Crowdfunding question

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Great news! I’ve worked on solving all layout and publishing issues, and the illustration work is going well. I’m going to start a crowdfunding campaign soon, to cover at least part of the production cost, and would love to have your input on what to include in the way of goodie packs!

Please take a minute to answer the poll. If you can think of other things I haven’t included, please leave a comment below.

More than one choice is possible!

About the chance to “become” a (background) character: I’d really love this – to draw supporters from photos and put them into some images. Who wouldn’t want to be a Numidian horseman, or a panicked legionary? The good thing is that a lot of ethnicities would be feasible – from northern Europe to Africa and the Middle East. The downside is: This pretty much excludes female readers. Rather badly. How would you feel about this? Please comment!

As always, if you haven’t already, please “like” Darkness over Cannae on Facebook, to get frequent updates!

 

Thanks for your help!

42 thoughts on “Crowdfunding question”

  1. I think the idea of an inclusion of the character would be great, even if it didn’t include me as a potential. But that would mean you would need to do something equally cool for the ladies. I’ll think on it…
    Other comments: If you feel like you really want to do “originals” – I would think that they should be kept as the Upper Level premium.

  4. I am a Roman legionary reenactor, so a chance to be a panicked legionary would be awesome.

  6. All of these ‘perks’ are a good idea and each would work at a different funding level. I would opt for most of them, though I doubt my personal economy would allow for that. Even so …. This is a project to watch!

  7. All of these are pretty cool and there is room for all of them in a crowdfunding system.
    I’d love to be a legionnair, but alas, I am a woman…

  8. I like all the choices that you have up; they would work for a variety of tiers! Although the inclusion as a background character leaves me out too, I could envision getting one done of Chris as a surprise. Mind you, that one would probably be out of my price range!
    Other thoughts:
    Plushies! ( Always fun to make!)
    Calendar – although I would like the pinup one ( heh!), perhaps just making one of the existing book illustrations?
    Prints of some of your other artwork ( Not sure if you are keeping both separate but — I could see those appealing to a wider group of people)

      • I think it depends how who you want to open it up to. :) I’m a Hannibal fan as you know — but I get the feeling that is more of a niche audience. If you are doing crowdfunding and people signal-boost your campaign having something with a wider appeal might get more people looking and contributing. :) Might even create some more Hannibal fans, you never know!
        I do understand wanting to keep things separate though. You could always start with the ones you have in mind and if you feel you need more goodies offer it. I have seen campaigns introduce new perks halfway through, and more often as an added bonus when the funding has reached a particular figure.

  10. All the above options sound very cool; one of the other artbooks I’ve seen crowdfunded offered exclusive access to short video tutorials for backers at a certain level. Something like that for various techniques you have used might be attractive to a subset of backers. Admittedly, it was a technique book, rather than an illustrated novel.

    Sadly background characters are out, otherwise I’d volunteer on the kids’ pony – he’s about the right height for the average horse of the time. ;)

    • The kids’ pony sounds like an awesome idea – bet he always wanted to carry a Numidian into battle. (Or stand by when Varro’s bodyguard rubs dust from the consul’s eyes).

      Alternatively, there actually were helmets that covered the face, but then the whole exercise might be slightly pointless…

      • I’d still know :)

        And show him a bucket of feed and I can pretty much guarantee his ‘war face’.

  11. I’ve got long (but still above the shoulders), blond hair and a beard. Is there really a way to become a background character for me?

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  13. The idea of being a drawn in character would be amazing! As a lady, I wouldn’t mind being drawn in as a man (or a shepherd girl by the well? haha). I’ve dressed up as one for a play once, it’s the face that really matters and I do not doubt your talent and skill!

    • I don’t even have shepherd girls in there! ;) They’ve all fled the area due to two loitering armies. XD

      I can, of course, just draw female supporters with more male features. You get to have goatee, too, if desired. ;)

  14. Being drawn in is always a awesome thing to put in, it really is, I’d pay for it certainly! Sketches are also great, I’ve got some coming from the Free Mars webcomic and I can’t wait to see them. Signed copies are also a awesome thing. So ah yeah… pretty much everything you have put up there!

      • Ideally, as you move up the ladder of contribution/backing amounts you would receive the items from the basic package plus the new items at the premium level. So, for example, a $5 backer might receive a bookmark while a $20 supporter would receive a T-shirt & a bookmark, and so forth. At least, this is how several other crowd funding campaigns have been put together.

        Some one had commented earlier suggesting plush animals as a premium — great idea though it does add an entirely new layer of costs and management to this funding operation. Of course, the obvious choice for a plush animal would be a elephant. When one thinks of Hannibal the thought of elephants is never far behind.

        Now, I’m not certain you want to get into a separate industry of plush toys, action figures, and assorted items, however … Once the book is published it might be time to think about spin off products. You may well decide such a venture is too far afield, but it would be worth at least considering.

        All that being said, the real question: If Darkness Over Cannae is a hit (and there is no reason to think otherwise) will there be a follow-up book, Sunrise Over Zama …?

      • Not Zama, certainly – too painful! And too muddled by historiography, too, actually. I’d have a hard time explaining some of the things that don’t make sense to me about Zama. (Some people will actually tell you Zama was a hoax designed by Polybios!)

        Plushies – I don’t think so. T-shirts are already borderline, and plushies really take it too far away from the halfway academical pursuit that this still is. I should probably keep that in mind. What I could imagine – in the future maybe – would be miniatures, but more like collectibles, not toys.

        Cannae plushies sound rather sarcastic. ;)

        If I do a second novel, I already have the topic (and started the research) – Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps!

      • Ah so ….
        I think you are correct about the plush toys. It is easy to lose focus, and as Red Leader said to his fellow pilots attacking the Death Star, “Stay on target…stay on target.” Always good advice.

        Crossing the Alps … That could be fun.

        I wonder … When, or if, you exhaust Hannibal, will you consider other ancient stories such as Boudicca’s revolt, the Year of the Four Emperors, the Jewish War or the destruction of Varus and his 3 legions? Or something else entirely? The Gempei Wars in Japan (1180 – 85) for example?

      • For me, it’s always a question of “Does this person touch me?” It’s not so much a matter of interesting personalities in history, but of really connecting to them on some level that I usually can’t explain. The other two candidates would be Llywelyn the Last of Wales, and Richard III of England.

        Two people from my own Hannibal story whom I would like to explore – maybe in novel form – are Cornelius Lentulus, and Bomilkar the bodyguard, both of whom completely took over as I wrote.

      • Richard III — that would be quite topical given the recent. discoveries. (We did a production of Shakespeare’s Richard III in the style of the Kabuki Theatre — a lot of fun. Richard is another book I would certainly be interested in.)

        As for “connecting” with the subject matter, I do understand that and heartily agree — write what you love, it almost always turns out better.

        That said — first things first. So we shall eagerly await Darkness Over Cannae.

  15. Beim Gedanken an einen von dir illustrierten Ausschnitt aus Richard III. Leben konnte ich mir ein kleines Quietschen nicht verkneifen. Ich wurde einiges geben, um das zu sehen!
    Ansonsten bin ich am ehesten für die Lesezeichen, da auch ich ja leider nicht die Vorraussetzungen erfülle, um als römischer Legionär irgendwo im Hintergrund aufzutauchen. ^^

  16. Can’t wait for the crowd funding campaing to start! Although I’m excluded from the “draw me in” option, I know at least 3 precious men in my life, to whom appearing in there would be rather joyous. (Rendering that reward still interesting for me and maybe others).

    • You wouldn’t be excluded by definition. We’ve collected a few nice ideas – slightly male-ifying the face, and one person said I might just do her pony – which would be terrific fun. A favourite character might also be an idea. Unless it involved Luke Skywalker in checkered pants and horned helmet or something. :D

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