Things are coming together piece by piece! I got my final proofs in which means I can do my bulk order of the book copies... That also means that I can start sending surveys! Yaaaayyyyy!
Look at our little robot we built together!
I can't believe how well these bookmarks turned out too... Look how cool they are! They're not too heavy or sharp either. They're just right! You have NO idea how excited I've been to show these to you folks. I got a pic in from the manufacturer and was like AHHH but wanted to make sure I had a good substantial update before showing them off and then, boom, here they are, already in my hands.
Sterling is ready to hold your place no matter the book!
If you missed out and didn't go for a bookmark tier, you can also add it on during your survey for $5. Quantity is limited on this fab guy.
Oracle cards are here too if you backed me and Lesbians in Space for physical tier books. And they look so good as well!
Some of you may have also gotten the smoke test survey in your email, so make sure to fill that out! I'll be sending surveys out to everyone very, very shortly. Can't wait to get all of this to you!
Can't believe we are half way through October already, how are we so close to the end of the year? Time has flown by this year, has it for you too?
I would like to ask those of you who can, to please share the link from this campaign, the more people see it the better and organic reach is the best kind of reach! Thank you to all of you who are sharing my posts, it really makes a difference.
I've got a couple new aliens to share with you. Quart Fietlee and the infamous Sandra.
Quart has an extensive human neck tie collection
Sandra works at her local council office. People who meet her often don't even look at her when they're coming to complain about the holes in the roads or dangerous cyclists so they don't notice anything out of the ordinary.
She is very quiet and unassuming and her colleagues are only really interested when she's making tea and bringing biscuits. A few of the other council workers have noticed that they've never actually seen her ears, (does she even have any?) and her eyes are often wandering off looking in different directions during conversations, a different eye each time. They've also noticed what looks like a mysterious scar she has from her nose that runs down her chin and then around her neck, something she's never mentioned and nobody dares ask about it.
Sandra is of course an alien in disguise, and so deep undercover that her superiors have lost all contact. They have now got a bounty on her head for 🄶40,000 Gleknot!
_________
PAINTING TIMELAPSE!
I also released the timelapse of me painting Flimglip which some of you might be curious to see. It is sped up except for the part where I paint the eyes, that is in real time. It's around 30 mins long.
Lastly I got all the votes in for the new prints available, thank you! Since prints don't seem to be a big draw, I will wait to add the second batch to the add-ons in the pledge manager post campaign.
I hope all of you are doing well, thank you again for your support on this project, it is an idea I've had brewing for so many years, it's really exciting to bring it to life!
Not backed or shared us yet? We're close enough now that you could be the one to get us to 100%!
It would be amazing to fund soon and begin racing toward our first stretch goal - Spray Color Edges. When we get there we'll do a poll so that our backers can choose what color to paint the edges of Double-Edged Sword & Sorcery's pages.
FUN FACTS
If you'd like the hardcover edition, then you definitely want to grab it during the crowdfund. Ninety of the one hundred planned copies have already been claimed!
Oliver, our publisher, has had all three of his short story editing slots taken, but he can still look at one novella manuscript and there are still a few story critiques available with Bryn & Dariel.
This Friday at 7pm EST we'll be doing our final livestream and it features A SECRET MUSICAL GUEST. Yup, there'll be live music! It will play right here on the campaign page, at the top where the trailer sits.
Happy Indigenous People's Day to all my American backers.
This is just a quick update to let you all know that all surveys have now been sent. If you had issues with your pledge payment previously, you are able to pay through the survey so you can still snag all of your pledge items!
Digital Rewards
For all backers who filled out their surveys already (thank you!) digital rewards have been delivered. You'll get a email from BackerKit with the links to download all of your goodies!
Survey Closure Reminder
In order to get add-ons ordered, surveys for those who did not use a payment plan are due by November 1. I believe we only have a handful who have payment plans. You'll get access to your surveys once you've made your last payment.
Print Progress
I received confirmation last week that the printer received the signed tip-in pages for the hardcovers and they're hard at work getting the order printed. I expect the books should be ready to ship sometime in mid-to-late November.
Most of you have returned the surveys...so thank you!!
As soon as we receive those final few, we can add the acknowledgments and send out the ebooks.
Paperbacks can then be ordered (with those acknowledgments) and we can get those to you as soon as possible.
If you have NOT filled out and returned your survey, please do so. I know we're all busy on the weekends, but we are really excited to send out those books...and see what you think about our final story in the Enchanted Fairytale series.
Have a wonderful Sunday! Lorri Moulton/Lavender Cottage Books
Thank you so much. It feels marvelous to let ourselves imagine holding this hot little book in our hands.
And we need just 16 more backers to unlock Bryn Hammond's bonus poetry. Heck at 85% of the way, it's not outlandish to think we'll unlock spray color edges!
Meanwhile all one hundred of our planned hardcovers have been claimed. We're going to talk to the printer about raising the print run, but probably only to 125 or so. The crowdfund definitely remains the time to grab one.
Alright, the campaign ends at noon EST this Saturday. Let's see how far we can take this caravan!
Surveys for Weave Of A Thousand Lies went out TODAY!!! You have 15 days to fill it out. I know this is quick after the campaign but the book is written, edited, and ready to go to the printer as soon as I have all your information!
On Oct 27th, I will lock orders so I can send stuff out. Cards will be charged. (Don't worry you can always update your address later). I will send out ebooks shortly thereafter! I've started ordering all the add-ons. I'll post pictures as they come in!
Once I get the physical books back, I will ship them ASAP! I'll keep you updated and ensure addresses are up to date!
If you pledged toward a character name add-on, I'll be reaching out to you as soon as everything is locked in a private email to discuss options!
THANK YOU AGAIN for all your support in me! I can't wait to get this ball rolling!
We've read all of your comments, have looked at the back-end data with BackerKit, and have reached the following conclusions for the trivia challenge:
First of all, a total of 859 participants qualified for the free Loremaster patch. Congratulations to all of you!
Second, 299 participants answered all eighteen questions correctly and qualified for the Loremaster credit in the book. An additional 228 answered seventeen out of eighteen correctly.
Based on the unexpectedly high number of backers who aced the trivia challenge, as well as your overwhelming number of comments advocating for changing nothing, we will keep Loremaster credit as an exclusive for those backers, rather than extending it to the next 228 backers.
HOWEVER –
We do now have a process to check data for individual trivia participants. If you think that a technical error occurred with your answers, or if other circumstances interfered with what should have been a perfect score, please email [email protected]. We believe that being fair extends to offering grace when something out of your control goes wrong.
There will be a survey question where you can share the name you wish to be credited under. Please plan on filling out surveys as soon as possible when they're released, as we'll have a fair amount of work to integrate all of your names into the book before it goes to press.
If space permits we may still add the 17/18 backers to the book as Loremaster Apprentices (or something similar), but we will have to see if we end up with enough extra pages.
LATE PLEDGES AND SCHOLARSHIPS
If you applied for a scholarship and weren't able to redeem it before the campaign closed, please email [email protected]. We will honor every scholarship application received during the campaign, but you have to let us know if you missed pledging on time!
Late pledges remain open on the main page for at least another couple of weeks. If you're following this project and haven't pledged yet, we'll extend that window as long as we can, but we definitely wouldn't recommend delaying.
OTHER HOUSEKEEPING
We are finalizing quotes and tech specs with our manufacturer, based on the number of units that we'll be producing. Artists continue to submit excellent process updates for their pieces, which we look forward to sharing with you as they are completed. We've also confirmed logistics with our fulfillment partners in Los Angeles and have begun building shipping tables.
Our current plan is to send surveys later this month. While we won't calculate or charge shipping yet, we're confident that we'll be able to provide close estimates for what you can expect to pay. This should give you enough information to plan for that expense when it arrives.
International backers, we will be defaulting to including pre-paid VAT in your survey charges. While this number can be high, it's usually cheaper (and more convenient) than what carriers charge you at the door or at the post office. If you're an international backer who wants to risk not pre-paying VAT, we hope to have a method for you manually request that we change your shipping profile.
Yes, there is an official Discord server coming, but not quite yet. First we need to get the final elements (names and art) added to the book, and the book off to the printers.
Please respond to your survey as quickly as possible so that I can put the finishing touches to the Gamer acknowledgements and get the book to print and the ebooks into your hands!
If you haven't received your survey, check your Junk/Spam folder hasn't eaten it and then shoot me an email, and we'll get it sorted for you.
Don't forget your coupon code!
Remember to use your $6 Gamer Trivia coupon! You can used your credit* toward any of the add-ons in the survey, which will get you a free ebook or even the Gamer Oracle Cards. To activate it, use the code "GAMER TRIVIA COUPON CODE" (without the quotes) in the coupon section at checkout.
If did forget the coupon, you can still go back and grab yourself a goodie. Just click the link in your survey email or request a survey link under "Lost your survey?" on the BackerKit project page at https://gamer.backerkit.com.
*The $6 credit only applies to add-ons and can't be used toward shipping costs.
Happy reading, Belinda
In the meantime, check out this upcoming campaign by one of my buddies
Smuggled out of The Chaplaincy Corps HQ, the whole sordid affair of hackers, Hollywood, cults, magic, intelligence and... bathyspheres.
