Last Wednesday, we decided to do something completely crazy but beautiful.
We launched our very first Kickstarter Anthology.
I call it crazy because we are diving into this without any experience in crowdfunding. We don't know how it's going to go. There has been much preparation, but nothing compares to getting your feet wet and being in the thick of it.
At the same time I call it beautiful because this project is a result of everything I've been building up with Tabulit over the last two years.
For those of you who don't know our history, Tabulit formally began in September 2015, with a very different team from what it is now. We tried to develop our own native web application, and after a few beta products, failed to really get that web applications up. Meanwhile, I was running around, emailing, making calls, doing Skype meetings, meeting people one on one, and visiting festivals and cons approaching anyone who'd be willing to talk to me. I remember literally begging this one publisher to partner with us, and at one time waiting in their lobby for an hour to see if I could get a meeting. And after all that, very few people would even respond with a 'nah'. It felt a lot like shouting in the darkness.
But one by one, people showed interest. They came on board. They were our early adopters. Their pledge of faith showed us that this was something possible. And that was just enough for me to push on with Tabulit Comics. We had no money, no publicity, no connections, no nothing. Just pure grit and work. That was what kept us going.
And then, it just blew up this one time. Close to Christmas, my cofounders left. They needed to move on. This was when I came very close to just giving it up. It was time to admit defeat.
But I didn't. Ed Kang, our current COO, came to my aid. Him and I we rebuilt everything pretty much from scratch, and we launched Tabulit Comics in February of 2017.
Even then, I had no clue that we'd be able to do something like this, where we put up a pop up gallery. Where we have more than 60 artists on board. And now, we have this beautiful book being made about a subject that I really care about: cats (I'm a crazy cat daddy for my two furry kitties). Our campaign is almost halfway there now, and I'm so thankful that there are people out there who also want this book to be made. That is incredible.
Partly because, I'm constantly nervous that this is going to fail. I'm always a bit tense about whether we'll succeed or not.
But then I also remind myself, that I've survived much worse, that I really enjoy doing what I do, and that I'm not alone in this anymore. There are people who believe in us now, people who trust in our vision, and that is an investment that cannot be measured in monetary value.
So, I'd like to say thanks to all those people, to everyone who have supported so far, and especially people who have subscribed to Tabulit Comics, as well as have supported our Kickstarter.
And lastly, please go check out our Kickstarter! The art is absolutely amazing.
Alex
