Hey everyone!
I’m starting a new segment for my Substack were I feature some really awesome creators, writers and artists that have been working hard in the comic industry. My first creator needs almost no introduction because he’s been on the scene for over 10 years now and has earned notoriety from his hugely successful comic series Killtopia, Dave Cook. But before we get into that I just want to cover off some things I have going on.
Award News!
It’s award nomination season for comics and ALICE #1 has been nominated for Best Indie Comic of 2023 and I’m nominated as Favourite Writer of 2023 by Sequential Magazine!
You can vote for both here!
It’s also that time of the year for fans and pros to vote for their favourite categories for the Ringo awards. Please consider voting for the following categories:
Best Writer - Matt Ringel
Best Artist - Marika Cresta, Henry Ponciano
Best Colourist - Fahriza Kamaputra
Best Letterer - Toben Racicot
Best Limited Series- ALICE, FALLEN
Best New Series - ALICE, FALLEN
Favourite New Talent- Matt Ringel
Favourite Publisher- Red 5 Comics
Long Dark Winter Update!
Long Dark Winter has just over 2 weeks left of the relaunched campaign and it’s over 50% funded!
There’s a ton of great rewards including prints, an acrylic pin set, t-shirts and issues of FALLEN and ALICE you can add on! The final variant cover has also been revealed and you can collect all 3!
Creator Spotlight: Dave Cook
Dave Cook is an award-winning comic writer, video game history book author and gaming journalist from Edinburgh, Scotland. He’s created 16 successful Kickstarters, soon to be 17 with his upcoming anthology Killtopia: Nano Jams. Dave has also been a positive force in indie comics assisting other creators with his tutorials and guides.
Dave took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions that will hopefully be a big help for those looking to get into making their own comics and also shedding some light into the process for backers and readers.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background in the world of comics?
Hi I’m Dave Cook, I’m an award winning comic book writer and author of video game history books from Scotland. I write the cyberpunk series Killtopia, as well as the video game adaption Ninja Baseball Spirits, and the beat ‘em up inspired series, BPM: Beatdowns Per Minute. I’m also a retro game collector.
What are you reading these days? Do you remember your first comic? What are your top 3 comics you’ve ever read?
I’m not reading too many comics at the moment, as I’m working my way through a pile of non-fiction novels that have been building up for a long time. That said, I did recently finish Uzumaki and Remina by the infamous Japanese horror manga writer, Junji Ito. They’re both great!
I think my first ever comic was the original Sonic the Hedgehog comic from the 90s. I got the very first issue. It was either that or the Beano, which was a staple for most kids in the UK throughout the 80s and 90s.
My top three comics are probably Preacher, The Boys and Low by Rick Remender. They were all fantastic and inspired my own writing a great deal.
What inspired you to venture into indie comic writing?
To be honest it was sheer laziness. I wrote and completed a novel back in 2010 but I realised that I wasn’t yet that good at descriptive writing. I found it difficult to describe people, places and atmospheres - so the book didn’t have a great sense of place. I figured that I’d write something new as a comic, so an artist could draw what I was seeing in my head instead of me actually having to improve (hah!) Then I wrote and crowdfunded Bust #1 in 2014 just as a one-shot, with no intention of doing more. But after my first comic con people asked me about a follow up, so I decided to keep going - and here I am ten years later. It’s weird how things turn out isn’t it?
Why did you choose crowdfunding as the funding model for your comic, and what has been your experience with platforms like Kickstarter?
I was very early to Kickstarter for comics, before it was anywhere near as popular as it is now. Back in 2014 I had just switched careers. I was a full time games journalist between 2005 and 2014, so I’d interviewed a lot of game studios who were active on Kickstarter. I got a feel for what worked and what didn’t work from their insights, so I decided to give it a try for Bust #1 in 2014.
Crowdfunding gives you the autonomy to be a self publisher, so you don’t need to wait to land a publishing pitch to make your comics. However, this year I’ve vowed to not use Kickstarter unless I really have to. Forcing myself to do this has helped my focus on finding a literary agent (which I just did), establishing connections with editors at publishers and landing pitches (more on those in the future!)
I was doing too many campaigns each year and it was burning me out, but that’s not to say crowdfunding should be avoided. Far from it! It’s a wonderful platform that gives creators autonomy and a direct line to their audience. It lifts the rope between the reader, comic creators and their process, as they get to see inside the process and will follow you along the way.
Be aware that you’re no longer just a writer when you crowdfund. You’re a project manager, a marketer, the finance person, and many other roles. Crowdfunding is hard work, but rewarding.
Can you walk us through your creative process? How do you approach storytelling, character design, and world-building?
I don’t really have a set process. I never sit down, look at a blank page and try to come up with new comic ideas. Instead, I tend to arrive at new ideas naturally over time, usually due to whatever media or themes I’m enjoying at the time. That basically means I’ll be sitting there, playing a video game, or commuting to my job and some stray ideas will click into place in my head. I find if I try to force this process, the end result is always far weaker than if I just arrive to an idea naturally.
This aligns with my approach that you should always write what you’re passionate about, and not force yourself to create something just to capitalise on a trend or something just because you think it will sell well. That insincerity will show through in the final book, trust me!
I’ll usually keep playing back the ideas in my head and consider how the character, plot point or world could expand beyond just a concept or beyond an issue #1. Then when I feel ready, excited and engaged by the idea, I’ll actually start to write down ideas in a word document or on a pad of paper. It’s almost like my own greenlighting process. I need to actively want to pursue an idea before I’ll start it.
At first, I always start with very basic cliff notes like “it’s in this world, this could be the character, they’re doing this, and this might be the ending.” That’s how basic I start. Then I’ll go away and just think it over for a while - it could be days or weeks - then return to the document once I’ve worked out some of the finer points.
When I feel like there’s something strong and workable there, I’ll start drawing up a rough story arc, then a more detailed arc with issue breakdowns, then a script. This is probably why my scripts take so long to complete, but I feel the end result is far better.
What have been the most significant challenges you've faced during the creation and crowdfunding of your comic? On the flip side, what are your proudest moments or triumphs?
The rising costs and laborious, isolating packing and shipping process are by far the worst parts of Kickstarter. I wish I never had to deal with them again. With Killtopia, we get about 800-1000 backers per campaign who have ordered physical books, so I tend to spend weeks in my attic alone, packing comics, doing customs labels and more like a robot on a production line. That’s really the only part I don’t like now. It’s truly awful.
My proudest moments were getting Killtopia #1 over the line (we legitimately thought it would fail!) and then shipping out copies of Killtopia #5 about 5 years after that. It felt like closing a chapter of my life and feeling energised to start a new one. I’m also proud that we won a Creative Edinburgh award for the second book. It’s a yearly award in my home city that awards creative arts projects. We thought we’d get slaughtered at the awards show, and when our names were called we looked at each other as if someone was playing a prank on us. We couldn’t believe it. I’ll always remember that moment.
You have a background in digital marketing, what marketing strategies have proven most effective for promoting your crowdfunding campaign? Are there specific tactics you would recommend to fellow indie creators?
For better or worse, social media will always be front and center for indie comic creators. Don’t be afraid to post often, but don’t over do it. Think about what makes your comic or concept special and roll with that as your marketing message. Everything you produce is share-worthy too - finished pages, roughs, WIP timelapse videos, photos of your convention table, unboxing videos of your latest printed books, and more. If people are your fans, they’ll love to see all of that, I promise.
However, social media is becoming noisy, the algorithms are awful, and challenges like Twitter’s blue tick system are making it harder to stand out and tell the world about your work. That’s why I’d say that newsletters should be considered an essential part of the self-publisher’s marketing arsenal. My best advice is - if you’re running Kickstarters - ask backers if they want to subscribe to your newsletter, and grow your subscribers that way. But, never, ever add backers to your newsletter without their consent - it’s a quick and easy way to annoy and lose fans.Marketing can be exhausting as it really is a daily task, but it’s absolutely necessary for finding and reaching readers.
What steps do you take after a successful crowdfunding campaign to fulfill rewards, maintain momentum, and keep backers engaged?
After a campaign is completed, it’s vital to not run out of steam. Keep posting backer updates when you have something new to share. Don’t spam people by posting updates on every little advancement, but do roundups every so often to show your backers that the comic is being produced and is developing as planned. In your update, invite them to follow your social channels if they want more-regular updates as they happen.
Fulfilment-wise, I immediately start making all the rewards I can (apart from the comic, as it’s not finished yet) and buying my packing and postage materials (envelopes, bubble wrap, ‘fragile’ tape etc.) I’ll then chip away at making all the reward packages up in advance, so when the book is finally printed, all I need to do is put them in packets and ship them. That’s easier said than done, it still takes weeks of hard, robotic work.
On the comic production side, after campaigns end you really need to kick into full ‘project manager’ mode and start working with your collaborators to get the book finished by the promised shipping window. There are so many roles you need to juggle at any one time, so stay positive, take rest where you can and keep your mental health and overall wellbeing in mind.
What advice would you give to aspiring indie comic creators looking to launch their own projects through crowdfunding?
Straight up, once you press the ‘launch project’ button, you suddenly have two full time jobs. Make no mistake, Kickstarters are a lot of work, but of course, they are amazing, empowering things that give you the freedom to make the books you want. So try to keep that positive outcome in mind when things get stressful or overwhelming.
Beyond this, I’d say to really research other comic campaign pages to work out how to write your page. So many Kickstarters I see have too many words (so many over-explain the plot!) and not enough images to break them up. No one wants to read a giant wall of text, so be mindful of your page’s layout and how well you’re communicating the project.
For example, think about what makes your comic and concept special or appealing. Don’t be afraid to compare it to other pop culture media, but don’t be dishonest about it. If it’s a cyberpunk story inspired by Blade Runner, say so, as this is something people recognise and can latch onto. However, don’t say your comic is like Watchmen if it’s nothing like Watchmen - you’re basically conning people to make a sale, and they will not like that one bit, I promise!
Instead, set your stall out high up the page. Lead with your cover, give a short breakdown - think of the essential ‘who, what, why, where and whens’ of your comic. What’s it about, why should I care, who are the creative team, what awards or other projects have they worked on, who are the characters, what’s the world setting and so on?
You can communicate this all in a quick, clear and punchy way with practice. Think of this intro as an elevator pitch so readers think ‘okay, got it! This sounds good, I’m going to keep reading.’
Lastly, don’t lowball yourself. Too many indie writers pay a lot of their own money to make their comics a reality, even on top of their Kickstarter takings. Set a realistic target, charge realistically for your rewards and don’t make yourself poor for your art.
Lastly, where can readers connect with you or find your work?
You can find me on social media at:
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/davescookBlueSky - https://bsky.app/profile/davecook.bsky.social
Instagram - https://www.instagram/davecookcomics
You can check out my comics, buy them, contact me or hire me via my website at
https://www.dave-cook.com
And lastly, you can check out the world of Killtopia and all our various projects over at www.killtopia.co
Thanks for having me :)
Dave’s next project’s prelaunch page is already live and you can click on the image below to head over and get notified when it goes live!
Great interview!