Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Stilipec.
Hi Jay, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
James ‘Jay’ Stilipec is a nonbinary femizenter who was Assigned-Male-at-Birth and uses they/she pronouns. She is the creator of Better Backtories, a card-based inspiration system for creatives.
In 2019, Jay developed and ran a Kickstarter for Better Backstories, originally asking for $3000. After 45 days, she had been promised more than $25,000 from more than 1300 backers from all over the world. The cards were printed and delivered, and she still sells them at comic book and sci-fi conventions in Maryland and Virginia.
Originally from North Pole, Alaska, she joined the U.S. Navy after high school to become a broadcast journalist. She was assigned overseas in Spain, Iceland, Japan, and Afghanistan; aboard two ships; and as a drill instructor at Navy Boot Camp. Retiring in 2015 after 20 years of honorable service, she continued to serve by teaching military broadcasters for the Department of Defense until 2020.
In 2016, Jay started cosplaying in Maryland under the stage name ‘Jazmine Cosplays.’ She likes to portray strong, independent women like Samus Aran from Metroid, Jean Grey from X-Men, and Silk from Spider-Man. She is happy to have received tons of positive support from the cosplay, LGBTQ, and geek communities. During this time, Jay started her transgender journey, culminating with top surgery in 2020.
In 2021, Jay began teaching English at the REACH! Partnership School in Baltimore. She has been tenured at the school and is nearing the end of her 5th year of teaching high school.
Jay is also a professional Dungeon Master, teaching and running Dungeons & Dragons games for kids, students, and families in the Baltimore area.
She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Thomas Edison State University. Her hobbies include cosplaying at local sci-fi conventions, watching science fiction movies, and playing video games.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Developing Better Backstories took a couple of years. I had always been a fan of backstory generators for role-playing games, and when I started attending conventions regularly, I wanted something I could sell at a table. I developed the basics of the cards in my free time and printed them out on business card stock at first. Then I had sample decks printed in the same size as Tarot cards, but realized these were too cumbersome to shuffle effectively. Luckily, I had some friends in the typesetting business, and they helped me redesign the deck to print as poker-sized cards. I started the Kickstarter on November 15th with pie in my eyes.
Overall, the Kickstarter went well. I got lots of reposts and backers, earning more money than I could have imagined. However, I failed to realize that Kickstarter would not be paying the taxes on my funds, so I spent all of them on upgrading the cards. Also, the Kickstarter ended on Dec. 30th, so it fell under the 2019 tax season. In April, I owed an additional $9000 in taxes.
Additionally, I contracted a company in China to print the decks, boxes, instructions, and bookmarks. The shipment got held up in Los Angeles due to COVID in early 2020.
Once I got the decks and mailed them out, I ran into another issue … Duty taxes. Some countries required the recipients of the decks to pay an additional fee to pick the deck up from the post office. Many decks got returned. I was able to figure out that if I listed the cost of the item as only $10, then it would slip under most duty fees.
The hardest delivery was to my backer in South Africa. I think the postage came out to $150 or something. But another backer who had business in South Africa offered to take the deck with him to the country and put it into the postal system from there.
The last hurdle was figuring out the best way to sell the extra decks. I started selling them at conventions, but also tried to get them into game stores. However, many businesses refused because the box was too small and it wasn’t clear what the cards were meant for. They’re not a game, they’re a creativity supplement. But thanks to some advice from Kristin Looney of Looney Labs, I stopped trying to get into stores, set up a website, and lowered my price point.
I don’t sell the decks to get rich. I’m just trying to spread my love of brainstorming and creativity to the world.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Einstein famously said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination encircles the world.”
I’ve always worked in creative fields. I got into creative writing in middle school and hosted a creative writing club in high school. I was involved in theater in high school and beyond. I was a broadcast journalist for the military, turning boring new stories and public service announcements into must-see events. I became a cosplayer, portraying strong, independent characters from comics, video games, and cartoons. I played role-playing games, creating hundreds of characters and fantastic worlds for them to inhabit.
I truly believe that creativity is something everyone has and can use. It can be worked out like a muscle, improved like a skill, and honed like a sword’s edge. The key is to find your creative niche and get brave enough to share it.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I could not have succeeded with Better Backstories if it had not been for eight wonderful people. Firstly, my mother, Valerie Stilipec, who supported me every step of the way in far-off Alaska. Tim Joseph was a co-worker at the DMA who helped clean up the cards for printing. Redleg Media, another military broadcaster and co-worker who created an amazing Kickstarter video for me. Shaneh Woods is a high school friend who supported me by providing inspirational quotes for my bookmarks. Blazbaros is a fantastic artist who did 20 custom characters for my backers, images that were later used on the box, instructions, and posters. Rick Ankney was a streamer and gamer who supported me immensely during that time. Finally, Kerry Anne and Steph Wilson of Bad Kerry Studios, who provided art for the bookmarks and a heap of reposts and support. I am certain that Better Backstories could never have gotten the support it did without these lovely souls.
Pricing:
- Better Backstories Big Bundle Box – $10 plus s/h
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.betterbackstories.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backstories22/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbackstories
- Twitter: https://x.com/Backstories22
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/BaLnY5MucOg
