Hey! Did you know that C. Spike Trotman has left Kickstarter behind? In case you’ve missed this news buzzing in the wake of Kickstarter’s announcement that it would be implementing blockchain technology as part of its growth strategy, Trotman has packed up her Iron Circus bags and ventured out on her own with an independent crowdfunding platform. The first campaign? The Poorcraft Cookbook.
“It’s almost poetic, isn’t it?” she says, given that the first book in the Poorcraft series was the subject of Iron Circus Comics’ very first Kickstarter campaign in 2009. With a goal of only $6,000, the campaign more than doubled that and tens of thousands of copies of Poorcraft: A Comic Book Guide to Frugal Urban and Suburban Living! have since been sold worldwide.
Since that first Kickstarter outing over a decade ago, Iron Circus Comics has raised over $2.5 million across over 30 successful projects. Trotman is considered a Kickstarter veteran and many creators have cited her as their guide in getting their jump on crowdfunding through the platform. She’s also a pioneer within the platform and its evolution in terms of creator-focused stretch goals and community building. Yet, taking the leap into independent crowdfunding didn’t come without some anxiety. “Oh, not SOME anxiety,” she clarifies, “a BOATLOAD. I spent the latter half of December frozen like a deer in headlights, knowing I had to do SOMETHING, but not quite sure what, and the indecision had me paralyzed. My friends and folks who work for Iron Circus reassured me over and over that I had a name, I had a rep, backers would follow me offsite if I made the decision to leave Kickstarter. But you never really KNOW that for SURE until you actually pull the lever, y’know?”
Though the anxiety is understandable, her friends have been proven right with the campaign busting through its $6,000 goal long before its March 2nd closing date. That initial goal amount is a deliberate choice. The Poorcraft series was Iron Circus’ first leap into crowdfunding through Kickstarter, so it’s fitting that The Poorcraft Cookbook would be the first campaign for the new Iron Circus platform. “First crowdfunding project on Kickstarter, first crowdfunding project after leaving Kickstarter,” Trotman confirms, “That’s why the goal amounts are identical, too! The Poorcraft Cookbook cost a LOT more than six thousand to make, ha ha. But it felt right to make the amount equal to the first Kickstarter book. And I’m always preaching, ‘Never crowdfund a project for a dollar more than you have to,’ so.”
There were other reasons that made The Poorcraft Cookbook the best candidate for this experiment. First of all, it is a property owned by Trotman, with writer, illustrator, and Iron Circus friend Nero Villagallos O’Reilly commissioned to create it with pagerate compensation for both script and artwork. “He was already made whole, and wouldn’t feel a thing if the attempt failed. Only I would suffer. And that’s okay. It’s ideal, actually! That’s how it should be when you’re in an executive position, in my opinion; if you wanna soak up all the praise when things go well, you need to take the hit when they go belly-up, too. You should be the FIRST to suffer, because in the end, all the big decisions were yours, right? So, I didn’t want any artists who had signed up with ICC to be the guinea pigs. That’s MY job.”
“The Poorcraft books are books I wish I’d been given when I turned 18,” Trotman told Polygon. “And they’re more important and applicable than ever, with so many people, more people than ever, anticipating futures where they have to struggle much longer and harder, financially, than their parents ever did. Starting this series was my attempt to share what I know, things that can make that easier, and Nero’s done an amazing job expanding on that with The Poorcraft Cookbook.”
The Poorcraft Cookbook promises more than 200 pages of recipes, techniques, and buying tips, including “amazing appetizers, entertaining entrees, dazzling desserts, and creative cocktails.” The campaigns stretch goals introduce a first for Iron Circus: concealed wire-o binding, which will make it easier for chefs to lay the book flat on the kitchen counter, while still looking fantastic on your bookshelf.
Clearly, the campaign is off to an excellent start, but it didn’t come without its initial problems, including a first-day site crash. But, Trotman stresses, that was not the fault of their chosen plug-in, WP Crowdfunding by Themeum. Still, she notes that the plug-in is a bit quirky and her technical team has had to do quite a bit of customizing to get it to fulfill Iron Circus’ needs. “But now that we have it how we want it? I love it. I’m gonna use it for everything.”
One of the advantages of working with Kickstarter was that the platform came complete with its own tech support. Trotman is grateful to Kevin Wilson, “who handles a lot of behind-the-curtains programming and tech for a lot of the small press comics space that grew out of the webcomics scene,” and Naomi, who was brought in at Wilson’s suggestion when the site crashed at launch. “They’ve both been an amazing boon.” Notably, it was Wilson who led Iron Circus to WP Crowdfunding, based on Trotman’s requirements. “I told him, ‘I want a plug-in as familiar to Kickstarter users as possible in format, that I can host on the Iron Circus domain. Cost is not a consideration.'”
Trotman has made her reasons for leaving Kickstarter based on its blockchain plans quite clear in this Forbes interview. “While it’s increasingly difficult to avoid interacting with that sort of thing online,” she told Forbes, “regardless of the platform you use, I do not feel comfortable playing a part in directing literal dollars and actual funding towards that venture when there is very little clarity on how it will be implemented. I just don’t want to throw my support behind something I genuinely don’t understand the inspiration behind.”
In the Forbes interview, she also makes it clear that she holds no ill-will against the company that helped make Iron Circus Comics what it is while maintaining her concerns over their continued trajectory despite the backlash. “I honestly hope what they’re planning, whatever it is? This grand plan they just can’t explain to their user base, the thing that inspired them to start investigating blockchain, AND stick to that course despite user outcry? Gets them everything they want. I hope it winds up being worth it. I hope it makes sense, one day.”
Trotman has indicated that she’s not looking to compete with Kickstarter or other crowdfunding platforms, supporting only the books that sign on with Iron Circus. She offers up several alternatives for those who do choose to leave Kickstarter behind. “Follow TopatoCo on Twitter and watch for updates about TopatoGo; they just had their first test of their crowdfunding set-up! Both Itch.io and Ko-Fi have made first anti-NFT statements, just like TopatoCo, and you can sell comics on both. And @mxlkcircus on Twitter has made this amazing chart, outlining some more possibilities.”
Thanks for feedback on this, I think this is the last update I'll make for now ^^ Updated to include Fundrazer & Game On Tabletop and clarified some fees & niches
Alt-text ran out of characters so remaining info will be in the next comment ^^ pic.twitter.com/uwJ8duKkiM
— Tiffany (@mxlkcircus) December 29, 2021
But of course, not all creators have the opportunities that she does, and she holds no ill will against those who choose to stay with the devil you know. “If you’re gonna stay with Kickstarter, I’m not gonna come down on you, and no one else should, either. I absolutely get it. It’s safe, it’s comfortable, and until very recently, it was 100% a known quantity. It has search features and categories, it has discoverability, it has a whole suite of tools to help you find funding on-site. That’s incredibly valuable, especially if you’re not some big name with a huge audience. But if you’re staying? In all honesty, decide for yourself where your “line in the sand” is. We all have to survive out here, but decide, in advance, what you’re willing to put up with, what you’re comfortable having a direct hand in helping to fund. What if KS starts offering NFTs? Taking crypto payments? Gets sold to Meta?”
Trotman laughs, noting that this all sounds absurd now, but pointing out that just last year she’d been tweeting about how Kickstarter would never adopt blockchain. “So yeah,” she warns, “figure out an exit strategy, JUST IN CASE. Don’t ever let the door close behind you, is what I always say.”
