Broken Frontier

It’s been 87 days since I started my Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing for my new comic project, American Terrorist. Only 3 days remain until it’s all over, and I’ve still got a sizable margin to close if I want my project to be successful.

Back when the project first launched, I wrote a column on how great I thought the possibilities were for the independent comic community at Kickstarter.  It allows creators to reach out to new fans and pitch to them their new projects while providing them with a way to support worthy projects without much risk, as the checkout process is through Amazon.com and supporters are only charged when, and if, the project is successful.

This was all very important in my decision to go with Kickstarter. And during the time that my project has been up and running, many things have been going well. The creative team have been working away, getting the pages done as we near the end. I’ve been posting many of these pages on the behind-the-scenes blog, which is available to all my supporters, where I’ve shown things like how a page progresses from pen and ink to colors by adding graphic elements to the pages.

Other times, I’ve described the research I’ve done and compared reference photos used for the artwork to how it looks once it’s been drawn.

Even better than that, I’ve been posting diFM #6: notesgital issues of the comic as soon as the material is done. Right now, American Terrorist #4 is available for my supporters to read, and they’re the only ones with access to it.

I’d like for all of this to continue. I’ve enjoyed reaching out to new readers, many of whom have found the project by their own means, and from their responses, it seems like they’ve enjoyed reading the comic and watching it develop along the way. I know they’d like for this to continue and to get a copy of the hardcover book printed and delivered to them.

But in order for this to happen, I need to pick up the pace on gaining support and I don’t have many days left to do it. My fundraising ends this Sunday, June 27 at noon EST.

Please consider supporting the project and/or spreading the word any way that you can. You can see more about the project, including our video, on our Kickstarter page. And if you scroll down that page, you’ll see links for where you can read the first two issues of American Terrorist for free. I think you’ll find that the other incentives are a good value, too. Remember, the $25 for the hardcover book includes free shipping to anywhere in the world and comes signed by all of us if that’s how you want it. That’s the best deal you can get.

And the best part is, as I mentioned earlier, it’s risk free. If we don’t reach the goal, you won’t be charged a penny. Your support, not to mention a look at the blog and the digital issues, will have come at no cost to you at all.

I’m going to give this one last push. It’s true that the story will still be completed regardless of whether this project is successful, but only as a digital graphic novel. And as much as I’m happy for what digital media has done to help small publishers, I don’t want us to be confined to it and pushed out of print. And I’d really like to be able to send people copies of a beautifully printed American Terrorist hardcover.

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Tyler Chin-Tanner started his own publishing company, A Wave Blue World, where he wrote and drew layouts for Adrenaline, its flagship series, Adrenaline and wrote its latest graphic novel, American Terrorist.

© 2010 Tyler Chin-Tanner.  All rights reserved.
Email: tyler@awaveblueworld.com

www.awaveblueworld.com