In romance, we don't like it with somebody messes with the HEA.
I debated on the H for a little bit...thought maybe I'd do historical. I even thought about doing hockey.
But then it dawned on me...romance is all about the HEA. In a pin campaign celebrating the romance genre, how can I not include something that talks about the HEA?
Book genres are defined by certain characteristics.
Mysteries will have mystery.
Historicals will be set in the past.
Murder mysteries will involve murder.
And romance will involve a couple (**or throuple/more) falling in love and finding their HEA or HFN (Happy for Now). Romance lovers want that satisfying conclusion at the end, knowing the people they've come to know will find their person(s) and make it work. Things don't always work out in life and there aren't always HEAs.
But we can find them in some places - and a romance in one of those.
Every once in a while there's a kerfuffle in the online spaces known as romancelandia where a writer-typically newish to the romance genre-will announce they're putting a 'new' spin on the romance genre. This 'new spin' is a 'love story' without the HEA.
Romancelandia has spoken out, loudly, against this every time somebody tries to reinvent our quite lovely wheel.
A few years ago, during one of these blow-ups on twitter, one of these writers was insisting nobody could tell her what to write.
That's true. But likewise, she can't insist her 'love story without the HEA' is still a romance and think romance lovers are gonna be cool with it. Which is pretty much what I said. And I added something along the lines of "This is romance. It's HEA or GTFO."
When I was going through my ideas for the various letters, I kept going back to H and realized why. Because...well, we're talking romance.
It stops with the HEA.
And that's how I wanted to end this first pin campaign...with the HEA.
That being said, I'm going to have all pin designs, A-H, available for backers. G is mocked up and I'm discussing it with the artist, so you'll see the final in an update before I send out surveys.
We've unlocked all but 3 pins in the first six hours - which is incredible! - and opens up the possibility that we might be able to add some more cool options.
So here are the possibilities we've thought of so far - help us decide which way to go once we get there!
Just stopping by with a quick shipping and manufacturing update for all three active projects! I'm sorry if you receive this email three times, but I'm posting this to all three project update pages, and that sends an email for each one.
Estimated Ship Start Dates
Firmly Grasp It: Mid August
Secret Night Market: Mid August
Admit One: Late August to Early September (currently well ahead of schedule.)
Photos - I've posted some photos the manufacturers have sent me. They are photos from across the three projects.
Firmly Grasp It
The remade pins and enamel pieces for this project have finally been completed by the factory, and I'm told they'll be shipping to me on Friday. Assuming everything stays on schedule, they should arrive sometime next week.
I'll be in Nashville for a convention next week, so I may or may not be home when they arrive. As soon as I get back, I'll immediately begin processing the shipment, performing quality checks, and assembling grips so they can begin shipping out.
Secret Night Market
The remaining Night Market pins are also expected to arrive on Friday alongside the remade Firmly Grasp It pieces.
Since Firmly Grasp It has just under 300 backers, I expect shipping for that project to take about 3–4 days once it begins. As soon as those orders are finished, I'll move directly into shipping Secret Night Market. That project should take approximately one week to ship.
Combined Shipping
I haven't decided yet whether I'll combine packages for backers who pledged for both projects. While combining shipments sounds simple, each project contains more than 50+ different SKUs, and organizing combined orders adds a significant amount of complexity when I'm packing every order by myself.
Unfortunately, it also doesn't really save on postage anymore.
On July 12, USPS changed its Ground Advantage pricing. Instead of charging based on ounce ranges, all packages under one pound now fall under the same price tier. Since enamel pin orders are usually well under one pound, many of those lighter packages now cost the same to ship as a full one-pound package. As a result, shipping costs have increased noticeably for many small businesses.
In 2026 alone, USPS has implemented three separate shipping price increases and policy changes, significantly increasing shipping costs for small businesses.
Admit One
This project is currently way ahead of schedule.
Right now I'm estimating shipping will begin in late August or early September, which is significantly earlier than the original estimate of late October through early November. Apparently this is what happens when your doctor actually listens to you, prescribes life-changing ADHD medication, and suddenly your productivity goes through the roof. 😅
Thank You!
And finally, I just want to reiterate how incredibly grateful I am for everyone's patience and understanding throughout all of the setbacks and timeline changes with Firmly Grasp It and The Secret Night Market.
Unexpected manufacturing issues and shipping delays can be incredibly overwhelming and stressful, especially when you're a small business owner wearing every hat and handling every part of the business yourself.
Thank you for continuing to support my small business through all of the bumps in the road. I truly can't wait to get these projects into your hands, and I'm so excited for you to finally see everything in person. ❤️
Hello everyone, thanks so so much for supporting this project. It means everything to me!! If you are one of the 4 people who didnt do surveys or fix your payments. This project closes and locks on Monday. No more rewards will be fulfilled after that date.
For everyone else, now that you have your items in hand... if there is something you missed, I have a few of each left! you can get them on my live show (and in the palmstreet shop afterwards) They'll be released Saturday July 11th at 8pm EST HERE to USA shipping only. Scroll down for some photos!
First, we want to apologize as production took longer than originally expected. Several of the pin styles required additional coloring, polishing, quality inspection, and assembly before the full collection could ship together. Our operations team continued working with the factory to complete those final steps and ensure every design met the quality standards we expected.
And trust us... you won't be disappointed with these pins!!!
The OZ Legendary Companion Pins!
We’ve now been told that the completed shipment has arrive at our fulfillment center and packaging is almost done — so we expect distribution to begin late this week!
Please keep in mind that it may take a little time for every individual package to reach its final destination depending on where you live, but all packages should be out for delivery by the end of next week.
We know this collection has taken longer to reach you than anticipated, and we sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding throughout the production process. We’re incredibly excited for these pins to finally make their way into your hands.
The Boy in the Bubble pin!
Thank you again for supporting the first-ever ULTIMATE OZ UNIVERSE pin collection!
The last 3 packages are now complete & will be picked up tomorrow, and this completes this project. Everyone who completed their survey and successfully paid for their entire pledge including shipping has a package coming their way!*
Will Farrell is cheering us on. Or something.
We are currently working on our next project, another one which has been hanging about for a very long time without being completed, and you'll get an email from us soon about Queerphemisms. ;)
If you're in the Portland, Oregon area, please come see us at Portland Pride! We'll be in Booths 348 & 367 by the Harvey Milk entrance, and we'll have a whole bunch of new, cool things including new shirt designs ready for you. Portland Pride is Saturday, July 18, 2026 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM and Sunday, July 19, 2026 11:30 AM - 6:00 PM. As always, thank you for enabling us to do what we do! If you take pictures of your stash, PLEASE tag us, we love seeing your shayna punims** & all of your amazing pin collections. We are NerdyKeppie on all social media (technically we're still on X, but we don't hang out at the Nazi bar anymore - find us on BlueSky, Tumblr, FB and Instagram).
Solidarity now and forever, Spider, Emet, Evie & Erykah
*We set pretty clear boundaries on "we need you to actually pay for everything within a reasonable timeframe or we have to consider your pledge a donation" in part of our writeup, it was on the front page of the project when you pledged, and has been on all of our projects for years. We actually extended our deadlines on this project as far as we reasonably could and well past the times posted. If you didn't complete your survey or pay for your shipping, this ship has now sailed. **beautiful faces :)
