Hello there!
So far 2022 has gotten off to a great start!
A few weeks ago we launched a “pre-ordering” campaign, featuring various perks and rewards for the next chapter in our Phantom Phoenix series. It was a successful campaign, and we are still on track to delivering your orders by the end of the month!
However, I wish I could say everything is “blue skies.” We realized that after 3 years, our company is still struggling with expanding our audience. Many of you are our “core” fans and we love you! Some of you have been with us since our first Kickstarter back in 2017, before we even had a dream about creating a comic book company. We love having you and are stunned by your continued support. In fact, you never stop supporting us, backing every single campaign we launch.
The bad news is that well, to be totally honest…our core group hasn’t changed much. Every single campaign we launch is backed by virtually the same people. While we are humbled by this honor, it presents a problem for us in establishing a self-sustaining business.
While it might appear that all of us are working full-time at Voyage, the truth is that after 3 years, we are still all doing this on our spare time. We have other jobs that help us support our families. We are passionate about the mission of Voyage and want to make the switch to full-time, but we simply aren’t there yet.
The good news is that our company is growing every month and your support is vital to keeping our ship afloat. This year we have plans to release as many as 6 comic books! It is very ambitious for such a small business, but we are passionate about creating quality entertainment for the whole family and are willing to do everything in our power to make that happen.
One experiment that we are trying out this month is extending our pre-ordering campaign for the Phantom Phoenix on Kickstarter. We closed the pre-ordering campaign on our website, but we moved it over to Kickstarter. Why? In our experience, Kickstarter has helped us little by little in attracting new audiences. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, you still have a chance to do so on Kickstarter. If you already have, don’t feel like you “have” to pledge on Kickstarter. Our main goal in this experiment is to see if Kickstarter can help us expand our merry little band a wee bit more.
Regardless of whether you are backing the Kickstarter or not, please do what you can to share the Kickstarter campaign on your social media today. If you already shared our pre-ordering campaign, you can simply mention that we are extending our campaign on Kickstarter.
In all honesty, if it’s an absolute failure, then we know what NOT to do. If it is a success, then we may replicate it in the future by first hosting a campaign on our website, and then moving it over to Kickstarter.
Each of us at Voyage are “creators,” experts at creating beautiful content. Unfortunately, none of us are “marketers,” experts at marketing our content. We do what we can with what resources we have and pray and hope for the best.
Thanks for your time today as I ramble on. Say a little prayer for us today that we can sail to calmer waters and patch-up our ship for a long, successful journey!
Onward Voyagers!
Philip Kosloski
Founder & CEO of Voyage Comics
Philip Kosloski
Philip Kosloski is the founder of Voyage Comics & Publishing and the writer and creator of the comic book series, Finnian and the Seven Mountains.