WEBVTT -- English 00:00:00.622 --> 00:00:02.623 Hey everyone! I'm Lianne Sentar. 00:00:02.713 --> 00:00:04.713 And I'm Rebecca Scoble. 00:00:04.714 --> 00:00:06.714 We're two of the head editors at Chromatic Press, 00:00:06.714 --> 00:00:09.750 the independent publisher behind Sparkler Monthly Magazine. 00:00:09.752 --> 00:00:12.769 Welcome to the Kickstarter for Sparkler Monthly Year 3! 00:00:13.073 --> 00:00:18.096 Sparkler Monthly is a digital fiction magazine featuring comics, illustrated novels, and audio dramas. 00:00:18.097 --> 00:00:20.655 Half manga magazine and half webcomics site, 00:00:20.655 --> 00:00:24.385 our goal is to publish great stories aimed at geeky girls and women age 15 and up, 00:00:24.393 --> 00:00:26.582 but we welcome anyone who likes our stories to join us, 00:00:26.605 --> 00:00:29.164 like with the genres shojo and josei in Japan. 00:00:29.382 --> 00:00:32.448 At a time when there's an industry-wide push for more women in comics, 00:00:32.450 --> 00:00:34.683 our staff is almost entirely female, 00:00:34.701 --> 00:00:37.490 the owners, the editors, the creators and the staff. 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:42.912 We hire people of all genders, but we're also proud that the female perspective is the norm here, not the exception. 00:00:43.231 --> 00:00:46.807 Over the past two years, we've run 24 issues of our magazine, 00:00:46.808 --> 00:00:49.521 and finished 14 full-length novels and graphic novels. 00:00:49.523 --> 00:00:52.496 Some of them are already out in paperback, and more are coming this summer. 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:57.238 And that doesn't even include the half dozen short stories, and the three separate audio series. 00:00:57.704 --> 00:01:00.412 Like the Japanese magazines we modeled ourselves off of, 00:01:00.414 --> 00:01:05.394 our series are more tied together by the age and gender of our audience, not the genre a story happens to be in. 00:01:05.394 --> 00:01:07.974 So we publish everything from modern-day romance, 00:01:07.975 --> 00:01:11.194 to science fiction drama, to urban fantasy thriller 00:01:11.195 --> 00:01:13.492 to alt-history or fantasy adventure. 00:01:13.501 --> 00:01:16.266 The thing these series do have in common is they're page turners, 00:01:16.268 --> 00:01:18.268 and they focus on all kinds of relationships, 00:01:18.269 --> 00:01:22.004 since our first and foremost goal is to get an emotional reaction from our readers. 00:01:22.006 --> 00:01:24.191 Yeah, we're here for the feels. 00:01:24.191 --> 00:01:27.341 If you're not sure whether you'd like our series, you can try them for yourself. 00:01:27.343 --> 00:01:31.459 Just head over to sparklermonthly.com, since most of our content is already free to read online. 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:33.591 And if you become a Sparkler member, 00:01:33.593 --> 00:01:38.070 you can get early content, a ton of DRM-free downloads, and special member bonuses. 00:01:38.072 --> 00:01:43.037 Our paying audience is both supporting us, and getting extra content that they can download to keep forever! 00:01:43.347 --> 00:01:46.977 The first two years of our magazine attracted a wonderful, incredibly supportive audience, 00:01:46.978 --> 00:01:50.689 but so far it's just too small to keep the magazine running on its own. 00:01:50.691 --> 00:01:54.060 Most of the money we're trying to raise will go directly to the creator advances, 00:01:54.061 --> 00:01:57.599 with a smaller amount going toward our support staff, like designers and copyeditors, 00:01:57.629 --> 00:02:00.495 and, of course, the software costs that go into keeping our site running. 00:02:00.507 --> 00:02:04.527 If we make our goal, we'll have enough money to keep Sparkler going for a full third year-- 00:02:04.528 --> 00:02:07.725 that's 12 more issues, starting in August 2015. 00:02:07.727 --> 00:02:09.727 Besides continuing the series that are running now, 00:02:09.728 --> 00:02:14.115 we already have plans for secret sequels and new creators to run in year 3! 00:02:14.116 --> 00:02:16.195 We'll be announcing a bunch of them over the course of this Kickstarter, 00:02:16.197 --> 00:02:18.197 so stay tuned to the project page! 00:02:18.198 --> 00:02:20.644 Our stories are serialized by the chapter in the magazine, 00:02:20.645 --> 00:02:22.645 and then collected into volumes, 00:02:22.651 --> 00:02:25.116 which means that there are three ways to read each Sparkler series: 00:02:25.133 --> 00:02:28.679 in magazine issues, as eBooks, or in the print editions. 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:30.680 If you pledge for year 3 of the magazine, 00:02:30.681 --> 00:02:32.969 You'll get downloads of the next 12 issues, one per month, 00:02:32.971 --> 00:02:35.437 plus all the member bonuses and our Sparkler podcast. 00:02:35.537 --> 00:02:39.556 If you're new to Sparkler, you can also pledge for the backissues of years one and two. 00:02:39.557 --> 00:02:43.396 That includes eBooks of the series that started elsewhere before joining the magazine. 00:02:43.397 --> 00:02:46.681 That way, you can read every series from the beginning without missing a thing. 00:02:46.682 --> 00:02:48.682 If you'd rather read whole volumes at once, 00:02:48.683 --> 00:02:50.746 you can choose one of our eBook tiers. 00:02:50.747 --> 00:02:53.893 All of our eBooks are DRM-free and come in multiple formats, 00:02:53.894 --> 00:02:56.335 and most of them have bonus material that didn't run in the magazine. 00:02:56.336 --> 00:02:58.933 like extra short stories or creator commentary. 00:02:58.935 --> 00:03:01.646 These are great if you're really into one particular series. 00:03:01.647 --> 00:03:05.022 And for those of you who think digital is just never the same, we've got you covered. 00:03:05.024 --> 00:03:08.081 Just choose one of our paperback tiers! 00:03:08.082 --> 00:03:12.400 For this Kickstarter, we also have special sponsored tiers where early pledgers can get a bonus book 00:03:12.401 --> 00:03:15.061 courtesy of one of Sparkler's biggest supporters. 00:03:15.062 --> 00:03:17.395 Or, if you have a favorite artist or writer running in Sparkler, 00:03:17.395 --> 00:03:19.563 a lot of them are offering original comic pages, 00:03:19.564 --> 00:03:22.955 art commissions, or story prompts on those higher tiers. 00:03:22.955 --> 00:03:27.254 And last but not least, we've designed some really fun stretch goals in case we go over the first goal. 00:03:27.256 --> 00:03:29.537 Every time we hit one of these milestones, 00:03:29.538 --> 00:03:31.596 there's a new prize for the people who pledged to us, 00:03:31.597 --> 00:03:33.597 and all our creators will get a raise! 00:03:33.598 --> 00:03:36.132 Thank you so much for your support! 00:03:36.133 --> 00:03:38.835 With your help, we hope we can keep publishing for years to come!