It's been a busy few weeks, I've been finishing writing behind the scenes so that all the extra sections can go into editing. There have been a couple of planning meetings and we've got a good structure going forward.
The notebook cover has been commissioned from Ramona and I've communicated with both Joshua and Alex.
The Wandering Tome Pin is finalised (who knew I could be so picky about a key).
I've designed a few versions of the Book List sheets so it's time to get your votes in on the Backer Only Poll to let me know your preference for what gets printed. All the designs will be included as digital printables for anyone getting the physical notepad, so you can continue to use them long after your notepad is finished. The two most popular designs will be available in the pledge manager as a printable add on for everyone else.
I've also completed an ashcan version Charm The Ferryman, so everyone that backed the small games bundle during the campaign will get a playtest copy of it along with your games bundle (emailed after you've completed your survey). I took it with me to Groundhog Play this past weekend for playtesting, and it's had a bit of an overhaul since then, so I'm interested to hear what you think. Then after any further revisions post more playtesting, it will be laid out by Grace Gittel Lewis, whose style is perfect for the silly underworld romp the game is.
Surveys will go out at the start of April once the poll is over, though smoke tests will be incoming this Friday. When surveys go out to everyone, the Pre-Order store will also open, so if you know anyone that missed out, they'll be able to pick up a copy.
That's pretty much it for now, I've got some mysteries to plan and guest writers to commission, so get voting and i'll catch you in April!
We've funded and over the next 14 days or so BackerKit will be charging and processing the funds for the Campaign. There are some failed charges, which BackerKit will email you about if this has occured with your pledge, you will have, I think, until next week to double check and correct this.
Now continues/begins the next steps to fulfillment. I've put together a rough timeline. open image in new tab to enlarge.
Things are subjects to change in that they might be completed earlier or later, but this is the current plan which builds in a bit of buffer either way. As you know a first draft is already with Brent (Our Fabulous Editor) and some playtesting copies containing the core game are out too. There will be some revisions based on incoming feedback this week and a more complete playtesting copy will go out to Bookshop Patrons later in the month along with their special survey. Designs are being done and finalised for the extras and I've reached out to get started on the art for The Curators Notebook. The next time you'll hear from me is when funds are received and surveys are ready to go out towards the middle/ end of this month.
We didn't quite meet all of our community goals. However I will collate a plain text book list of the recommendations given with the cards and prompts for them, so if you want to still add your recommendations to the resource, please do. This is likely something I will do in May. We were super close to the Independent Bookshop goal, so i'll also include a plain text list of those and if I have spare time I will pick a few to create map fragments from. So much appreciation for you all!
Lola
p.s. If you are in the UK and feel like travelling to Glasgow later this month for the Inaugural Groundhog Play, sign ups are open for another week for this free Playtesting Convention. Groundhog Play Info
We're in the last seven hours of the campaign, and I can't say enough how much I appreciate and am grateful for your support. Getting to create something that speaks from my heart to yours and to work with others to create something truly beautiful is everything to me. I hope that you get as much joy from playing it as I do from writing it, collaborating and reading books.
Join the discussions to help us unlock more things, we're over halfway to shouting out 30 Independent Bookshops and I have to add some shout outs for the shops that were willing to chat to me and inspired and supported my research. The Book Nook and Category Is in Glasgow, Common Press and New Beacon books in London, Books & Books in Florida and a tiny little secondhand bookshop in France whose name I don't remember (it was half my lifetime ago) but the magical paved path that wended it's way through the bookshelves will stick with me forever.
I've drawn three new cards for book prompts, so share a book from your collection you feel aligns with the prompts and help us build a community resource of extra prompts and recommendations.
2 of Wands from the Elemental Strength Tarot, The Sun from the Alleyway Tarot and the Nine of Air from the Rosewood Tarot.
A book that fears the unknown, A book that obliterates the darkness and a book that confronts fear
Speaking of which if you're interested in hearing me ramble about books and also to check out the rest of the Weird Place stream (apologies that it didn't seem to be set up properly to view from here). See my chat here and watch the full stream here.
The Weird Place are funding Residue a Solo Survival Sci-Fi Horror TTRPG on Kickstarter about wandering endless landscapes, searching ruins, and trying to stay alive long enough to find meaning. It looks like a fantastic game and I ran to support it. Watch the stream to let Gabriel and Le tell you more about their game themselves. As well as games from so many other fantastic creators!
For now share away and lets see if we can unlock the last Stretch Goals. We've got a little sun in Scotland (it's a bright day), that and you carry me through the rest of the day, I hope some of my joy can help carry you through yours.
Great news! We've unlocked the expanded Parallel Play mechanics by getting enough digital community copies to meet our goal. So i'll be finishing writing those this week.
Don't forget that the community share goal unlocks book plate stickers for all physical pledges and downloadable ones for digital, now is a great time to share and help us get our last few Stretch Goals met.
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With the first draft submitted to Brent (our glorious editor) I took a short pause on writing and had a go at digitising some of my playthrough (you can see why Nala is the best person to do the game layout) as seen in the main campaign image.
I struggle with pain in my hands so cutting and sticking is not something I can personally do easily, same with handwriting for long stretches, so I keep the sources i'm using together in a folder and in some cases hand write or voice record and then type.
However you chose to make your journal is up to you, the key is to make something you can keep in some form.
If I visually digitise the whole playthrough after finishing, I might remove the background images and print a copy on some fun paper, which I may very well see if sewn binding is something my hands will let me do, alternatively i'll get good with my stapler!
For a close up and to scroll through these as pages head over to thirdvaultyarns.com(this is a direct link to the playthrough which is hidden on the website otherwise).
The playthrough currently follows the initial set up where you establish your Curator, which will help you to start finding the voice your journal entries will take. Then task entries, with some of the entries for the mystery solving prompts interspersed with day to day tasks like building a window display and cataloguing an intake.
Books that I've included in the digitised playthrough are Shigidi and the Brass Head of Olubafon by Wole Talabi and The Secrets of the First School by Tendai Huchu. I'm reading my next book We Set The Dark on Fire by Taylor Kay Mejia and hope to get more free time to finish it ahead of plans to roll a new task and pull a card to present my friends with, so I can borrow a book from their collection when I visit :P
In the game book there is an appendix section dedicated to finding books and a separate one about finding sources and how to use them. Especially when you might need to focus on preservation because they are rare or precious to you. In my digitised playthrough i've scanned in the sources i'm using and digitally manipulated them - in this case a french pronounciation guide that I picked up in not amazing condition and a readers digest also picked up at the Barras market second hand bookstore in Glasgow. Along with a collection of musicals I acquired for free that you see on the first spread. The art for the window display on the last page was a bit of image manipulation, noun project icons and quick digital drawing.
If you are working in a physical journal, you could do something along the same lines and photocopy the pages you'd like to use and then cut up the photocopies or take pictures of the items and include the pictures instead, saving you from destroying the original source if you don't want to.
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We'll be joining the Weird Place Zine Month Round Up Stream today along with several other great creators so swing by at 11am PST/ 2pm EST/7pm GMT/8pm CET youtube.com/@weird_place
I also had a chat with Todd of Third Kingdom Games in the latest episode of Sabre Rattlings. I apologise my laptop fans being a bit loud makes my audio quality not the best, but it was a great chat! so you can check that out herehttps://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-j54rm-1a52d31
I had an update half written for Friday and got taken out by how extremely busy that day was, I spent much of the weekend attempting to recover.
Big news! We unlocked the Book List Notepad! I've had a little chance to play around with layouts for it and I'm quite liking what I have so far, socheck out the add-on for a little taster. I'll be designing more versions ahead of going to print, so I shall put the final design to a poll for you to decide what will be printed.
Also the first draft of The Wanderer's Bookshop has gone for editing! It doesn't currently include the events supplement or additionalmechanics but because we are only 2 digital community copies away from to unlocking the Parallel Play Mechanics I have startes!d writing them! I really hope they get unlocked because i'm already a couple pages deep.... I'll pick the writing back up again when we reach that community goal. Both Keys to the Bookshop and A Bookshop Patron add more copies, as well as the add on. Keep sending in those book recommendations and Bookshop shout outs
With previous Stretch Goals out of the way, our next target is the ever controversial paying myself for all the writing but really securing my ability to continue writing games by enabling me to upgrade my tech with not 10 year old equipment. At the same time unlocking a new print at home sticker sheet for download by every backer as a thank you. I've been using nearly any excuse to break out my watercolour paints for this project and this will be a fun one.
There are only 4 days left to go for this project so lets see if we can meet all our Stretch Goals, and unlock unique illustrations and a new task for the bookshop. A new task will mean that instead of a digital mini zine Events and the new task will both be included in the main book. SO to help us get there don't forget to share The Wanderer's Bookshop with people you know, on your socials if you have them and with friends that might want to go halves on a Twin Bookshop with you!
Zine Month Shout Outs!
We're in the last week of February and therefore the "end" of zine month. There are a number of projects whose funding periods end throughout the upcoming week including all the Zinetopia projects! So here's a few i'd love to highlight!
Veritable Tales of Folly in the Realms a collection of medieval mini party games to play whilst creating an illuminated manuscript with your friends! There's only 9 hours left on this one, so don't wait too long!
Axolotl with a gunTake the fight to the robots to save your habitats as armed axolotls. Support the new and revised rules in this 2nd edition print.
How I Heard ItAnother plug for how I heard it because who doesn't want to evoke the atmosphere of or literally campfire story tell! They still need your help to fund!
<a surrealist geometics and goat skeleton headed thing next to a the text "One Page TTRPG Bundle Volume 2 by La Lionne Publishing. Six all-new one-page TTRPGs. no preparation needed, just pick up the game and play!" </alt>
One Page TTRPG BundleA collection of six new one page games to pick up and play, a mixture of solo and group games for quick diversions.
