WOWZA, what an incredible Launch Day! We kicked things off with an insightful and hilarious chat with K. F. Breene and host CN Crawford... thanks to both for spending the morning and afternoon with us! We'll let you know when the livestream has been posted publicly for those who missed it.
It hasn't been 24 hours yet (heck, it's barely been 6), and we're already at over 500 backers in support of this blinged out, ultra deluxe edition! We couldn't call it ultra-deluxe earlier because it wasn't, but in the last few hours this is what you've achieved:
unlocked a connected edge painting (this will span across every volume of the series! We were already going to print the edges up nicely, but this is going to push it over the top.
unlocked a full map illustration of the town of O'Briens! this will be a double-page spread illustration and has been a top requested feature
unlocked a BONUS bookmark, which is now going to be added to every tier that includes the bookmark set, as well as every add-on that includes the bookmark set. For example, the bookmark set addon is $12... it stays $12 for everyone, but now you're just getting more stuff. And hey, even more customizability awaits... make sure to vote on your favorite bookmark theme... the poll closes next week, for Backers only!
unlocked an upgraded endpaper (the fancy paper that goes on the inside cover... yeah we're customizing that bad boy up). Good job everyone.
Our fifth unlock might be a bit tougher, but we're now a little over halfway to the goal. We truly didn't expect this incredible level of fan energy, so you might smash this goal faster than we think, but that's okay! Lots more secrets and unlocks are in store 😈
By popular demand...
You asked and we answered! Thanks for letting us know that you wanted access to the wine tumbler... it is now listed in the add-ons section!
Any other thoughts about the campaign? We're always just a comment away.
Keychain question...
We've had some questions about the pre-launch Key to Ivy House keychains (which pre-launch backers successfully upgraded to now include a shiny purple gem). These were available for $5 IF you pledged before our launch and back at a tier.
The upgraded keychain! with the central "Ivy House gem" and hidden leaf design
We've had some requests to make this keychain available as an add-on... what do folks think? Out of respect for our early supporters we'd need to offer them at a normal/ non-discounted price. If we did this, would any early supporters mind if we opened this item up to the folks just joining us for the first time today? If not, we would probably change the colors of the design and offer a different version instead. Either way, we'll respect your feedback, and would love to hear your thoughts!
Leaderboard legends
One last thing... We deeply thank folks for chatting, asking questions we all benefit from, and sharing your thoughts and opinions. There's yet another secret way to enjoy the campaign... see that leaderboard in the Community section? At Aethon:Vault we like to thank the fans that put so much energy into participating; having a lovely community like this one makes all the difference. At the end of the campaign, we'll take a screencap of the leaderboard so we can give some special love to leaders of this community.
We only ask that you please never spam comments 🙏 Spam can quickly become a nuisance, and we want to make this a fun and welcoming place for everyone. Thanks for being a part of the Leveling Up community!
Can you believe the big day is nearly here? We're SO, so excited for you to see all the beautiful Leveling Up merch and fun we've got in store for you!
As you're surely aware, Leveling Up is about empowerment, and we really wanted to bring that spirit into this campaign! So as soon as Launch Day arrives, we'll be ready to burst open the doors of Ivy House and start making all of your rewards the best they can be. Want to take a look?
A peek inside of Ivy House...
It's a bit spooky in here, don't you think?
Welcome to this weird old mansion, with it's giant double-staircases, intricate carvings, and quite a few secrets!
You've already been hard at work asking friends to follow this page, which is great news, because we'll all need to work together to find the keys that unlock these doors.
The first door, in the upper left corner, is already shimmering and sparkling. Let's take a look at what it takes to open that one up--
Well there you go. If this campaign reaches its modest funding goal, we'll be able to open that door and add a complimentary upgrade the books... All deluxe edition books will already feature this starry edge print, shown below, but with the key, we'll be able to unlock a full edge painting to connect every volume together.
That's right, we can make these books better and better.
And the best part? You don't need to do anything else to receive this upgrade--once the door is unlocked, it is automatically applied to every single reward tier.
Sound like fun? We hope so! But honestly, even if your answer is "no", you're still getting all of the upgrades that your pals unlock. So you might as enjoy yourself 😂
2/17 UPDATE: The keychain upgrade has been unlocked! Congrats, all 🎉
As a reminder, this upgrade applies to everyone who selects the reservation gift for this campaign and who also backs the campaign. If you haven't already pledged your $5 for the gift, you still have until launch to do so~
This is a wonderful way to begin the campaign, thanks to all who helped get us over the finish line!
[old post: As of the moment of writing we're at 96%... Less than 120 followers to go to hit 3000 followers. It's down to the wire! With a whole weekend ahead of us, be sure to share share share to get the last few follows we need to hit 3k! ]
And, remember, the keychain itself also goes away as soon as the campaign Launches. So if you were hoping to nab this keychain at our special "thank-you for reserving price," you've got just a few more days to do that, too.
Ads to share! Feel free to use this one...
...or this one if you enjoy the lighter scheme.
2/17 UPDATE: The keychain upgrade has been unlocked! Congrats, all 🎉
We'll see you at the Queen Breene Dream Stream on the 21st 💪
We've got your questions for Katie, your love, your energy... all we need now is YOU! We'll see you on Tuesday, July 21st at 9am PT sharp for our awesome stream, hosted by CN Crawford.
For all of our US friends, we hope you had a great holiday! As for us, the energy is high as well, because we're...
Only 12 days til launch!
July 21st is approaching fast! We're definitely excited to kick off the campaign with the launch livestream event, featuring K.F. Breene and host Christine, also known as CN Crawford. All you have to do is show up to this page at 9amPT (or noon ET) on July 21st, where the stream will be ready to watch from our Launch Party page. If you can't make it, please don't worry--we'll save the full video for you on YouTube to watch at your convenience!
Have a fan question for Katie about Leveling Up, or what it's like to write fantasy, adventure, and romance? Submit your questions in the comment section and it might be answered live on the stream!
Thank you to everyone who already submitted one. We'll continue accepting questions until our next update, then we're locking this particular magical door~
Share the campaign with a friend!
Well, maybe ask them to put some clothes on, THEN share with your friend
We're up 200 followers since last week :O With 12 days left, we have a strong chance to make it to the keychain upgrade goal!
Feel free to share the ads below, and we'll keep sharing with our friends too.
In our update next week, we'll share more information about the inside of Ivy House, and what all this talk about magical keys has been leading up to... we'll see you then!
Well, well, well, very interesting poll results last week! We can't say we're terribly surprised to see that Niamh was the top choice, with over half the votes! We can see why... Not many of Leveling Up's magical residents have the ability to be a feisty human, a winged unicorn-like nightmare AND a creepy little gremlin (not to mention her deadly accuracy in un-neighborly stone-throwing, haha).
We won't confirm or deny the exact badass that Katie has written a brand new short story about for this campaign--you'll have to stick around for our Launch for that one! But we will preview one of our enamel pin designs featuring our very favorite red-eyed Puca.
We'll have these, and a lot more interesting rewards, as optional add-ons available in this campaign!
Speaking of previews...
How about one more piece of concept art (since you've all been very patient)? An early draft of Austin Steele by Corin Howell, as well as a rough size reference of his shifted form.
And yes, there WILL be some illustrations that toe the line a little bit, with the spiciest art reserved for readers who really want to see everything. You can take a guess at what Jessie is looking at in this scene (we'll give you a hint, it might have it's own time zone).
The new deluxe set includes illustrations of your favorite scenes, and maybe some spicy extras, too.
We're not sure about you, but this particular scene was one of our favorites from Book 1. We'd love to know what yours were! What was the moment that most made you stress out, gasp, or even laugh your butt off? Leave a comment... you might be surprised to find it's one of our upcoming illustrations, too!
Share the campaign with a friend!
As always, feel free to share our campaign as the clock ticks down towards our official launch date :]
If you're on the fence about grabbing your reservation gift, you have a little under 3 weeks left to think about it. We hope you can help us make our goal of 3000 followers!
We'll see you all next week, July 9th, for a brand new update! Until then, we wish all our friends in the US a lovely (and hopefully not too hot) holiday weekend.
Happy Thursday, ladies and gents (and any magical non-humans who happen to be reading)! Hope your last full week of June has been a great one. It's exciting for us because we're officially less than a month out from launch! 🥳 What do you say about celebrating with a few more previews?
How to design a book! A look behind the scenes.
We went through multiple rounds of development to design a book to capture the spirit of the Leveling Up series. Our first try was done when we were a little less familiar with the story, and was missing a bit of the magic in our opinion.
The very first attempt
A bit more development, with a focus on foil (in teal)
Our second attempts took feedback from Katie and additional research into account. Oftentimes when you design, it's important to decide if a book is "light" or "dark" in tone. We'd argue that Leveling Up, with its mix of hilarity and conflict, is both of these tones in one package! Not to mention Ivy House itself, with its dark vibes and secrets that provide the base of Jessie's new life and magical awakening.
A "dark", mysterious option
A "light", magical option
A "colorful", less-serious option
Finally, we decided to lean into the duality of Leveling Up with a single set that encapsulates the light and dark together. We think it'll stand out amazingly well on a shelf (plus, we have that ever-important Edgar doily representation in there too, now!)
Our set design... so far! We've got an eye on upgrading those edge printings to something even more magical
As far as we've come in this design journey, this is not the final look of these books... that is entirely up to you! As you help this campaign reach our goals, you'll be able to vote to unlock some VERY important upgrades, such as edge paintings to connect the entire series, custom painted endpapers, additional interior illustrations, and even more features.
To be honest, we think that is the most fun and exciting aspect of this campaign--you'll get to be a part of choosing features and making this edition as magical as it can possibly be.
One more secret for the road
Our campaign is going to focus on the set of the first three Magical Midlife books, but here's another secret: we've also got a brand new, previously-unpublished Leveling Up short story from K. F. Breene. Now that's an exclusive worth keeping an eye out for!
This new short story focuses on arguably the most badass character in the series. Want to take a crack at guessing who that might be? Check out the poll below... we'll reveal the real answer next week!
Share the campaign with a friend!
We've had some questions about sharing the campaign with friends... please do! The more the merrier as we soar closer to launch. Download any of the ads below, and share away~
As you know, we're still creeping towards our first keychain upgrade unlock, so sharing has the added bonus of helping us reach that goal as well :]
We'll see you next week, July 2nd, for a new update!
