickstarter pre-order space to purchase the book for a limited time (largely for international audiences). When the Kickstarter and pre-order window are done, that is the final number of hardcover books we will print. This is important because if we print overages that ship to retail with 50% off wholesale prices and traditional retailer-return policies, the bookkeeping will get too muddied--and, because of the high cost of printing the hardcover, we could risk eating into the donation pool. We need to establish a clear per-piece cost to each book that we can deduct against the pledge amount or purchase price. Until we know how many we're printing (and thus the cost, which is based largely on volume) we won't know the precise hard costs. We will likely keep the content in print as a softcover trade so long as we know its publication can at least be self sustainable, although we hope it will continue to generate funds for the protesters.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST
• How do you decide how much each artist gets paid?

  Each page will be valued against the number of pages in the book, and then the creators working together on a particular page will share that page's value. So for argument's sake, say the book is 100 pages and the donation pool we end up with is $10,000. The per page value is $100. If one creator makes a single page pinup, $100 is allocated. If a writer and an artist collaborate on a 3 page short, $150 is allocated to each of them.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST
• Are there checks and balances with the $$?

  Due in part to my love of playing craps, I am opting not to be the direct recipient of the funds. This Kickstarter is linked to the Amazon Payments account of Patrick Meaney (director of Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods & Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, partner in Respect Films LLC which has financed and produced several projects through Kickstarter). Patrick is pretty skinny, so we suspect he'll get tagged if he tries to sneak across the border with cash duct-taped to his legs. Also, not that I don't trust Patrick implicitly (et tu, Brute), but Respect Films' revenue on their two documentaries flows through Halo-8 to them. So we have a check & balance here going both ways. Patrick and Respect will be assisting me in allocating the funds. If Halo-8 winds up publishing or distributing the book, that will enable better transparency than if Halo-8 or I were personally holding the funds.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST
• How will you handle taxes?

  There is a tax burden here, because we're essentially generating revenue on the book and related merchandise even though pledges are being made prior to the book's production. It would be easy enough to re-invest revenue and keep the project from being profitable, but in order for the money to eventually flow to the protesters it has to be spent or gifted and that's no longer a production cost. So someone in the cash flow chain will have to eat the taxes when the money is gifted. The workaround is to donate to the protesters through a 501(c)3 not-for-profit company, but the problem with that is we give up control of how the money is spent. Since the donations are being made on behalf of the creators (not the pledgers, who technically in the eyes of the IRS are buying stuff), this is an issue we're working through with the creators in an ongoing discussion. But you should be aware that most likely either part of your pledge will go to Uncle Sam or the donation will flow through an established not-for-profit (or a mix of both). And certainly we'll keep everyone posted on the truth & consequences of all this.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST
• Will the $$ go entirely to the NY protesters? What about Occupy Oakland? And Occupy Sesame Street?

  Again, the donations are being allocated on behalf of the creators. Since Patrick lives in NY, he may want his share going to NY. Since I used to work at Children's Television Workshop, I may decide my share should buy Elmo some thermal underwear... well, no, but you get the point. The way things are trending, creators seem to want to get the most bang for the buck by aggregating our shares into larger amounts that can do a lot of good for one specific part of the movement. But the creators retain the right to assign their shares to personally relevant sectors of the movement rather than aggregating with others. Just to reiterate, by pledging you're technically supporting the production of the book and receiving some good(s) and value in return... the ultimate donation to the protesters is being made by the creators with the compensation they receive from creating art & story for the book.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST
• What will be done with the extra money?

  The funding goal is the *minimum* amount we need to be certain we'll cover the hard costs and also enable the creators to donate enough money to make it worth their efforts. When we pass the funding goal, we can add more creators and/or each creator can be paid more so more money will ultimately be donated to the protesters. All the money past the fundraising minimum will go to either (a) growing the scale of the project (time capsule goal), or (b) paying the creators more so they can donate more (protester-donations goal). If our Kickstarter goes above double the minimum, we will begin introducing more ambitious plans for what we can do... but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

  Last updated: Thu, Nov 17 2011 2:34 am EST