Vengeful Ghost

Transparency is important to Vengeful Ghost. Comics is hard business. It gets easier if we share information and our hard-fought lessons learned. In posts like this, Parker will lay out the Ghost’s quarterly numbers and try to provide some context.

Okay, first things first: despite the success of our recent Kickstarter campaign (135%! Thank you, everyone!), those numbers will not be included in this analysis–they fell out of the reporting period by a couple days and Kickstarter holds onto the money for two weeks anyway. We’ll do analysis of the Kickstarter when all our revenue and expenses are accounted for. It’ll probably be early May.

First quarter 2017 was interesting, though! Let’s get to the numbers.

First Quarter 2017 (1 Jan 2017-31 Mar 2017)

Pages published: 13
Pageviews: 1413 [-312 over 4Q16]
Average monthly visitors: 107 [-19 over 4Q16]
Patreon patrons (at the end of the quarter): 9 (+0 over 4Q16)

Revenue: $252.2 [+57.6 over 4Q16]
Expenses: -$2,333.72
% of expenses to Ghostfriends: 62.48%
Net: -$2,081.52

Physical Distribution

Thursday Night

Sold/gifted/traded: 4 [-3 over 4Q16]

The Coriolis Effect

Sold/gifted/traded: 5 [-4 over 4Q16]

Pay to Win

Sold/gifted/trade: 5 [+0 over 4Q16]

There were no digital sales that were not part of a bundle with a physical sale.

Convention Appearances

Coast to Coast Comic Con (at Amazing Spiral, 4 March)

VG Books sold/traded/gifted: 14
Ghostfriends books sold: 1
Revenue:table fee ratio: N/A (table was free)

Second Quarter 2017 (1 Apr 2017-30 Jun 2017)

Pages published: 12
Pageviews: 869 [-544 over 1Q17]
Average monthly visitors: 88 [-19 over 1Q17]
Patreon patrons (at the end of the quarter): 10 (+1 over 1Q17)

Revenue: $3,674.01 [+3421.81 over 1Q17; +3668.61 over 2Q16]
Expenses: -$4,901.02
% of expenses to Ghostfriends: 28.92%
Net: -$1,227.01

Physical Distribution

Vengeful Ghost: The First Year

Sold/Gifted/Traded: 107

Thursday Night

Sold/gifted/traded: 9 [+5 over 1Q17]

The Coriolis Effect

Sold/gifted/traded: 16 [+9 over 1Q17]

Pay to Win

Sold/gifted/traded: 15 [+10 over 1Q17]

What the Mine Gives

Sold/gifted/traded: 12

Interrogation:

Sold/gifted/traded: 10

There were no digital sales that were not part of a bundle with a physical sale.

Convention Appearances

Signing at Cosmic Comix (1 April)

VG Books sold/traded/gifted: 14
Ghostfriends books sold: 5
Revenue:table fee ratio: N/A (table was free)

Hereford County Public Library Event (8 April)

VG Books sold/traded/gifted: 2
Ghostfriends books sold: 1
Revenue:table fee ratio: N/A (table was free)

Tidewater Comic-Con (Virginia Beach,VA, 13-14 May)

VG Books sold/traded/gifted: 45
Ghostfriends books sold: 0
Revenue:table fee ratio: 1.42

HeroesCon (Charlotte, NC, 16-18 June)

VG Books sold/traded/gifted: 13
Ghostfriends books sold: 0
Revenue:table fee ratio: .96

Project tracker (as of 31 March)

1. Launched since 4Q16
   1. Interrogation (formerly Project Tokyo): Web published. Limited print run and included in Vengeful Ghost: The First Year. Digital edition to come. Revenue:Cost=.63. No revenue sharing goals reached.
   2. The Summit (Formerly Project New York City): Web published. Digital edition to come. Anticipated inclusion in future collection. Revenue:Cost:.06. No revenue sharing goals reached.
2. In development
   1. Project Manila: In art production.
   2. Project Shanghai: In art production
   3. Project Seoul: In draft.
   4. Project Karachi: In draft.
3. Legacy
   1. Thursday Night: Web, digital, and print published. Limited print run of 50 sold out. Collected in Vengeful Ghost: The First Year. Revenue:Cost=.67. No revenue sharing goals reached.
   2. Coriolis Effect: Web, digital, and print published. Limited print run of 75. Collected in Vengeful Ghost: The First Year. Revenue/Cost=.69. No revenue sharing goals reached.
   3. Pay to Win: Web and print published. Limited ashcan print run, negligible costs, fully distributed. Collected in Vengeful Ghost: The First Year. Revenue:Cost=.57. No revenue sharing goals reached.
   4. What the Mine Gives (formerly Project Delhi): Web published. Limited print run of 50. Collected in Vengeful Ghost: The First Year. Digital edition to come. Revenue:Cost=.63. No revenue sharing goals reached.

Analysis

• Took a while to get these numbers out–between the Kickstarter and a bevy of personal and family challenges, 2Q17 has been a rough one.
• I’ve now got a full year of conventions under my belt, and it’s time to do some serious analysis as I plan for the 2018 convention season. One thing to remember is that the above ratios don’t include travel expenses like fuel, lodging, and food.
• One impact of the extensive convention travel I did in 2Q17 is that a lot less of my money went to Ghostfriends, instead going to hotels and convention organizers.
• Obviously numbers for 2Q17 are skewed a bit by the Kickstarter. I still owe y’all a a full analysis of the Kickstarter, but overall I think the goals worked out well. I covered expenses and ended up with a beautiful book that is entirely paid for.
• To be honest, I’m feeling a bit discouraged heading into 3Q17. We’ll see how I feel in two and a half months–I’m hoping to have The Second Year (“The Summit” and Projects Shanghai, Manila, Karachi, and Seoul) completely drafted and mostly illustrated by the next “State of the Ghost.”
• That’ll mean high cost next quarter due to capital outlay to Ghostfriends, combined with low income due to the publishing hiatus. The numbers are probably going to look worse before they look better–good to remember.

Thanks for reading. Please comment with any questions. If you want to help make those numbers a little prettier, consider clicking over to our Patreon campaign, buying something from our online store, or throwing something in the tip jar.