Mad Rupert

RR Chapter 1 book crowdfunding update!

Added 2022-01-09 17:11:40 +0000 UTC

Hey everyone! So, I've been talking with Slipshine, who publishes Robber/Robert and will be helping to crowdfund and print it, about our options for making this book a reality!

As you may or may not have heard, Kickstarter announced this financially, ethically and environmentally dubious "switch" to "blockchain technology(???)". This has put tons of independent artists in a VERY TOUGH SPOT, because many book projects (and livelihoods) are dependent on KS for print funding and preorders. We spent some time looking at other options for crowdfunding, but Indegogo, probably KS's largest general crowdfunding competitor, also has founders who are flirting with blockchain, and UNFORTUNATELY none of the other platforms accept NSFW projects!

So that puts us in A BIT OF A BIND. Kickstarter was the platform we've been planning to campaign on for the last 2 years, long before the crypto announcement, and it seems like we might be stuck with them for the time being. I know a lot of people have already made the decision to distance themselves from the platform, and I respect that decision. The fact that RR is in full color, which is more expensive to print, and NSFW, which isn't allowed by most services, means Kickstarter is kind of our only option for crowdfunding at this time. If we were to do a preorder run through Slipshine, without a campaign attached, we would only be able to print a small amount of books at a much higher per-unit cost.

That being said, we're planning for a campaign launch in February. I understand if anyone has questions or concerns, and I appreciate your support for the comic whether or not you are able to back the Kickstarter. I really wanted this campaign to be a big fun event, and I hope it still can be. MAYBE THEY'LL WISE UP AND WALK BACK THE BLOCKCHAIN STUFF. I'm not holding my breath but I can hope!

-Mad