Let me help you pitch your Kickstarter!

One of the problems with being a jack-of-all-trades sort of technologist is that I suspect I am not a top 5% expert on any one piece of software or hardware. Fortunately, we have a community full of experts on specific tech for comic creators.

Tech4Comics also has many creators who can use exposure for their comic book projects. With that in mind, I am launching a new video shorts series called T4C Tips, where I want to normalize trading your expertise for the opportunity to plug something comic-related that you are excited about… your Kickstarter campaign, a new online store, your feed on GlobalComix, etc.

The video above is an example of what I will put together from the pieces you provide me. What I need from you is:

• a humanizing photo (e.g. a wedding or grad photo, a pet picture, a caricature),

• introduce yourself (feel free to use your phone),

• your tech tip (screen capture, video or stills),

• and your pitch (most will submit their Kickstarter promo video).

Put your content in a folder on Google Drive or Dropbox and send the link to thelumpsumsaga@gmail.com.

I will take the pieces and create the finished video. Do not worry about adding captions.

Don’t overthink your tip. If it helped you, it will help someone else. Frankly, the best tips are the ones that seem obvious to you now.

Have questions? What follows are the long-form details of what I need from you.

You are not AI so prove it. In the example video, I used my wedding photo I was such a baby. Other suggestions include grad photos, pet pictures, or a caricature. Have fun with this! While I will try to incorporate any image, please keep in mind that the final video will be in portrait 9:16 mode.

E.g. My name is Greg Tjosvold, and I am the creator of The Lump Sum Saga and the new comic one-shot Vxd.

Introduce yourself in a way that describes your connection to comics. This is your chance to add more evidence that you aren’t AI. :) If you are uncomfortable showing your face, a video of your pet is a great option. The audio is critical.

Include a tip related to a technology that can help other comic creators. It can be a tip related to a specific piece of software, a useful feature of a web tool, or a piece of hardware that helps you out. There is a lot of flexibility here, but in general, your tip needs to be something from the intersection of technology and comics.

• Start with something like “Comic creators, did you know...”, “The tech tip I want comic creators to know…” or “A piece of (hardware) tech I love is…”

• Ideally, this will be a video. It can be a narrated screen capture video or close-ups of a cool piece of equipment. Alternatively, single images (screen captures?) submitted with a voice recording of your narration can work.

• Your audio can be submitted separately if need be, but the synchronization between your visuals and your audio should be obvious. Numbering the file(s) in order of placement would be super helpful during the assembly of the video.

• The T4C Tech Tip videos don’t expire, so the more “evergreen” your tip is the better (although this is admittedly hard with anything tech related).

E.g. “Comic creators, did you know that Scrivener allows you to create template documents in your project? You can have single documents, with or without default text, or even nested folders and files in this template folder.

Before I start writing a new series, I add a default issue, page, panel, and dialogue hierarchy of files into my template folder. This sounds time-consuming, but once you’ve done it once, you can simply drag that structure into your project binder from a previous project.

The last part of setting up your template folder is telling Scrivener which folder to use. Select Project->Project Settings and then select your templates folder.

To add any part of this into your project, use “New from Template” under the Project menu or the “+” pull-down. Templates plus a liberal use of command-D duplicate makes setting up comics very easy. And the ability to move documents in Scrivener makes it very easy to change your script as you go.

Talk about something comics-related you are excited about that you want others to know about. It could be your crowdfunding campaign (active or prelaunch), your website, a con appearance, etc.

• I won’t be policing this, but as a general rule of thumb, your pitch should not be longer than your tip.

• Be sure to include how to find out more in the visuals… eg. include the URL.

In the example above, I used a shortened version of my Kickstarter video.

There may be the opportunity to put step-by-step instructions, links to websites, a custom link to your campaign, etc., in the text section that accompanies your video and on Substack. Make this “copy-and-paste easy” to increase the likelihood it gets used.

E.g. Vxd Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregtjosvold/vxd?ref=ss816h

Please submit a compressed .zip file, via Dropbox or Google Drive, that includes:

• a cover image. Submit something fun that will help humanize you. In the example video, I used my wedding photo.

• Your introduction video segment. It should be in your own voice, but the visual can be a drawn caricature or video of your pet if you prefer to stay pseudonymous.

• Visuals & audio for your tip.

• Visuals and audio for your pitch.

• Your supplemental text (optional)

The completed video, including headings, will be under 3 minutes to meet platform specs. As such, please aim for well under 2:45 total to allow for scene cuts.

• Be helpful. Your tip should solve a problem or save a creator time. Bonus points if it is one of those things you wish you had learned earlier in your career.

• Only submit visuals you have permission to use. Duh!

• Submit 9:16 “portrait” visuals when possible. The final video will be vertical, so any landscape video you submit will either be letter-boxed or cropped.

• Use a generous amount of space around the important parts of your video so that logos and app icons don’t overlap. An 80% safe zone should work most of the time.

• Ironically, a video that is less than perfect will actually go a long way to humanize your content, so do not obsess over getting it perfect.

• Overall, the quality of your audio is more important than that of your video. Keep in mind that some people will only hear what you are talking about.

• Most people will watch your tip video on a mobile device.

• Your submission may be rejected for any reason without explanation. But if your submission is PG, helpful, unique, and of reasonable quality, it will eventually bubble to the top.

• I cannot guarantee a timely turnaround, so for time-sensitive pitches, submit your tip early.

• Submissions will not be published in the order they are received. Submissions from Tech4comics subscribers will be given priority, as will those from people I know in various comics-related communities I hang out in (Let’s get to know each other!).

• The final video will be posted to multiple platforms beyond the Tech for Comics Substack podcast?, especially those that support vertical video shorts.