Hey folks. It’s that time again. It’s time to tell you a about a Kickstarter campaign that you should be backing. We search the current Kickstarter campaigns, and when we find one we feels needs a little boost, we let you know about it.
The project we are spotlighting is Maybe Someday: Stories of Promise, Visions of Hope by A Wave Blue World. It is a comic anthology full of inspiring, forward-looking stories for tomorrow.
The campaign description states:
MAYBE SOMEDAY: STORIES OF PROMISE, VISIONS OF HOPE is a full-color anthology featuring over 25 inspiring stories about a brighter future. It is also the sequel to the New York Times featured and Ringo Award Nominated anthology, ALL WE EVER WANTED.
Like its predecessor, MAYBE SOMEDAY features stories full of hope. Instead of focusing on dystopian fiction, these stories help show the path forward to a better world. It is edited by Matt Miner, Eric Palicki & Tyler Chin-Tanner and published by A Wave Blue World.
As we were already fans of All We Ever Wanted and the publisher’s other anthologies, including Dead Beats, we wanted to do what we could to support this project we reached out to the editors Tyler Chin-Tanner, Eric Palicki, and Matt Miner to get some more info on this book.
Pop Culture Squad: What about the current state of the world makes this the right time for an anthology like this?
Matt: If I could gesticulate wildly to EVERYTHING, maybe? For decades we fantasized about the post apocalyptic and authoritarian worlds, because they make for fun stories – but we’re starting to really live in that scary future that used to be the thing of movies, and for some folks it’s never been that great. I think a little positivity and hope is a much needed thing right now.
Eric: I’m fond of a turn of phrase Matt used to describe the mission statement of our first volume, ALL WE EVER WANTED. Our goal was to tell science fiction stories that were “less Mad Max, more Star Trek.” Now, I look out my front door and I see a world practically on fire, and people not too far removed from Immortan Joe in positions of power. We don’t need to dramatize the dystopia we’re already living in, which makes now the perfect time to start thinking less about what the present is and more about what the future could be.
PCS: How did you frame the approach, for what you are trying to cultivate in this book, to the creative minds involved, and what type of reaction have you gotten from them?
Eric: The ask was much easier for this second volume because we were able to share the first book with the creators we approached. Of course, we didn’t want to retread ground we’d already covered in ALL WE EVER WANTED, so we opened MAYBE SOMEDAY up a bit to include other kinds of stories under the speculative fiction umbrella. Most of the stories skewed once again toward science fiction, understandably, but there’s a good mix of fantasy this time. I’m a bit disappointed no one took up my challenge to write an upbeat, aspirational horror story, but there’s always volume three!
PCS: What have you learned about doing Kickstarters like this as you have progressed from the likes of All We Ever Wanted to Dead Beats and now Maybe Someday?
Tyler: The main thing is that we’ve been getting more and more done before we launch the campaign. It used to be that you’d come up with an idea for a project, throw a few things together like a cover and a sample page or two, then launch the campaign. This made sense if you were really just using Kickstarter as a way to determine whether you’d go through with the project or not.
The drawback with this, though, is that you don’t have as much “proof of concept” to show backers so they have the confidence to back the campaign. You also run the risk of it taking a lot longer to pull everything together, especially with an anthology, and backers are waiting longer than anticipated to receive their rewards.
We’ve gone ahead and committed to making the anthology before we launched the campaign. We still need the funding to cover the creator pay and printing, so it’s a bit of a risk, but we’ve done enough of these campaigns that we’re comfortable predicting the amount we can raise.
The result is a much stronger campaign, and a shorter window between when the Kickstarter ends and the book arrives in the backers’ hands.
PCS: What is the current production state of the planned stories? (i.e. scripted, some drawn, etc.)
Tyler: All the scripts are in! We made that a prerequisite for including the story when we launched the campaign. Beyond that, it varies. Pretty much every story has at least a page of art in, or the full layouts. Something like that.
There are a few stories that are fully done, at least all the art, if not the lettering as well. Being so far ahead with these really helped us set up the campaign page and arrange for a fair amount of promotion on news sites.
PCS: What is the one thing you want people to know more than any other about what to expect from this anthology?
Matt: Expect stories more along the lines of Star Trek, and not Mad Max. It’s like Black Mirror, but only the San Junipero episode. Problems in a better future, but a better future nonetheless.
Eric: See? SEE? He said the thing again. Every contributor is pouring their heart into this book–many of them have found an oblique way to explore what “a better world” looks like–and the result is going to be something truly special.
The campaign is currently at 66% of its pledge goal and has nineteen days to go. It would be great to see this funded.
The reward structure for this campaign is very simple with digital and print options and a couple combo packs and special signed bookplate edition.
The creative talent that has signed on to work on this anthology is truly astounding. The names include:
Natasha Alterici, Alejandro Aragon, Darren Auck, Max Bemis, Anthony Breznican, Ryan Cady, Mario Candelaria, Joe Caramagna, Tyler Chin-Tanner, Gab Contreras, Shawn Daley, Jono Diener, Jeff Edwards, Greg Anderson Elysee, Mike Feehan, Ryan Ferrier, Joe Glass, Isaac Goodhart, Adam Gorham, Hagai, Ray-Anthony Height, Josh Hood, Daniel Kibblesmith, Konner Knudsen, Michael Kupperman, Alisa Kwitney, Valentine De Landro, Robert Lee, Yasmin Liang, Mauricet, John McFarlane, Matt Miner, Christopher Mitten, Michael Moreci, Steve Niles, Eric Palicki, Emily Pearson, Stephanie Phillips, Curt Pires, Sebastian Piriz, Andy Poole, Nick Pyle, Rod Reis, Renfamous, Marco Rudy, Ethan Sacks, Phillip Sevy, Erica Shultz, Martin Simmonds, Aubrey Sitterson, Stelladia, Sally Jane Thompson, Zoe Thorogood, Bobby Timony, and Rockwell White.
Click HERE to back this project.
