You Know My Name
Less than a week to go until the Kickstarter for WAYPOINT! Holy cats, that’s soon. Hopefully it’ll be the first of many. Still, there’s nothing like the first time, huh? In the meantime, I’m doing what I can to drum up publicity and shore up everything that needs to be ready to go for when the campaign launches. It’s a trap to think you’re ever fully ready for something. What’s the old saying? No plan survives contact with the enemy? Yeah, that.
I’ve started promoting the campaign on some podcasts. Check out Beyond the Cape if you want to see me confidently master my first podcast appearance ever. Ryan Isaacson, the host, did a great job of asking questions and making me feel comfortable. It’s funny – I’m used to being on his side of the chair. I’ve performed so many interviews with musicians over the years – dozens if not hundreds at this point – but this was my first time getting asked the questions. Sometimes the interviewer catches you off-guard and you have to regain your footing. The answers are there if you’re good enough at bullshitting! Which, it turns out, you kinda have to learn to be very quickly.
I also made an appearance on Geekscape’s Marvel Movie Talk podcast to discuss episode 4 of Season 2 of X-Men ’97. I had to get used to the roundtable format very quickly. It was fun getting to talk about something that wasn’t my own book – definitely a lot to dig into with that series. I’ve actually known the host, Christian Bladt, for years now. His wife, Heather Jeng Bladt, has written for rad shows like Mad Men and The Mysterious Benedict Society, and happened to go to USC film school with me. It’s funny – Christian also hosted a podcast about metal with Brian Slagel recently, so I guess it was inevitable that I’d wind up on one of his shows.
The weird thing? It didn’t even occur to me to reach out to him for this. His name came up when I was talking to someone from Geekscape and I was like, oh, I know him! Small world. It goes to show the importance of having a network. You never know when it’s gonna come in handy. The other strange thing is that I’m actually qualified to be on that show! I swear I’m not trying to humble brag here. It’s just easy to get imposter syndrome and forget that I have, in fact, had the opportunity to write for major name cartoons and that does qualify me to talk about television animation in an informed way.
I’ve recorded a few others that’ll be going live next week (Comics are Dope, Fan Light Zone, Pastrami Nation) and did a written interview with Fanbase Press that’ll hopefully go live next week. I’ll link when they’re available on my socials, and probably here next week. The thing I’m enjoying most about this process is chatting with people who are just as passionate about comics and other forms of media as I am. I’m honored that folks would want to talk with me! I have a lot of pent-up opinions and it’s pretty nice to be able to firehose them out at a captive audience. Hopefully people learn things. I obviously ramble about my book a lot, I’m on there to promote it, but I try to share the lessons I’ve learned in the process of creating and producing it. I’d love to help folks make their own dreams come true through passing on things I’ve learned the hard way. Which I guess is why people enjoy being mentors?
Anyway, the real blitz starts next week when the Kickstarter launches. I need to have a good first 48 hours. Hopefully I can count on my readers here to back it or at least share with their friends. I truly am depending on the people I’ve made personal connections with to help me get this thing off the ground. Social media is a nightmare and a lot of the traditional advertising venues are walled off. At the very least, I know I made a good book. One that I feel confident asking people to buy. Beyond that, it’s a matter of getting folks to put their faith in me. I’ve offered the first half of issue one as a free preview to entice people. Hopefully that’ll help get it going and then I can let momentum take over.
I’ve even bitten the bullet and started making videos on Instagram. I can’t bring myself to download TikTok yet but I’m sure it’s inevitable. So follow me over there, too. You can get the links to all my active socials at my spiffy new redesigned homepage, jefftreppel.com.
And, of course, don’t forget to follow the Kickstarter prelaunch page if you haven’t! It even has its own url now!
See you all Tuesday – hopefully with a successful Kickstarter to rave about!
NOW SPINNING
Temples – Bliss
Fela Kuti and Africa 70 with Ginger Baker – Live!
McDonald and Giles – McDonald and Giles
Tomoyo Harada – Next Door
Cybotron – Sunday Night at the Total Theatre
