Midwinter

In the event we don’t fund, Midwinter will unfortunately have to go on hiatus after issue 6. We’re thinking at least a year, if not a few.  That doesn’t mean we won’t be back, or that we’re going to stop producing content altogether, but it does mean we have to reevaluate what we invest our time in and find a different way to make money.

The stakes are higher in this Kickstarter because of one thing: I can't keep up. In the five years Midwinter has been running, I've gotten faster, my team has become a well oiled machine, and we're improving every day, but the reality is that it’s too much for me to keep it up for free. I am not kidding when I say that ReVision is a full time job for me at this point: On top of page production, I manage operations for the entire company including networking, conventions, marketing, inventory, ordering, shipping, graphic design, promotional art, cover art, book interiors, merchandise design, and much more. And though we’ve tried to delegate some of this, simple logistics like our team’s differing locations make it near impossible.

I could handle it fine if it was the only job I had. Unfortunately, I can’t manage that level of operations if I have a full time job on TOP of my ReVision work. When I’m juggling another job, I have to cut corners. Production slows to a crawl and hurts our sales because we can't keep people invested. Marketing is gone. Conventions need to be cut down. It quite literally sabotages the growth of the business.

We can’t make enough capital to support me without investing time into it. I can't invest time into it because I need to pay my bills. This is the catch-22 I've been stuck in since we started this.

I've pushed this hard for so long because I desperately want to tell this story and I believe in it. I believe it's good and I believe it's worth it! But it has a lot working against it, from its length to its genre to Nox being a protag approaching middle age. It's dense, in B&W, and its style doesn't really fit into anything.

But I had a lot of hope when we started because of the amazing reception it received. To this day I consistently get other indie comic creators balk at my convention numbers or at how many books I order because we sell two or three times what other creators do with comparable or even bigger fanbases. We have SO MANY people come back repeatedly for the new issue and nearly every peer I meet is floored when I say this isn't my job. The proof that we make a quality product has always been there.

My biggest reason for posting this today is to be completely transparent with everyone and share the reality of our situation. And with that, I have a simple request: please do not take this comic for granted. Don’t think, "they've never let anything stop them before, so this is no different." The scale of this comic demands more than casual attention, and we are at the tipping point of being able to deliver it or not.

I still think we can do this. It’s going to be a rough climb, but it’s attainable. We’re only 3k away from our goal now, which really isn’t too bad. And the more people that pledge right here and now, the more we can encourage others to do the same and back the project too. It’s completely doable if we can drum up enough excitement and support. Your contributions count now more than ever.

In the interest of sweetening the pot, I’ve reopened slots for the previously sold out “Robust Digital” tier at $60, and the “Hire the Studio!” tier at $1000, where you can get a full five pages of comic. We’re willing to take on the work to make this happen.

And remember: no matter how much you can spare, your pledge makes a difference. Even $10 can go a long way.

So, let’s make this last week count! Pledge, share, and tell anyone who will listen why you’re supporting Midwinter.

Thank you for reading,

Kayla