This is a multi-part analysis and review of our 2026 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for ‘The Coward’.
- Part I: What went Right?
- Part II: What went Wrong?
- Part III: Conclusions (& Lessons) (this post)
In Part I we examined the positives in the campaign – decent prep, effective Facebook ads, much better Kickstarter page, a proper launch video. Then in Part II we looked at the countering facts – and they were sobering. Yes, 1,400 newsletter subscribers is a very impressive sounding number – except for the fact that it translated into maybe $500 of pledges. The Kickstarter video wasnt bad – but it was too long, with no cutaways and quite choppy in its edit. There was very little proper planning for 3rd party media outreach – youtubers were bartely tapped, recurring historical publications were completely ignored and Facebook Groups were not ‘warmed up’ to the coming launch.
FAILBOOK
Speaking of Facebook – there were almost no ads built for the actual live Kickstarter stage – all the work was put into ads to gain subscribers top the newsletter well before the Kikcstarter launch. This meant that the online visibility of the live campaign was nowehere near what it should have been. Almost no ads actually said “NOW LIVE ON KICKSTARTER” and those that did were underfunded and too late in the timeline to have any effect. I certainly gained very valuable experience building the Facebook Ads for subscribers (thank you, Claude) but I failed to translate that into ads for pledgers.
Overall, the 2026 Kickstarter campaign for ‘The Coward’ proved there is interest and belief in the project. The creibility of the project and myself as Director/Producer seems to have solidified – I base this on the type and number of people who have financially supported the project but also those who have reached out separately to help make it happen.
Those fellow travellers in my quest for an accurate depiction of Napoleonic warfare have come from many walks of life, and several different countries also. They all share a deep passion for the time period and when reaching out they all touched on the same thing – that my overt dedication to fidelity is a critical reassuarance that I’m “legit”. They seem to see that this project is not a flash-in-the-pan, passing fancy for me. That credibility is built over time and by consistency in principles, constantly re-iterated in conversations, blog posts, video chats, emails, social media posts, art work, animatics. I think it’s clear now that I am just as dedicated to the history as I am to the art.
PREP NEEDS FOLLOW-THROUGH
Getting back on-topic, this 2026 campaign proved that I can build an audience, but not that I can turn that audience into backers. I mean, I did – $22,000 worth of backers is no joke. But it wasn’t enough – I need to literally double my effectiveness. In the terminology of ads and marketing, my Reach worked: 1,400 subscribers, ads that grew the list, and a solid video and page. However my Conversions failed: fewer than 20 subscribers pledged, and the largest identified pledge sources were the Zack White interview (+$12,000) and family and friends (est. $5,000–6,000).
So the failure to climb from $22,000 to $40,000 sits mostly in the lead-up: no warm-up of subscribers or the public, late and thin Kickstarter-specific ads, YouTube connections made too late, and a subscription that offered too little value.
All those take time to build in advance – you can’t just drop them into play. The market focus was also too narrow: Canada and the US took the attention while the UK, which proved more viable and lucrative than expected, was barely scratched. Those are the critical areas to fix before the relaunch.
There is one critical failure I haven’t mentioned yet – the timeframe. 25 days for a crowdfunding is simply too short. I blabbered about ‘Fast, Cheap or Good – pick any two’, but my own process was too fast, too cheap and not good enough. If the relaunch in February 2027 does anything better it will be 60 days in duration. This will let the project breath, spread through the various communities and steadily build momentum. This isn’t TikTok and my audience are not over-screened tweenagers – they’re adults, reasonably considered in their decisions and certainly careful in whom they give money too. I need to give them the time to become convinced. The project can sell itself, but it’s not a fast sell. Respect your audience.
SUMMARY
So, my critical Relaunch items are:
- Redesign the website to be a Portal (not a poster) – DONE!
- Edit and upload existing videos and audio files to the Website
- Build out a Media plan:
- List potential YouTubers, Podcasters, Writers to talk to
- Identify their timelines, from talk to upload.
- Schedule chats to steadily build towards the Relaunch and during the campaign itself.
- Identify and develop contacts in off-line media and institutions
- Blog Post much more often and regularly
- Warm up the subscriber base – better content, more regularly.
- Prep and execute a new Kickstarter video by Dec 31 2026.
- Prep and pre-launch a new Kickstarter page by January 15th 2027.
- Prep Kickstarter-specific ads in advance of Launch (set money aside to guarantee ad-spend)
- Set the Kickstarter for 60 days duration
There’s a lot more that could be added to that list!
If you have ideas or notes please do send them to [email protected].
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