Guest Post: Nathan Heigert talks about the Kickstarter he’s doing for his new graphic novel

The project began for me in a high-school Earth science class, when the teacher gave out a creative assignment: describe a fictional planet and tell the class about it. Most students simply picked one like Saturn and just changed its color, but I was gung-ho. Star Wars Episode I had just come out, and the world-building of that franchise had made me want to make up my own world. That would eventually become the planet Dañub, the setting of my graphic novel, “Shade: The Dying World.”

That was 16 years ago. Now the story is over 360-pages long and is the being funded right now on Kickstarter. This is how I got from there to here.

That initial assignment launched me into thinking about the inhabitants of that planet and creating a story around their world, starting with the way the planet tilts its north to its sun as it revolves it, leaving the planet half barren, half lush. I created a band of voyagers intent on leaving the “hot” side, where they were stranded, to the “shaded” far side of their world. In my spare time in high school and college I drew out the concepts, sketched characters, and finally illustrated a full rough draft. After college, I needed a project, so I picked up where I left off, beginning to illustrate the final draft in 2007.

Since I was obsessed with quality, I didn’t want to just publish it in issues, but as one full-sized graphic novel. I split the difference and divided the book into two parts. Between 2007 and 2010 I illustrated and colored more than 160 pages for ‘Part One’, releasing a small print run at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. The reception was good, but the small print run was expensive and the story wasn’t complete. I determined to finish the second part and release it together with the first in one book, lowering the printing costs and resulting in a satisfying narrative.

At the same time my career was moving forward, leaving me with less time and less creative energy. It took nearly 5 more years to illustrate the remaining 200 pages. But I finally had a complete story drawn out.

To release the book I needed a platform to sell it and to gain a wider audience to increase awareness and lower per-unit cost of printing. Kickstarter was a natural choice. I prepared for the campaign months in advance, informing my social circle about it and beginning to reach out to press. I was a featured artist at an event at the Cartoon Art Museum and passed out promotional postcards and spread the word.

At last, the day of the launch came. I threw a small party for close friends and hit social media. Getting definite backers like friends and family to pledge immediately was important for gaining traction.

Since then, the campaign is on track to reach full funding, but to avoid pledges ‘plateauing’ I continue to reach out on social media and come up with entertaining perks to attract new pledges, like drawing 1 Donald Trump for every $5 pledged in a timeframe and uploading the results.

The experience leaves me with a lot of nervous energy. Every pledge notification is received with excitement, only to lead to anxiety for the minutes or hours that go by until the next pledge is received. The 30-day length of the campaign and the ‘all-or-nothing’ fundraising system is a huge ticking clock hovering over my head.

However, I maintain confidence in the campaign because I believe in this project. Because I have become so invested in the story, I know that when its audience discovers it they will similarly be hooked by it. We live in a time with more opportunity than ever to share your passion project with the world, and I’m constantly appreciative of that.