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Just Watch The Video

Los Angeles resident Dave Kellett put up the Kickstarter for the Drive chapter one collection around midnight Easterly Time, and as of this writing (call it a bit less than fifteen hours in), he’s above US$24K of the US$35K goal. Looking good on the stretch goals (which I’m told will include the Tales of the Drive anthology stories, from the likes of Dylan Meconis, Ryan North & Tony Cliff, Zach Weinersmith, Christopher Hastings & Anthony Clark, and Evan Dahm), looking like I have to clear space on my shelves, etc. Two things I wanted to talk about beyond the fact this is a cool Kickstarter.

  • No, three. Three things. Because first, I note that three people have taken advantage of the top reward tier (US$500), which includes the complete eight book Sheldon library, various Drive tchotchkes, and one of the few pages of original art Drive art (the strip has been produced digitally since very nearly the start). It’s a bargain, and quite frankly underprices the Drive art.
  • Second, I want to note that LArDK pulled a sneaky launch on the campaign, as there are two reward tiers that he apparently tipped off his Patreon supporters to yesterday, as they were only good on that day. Basically, they got a shot to grab the US$65 tier for US$50 or the $US90 tier for US$75, and a total of 240 people did. Now consider the momentum you get from letting your most ardent fans — the ones giving you money every month — an early shot at a bargain for one day only.

    The FOMO is strong, the campaign goes widely public more than halfway to goal (as of right now, there are 362 backers, meaning two thirds of the backers are from the early access period), and you get to screw with my formulas for predicting final tally all at the same time. Curse you, Los Angeles resident Dave Kellett! But seriously — this was a masterful stroke of leveraging an existing support base.

  • Third, everybody that actually knows how to run a good Kickstarter (i.e.: not anybody that spams you promising a successful campaign for a usurious service fee) will tell you that a good, to-the-point video is a key part of the campaign. Of course, LArDK has provided one (it’s hilarious, and at 82 seconds in length, gets the point across efficiently), but that’s a given. And it’s super unfair.

    Not everybody trying to Kickstart their thing made a feature film (and a fine looking one at that) and has experienced Hollywood types (director/cinematographer, film editor) at their beck and call. Everybody else that ever makes a Kickstarter video from today forward has to up their game because LArDK just went and blew the curve for you. Email your complaints to screw.you@losangelesresidentdavekellet.com.


Spam of the day:

The DRIVE Kickstarter is finally here! YOU GUYS I’M VERY EXCITED THIS IS VERY EXCITING http://http://DriveKickstarter.com

We get it, Los Angeles resident Dave Kellett, you’re excited about your book.

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