I’ve decided to redraw one of the pages in The Littlest Shoggoth (one I’ve never really been happy with … so why the heck not) … I guess the “Kickstarter edition” will not only be in color, but it’ll have a bit of all-new art, too!
The polls have closed, and we have the results coming in. Here’s the official tally: The Littlest Shoggoth Kickstarter final pledge total = $11,782! So the book will be printed 9″x6″ in full color with a hardcover!
We had a total of 360 backers, so I’ll be doing two new pieces of wallpaper art.
Thank you to each and every person who backed, blogged about, retweeted, handed out fliers, or just told friends about the project. Without you, this would have gone nowhere. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
The marketing phase is over, but there’s still plenty of work for me to do. I’ve got to go over the post-campaign info from Kickstarter and figure out all the steps I need to take.
I’ll post updates here … and on the Littlest Shoggoth Facebook page.
Thank you all again! I can’t wait to get the books, lapel pins, t-shirts, e-books, post cards, and wallpaper out to you. This remains a labor of love … and like other forms of love, it’s best when shared!
According to the Kickstarter page, nearly 2,000 people have “Liked” that fund drive … but a mere 341 have become backers. If each of those 1,659 other people liked it enough to give $1 … we’d make our final printing stretch goal AND everyone would get 20 new wallpaper images!
Just sayin’.
Here it is … the final day of the Kickstarter! We’ve got 8 hours to go and we’re just a little less than $500 from hitting the hardcover stretch-goal! We’re also only 9 new backers away from getting a second new wallpaper image!
It’s already been a great day … so before I slip into full-bore marketing mode, let me say thank you to everyone who has pledged or helped promote or even just thought positive thoughts for The Littlest Shoggoth.
I may have started this to raise money, but I’ve gotten so much MORE out of the process — I feel honored and blessed to be ABLE to produce the book for you all. Honestly.
So thank you.
Now on to the marketing-o-rama!
As I’ve been wracking my brains for ways to promote the Littlest Shoggoth Kickstarter to people who haven’t heard of it yet (or need a reminder that their opportunity to become a backer is quickly slipping away), I finally remembered the very short bit of animation I did back in 2008 when we were preparing to launch the original version of The Littlest Shoggoth. Then I realized that I ALSO hadn’t shared it with the existing backers and fans.
So here, as a sort of Lovecraftian holiday gift, I present to you the ORIGINAL Littlest Shoggoth Christmas Special.
Feel free to share that around as much as you like.
Fewer than 30 hours remain in the fund drive. I’m sure I’ll come up with some other whacky promotional ideas in that time.
It’s been an interesting couple of days, with backers adjusting their pledges both up and down. I haven’t really felt sure that any particular pledge total was necessarily solid . . . but now I’m ready to say that we have pretty firmly established our foothold above $10,000. Which means that we made it! The Littlest Shoggoth will now be printed in color!
Give yourselves a big ol’ pat on the back and a hearty “Well done, lads & lasses!” I still fully maintain that it’s thanks to YOU spreading the word and letting more and more folks know about this project that we’ve been able to reach this level. So from me to all of you — THANK YOU!
Of course, that’s not all we’ve done. We’ve also passed the 300 backer threshold. So after the new year, I’m going to be sitting down and doing an all-new piece of Littlest Shoggoth art, featuring Squammy devouring New York City! And when that’s done, I’ll prepare it in a format suitable for use as a desktop wallpaper and send it around to ALL the backers of every level.
Two Days Left
But let’s not rest on our laurels. There are still two full days remaining in this Kickstarter, and we’ve still more to achieve! In fact, to whet your appetites, I’m going to make those achievements a little easier to reach!
HARDCOVER SOONER — We’ve had a hardcover version of the book as a stretch goal for a while. And now that we’ve nailed down color printing, I REALLY want to reach that one, too . . . so I’m lowering the target pledge level! Instead of the additional $3k to get there, I’ve lowered the threshold to just $11,500. That means we’re already 10% of the way there!
MORE WALLPAPER — I’m also lowering the threshold for additional wallpaper art. Instead of new art every 100 backers, I’ve dropped it to every 50 backers. So if we can hit 350 total backers, I’ll be drawing Squammy devouring Washington D.C. (as promised in a thread on the Littlest Shoggoth Facebook page). At 400 backers, it will be London. At 450 . . . who knows? I’m already thinking that if I get enough of these done, they might be worth collecting in a Littlest Shoggoth Calendar of Devastation for 2014—but that’s a consideration for another month.
47 Hours Until THE END
In the time I’ve been typing this, the countdown clock on Kickstarter has gone from 48 hours to 47 . . . so we’ve even less time than I thought!
Thank you again for your support thus far. With one more good weekend of pitching in, we can bring The Littlest Shoggoth in with a resounding, apocalyptic crash . . . and isn’t that what dear old H.P.L. would have wanted?
There’s three days left in the fund drive (only THREE) and we’re still more than $400 short of the color printing stretch goal. Plus, we’re also just 4 backers shy of the “Squammy Eats NY” wallpaper.
I know we’ve all got a lot to do this weekend . . . holiday shopping, seasonal gatherings, life in general, and (of course) The Hobbit . . . but if you have a spare few minutes, consider making a post or two promoting the Kickstarter campaign.
I promise, after Sunday I won’t ask ever again! (Well, not for THIS project, anyway.)
Just put up a new, slightly unusual, stretch goal.
Right now there are 277 backers for the Kickstarter. If that number passes 300, Stan! will to a new piece of shoggoth art showing Squammy devouring NYC, and we’ll make it available to all backers as a desktop wallpaper.
For every hundred backers beyond that (400, 500, etc.), Stan! will create another new image of Squammy devouring a different city or landmark, and we’ll make those available as wallpapers, too!
Cthulhu needs backers! How high do you think we can go?
Hey, hey … the post cards arrived today! My big challenge now will be to see how quickly I can get mailing labels printed out once the Kickstarter ends … that and how many times I can sign my name before my hand cramps up.
Let’s start with the numbers, shall we? As of this posting, The Littlest Shoggoth has just shy of $8,500 in pledges. We’ve passed both our initial goal and the first stretch goal (which means I’ll be sending out hand-signed post cards to all backers of the Initiate Level and higher). Of course, we’ve still got a little ways to go before we nail down the stretch goal that will allow me to print the book in color.
I’m of two minds when it comes to thinking about the Littlest Shoggoth Kickstarter. On the one hand, it seems like it’s all I’ve been doing for the longest time—and that’s pretty much the truth (between managing and promoting the fund raising, and working on getting the files ready for the printers, I’ve worked on very little BUT shoggoth-related matters since November 12th). On the other hand, it’s hard to believe that just 7 days from now the fund drive will be done, for better or worse.
Likewise, Week 4 was one that had both highs and lows. Since last Sunday, we’ve had one of our BEST days of fund raising, and two of our worst. Now, I always knew that this would be an uneven road . . . no one expected there to be any real consistency in the flow of funds. But as we draw toward the completion of the drive, each less-than-robust day feels more and more impactful—like missed opportunities that will never come again.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I truly believe that the most important factor in achieving a strong finish is to have people OTHER THAN me talking about it. That’s not to say that I’m going to give up talking about it myself—that’d be ridiculous. But it is saying that people EXPECT me to talk about it, and after four weeks of me blathering about it pretty much non-stop, nearly everyone whose ear I have already KNOWS about it. The word must be spread to NEW ears . . . and quickly.
So, in the coming days you’ll certainly hear me trying to rally the crowd (and that includes YOU, if you’re reading this) to make posts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumbler, personal blogs, and anywhere else you speak to the world. If possible, I’d love for these posts to include the words “The Littlest Shoggoth” and the URL for the Kickstarter.
If that bugs you . . . well . . . first of all, I apologize. That’s not my intention, but I can sure understand how this could get annoying. Second of all, you have my permission to ignore me entirely for the next week . . . just mute my channels for seven days or so. Because after next Sunday, the Kickstarter will be over and I’ll be through.
This has been a huge learning experience for me. Certainly, it’s been successful (in that I’ve generated enough money to print the book), but at the same time, I wish I’d had all this information BEFORE I started . . . because I’m sure I could have done this better, start to finish, with the information I now have. That’ll have to wait, though, for whatever my next Kickstarter is, and I’m pretty sure there WILL be a next one . . . eventually.
First, though, I’ve got to wrap up this one, and then deliver the goods!
So thanks for your support so far. I’d quite literally be nowhere without your help. Now, I hope you’ll join me for this final week of the campaign . . . and that we can all be celebrating the successful conclusion at this time next week.