Hey you! Want to help print a comic book?!
I'm Dawn, and over the last year I have been hard at work reviving my beloved fantasy-epic-with-werewolves -- Varulv! This story is an action-fantasy romp where monsters are the good guys, and I've been delighted to have found an enthusiastic audience throughout its first year as a weekly webcomic. I'd love to have you as a reader as well, and with the first story arc now complete, I'm looking to print my first trade paperback, collecting issues one through four.
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The Comic:
Varulv is an epic tale of vikings and werewolves. You’ve never seen a pack of lycanthropes quite like these: Ragna, the half-troll leader, Greta, the no-nonsense second-in-command, Stig, the boozy were-bat, Kit, the recently transformed new recruit, and Kjell, the lone-wolf who seems more in-tune with his werewolf side than his humanity.
The story invites readers into a world where monsters are the good guys in a gripping fantasy narrative filled with action, suspense, and unexpected alliances. Varulv is an epic tale of magic and mayhem with a decidedly adult edge -- The Legend of Vox Machina meets Gargoyles. With meticulous storytelling and artwork to match, Dawn Best’s high-concept and often humorous tale weaves together elements of action, intrigue, transformation, and the universal quest for acceptance.
Our trade paperback will collect issues 1-4 of the series, and be over 100 pages, full color. The book is a complete story, as well as a great jumping-off point for stories to follow. As of this writing, the book's pages are finished and everything is being finalized for print. We just need to know how many we'll be printing!
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The Author/Artist:
Far back as I can remember, I've been making comic books. Having worked nearly every job in the comic book industry, you could say it's my preferred medium as a storyteller. I've run two very successful comic book crowdfunding campaigns on my own in 2024, and now I'd like to go a bit bigger and welcome more people to get their hands on Varulv in print. That's what brings me to IndieGoGo!
Ultimately, I'd love to get as wide a distribution for the print books as possible, as I think the story of Varulv is one of my best works. I look forward to continuing the saga in 2025 and beyond!
Sound good? Here's a breakdown of what we need and what you get...
The basic summary of this campaign's goal and the goodies you'll get as a backer is this:
- I need $2,000 to print and ship the books to the distributor... Me.
- The minimum order price for printing requires this be an all-or-nothing campaign. I can't print books for less than our goal, but I'm pretty confident we can hit it!
- A contribution of $20 (plus applicable tax/shipping) gets you a copy of the book. Lower tiers get you some groovy digital merch, and higher tiers get you extras along with your book.
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International orders are awesome. I'm definitely going to be able to get books to people in The United States, Canada, Mexico, the UK, most of the EU, and Australia. Not sure if your country can get a copy? Just ask!
- There are also some groovy, exclusive extras! 11x17" prints, holographic stickers AND -- This is one of the only ways you can get a traditional media sketch from me.
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Reward Distribution Timeline:
As stated above, the book itself is finished and currently in the final phases of print-readiness. Once funding ends, the first order of business will be to assure the files sent to the printer are all present and accounted for. Once approved, I will request proofs and make changes as needed before giving the go-ahead to mass-production. Once that happens, it's on to printing and quality checking. Depending on the amount of books that need produced, changes needing made, and any outside factors, our supplier has discussed with me an average 90 day turnaround time from when the files are received to when they arrive at my door.
Rewards will largely be furnished by suppliers local to my area, and in the case of custom artwork - by me, personally! These items will be created and shipped to me, or produced by me, while book production is at hand, with the goal of sending everything out at once, as soon as the books themselves are finished.
In all instances, I have worked with each of my suppliers in the past, and can attest to their excellent products. With everything considered, I expect everyone will have their rewards in the first half of 2025, if not the first quarter!
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Shipping Rewards:
As stated above, I can definitely ship to: The United States, Canada, Mexico, the UK, most of the EU, and Australia. Not sure if your country can get rewards? Just ask! I'm happy to add shipping costs for your country into the campaign, if I can ship to you!
That said, I've done my best to calculate the rewards to their current prices based on weight and size, at the best rates I could find when using shipping calculators for different mailers. I'm in the United States, and we're currently coming up on a Presidential election. I'm hopeful things aren't going to go too haywire after!
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Risks & Challenges:
With the book done, the biggest risk of having no product is out of the way. That said, shipping problems can occur, proofs can come back wrong, and rewards can get lost in the mail. I'm no stranger to crowdfunding, so I've tried to mitigate these issues as best as possible. Here are a few steps I've taken to ease problems I've faced with campaigns as recently as this year:
- I've streamlined the rewards system to be centered around the books and products I have faith will be created, of excellent quality, and on-time. In the past, I've found that offering too many rewards has opened up greater possibility of those items never being delivered, or being delivered in a sub-par state.
- I'm working with trusted suppliers. It's always awesome to take a chance on a new company, but in this case, I'd rather not risk putting faith in the unknown. To that end, I've worked with every one of my suppliers in the past and know they product excellent products in a timely fashion. Too, several of the rewards are being produced by companies within driving distance to me, so there's less probability of quality/mailing errors.
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The book is complete. Probably one of the biggest hurdles I've faced when creating crowdfunded or pre-order products has been the actual completion of those products. Supply chains dry up, postage gets more expensive, and life circumstances of teammates change in the time it takes to create a large body of work. Varulv, on the other hand, is done. It just needs people to read it!
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Other Ways You Can Help:
Even if you can't contribute to this campaign, if you really like what I'm doing, I invite you to please share this page! Post on social, forums, and other places you frequent online. That kind of support matters so much and I can't thank you enough if you do! In fact, if you tag #varulvcomic in your social posts, I'll not only see your post, but probably reach out to you with a thank you!
What's going on with Varulv after the campaign ends?
More comics, of course! I want to bring you guys Varulv's second volume in 2025, comprised of issues 5 and 6. Depending on how well things take off, we might also be doing collectible figures, plush, or other groovy merch. It's wide open! Check out our website at WEREWOLFCOMIC.COM for more!
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