Update 4: Deadzone anxiety vs success realisations - who's winning? · Family and Honour, a 12th century historical drama

Hey everyone, hope you are doing well.After running six Kickstarter campaigns (or was it seven?), one thing you come to learn is that no matter how often you've done it and how close to funded you are, that period in the middle we stupidly all agreed to call deadzone comes with a considerable amount on anxiety.Your regular backers and those new to your work but who were really excited about it from the start have already backed - a massive thank you to all of you who did btw - so the velocity at which you get new backers slows down considerably, and in some days, getting just ONE backer is a huge victory. You keep obsessing about finding new ways to promote your work, and how to best reach new people who wouldn't hear about you otherwise.You look at the considerable number of non-converted followers on your campaign, and while you understand the average conversion rate is only around 30% by the end of a campaign - and much lower in the middle - you keep thinking that maybe there's more you could be doing to convince these followers to spend their hard-earned money in supporting your project.  You wonder if there's confusing information on your Kickstarter page that you could easily fix.Should the preview pages come earlier? You even wonder if there's a reward tier missing that offers these followers exactly what they're looking for. Is there a combination I forgot to add?(and if there is, tell me on Bluesky)And this goes on and on and on... But then there are days where you realise how far you've come too.You realise you completed and released FOUR one-shots in just two years - and that's only half of what you've done in that period. You realise you keep recognising many of the same names returning Kickstarter after Kickstarter - so clearly your work is resonating with these wonderful people. Thank you to all of you who keep coming back btw.You realise you had the chance to work with several teams of wonderful artists, colourists, and letterers and that you have actually developed a team of trusted collaborators in a relatively short period of time.You realise you haven't had to start over a project in a while, either because your artist - who you already paid a considerable amount - suddenly disappears or because they're taking too long (years) and you can't keep waiting forever. Kind of a side-effect of finding collaborators you trust.You realise you managed to get into the two major comic book events in the country not once, but two years in a row.And you realise all of this has given you the confidence to finally submit projects to major publishers, and while you know chances to hear back from them are slim, the simple fact you KNOW you're in a place where you could deliver on those promises if given a chance is a big enough victory. So yeah, running a Kickstarter is stressful - especially when you set a target that you know is going to be hard to hit - and that couple of weeks in the middle that we call the deadzone will make you question everything... but it's in those times that it's worth remembering all the good stuff you achieved, and there's been a lot of that too.Whether you're running a Kickstarter or you're struggling with something in your life that you're not in full control of, always try to remember all the little things that you achieved today, in the past week, in the past month, or in the past couple of years. I'm sure you achieved a lot more than you give yourself credit for... So for me, who's winning? Anxiety or the positive realisations of success?Based on this update, you tell me :) maybe a bit of both. And that's good enough...ANY COOL KICKSTARTER RECOMMENDATIONS?Glad you ask. Yes, I have a couple. I mean, there's so much cool stuff on Kickstarter at all times that it's kind of impossible not to...InfraCity: Season 1 Set in a world of powerful, ultra and masked transforming heroes, this story follows their battle against ancient and modern evils while confronting personal ghosts and trauma. Together, they forge a powerful bond strong enough to face any darkness.I'm a sucker for comics that use colour in interesting ways - remember my book Prey? - and Infracity does just that. Definitely check this one out. 350 pages for that price is a bargain too. Only a few days left, so don't wait...CHK Comics presents: AHA! A Horror Anthology A brand new horror anthology that features fresh NEW voices in the indie comics space. Celebrating their love of horror anthologies and collections of yesteryear, they crafted their own anthology and titled it AHA!I've been to Chris Stall's show a couple of times, and he's one of the nicest