Patreon vs. Kickstarter

So...this is happening:

 
"Hi everyone. Need your help to get a new venture going. I've got a campaign on Patreon--http://patreon.com/redstylo. This is very similar to a Kickstarter, but instead of one big pledge, it raises tiny amounts of money over time. We need folks to pledge the $2 level and/or spread the word about the link.

 

For $2 each, you get a new story from Red Stylo Media, plus 15% off everything else in our store for as long as you stay a Patron. We'll send a new comic every two weeks. $2 each! That's cool, right? $2 is SUPA cool!

 

Become my Patron? The first stories we're delivering will be from our newest anthology, KILLER QUEEN, A Comic Anthology inspired by Queen! Even more updates will include chapters and issues from other Red Stylo titles. My goal is to reach 100 patrons by September 15!"

http://Patreon.com/RedStylo


And here we are, back to ye old crowdfunding. I did the Kickstarter thing in 2010 and found it to be an exhilarating experience. Nerve-wracking, but positive--we were funded, after all! It's certainly blown up since then, though. I remember having to explain over and over how it all worked, and now eeerrrbody is doing one, two, ten of them. I've thought over and over about going back to the well, but have always been kind of on the fence. I'll never knock it. Still, it's tough for a lot of reasons.

It's nerve-wracking to ask for money. I hate it. Both because it goes against my nature and upbringing to point-blank ask for financial help, and also because I hate rejection. (Hey, I've learned to deal with it, but you'll never get me to enjoy it.) Thing is, I am not above deal-making-- I love to bargain and cajole favors-- because then it's a contest of personal charm vs. that hard-sell request for help. And yes, I know you're selling a product in return on Kickstarter. The "feel" of it on the creator side, though, is still the hard sell: panicky and aggressive by necessity. Whereas I am a soft seller from way back.

This is the appeal of Patreon for me. Sure there's the hard sell in the beginning: I need 100 Patrons to get this thing rolling, and I've set a Sept 15th date to achieve that goal. But if we don't make that goal, we have amassed at least some of that already, and we're in the game. I will focus on growing our Patron base out of the pool we have, learning what works, what folks want to see, and adjust and add as I go. It's organic, in that way, because it feels like an opportunity to earn and keep a reader over time, rather than a quick hit. And we only get paid if we deliver.

It's also a great, fair deal: I ask for a very comfortable, small initial investment in my company, just $2 per update. If you like what you read, you're in for the continued experience and you stay. Then it's on me (and all my creators) to hold your interest, show our work in increments, keep you happy. We earn you, not just once, but over and over again. Which I am very confident I (and they) can do. S'why we're in business after all.

Please consider becoming my Patron on Patreon. Even if just to see what happens. $2 is a supa cool start.



Patreon.com/RedStylo

Angel With a Bullet #1

Check RedStylo.com for all the latest (and much more frequently updated) news about comics by me.

The first story for my new mini anthology of comics Angel With a Bullet is out. The title story is inspired by the song "Romeo Is Bleeding" from music-master Tom Waits, and you can see the first four pages and download the comic in Red Stylo's online store.




Available digitally and in print!

I loved the movie Romeo Is Bleeding before I ever knew anything about the inspiration for the title (hyoooge Gary Oldman fan, you see.) I have an old SCAD professor, Adam Davies, to thank for "introducing" me to Tom Waits. Davies used the Waits song as text to give a lesson on specificity and mood in writing, and I've loved the spoken word, cut-to-the-heart singsong of all Tom Waits' work ever since.

Gut-shot and betrayed, undercover narco Agent Angelo Carlos has one last chance to make his case.

No one who asks me about what this story means to me gets anything less than a verbal dissertation about crime, punishment, law-enforcement, betrayal, how every beat is symbolic, every character is both a persona and a concept, and precisely how I went about crafting all of it. And right about when their eyes start to glaze over, THEN they get a mind-numbing recitation of every movie, character, writer and novel I was thinking about in addition to Waits when I was plotting and scripting it. I love to pretend literary analysis of my work. Call me Tarantino.

I'll spare you all the pixels. The comic is a ten-page story about a man who would rather blow everything up than fail, brought to sad, beautiful life by two very talented artists, illustrated by Robert "Rahb Gee" Grove,  color by Sara King, to whom I am very grateful. Also a shout-out to my good friend and soul-twin, Erica Schultz, for lending her lettering talents in the 11th hour.

Read my story. Do it now.

Throwback Thursday

Getting a little more creative with my #tbt contributions. In the mid '00s, I followed a Soldier to Virginia and got a job selling plots in a local cemetery. The business of Death was of morbid fascination for me then (still is, really) and I learned quite a few things--some lessons I'm usually happy to share at cocktail parties, and some lessons about how to be a better human being. In 2006, I started a collection of short non-fiction essays, There's a Girl on My Backhoe, but never did manage to finish more than three. So far removed from the experience, I think the stories will have to be recycled into a collection of fiction rather than essays as I fill in (or even invent) details I can't completely recall. I did, though, finish this piece.

All names and places have been changed, except for the most generic, as there are, in fact, many, many, many Lamms in Virginia, alive and dead.

Cover for THE HOUSE OF MONTRESOR

So excited to finally be able to show this off....

This is the new cover for THE HOUSE OF MONTRESOR, my new graphic novel with art by the stupendous Jason Strutz, and a sequel to Edgar Allan Poe's Cask of Amontillado!

written by me, art by Jason Strutz

 

HOUSE OF MONTRESOR is a full-length graphic novel, continuing Poe's classic story, beginning 50 years after the villainous Montresor claimed the life of his hated enemy, Fortunato. For more info about this new book, please visit RedStylo.com.

Also, as I'm writing this, I realize I never posted the announcement for my Cask adaptation on this blog, so I'll go ahead and include a link to that here too.

Happy reading, everyone!

ANGEL WITH A BULLET, my new collection

Posted at Redstylo.com on 4/23:

Enrica Jang here, excited to announce a new collection of comic stories by....me! ANGEL WITH A BULLET is a 4-part series of short comic stories, each inspired by a song from American music legend, Tom Waits.

In keeping with RSM tradition, this series is not an adaptation of any Tom Waits song. Rather, all of the stories are original, stand-alone titles, with their own characters and histories. Readers readers should recognize inspiration born out of lyrics or performances from Waits. Hopefully my fellow Waits fanatics will enjoy my homage to this great American master.

The stories will be released throughout the year, and we'll make announcements about artists and pages-in-progress as time rolls on. For now, stories include:

ANGEL WITH A BULLET: inspired by "Romeo is Bleeding." Gut-shot and betrayed, undercover Agent Angelo Carlos has one last chance to make his case. Art by Robert Grove.

DOWNTOWN TRAIN: 8-page story, inspired by the Waits song of the same name. Stevie is a New York street-performer with big dreams, singing for her supper in the subway. But dreams don't always come true in the dirty underground. Art by Lora Innes.

YOLO: inspired by, "Tango Til They're Sore." Meet Artie--undertaker by day, Dead Man Beauchamp, pachuco player, by night. There's a jazz club under new management in New Orleans, and Artie will do just about anything to get in.

HOLD ON: inspired by the song of the same title. A long time ago, Trina's mommy went away to live in California. But Trina's still likes to talk to her on the phone...even when her mommy isn't there.

Posting WIPs from the first story this weekend, and hoping to debut the first of the collection at Special Edition: NYC this summer! Keep your eyes here...

Eileen Picture

We were in my mother-in-law's kitchen the day after Thanksgiving three years ago, using leftovers and some other quick items D had picked up from the store for a breakfast casserole. Eileen had been bustling around and active since 5AM. Something about folks of a certain age, sleep comes less easily, I guess. We were bunking on the couch in that little apartment, though, so if she was up, that meant we were all up. I perched on the counter while she put it all together, nursing a cup of coffee, one eye still closed and sleepy, and the other tracking the ingredients for this family recipe she assured me the men in her family raved about.

Among the items I remember: two tubes of crescent rolls, a dozen eggs, a pack of cream cheese, god knows how much more cheddar. And then that box of butter.

"Hand that to me, will ya?"
"Sure. A stick?"
"All of it."
"You use it all?" Awake now. Checked the box. "Eileen, this is a pound." I started laughing. "I have never seen anyone use twelve eggs and a whole pound of butter in anything before."

She shook her head at me in that mother-in-law way and said, "Well your virginity's just gone now, isn't it girl."

Eileen, you grieved your husband until your very last day, but I know there were signs at the end that you were coming back to us. At least trying. And all the pictures and family keepsakes we've found in boxes and boxes tucked away, spread out for acres, I'm sure. That's your fortune, and a beautiful legacy for all of us. So much love.

Thank you for everything, lady. For sharing your family, and for forgiving and loving us all at the end. Kisses to John from us when you see him. Rest in peace. So long.

"So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

The Doctor's Wife

Hi! Sometimes I forget I even have this thing, and yet it's in my bio for work. Everything I do is 99% Red Stylo Media and someday I may point this URL there for the sake of convenience. I  may also revisit some old resolutions and begin posting here again. (That would be the better choice, yes.)

I am the editor of Red Stylo's yearly anthologies, but I have not yet included my own work in the books...until today.



Available for digital download now, or in the printed collection
of "Unfashioned Creatures, a Frankenstein Anthology"

"The Doctor's Wife" is a short comic I wrote for Unfashioned Creatures, A Frankenstein Anthology, a collection of original comics inspired by Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus." I wrote my story after a particularly brutal binge on all the seasons of Nip/Tuck via Netflix, so don't be shocked if my little Bride of Frankenstein is both racy and mean.

This short comic is illustrated by City of Walls artist, A.K. Lovelace. Color by Sara King and letters by Emmy-nominated Mark Mullaney (he loves it when I call him that.)

I hope it creeps you out.

P.S. Got some more comics with my name on them in the works, including a new adaptation of (and a pending sequel to) Edgar Allen Poe's Cask of Amontillado. Do go visit my company page. And drop a comment below if you like The Doctor's Wife or any of the stories in Unfashioned Creatures!