Band of Bards’ First Year Plans
We want you to know what our intentions are. This is a marathon, not a sprint. So while progress may seem slow at times, or you may wonder why we aren’t just pumping out titles, there is an intentional plan behind this madness.
Grow an audience
We need to connect with and excite comics readers. Nobody itching to buy the comics, no more BoB. Pretty simple, but you’ll see that’s a theme for this first year. If we try to take on too much we’ll burn ourselves out and outstrip our capabilities, we’ll lose whatever credibility and goodwill we have and that’ll be a swift end to this dream.
So how do we do this responsibly? Good damn question. If you have suggestions, I have ears. All kidding aside, we plan to create a fun and interactive online presence. We will be publishing weekly BardBlogs along with regular Twitch streaming. It’ll help us put more of our story, our plans, and our progress out there for you all to see. Comics is a community. Let’s be friends!
Build relationships with creators
Chris and I have our own stories we want to create and put out into the world, but we can’t do everything. The comics industry is all about mass. To be self-sustaining there is a critical mass of monthly titles to publish and a critical mass of copies sold for each title. That’s just the cold facts. Sometimes you have to just stick to the facts, ma’am.
So building healthy relationships with creators built on trust and respect is kind of a big deal. This is something that also takes time and you can’t force it to happen. Each interaction we have with a creator is another opportunity to prove ourselves, and to have our integrity questioned. So we just have to go out and prove ourselves. One thing you’ll see us doing is boosting the work of independent creators. Just because a book isn’t being published by BoB doesn’t mean we can’t admire it and give it our support.
Another way we’ll be tackling this goal is by forming a Guild of Bards (working name, don’t @ me). Look, this industry is terrible when it comes to information sharing. While pockets are great at sharing lessons learned & offering supportive feedback that is not the norm. So to help correct this a little we will be working on building out an infrastructure to support the free flow of ideas, information, and lessons learned. There will be some vetting of members to ensure the integrity of the program. Our biggest concern is with establishing a space where people can confidently speak freely about their WIP without worrying about someone stealing their ideas. It also needs to be a forum where constructive, honest feedback can be given and taken. There’ll be more to follow on this but we’re really excited for the possibilities!
Raise money through streaming, podcasts, and merch to offset reliance on KS
And now for some boring business model stuff. Look, this is an expensive business. There is a buttload (actual measurement) of up-front costs between creative costs and production costs. Kickstarter is an awesome tool that has brought so many great stories into existence. It’s not a self-sustaining model though. We’ll be looking to use KS, but we want to minimize our reliance on it by creating multiple revenue streams.
Like GZA said, you gotta diversify your bonds. So you’ll see us pushing hard to generate funding through the BardCast, including the In Your Service series, on Twitch streaming and podcast, Patreon, and merchandise. Sounds cheesy? Maybe, but it’s reality. Cash rules everything around me, like it or not. The better job we do raising working capital through these methods the less we will need to rely on crowdfunding, the quicker we get to publishing, AND the better we’ll be able to compensate creators.
Importantly in all of this, Chris and I will not be taking any pay until we achieve a self-sustaining benchmark. I think it’s important to state that on the record as assurance that this isn’t some long con to bilk cash and then run without ever actually intending to publish. Whatever revenue comes in during this period will be used to fund operations and get those good comics made.
So now you have a better idea of what to expect from us during our first year. I hope this helps to create some transparency and trust in what we’re doing.
And don’t forget, the Bard Store opens May 28! You can get some quality swag AND help support new indie comics!
#ComicsDoingGood