Pesto Comics - Audio Edition

In this episode, we dive deep into a postmortem of the eighth Pesto Comics campaign, 'From Parts Unknown #3.'

I cover lessons learned from the underperformance of the third installment, and provide updates on upcoming projects.

00:00 Welcome Back

01:22 Project Updates

01:56 ComixLaunch Acknowledgment

02:31 Funding

04:39 Backers

07:06 Marketing

08:06 Q&A

11:32 Super Secret Epilogue

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit pestocomics.substack.com

00:00 Welcome Back

01:34 Where I've Been and Where I've Tabled

03:40 Preparation (and Research) is Key

05:31 Sell Your Story - and Your Book

07:17 Managing Expectations

08:36 Networking Nirvana

10:03 The Centre of Attention

10:56 Why Table at All?

12:14 Questions?

12:21 Super Secret Epilogue

00:00 Welcome Back

01:24 Worklog Updates

01:54 Project Updates

02:30 Role Updates

03:01 Somewhere New

03:28 The Good

05:47 The Not-So-Good

06:39 Looking Forward

07:42 What's Coming Up on the Substack

08:14 Upcoming Appearances

09:05 Pesto Comics Release Calendar

09:41 Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

10:25 Super Secret Epilogue

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com

00:00 Welcome Back

01:11 Worklog Updates

01:45 Project Updates

02:23 Made It to the Show

03:55 The Good

05:51 The Not-So-Good

08:14 Looking Forward

09:50 Coming Up on the Substack

11:19 Release Calendar

12:15 Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

12:55 Super Secret Epilogue

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit pestocomics.substack.com

00:00 Welcome Back

02:24 A New Strategy

03:25 Finding Rafael Chrestani

04:26 Coming Up with the Concept

05:20 The Campaign

06:33 Costs in Depth

11:15 Final Performance

12:53 The Long Tail

13:38 Lessons Learned

14:46 Looking Forward

00:00 Welcome Back

01:54 Worklog Updates

02:37 Project Updates

03:06 Media Updates

03:32 Convention Updates

04:43 My Reading Philosphy

06:35 The Books That Won Me Over (So Far)

10:55 Books I'm Excited to Read

12:53 Not Just Entertainment

15:13 Coming Up on the Substack

16:04 Upcoming Appearances

18:57 Pesto Comics Release Calendar

22:46 Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

24:33 Super Secret Epilogue

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com

00:00 Welcome Back

02:32 Worklog Updates

04:05 Project Updates

04:52 Media Updates

05:16 I'll Cut to the Chase

07:39 Two Brands, One Company

10:08 The Pulp Writerly Strategy

11:39 Why Do All This? Isn’t It More Work?

12:26 What Does This Mean for Comics?

13:44 What Does the Future Hold?

15:33 Coming Up on the Substack

16:07 Upcoming Appearances

16:30 Release Calendar

17:31 Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

17:55 Super Secret Epliogue

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit pestocomics.substack.com

00:00 Welcome Back

01:35 Why Kickstarter

03:22 It Starts With an Image

04:59 Show Them the Goods

06:34 Make a List, Check It Twice

07:31 Why We’re All Here: Rewards

08:36 All About the Dollars

09:33 Getting Comics in Hands

10:20 Show Them Your Work

10:53 Who Made This?

11:19 Disclaimers

13:11 Straight FAQs

13:34 Ready To Go

Table of Contents

00:06 Welcome Back

02:03 Worklog Updates

03:02 From Parts Unknown #4 in Prelaunch

03:29 Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 on Kindle Unlimited

04:02 Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 2 Call for Entries

04:45 My Floppy Ears on Two Geeks Talking

05:10 Happy Birthday to Me!

05:53 Talking to Myself

07:13 More Importantly

08:28 But You Care, Don't You?

09:24 The Point

10:23 Leave a Comment

10:32 Coming Up on the Substack

10:58 Upcoming Appearances

11:52 Pesto Comics Release Calendar

12:33 Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

13:07 Super Secret Epilogue

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com

Table of Contents

00:00 Welcome Back

01:57 From Parrts Unknown #4 is in prelaunch!

02:30 Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 on KU Right Now!

02:58 Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 2 - Call for Entry

03:38 Hear Me on Two Geeks Talking This Saturday

04:01 No Longer Going Elsewhere

04:46 A Lot at Once

05:44 Rethinking the Book Strategy for Volume 2

06:40 Comics and Reworks

07:34 Tariff Trouble

09:05 Lesson Learned: Slowing Down

10:20 Leave a Comment

10:26 Coming Up on the Substack

10:57 Upcoming Appearances

11:35 Pesto Comics Release Calendar

12:11 Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

12:52 Super Secret Epilogue

Welcome Back

I've been extremely busy lately and because of that I've started to feel burnout creep in. I've been warning for weeks that it was coming. Although I thought I was on top of it, it’s becoming clear that I’m not. I have a few plates spinning at once and I need to start choosing which ones to focus on rather than trying to do it all at the same time.

If you read the paid post on the weekend, you know that I'll be cutting back on the amount of socials I participate in.

It's not just socials though. It's everything.

In 2025, I wanted to maximize the amount of Kickstarter campaigns I could get out in a year, and in doing that, I found myself crammed with constantly launching and fulfilling without a break.

I’ve fast-tracked my Kickstarter experience in doing this and learned more than I ever would have going half speed - but I didn't get much time for the creative side.

Big Smoke Pulp has made it into backers hands, but Naked Kaiju Woman came shortly after along with From Parts Unknown 2 around the same time. I’ve been trying to keep backers updated while keeping this newsletter going, editing and hosting the Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast, planning for upcoming conventions and trying not to lose track of my full-time job.

I’ve been surrounded by boxes for a few weeks now and that’s the least of my worries. I haven’t had much time to write, so I’m making a change to prevent deadlines from slipping away entirely. Learning to draw has become more of a burden than a fun exercise given the axe swinging over my head.

To be clear, I'm not complaining about any of this.

I'm very happy with how this all went and it's beyond my wildest dreams that I'd be sending packages all over the world for people who want to read the work of myself and the amazing artists and authors that I work with.

If anything, this has been a good time to really reflect and start to pick and choose what is important in this business. There are still a whole bunch of projects that I want to get off the ground and if I'm ever really going to do that, I have to start making some big choices.

None of that matters until I get the comics we’ve created into readers’ hands.

Before we get into it, I have a few updates to share with you…

Project Updates

From Parts Unknown #4 is in Prelaunch!

I’m likely going to push the launch for From Parts Unknown #4 back by a week or so to make sure we can give it the gigantic launch it deserves.

This double-size finale has combined issues #4 and #5 into one mega issue making for 40-pages of nonstop action.

I’d also like to get From Parts Unknown #2 and #3 into backers hands before asking these backers to join in for the finale, but I will ask that you follow!

If you haven’t read it at all yet, this is the best time to jump in as you can get the whole story at once.

If you’re feeling a bit more literary…

Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 on KU Right Now!

Do you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited?

I’ve done a quiet launch on KU in the past week and we’ve already had some readers take a look. If you have it, you can too!

This will only be available on KU until August, at which point I’ll be pushing this out wide to as many digital retailers as possible (including Kobo Plus, Canada’s non-exclusive version of KU).

Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 2 - Call for Entry

The long-awaited Call for Entries for Big Smoke Pulp, Vol. 2 is nearly here.

My goal is to get this campaign launched around the same time that I did Vol. 1 last year in the Fall. I learned a lot with the first volume, which is something I’ll talk about today, and I'm going to apply these lessons to make Vol. 2 go even smoother.

If you have a short story under 5000 words, I want to read it.

There's no cost to entry. If your story is accepted, authors are paid 1¢ CAD per word, receive a free digital copy and discounted physical copies upon funding of the Kickstarter campaign.

If you're interested, you can find the entry form at bigsmokepulp.com.

Media Updates

Hear Me on Two Geeks Talking This Saturday

If you haven’t had enough of me already, you can hear me talking on Two Geeks Talking this weekend.

This is all part of the lead up into From Parts Unknown #4 , but we talk all things Pesto Comics.

I had a great time chatting with Kurt. You'll enjoy seeing me squirm as he asked some pretty straightforward questions and I struggled to answer them.

Check it out on YouTube this Saturday.

Newsletter Updates

No Longer Going Elsewhere

I mentioned in the preamble that I've had to make some really tough choices, and one of them is cutting back on the experimental, additional newsletter that I've been putting together: Elsewhere in the Universe.

As much as I've enjoyed exploring things outside of the Pesto Comics realm, it's just a little too much to focus on with all the things that I need to do to grow Pesto Comics itself.

It's been the least read posts of any from this newsletter, including the paid ones, so I decided to take that as a sign and cut my losses.

With all that said, given that I’m slowing down the launch cycle for upcoming Kickstarters, I’ll have less posts talking about launches and post-mortems and more room to do Elsewhere-like posts on the regular Wednesday feed.

Less is more. It’ll be a theme in this post and going forward…

Main Story

A Lot at Once

445 packages to 20 different countries. Over 700 comics and over 150 books. These are numbers I could have only dreamed of hitting in the past.

The sheer volume of packages that I had to put together is unlike anything I've done before.

That was just one challenge.

Form factor was something I didn't really put too much thought into until the books arrived at my door for Big Smoke Pulp. These books are huge! My usual stayflats only worked when I was shipping one book with nothing else. When somebody ordered multiples, which happened more often than not, things got a lot more complicated.

Naked Kaiju Woman, on the other hand, was just a matter of volume.

It was more or less the same process that I've always had with my previous campaigns. The normal mailers worked great, but things got thrown out of whack once I threw in the books for Big Smoke Pulp as an add-on — and that was just one add-on problem I ran into. More on that later.

Basically, comics are easy, books are hard.

Rethinking the Book Strategy for Volume 2

I wasn't entirely naïve about print-on-demand for books. All the tools that are available to indie authors is something I've been researching for well over a decade as I threatened to dip my toe in (and never really did it).

Instead of using this opportunity to try the format, I went to printers I was comfortable with for printing comics. However, books and comics are totally different things. This is news to no one and shouldn’t have been to me either, but I got excited when I designed the book.

With Vol. 2, I’ll actually use print-on-demand to my advantage.

I'm reworking the Pesto Comics website along with bigsmokepulp.com to integrate with print-on-demand tools. This means when you order your copy of Big Smoke Pulp, or the unannounced projects I have coming, it'll get shipped directly from the printer.

I've already sent every copy of Big Smoke Pulp that I had in hand out to backers, so even Vol. 1 will be managed this way going forward. It’s a bit of a relief, to be honest.

Comics and Reworks

For comics, I'm always going to want them in hand. I want to be able to bag and board them myself before putting them in a package. When it's a huge fulfillment like it was for Naked Kaiju Woman and From Parts Unknown #2, where I'm sending well over 700 comics, it can feel like a lot but I think it's well worth it.

Something I've always wanted to do, and just haven't made the time to, is to put personal notes for repeat backers. There's quite a few, which I'm super grateful for, and I'd love to show that to them, ut I always seem to find myself chasing fulfillment rather than having the timeD to do these personal notes.

If i do everything right with From Parts Unknown #4 and the follow up to Naked Kaiju Woman later this summer - I should be able to.

I learned a lot of specific little tricks, in terms of how I organize my fulfillment area, to keep me on track and it’ll allow me to do a lot more with the time I’ll be saving. It’s the one benefit of going through this trial by fire.

There’s one more thing, in particular, that I’ll be ready for…

Tariff Trouble

I've been keeping an eye on Section 321 for a while now.

I knew this had a chance of becoming a problem, but then Canada was exempt from a lot of tariff concerns. I thought I was free and clear of any of the issues that this would present - completely forgetting the enamel pins that I ordered as part of the #make100 event for Naked Kaiju Woman and continued with From Parts Unknown #2 were made in China.

As I write this, I don’t have a reasonable way to ship these into the US from Canada, where I am, without having huge tariffs and fees applied. There has yet to be an option for me to cover it via DDP, as there is with other parts of the world. The tariff on a $4 CAD item would be minimal, but the problem isn’t the cash.

With a lot of Canadian vendors mislabeling their shipments to circumvent the tariff, the shipping companies that I use here are refusing to ship anything manufactured in China using USPS. My only option is to ship using Canada Post, which includes a $9.95 processing fee and the tariff going DDU (meaning the receiver must pay it.) This feels unreasonable.

Rather than holding onto everyone's packages that happen the order a pin, I decided to send them their comics without the pin - for now.

This is a big cost to me as I now have to ship a brand-new package whenever this whole tariff nonsense settles (as of this writing, it’s already gone down from 145% to 30%).

To me, it’s better this way than to have backers negotiating with the post office to get their main product: the comics — which are made and printed locally in Canada. I’ll be looking for more local vendors going forward.

Lesson Learned: Slowing Down

I love the fulfillment stage of campaigns, but when it becomes a burden it can rack up your anxiety like nothing else. For writing projects, it's all abstract. There's nothing that exists until you start writing things down on the paper. It's a blank page. Being delayed on fulfillment, however, means you're surrounded by your mistakes until you're able to start shipping everything out.

For a couple weeks I've been surrounded by boxes, books, comics and pins. I have a good system in place and that system was truly put to the test this round.

I'm not feeling terribly overwhelmed, but I do know that things are starting to slip. I barely pushed the campaign for From Parts Unknown #3 and the amount of backers we got there showed it. I want to spend the time to launch with full-energy from now on. If that means spacing projects out a bit more, so be it.

It’s also not the smartest thing to launch From Parts Unknown #4 before backers have had the opportunity to read #2 - let alone Issue #3.

Those examples are just campaigns. I have a number of writing projects that I owe artists and editors too. If I don’t get those in order, I’ll have caught up with campaigns and have nothing for a year or more.

Giving everything the time it deserves is really the only way to go.

I've learned a lot and pushed to my limit. Now that I know where that is, I’m more ready than ever for the next projects.

I hope you’ll be here to join me.

Until next time…

Do you have experience fulfilling big orders? Any thoughts on the process? Any tips or tricks to share?

Let me know in the comments.

Upcoming and More

Coming Up on the Substack

Wednesday May 21

Pesto Comics (Free)

Not Quite 40

Looking over the cliff of my next decade.

Saturday May 24

Pesto Comics (Paid)

Building a Kickstarter page

Finding a formula that works

Wednesday May 28

Pesto Comics (Free)

Burnout Revenge

Rethinking the Pesto Comics Release Calendar

Wednesday June 4

Pesto Comics (Free)

The End: From Parts Unknown #4

Wrapping Up From Parts Unknown with a double-sized conclusion!

Upcoming Appearances

Pesto Comics Release Calendar

Kickstarter Comic Projects

* From Parts Unknown #4 - May 28 to June 27, 2025

* Naked Kaiju *** (NKW #2) - August 20 to September 19, 2025

* “Unannounced Project” #1 - January 7 to February 6, 2026

* Naked Kaiju ****** (NKW #3) - March 11 to April 10, 2026

Kickstarter Novel Projects

* Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 2 - October 22 to November 21, 2025

Kindle Unlimited Projects

* Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 - Available Now until August 11, 2025

* “Unannounced Project” #1 - July 16 to October 14, 2025

* “Unannounced Project” #2 - October 1 to December 31, 2025

* “Unannounced Project” #3 - December 10 to March 10, 2026

Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pestocomics.substack.com