Right now, KYUSS is fated to end up on Kickstarter to help offset the cost of production and printing. And to ensure the crowdfunding is a success, I need to start connecting with a larger audience now to maximize my reach in the future. Each person that follows me and my projects might share this information with even more people, most of whom wouldn't know about me otherwise, further spreading the web.

I'm going to have to start looking into forums and other social gatherings centered around KYUSS's genres and subject matter. A percentage of these people might be interested in it, and I can't afford not to reach them. Then they might share this knowledge with people who might not know about KYUSS.

That’s outreach for ya. It sounds very mechanical and stiff, because it is, if this is the only way you look at it. But building and connecting with a community can be so much more.

The other day, I posted on Twitter that I had never written a pitch before and I was looking for help with the one I had written. I had no expectations for a response, seeing as my following is rather modest. But the next morning, I found my request for help had received a ton of feedback. Creators I respect were offering to review my pitch. Even an established professional volunteered to help me. My pitch document became more refined with everyone's help and in the end was something of which I could be proud. This wouldn't have been possible with the comic book community.

Community is reflexive of what you put into it. You go into it thinking of nothing more than how you plan to exploit it, the community will know and give you little to nothing back. But if you join the community because you want to talk about comics and making comics with other people, if you're a positive part of it by supporting others, the community will come out for you.

#comics #makingcomics #KYUSS #comicinprogress