A couple of nights ago I watched the countdown of my second successful Kickstarter campaign. My wife and I had opened a bottle of wine, and when the seconds hit "0" and "Successful" showed in green, we had a little toast. That was really the extent of the celebration, and truth be told, I was very grateful and happy, but also just dog tired. As I said in my previous post, running a campaign is a wild ride, and the end of the fund raising portion is the beginning of the work to fulfill the 1,000+ backer rewards. So, although elated, I went to bed with my wheels turning, plates spinning, and thoughts on what the coming weeks would hold.

It's eerily quiet after a Kickstarter campaign ends. During the project, for every single 1,025 backers, I got an email when they pledged, decreased, increased or canceled their pledge, commented, or messaged me. My iPhone was in a constant state of activity, and I was even experiencing "phantom buzzing" when there were actually no alerts happening. Then, all at once, it stops. Sure people message and comment still, but it's nothing compared to what it's been. It's a relief in many ways, but also like the day after Christmas.

All that being said, I'm now beginning to realize that, unlike the hours I put in during the campaign in which I was unsure whether or not there would be a financial return, I can now work on the deck knowing that I have a certain number of hours prepaid. This is quite freeing, and I'm excited about finishing the face cards, working with Bicycle and seeing this thing materialize into something I can lose at poker with.

Man, in some ways it seems like 30 days flew by, and in others it was a loooong month. Running a Kickstarter campaign is such a roller-coaster. There's the initial excitement, anticipation and fear as you hit that green "LAUNCH" button. Then, if it goes well, things move a breakneck speeds, "New Backer" emails flooding your inbox, people commenting, messaging you, and you still trying to get the word out. You develop this sort of nervous twitch, refreshing your inbox, or campaign site every 5 minutes. When things slow down you doubt. When they pickup, you dream.

Then, when it's all said and done, when "SUCCESSFULL!" appears where your progress meter once displayed, it's eerily quiet, and now you know that hundreds, sometimes thousands of backers are waiting for you to do your part. They've given, they've shared, they've encouraged, corrected and cheered, they've done their part. Now it's all on you.

I'm exhausted, my jaw hurts from clenching it, my teeth from grinding them, yet I'm exceedingly grateful and I'll probably toast with a little wine in 5 hours to another project and product that I'll be able to share with so many people, and will keep me paying the bills and doing what I love.

Well, with another Kickstarter campaign coming to a close, a book about to come out, and the never ceasing need for new freelance work, I thought I'd gussy up the 'ol website. I'll try to actually post periodically on this blog portion. Look around at the art, write a comment, send a message, etc.