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Kazu Kibuishi and Jason Caffoe sit down with Jason Brubaker (reMIND) to discuss the making of Amulet published by Scholastic, the Flight Anthology, raising more than $50,000 on Kickstarter to self publish Daisy Kutter and much more. This is just the first half of the conversation.
Jason I can’t begin to tell you how valuable this is to me and my cadre. THANK you!!!
exactly what we need to know. Anxious to hear the next one!
Thanks Samuel! It’s exactly what I needed to hear too. :) I’ve been very inspired to keep creating after recording this conversation.
Ha! I guess I have to agree with Kirkman up there, loved this episode!
Just thinking about how much the last couple of minutes relate to me in a way. At the part where Kazu (I think it was Kazu at least) was taking about how when he was first learning perspective it felt too forced for him, totally struck me. I always hated using one point/two point perspective because it felt, like he said, too forced, too synthetic…
Now I’m using one point in nearly every-other panel! Ha!
Also loved the description of stories that “float”. Reminds me a bit of Voltaire’s writings on theater. He described his writing process as devoid of all the conventions and structure, and he managed to do quite well for himself at the time. The French Academy don’t like him at first, but hey, the people understood what he was doing.
Now I’ve digressed a whole lot. Anyways, looked forward to the next one!
Just wanted to say great interview, and I’m looking forward to part two. It bums me out though, hearing the way you guys talked about kickstarter. When you said … if you fail, your idea is either bad or you ran a bad campaign. That may be true, but I personally think its BS.
I’ve seen plenty of amazing projects ‘not’ get funded … and some completely stupid things make boat loads of money.
Kickstarter isn’t the be all, end all of anything, if it works great, if it doesn’t, who cares and keep working on your project.
Jeff
I think when it comes to Kickstarter campaigns, you have to remember that hundreds of thousands of people are browsing through the site all the time looking for things to pledge on. If you can’t sell to that audience then there is something wrong or missing with your campaign. That’s not a bad thing, unless you never learn from it. If you have great art and story skills but fail to show how good your product is then your project will have a hard time getting funding. In that case, just focus on your pitching skills next time and try again. I think people forget that you can learn from a mistake and try again.
Many artists forget that they have to also be a sales man if they want to sell their art. With Kickstarter, you still have to sell yourself and your art. If you finish a book but never learn a thing about how to sell it then you will probably always have a hard time selling it anywhere you go.
Those are just my thoughts though. :)
Most of the time I’m wrong. :(
Could it be that some projects are just not suitable for the particular audience you get on kickstart? So however good the project and campaign, their particular audience is not on kickstarter at all?
I don’t know.
Yeah that is very true. Not everyone is interested in Kickstarter. I definitely am looking at this through a specific set of lenses so forgive me if I am coming across the wrong way.
i’ve been picking up the seeirs since the first issue, and since then, i’ve actually managed to get most of them signed by the creative team.this oversized omnibus will be great for reading!
I see your point, but I also think your coming at it from the perspective of running a successful kickstarter. It worked for you so its great, but if it hadn’t, or doesn’t work for you in the future, you might see it differently.
I think there’s guys who have failed that have comparable pitching skills, and comparable, if not better, books. Admit it dude, there’s an element of luck involved. The webs a big place and so’s the kickstarter site, its easy to get lost.
Jeff
I do agree that there is an element of luck BUT I don’t think that will make or break a successful campaign.
But you are right that these are just my opinions. Thanks for the comments though.
It’s definately not all luck. There are several campaigns I’m aware of that got “lucky” and where chosen as the kickstarter featured campaign of the day and still failed. War is Helvetica comes to mind.
Hey Jason, the work you guys are doing is inspirational and as Samuel has already stated, very valuable to any artist trying to do his or her own thing. Please keep up the great work!
Thanks so much!
Fantastic interview! Can’t wait for the next one. :D
Really impressed with Kazu’s process. It sounds like they have it pretty streamlined now which just sounds mind-blowing to me! I know I was in panic mode trying to make sure I could get my book in time for my deadline and the thought of doing this again several more times in the next few years is quite daunting. Hearing about how Kazu and Jason manage it without driving themselves over a cliff gives me a lot of hope. There’s always room for improvement.
I also appreciated his thoughts on “responsibility” since I don’t really hear that mentioned in a lot of places. I’m sure it’s because of Kazu’s audience but it’s something that resonates with me. Thanks for doing this interview!
Great work on the latest episode! I found especially interesting the idea that you should do it for yourself when it was elaborated that doing it for yourself meant “you” as an audience rather than as just an artist.
Or where you talked about how you were looking for something to read at a con, but just couldn’t find the type of story you were itching for – so instead you go ’round to doing it yourself. Can very much relate to that feeling.. x_x
Very interesting, as always. I usually listen to these many times (I’m just about to hear this one again). I usually listen to BBC documentaries, dramas and comedy instead of music while working, as it helps me concentrate. These podcasts are a great addition to those, and also very interesting from a professional point of view – so I’m killing two birds with one stone. I’m not involved in comics, but I am a self-employed illustrator. A lot of what is said is so helpful, inspiring and encouraging. Thanks for all the work you put into them.