January 2025 Newsletter – Comics Doing Good Campaign and where do we go from here?
January 2025 BoB Newsletter
Comics Doing Good on Kickstarter
Our first campaign of 2025 launched this week! We’re excited to try something new.
#ComicsDoingGood has been our core since the start. Our mission of advancing authentic representation, inclusion, and diversity in comics drives all we do. To support that mission we have launched an annual Comics Doing Good collector pin. Each year will bring a new design to collect. These are tangible ways to show your support of BoB and our mission.
While we’ve been planning this for some time, it’s clear that the art world needs to take a bigger lead in America. “DEI” has become the latest conservative talking point enabling their attacks. We didn’t set out to make a campaign to directly counter this, it’s just a very sad reality that the mission and values we hold so dear are the right wing’s biggest boogeyman.
Designed by Chris this year, we’ll be able to place orders as soon as KS collects payments, so this will be quickly fulfilled. We also have tons of awesome add-on items like our locally made patches & pennants and some fun collections of our comics.
Support the Campaign HERE!
What’s the Big Idea? – This is what your support will help build!!!
Let me start by explaining a major problem we face.
As a small publisher we are constantly struggling to find printers and merchandise vendors that produce quality products in the lower quantities we need at prices that make sense. There’s a delicate balancing act of securing bulk discounts while not buying way more product than we need, leading to waste. Often times it’s a choice between buying way too much, or getting pricing that barely leaves us anything left. Add on the tight turn arounds to get comics to Diamond (let’s not talk about that yet) and to shops on time and it’s nearly impossible to achieve all of these things.
This has led us to just one solution – to bring all production in house.
Becoming “vertically integrated” as they say in business school is our goal.
Establishing publishing offices that also house a printing press, merch production area, shipping facilities, warehousing, a retail shop, and event space all under one roof is what we are seeking to do in 2025.
But wait, there’s so much more….
In solving our problems we recognize that we’d be able to address these same issues for others. There is an ever growing underserved market of small press and self publishing creators, both in comics and traditional publishing. We’re all faced with these same issues, and they’re only going to get worse as looming economic pressures (inflation, tariffs, Orange Dumbasses) compound. The best solution for this is to create these resources and facilities for ourselves. If we are able to create this vision it can be a large benefit to many more of our peer publishers and our friends who love to DIY.
And yet there is still more…
As our idea has matured we’ve recognized the need locally in Buffalo for an inclusive space to support our creative economy. Buffalo has so many great artists, writers, poets, creators of all stripes. What we lack is a place for all of us to gather, work, create, and grow together.
The Band of Bards Creator Hub (working title, OK?) will be part of this vision. A place with affordable co-working space catered to creatives. Studio space on short & long term rental. Access to our production equipment. A place to showcase your work and network. We believe this is something that can be a major boost to our local creative ecosystem in Buffalo, and the best way BoB can help support our local creators.
This is a massive undertaking, not just in labor to accomplish all this but the price tag for all this is roughly $500,000. We have a vision and the people to make a major difference in Buffalo and the larger creative communities, but we are going to need a TON of support to get there. If you believe in our mission and our vision we could use your help. Every book purchased, every new fan introduced to BoB, and every bit of word of mouth helps us close in on our goal. So please, show BoB some love however you can.
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For additional queries, please contact Band of Bards directly: [email protected].