Just a quick update to let you know that the digital version of the 12 Sandy the Dragon adventures are finished, on itchio, and digitally distributed!
I've sent distribution keys to those who had the dragon-specific adventures only, and for folks who got the whole collection, you won't get a new key because the key you already have gives you continued access to the collection. You'll just need to go back to the big StoryGuider collection page and download the new files to get the new games/books!
AND... the digital coloring books are out there too! This is the print-and-play for just the characters so you have some extra pages to go along with your adventures or can check out just the characters before you try the game!
I hope you enjoy these print-and-play releases, and I'll have our regularly scheduled print-on-demand progress update at our regularly scheduled monthly interval as well.
I'm here with your monthly StoryGuider update, and... proofs for the Heroes and Friends series came in!
I’ve gone through all the proof copies and, overall, they're pretty OK, but I did find a few issues with:
Layout in relation to book seam (image or text too close to inner seam)
Print quality (resolution unclear on an image or section of text)
Page # placement error (image layer was partially overtop of the page number on one page)
So, I am fixing those ASAP. Revisions have already been submitted for proofs round 2, and I'm using expedited shipping to make sure they get here as fast as possible.
And in parallel to all that, I’m working on Sandy the Dragon!
There’s 12 more stories and The Big Book of Dragons yet to come, and it’s moving along. Right now, I have all covers colored and laid out (shown below), and all the prepatory pages for the whole series are written and proofread (this includes the credits/ISBN page, skills practice page, recommended supplemental activities page, story summary page, and internal title page). Additionally, all content drafts are completed.
What’s left here is taking all the content drafts and getting them to final draft stage, which does involve a lot of clean up and fine tuning along with matching to art and confirming layout. I’ll be starting on that this week, and I am hoping to have that completed before summer break starts during the 2nd week of June.
Beyond that, there’s still lots to do, but I’ll leave our big running schedule to cover those items!
COMPLETED:
Oct – campaign funds released from Backerkit
Oct – send contracts for funded art to artists
Oct – draft the Tome Traveller Trilogy (part of the Heroes series)
Oct → Nov – collect first round of art from early artist kick-offs (from itchio and ko-fi prefunds)
Nov – artists working on Heroes series
Nov/Dec – finish writing the new Dragon series adventures
Nov → Jan – reformat the Heroes series
Jan – Heroes series art due
Jan – order Heroes series proofs (round 1)
Jan – artists working on Friends series
Feb – Friends series art due
Feb – Heroes series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
Jan – Mar – reformat the Friends series
Jan – Apr – artists working on Dragon series
Mar – Dragon series art due
Mar – send backer surveys
Apr – update + order Friends series proofs (round 1)
Apr – update + order Heroes series proofs (round 1.5)
Apr – set up digial pages for Friends and Heroes series
Apr – fulfill digital print-and-play for Friends and Heroes series
May – Heroes series proofs arrive
May – Friends series proofs arrive
May – Friends series proofs review, update, reorder (round 2)
NEXT STEPS:
May/June – Heroes series proofs review, update, reorder (round 2)
May/June – reformat the Dragon series and make coloring book
June – order Dragons series and coloring book proofs (round 1)
June – set up digial pages for Dragons series
June/July – fulfill digital print-and-play for Dragon series
June/July – Friends series proofs arrive, review, update (round 2)
June/July– if no issues with Friends series, start to distribute POD keys
July – Heroes series proofs arrive, review, update (round 2)
July – Dragon series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
July – if no issues with Heroes, Dragons, or coloring book, start to distribute POD keys
July – Sept – continue release of OK’d proofs as possible
As always, thank you for supporting the project, and I have lots more info on this (and other work) in the TTRPGkids monthly Dev Log if you want the nitty gritty details on the whole process.
Until next update (late June), happy gaming, and have a good start to your summer!
Tea’s on, confetti’s settled—what should we conjure next? Bedazzled hardbacks, bonus art by Leigh & Suzie, or bunny oracle cards? Tap your pick and set the next surprise free. ✨📚
The draft is done! I’m very excited to have hit that milestone.
I do need to put a short pause on this project, because I’m moving in a little less than two weeks, and there is just no way I can give the book the attention it deserves in the middle of that chaos.
Once I’m settled after the move, I’ll do a full read-through and edit. Then it will go to my editor. Since my timeline shifted a bit, I’ll need to grab her next available slot.
I’ll check in next month with updated dates. After I get the edit back, I’ll work through those notes and send the book to the proofreader. From there, the ebook versions will be finalized and delivered.
I’m really excited to have made it to this next stage.
Hi lovely humans (and any suspiciously well-dressed rabbits),
I owe you an update, and first: I have not forgotten you. Not even a little.
I realized recently that some of you may not be on my newsletter, where I’ve talked more about what’s been happening behind the scenes, so I wanted to catch you up properly here too.
The honest version: I got to the end of Crystals, Carrots & Cosmic Clues and realized the book wasn’t quite working the way it needed to. The pieces were there, Ana was still very much Ana, and the rabbit-related chaos remained deeply committed to its job, but the story itself needed a stronger shape.
So I made the tough author call and rebuilt a big chunk of the book. I’m now back around the halfway point with a version that feels much better, much more magical, and much more like the story I actually want to put in your hands.
On the fulfillment side, I also ran into some technical weirdness with the pre-order store, especially around entering the stickers and add-ons correctly. Tiny sticker logistics: somehow more dramatic than expected. I think I finally have that part figured out, which means I’m getting closer to being able to send the store and surveys your way.
I know this has taken longer than planned, and I truly appreciate your patience. I care about giving you the cozy, strange, bunny-complicated book I promised, not just rushing something out because the calendar glared at me.
Thank you again for backing this story into existence. I’m still here, still writing, still wrangling magic rabbits, and still very grateful.
You've been getting an email here and there about filling our surveys and locking orders in, but also, since we're close to the first digital round going out, I wanted to touch base and let you know what's going on right now for the immediate timing and show a couple features/design choices with the PDFs you'll be getting soon.
First, all filled out surveys will lock tomorrow, and then I'll be submitting card charges for any add-ons or pre-order store purchases shortly after to make sure we're ready to go into digital release.
Second, what I'm working on right now is making sure the digital format is set to go and then updating the itchio pages so I can send you codes.
This means, I'm adding links to all the "go to page" prompts so, if you're using the PDF, you can click on it, and it will take you right to the page without you having to search (like in the image here):
I'm also creating an instruction document that tells you how to print physical copies so you end up with two side-by-side page like this:
Or one full page like this:
I'm also making new title card images for each story (like these):
And am updating the itchio page text + adding screenshots from the new versions of the game (like this):
For each book, it's like a 12 step process to update everything, and it does take some time, so, this means you may start to see updated itchio pages a few days before I send everyone their codes for digital downloads just because I won't be able to to ALL the page updates on the same day of distribution. If you see Hans Gets Hangry pop up with a new version on itchio today, it's just me getting ready for distribution, and you haven't missed getting your download key.
Other than that, I have a new Dev Log out that goes into some more detail about StoryGuider and its detail schedule, which you can find here:
I recieved a question about what stories were in each of the big books, so I thought I would add a graphic to help now that the individual story covers for the first two sets are done!
The Big Book of Heroes will contain the following trilogies: Treasure Seekers Adventure Chef Hero City Astronaut
The Big Book of Friends will contain the following trilogies: Wizard Mediator Mouse Betti the Yeti Tome Traveller (new)
The Big Book of Dragons will contain twelve Sandy the Dragon stories (combination of those already released and new ones). I don't have colored covers for those yet since they have a later fulfillment date, but I'll send you images once they're ready.
If you don't want to decide until you see all the title images, you can 100% leave your survey open past the closing period at the end of this month, and you will 100% still be able to fill it out later. The only downside is that you won't be in the first wave of digital fulfillment since I won't know which books you want.
If you have any questions or would like a higher resolution image, please let me know by emailing me at[email protected] and including the word "StoryGuider" as the first word in the title.
I'll send a more detailed "Dev Log" update on 4/21 and will be locking in submitted surveys soon after that to allow for digital fulfillment for the first two sets. In the meantime, please check out your surveys (or visit the pre-order store) in the next couple weeks if you want to be in the first fulfillment round, and I'm looking forward to sending you some games soon!
☕ Please open your Cafe boxes as soon as they arrive! Double check that everything was mailed correctly. If anything is wrong, please send a nice email to [email protected] explaining what's missing or if something was mixed up.
EBOOK READERS: I was able to adjust some of the settings of the eBook, and I've uploaded it at a slightly higher resolution. It's still the exact same content, just a little clearer than before. I hope this helps!
Me: Bonjour again *99 more boxes* USPS: *surprised Pikachu face again*
Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for being part of the Cafe's first book! Please let us know if you have any questions. This project will fully close on April 10.
Thank you for being at the Cafe ☕ Carly K & Jason
P.S. disclaimer on all free items in any pledge from throughout this project... you need to successfully fill out your survey and pay for the final shipping costs to receive your pledge and any free rewards!
