I’m a Backer: The Wardenclyffe Horror
What’s this? An “I’m a Backer” post about our own Kickstarter project? Doesn’t that seem a little odd for the creators of The Wardenclyffe Horror, David and Chris, to write about? Especially since Kickstarter creators can’t back their own projects.
That is, unless you consider the possibility that…I’m not David or Chris.
I’m Nikola Tesla.
Just kidding. (But how cool would that be?!) I’m Jamey Stegmaier, the creator of a completed Kickstarter project called Viticulture. I don’t read graphic novels and I don’t know David or Chris in real life. So why am I a backer?
I’ll give you four reasons:
- David Winchester: The number one reason that I’m backing this project is that the person (the primary person, as far as I can tell) behind the project seems like not only a stand-up fellow, but also the kind of person who is going to follow through on his promises to his backers. David took the time to correspond early on and offer me feedback about my Kickstarter campaign. He even devoted a blog entry to it. Then he asked for my feedback before he launched his campaign (as is the case with many people, I really like giving feedback). At its heart, this is what Kickstarter is really about. It’s about connecting people and their shared passions. You’ll see plenty of project creators on Kickstarter who forget that human element, which completely bewilders me. David is not one of those people–he gets Kickstarter. And that’s the number one reason I backed his project.
- The Art: The art on the sample pages for the book is stunning. This is one area where David and Chris could have faltered, but instead they went big and found an extremely talented artist in Robert. I’m assuming that the art direction (frame placement, angles, etc) came from David and Chris, so they are to commend for this as well. Also, as I said, I don’t usually read graphic novels. I think the last one I read was Watchmen. I do most of my reading on a Kindle now, so I’m actually looking forward to holding a real book in my hands, especially one that looks and feels so different than other books.
- The Subject Matter: Tesla? Twain? Fringe science? I’m in. I genuinely want to know what Tesla and Twain create and/or discover. I can’t wait for May to arrive.
- The Rewards: Rewards can make or break a Kickstarter campaign for me. I would have done a few things differently, but I think they got the key level–$24 for a copy of the book and a PDF–is fair. Plus they included a very unique level, one that I considered for Viticulture but didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger on it: A $1,000 level that gives you a copy of every book/novel/comic/etc that they ever produce.
You can see in the Kicktraq graphic below that the project is currently just over 70% funded. I’ll say this: If you’re on the fence about this project, pledge $24 for a copy of the book. You can always back out in the final week, but I think you’ll see from the way David engages you and the quality of the project itself that you’re going to be really happy about the pledge by the time they reach their funding deadline.
Caffeineforge 
Screw that! Pledge $200!
🙂