Greetings, friends!

A quick update to let you know that we'll be locking orders soon ... meaning that if you want to add anything to your pledge (an extra copy of the book or some stickers or a copy of The Littlest Shoggoth, for example) you need to do so before Saturday (November 7). After that, order will be locked and the book will go to press.

If you haven't filled out your survey yet, please do so BEFORE November 7th. If I haven't heard from you by then, you will be omitted from the Thank You roll ... and you'll miss out on your opportunity to add on extra items to your rewards.

Greetings, friends!

Halloween is coming up TOMORROW ... and we all know that it's Little Witch Willow's favorite day of the year! So I thought it would be nice to send you all an update on how things are going.

Since the story is done, the only thing keeping me from sending it to the printer is getting the BOOK laid out. And since the book includes a Thank You page, I need the replies from your surveys to know how you all would like to be included (or not) on that list. 

Surveys went out earlier this week, and we've already gotten responses from more than half of you ... but there's still a good number who have yet to respond. (I'm hoping to get 90% or higher before I send the book to press.) So please, if it's not too much trouble, I'd greatly appreciate if you could take a moment this Halloween Weekend to double-check that you've filled out the survey.

The survey is also the place where you'll be asked to pay the shipping fees ... and once those are in I can put in my purchase order with the USPS for all the Priority Mail envelopes we'll need.

If you can't find the email that was sent with the link, just log on to your Backerkit account and the details should be there under this campaign. (And if you're still having trouble, drop me a note and I'll see what I can do to get things straightened out.)

Earlier this week, I posted to my social media that I was having difficulty coming up with a cover image for this book. The guts (as they say) were done ... but I didn't really have anything that looked like a good book cover.

Well, after pondering and experimenting and grabbing elements from several different pages of the story, I finally came up with cover image that I'm happy with. So I'm proud to share for the very first time anywhere, a look at the official cover of Little Witch Willow's Big Day. Let me know what you think.

Whether you're going out trick-or-treating, handing out candies at home, attending a party, or just hunkering down with a good book, my little witch and I wish you all a very happy Halloween!

Look for more updates soon!

Stan!

Hey there, friends! That whole crowdfunding process was wild and time consuming ... and at the same time wrapped up before I even felt like I was getting going. But in the end it beached its goal and then some ... and it's all thanks to you!

Thank you. Truly and deeply from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

So, as I bragged about throughout the campaign, work on the story is done ... but that doesn't mean there isn't still work to do in order to get Little Witch Willow's Big Day printed and into your hands. I want to keep you in the loop the whole time, though, so consider this the first in a series of updates as things progress.

First Challenge: Deadlines and Travel Plans
Because this project was part of the Printopia event, the beginning and end dates were prescribed. However, because I make my living as a freelance writer and illustrator, my time is not always my own ... and sometimes things line up inconveniently. This happens to be one of those times.

While I'd like nothing better than to dive right into working on fulfillment for LWW, I'm currently crunching on a deadline for a client ... AND as soon as I wrap those, I have to leave on a business trip. So for the next couple of weeks, my attention is at best going to be split ... and at worst going to be elsewhere (metaphorically and geographically). That doesn't mean I won't be able to make any progress on this project ... but I'm going to have to do it on the road, and that means I can't predict how effective I can be.

Surveys And Shipping Costs
The first order of business will be to get surveys out to you, so I can gather all the information I'll need to send out the print orders, and finalize the shipping information. This isn't my first crowdfunding campaign, so I know what that takes ... but it's also my first time using Backerkit, so I'm not sure what logistical hoops I might have to go through. Still and all, you can expect to see the surveys sometime in the next week or so.

When I get back from my travels, I'll be able to get the final confirmation of the shipping costs. (It's actually pretty straightforward because the plan is to use the USPS flat-rate Priority Mail plus a small processing fee.) Before the end of October you should be contacted via Backerkit to confirm your shipping info and pay the shipping costs. By that time the print orders should be submitted and I'll have a decent idea of when the books will be delivered ... so I can ALSO let you all know when the packages are likely to go out. (Almost certainly this will be sometime in late November or early December ... well ahead of the "by February" promise of the campaign.) 

I'd LIKE to have the rewards in everybody's hands before the end of the year ... if not before the holiday break. But I know just how many delays could possibly creep in ... so I won't make any such promise.

So there you go. That's where things stand. But before I wrap up, I want to one more thank you deeply for being a part of this project. I can't wait for you to have Little Witch Willow's Big Day in your hands ... and to begin looking forward to my little witch's NEXT adventure!

Stan!

I'll admit, I knew this was going to be a quick crowdfunding campaign ... but I didn't expect it to go quite THIS quickly! So here's a quick update with just a day-and-a-half left in the campaign.

If you've been meaning to pledge, but haven't gotten around to it ... NOW is the time!

Also, tell your friends who might like this sort of thing. We don't want anyone feeling left out when all is said and done.

Just as a reminder, the story itself was completed six years ago ... so all that has to happen once funding is done is to finish the layout of the print file (which will include a Thank You page). Basically, there's no "creation" left to do, and that should let me send the book to the printer sometime in early November.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a bunch of trees to shake in order to bring this project in as successfully as possible.

Hi there, friends! I wanted to take this long overdue opportunity to thank you for showing interest in this project. Little Witch Willow's Big Day has held a special place in my heart for six years now ... and I've always BELIEVED the story would make a great book. But it took your support and participation to bring me to the place where that's about to actually happen.

So thank you.

In case you don't know, I've been posting the whole story one page at a time on my social media all month long. So you can head over to my Facebook, BlueSky, or Instagram feeds and see exactly what it is you'll be getting.

Just as a quick bit of housekeeping, I guess I should tell you that the project has passed its basic funding goal! And we've still got a week left in Printopia ... so I'm hoping to entice more folks to join us before it's all through.

You can be a big help there, too. The best promotion for ANYTHING is personal endorsements from readers and fans ... so if there are people in your life who like the sort of cute, spooky, all-ages kind of characters and stories that Willow represents, PLEASE tell them about it and point them to LittleWitchWillow.com. 

Whether you've put a pledge in for the project, or your with us in spirit only ... from the bottom of my heart, thank you.