A quick update for Digital-Only Backers:
over 2 years ago – Mon, Nov 01, 2021 at 11:21:55 AM

Hi everyone!

As we're rolling toward locking orders tomorrow, we have been happily removing the bonus physical prints from digital-only orders to erase any postage due, and it occurred to us where the "bug" in our script was. So we've run a counter-script that has now removed those bonus prints from digital-only and No Reward tier pledges. 😊

So you should no longer see shipping due on any digital-only pledge in Backerkit!

If you DO want those bonus prints and are okay paying shipping, send us a message and we'll add them back to your cart.

If you haven't completed your survey because of that, please complete your survey now!

Backerkit won't distribute your digital rewards to you if your survey is incomplete!

Thanks, everyone!

Locking Orders this weekend! And we've got swag pix!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Nov 01, 2021 at 08:28:46 AM

Hi everyone!

It has been a few weeks, but we're now rounding the turn towards fulfillment in just a few weeks!

To that end, as mentioned in earlier updates, we have triggered Backerkit to lock orders on Sunday (Halloween)! So if you haven't completed your survey, or if you need to make any last-minute adjustments to your order -- extra add-ons, address changes, etc -- please do so this weekend!

You should receive an email from Backerkit soon (if you haven't already) with your 48-hour notification.

If you have completed your survey and don't need to make any changes, you can disregard and they will lock your order automatically.

Once orders are locked on Sunday, they will charge all Credit Cards on file for any outstanding balances, including shipping. If they have trouble running your card, they will continue to try, but please please please try to ensure a working payment method so that we don't have to hold your order back.

Next week, we will set up and distribute the digital rewards, as well as award all Ambassador Points. Both distributions will require locked orders, so that's another reason to make sure your payment method can go through.

SWAG PIX!

The books are literally days away from our warehouse, making the final leg of the journey, and all of the bonus Stretch Goal items are in final packaging to be in our hands by the 15th. And man have they turned out SWEET! Just take a look at some of these pix from the factory!

The bonus prints, sketchbooks, bonus comic, and fabric patches should all arrive next week. They're being sent straight to Quartermaster to save time, and I've asked them to send some pix when they arrive. We'll share what we can when we get 'em! 

The vinyl singles have all been pressed and etched and the sleeves are on their way. We will DEFINITELY send pix when they arrive. 😎

Beyond those items, the last things we're waiting on are the signed Book Plates and original sketches from Mathieu. He told us the cards are all signed and that he's working on the sketches now (in the midst of his next project). As soon as we have something to show, we will!

It's going to be a busy month, but it will be exciting to have this stuff on its way to everyone in December! As our most successful campaign to date, we're really proud of how everything has turned out and hope you'll be just as excited as we are with everything!

Thanks, everyone!

Soundtrack, Singles, Video, and THE WALL
over 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 02, 2021 at 09:42:00 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all doing well -- we've been busy with all sorts of things while we wait for the books and bonus items to arrive from the printers and manufacturers. Everything is still looking good and on track for shipping in December! The last major item be handed off for production was the vinyl single, which is now in the process of being engraved, and should be in our hands first week of November. We've had some fun with the tracks since mastering was completed, and even managed to squeeze in a little soundtrack production fun stuff on the side! 😎 Specifically:

"PROCESSING" 2-track EP now streaming on Bandcamp!

We uploaded the two tracks featured on the vinyl single to Bandcamp, which you can now stream for free. 😎 We'll also provide digital files that everyone can download once the Digital Rewards are distributed (in November). But in the meantime, Bandcamp streaming works on nearly any platform. 

For fun, we also made a music video for "Gestation" (the track used in the SHANGRI-LA trailer video). It's more just a collection of visuals, but it felt suitably ethereal...

If you didn't order one of the limited edition clear vinyl singles but like what you hear, we just added 20 more copies to Backerkit! But when those 20 are gone, that's it! Only 120 are being made and they won't be re-pressed! So if you are a vinyl collector, jump on this before orders lock on October 15th! (More on that date below...) These will be really sweet -- just take a look at a few pix of our recent SMALL WORLD campaign-exclusive single shipping this month:

ORDERS WILL BE LOCKED ON OCTOBER 31st!

As hinted at above, we have extended the Backerkit ordering window for a few more weeks to allow for the manual bundling of recent flash-campaigns offering Free Shipping to anyone who backed this CARBON&SILICON/SHANGRI-LA campaign. If you're not familiar with what we're referring to, we recently ran an abbreviated 10-day campaign for FALSE GUARD wherein those pledges were offered to ship for free bundled with an existing C&S/S-L pledge shipment. 

That bundling will require some manual work to combine items accurately without adding extra shipping costs. We will be folding in those FALSE GUARD items the week leading up to October 15th. So if you backed both campaigns and opted for the Free bundled shipping, you will see your C&S/SHANGRI-LA order adjusted accordingly by that date.

So why not lock then? Why October 31st?

Good question. That's because we're about to launch another 10-day flash-campaign this week with the same Free Shipping offer this Tuesday!

We are SUPER-EXCITED to be publishing THE WALL by the amazing Mario Alberti (Spider-man, Redhand) based on the original screenplay by director Antoine Charreyron (Babylon AD, The Prodigies)! And while we freely acknowledge that this book will be in comic shops in a few months, orders placed during this campaign will include a CAMPAIGN-EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTION ARTBOOK for FREE! This bonus supplement will NOT be available in stores!

As with previous campaigns, you can PRE-REGISTER today for a FREE Bonus linen-cardstock print, and if you also pledge on Day-1, you will get a second linen-cardstock print for FREE.

We'll have stretch goals (including a Challenge Coin) along the way. It will be another short campaign, like FALSE GUARD, and like FALSE GUARD, pledges will SHIP FOR FREE with qualifying orders of SHANGRI-LA or CARBON GREY! So as a backer of this campaign already, your pledge items for THE WALL will be added to your SHANGRI-LA package at no extra charge.

Please check out the pre-registration page today for tons more info, imagery, and sample pages. Then bookmark the campaign page itself so that you're ready to back on Day-1 this Tuesday Oct 5th at 10am CST!

With that exciting announcement, we feel the need to address the question some of you might immediately be wondering:

...but another one? So soon?

That is a very reasonable question.  As with FALSE GUARD, we found ourselves faced with an amazing book, already completed and inbound from the printer, but headed for a retail market that is still adjusting and recovering from the ongoing pandemic. So we made a (very) last-minute decision to offer some very cool exclusive items during another abbreviated campaign. It worked out rather well for FALSE GUARD, and frankly THE WALL is (arguably) even cooler. 😁

We know that this book will appeal to quality connoisseurs such as you and the Kickstarter community as a whole. Kickstarter has become more than just a place to raise money -- it is a high-traffic platform to reach a hungry and eager audience looking for unique and exclusive items and opportunities, such as limited-edition prints, artbook supplements, and stretch goals that will only be available through a campaign. In all honesty, this place has become a central platform for us to spotlight some of our top offerings and exclusive extras. It's one of our favorite Social Media spots, and we love interacting with everyone here. We've tried offering similar bonus exclusives through our webstore, but our webstore simply does not have the thousands of browsing eyeballs that Kickstarter brings.

Certainly, some of you wonderful regular supporters may feel as if we're squeezing too many campaigns out too quickly. That's a reasonable concern. And if you need to skip a campaign to catch your breath, that is perfectly understandable. These books will be available later (although the exclusive items may not).  But hopefully the Free Shipping bundling helps make these Flash-campaigns easier to consider.

If you are worried about our ability and commitment to fulfill these promises, that is also a valid concern. But we hope that our track record of delivering 9 previous campaigns, with another having just shipped this past week and an 11th preparing to ship in the next 2 weeks will calm anyone's nerves. Like FALSE GUARD, THE WALL is finished and already on its way to us. The exclusive items are simple to produce and will be in-hand and ready to ship with everything else in December. We're here to release awesome books.  Not shipping promised products is not part of any viable equation. This is what we do and we will continue to faithfully deliver everything promised.

We recognize how frequent these recent campaigns appear to be. It is somewhat experimental, allowing us to gauge what can or will not work. For the record, there will only be one more campaign after this in 2021 (and it will be a BIG ONE... stay tuned!), and the pacing in 2022 will be much more reasonable. 😊

Not every title will appeal to everyone. Each campaign title is unique, and we try to spotlight that uniqueness to appeal to different folks. Certainly, some of you will like EVERYTHING we make (as I do, as curator of the brand), but we want to discover new followers and to grow our overall fanbase from title to title. So each campaign should not in any way be seen as "another money-grab" but rather another opportunity to grow. We're not here out of a crucial need to raise initial production money; we're here to offer you cool stuff that won't be available anywhere else. 😎

Hopefully, that wasn't too long-winded, and hopefully, that will put any concerns at ease.

Because you really do not want to miss out on THE WALL. It is AMAZING. 😊

See you there on Tuesday morning!

SLIPCASE ADVANCES RECEIVED!!! (Image Flood Below)
over 2 years ago – Sun, Sep 12, 2021 at 03:01:10 AM

Hey everyone,

What a crazy week. My head's spinning from all the different project developments happening around here... lots of cool stuff, not the least of which is tangible progress on SHANGRI-LA production, including (drum roll)...

FINISHED ADVANCE COPIES OF THE SLIPCASE SET!

We received two finished, shrinkwrapped copies of the slipcase set from the printer as final proof before they are packed in cartons and loaded onto a slow boat from China... and let me tell you... they are SWEET. I hope you have a good internet connection because a flood of pix starts here...

If you didn't order a slipcase set, it's not too late! You can still adjust your pledge in Backerkit! See UPDATE #20 for instructions on how. WE ONLY PRINTED 1000 COPIES, and they are almost 75% GONE ALREADY! WE WILL NOT BE REPRINTING THESE SETS! So act now before they're gone!

We've also gotten design confirmation on the Coins, Patches, and Lapel Pins, but they're just boring visual mockups from the factory -- we'll post pix once they have something ready to photograph. The rest of the printed stuff will be sent off for printing in the next few weeks. All in all, everything is looking shiny and bright for fulfillment in time for the holidays! 😊 (Please, God, no shipping curve balls...)

In the meantime, if you haven't filled out the feedback survey, please do! It's worth a shot at a $25 Amazon Gift card, not to mention $.50 off your Backerkit balance!

Thanks, everyone!

FALSE GUARD campaign is LIVE! *FREE SHIPPING* for backers of CARBON & SILICON/SHANGRI-LA!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Sep 07, 2021 at 05:11:24 PM

Hi everyone!

In case you missed the news (we're trying not to spam everyone), we just launched our newest Kickstarter campaign for FALSE GUARD by the author of the award-winning ASTER OF PAN, Merwan! And as a backer of the CARBON & SILICON/SHANGRI-LA campaign, you can get FREE SHIPPING! See further below for details!

This was Merwan's first full-length graphic novel project showcasing his amazing imagination and action-packed storytelling skills. Originally published in 3 parts, we have collected the full tale into a premium, oversized 216-page paperback with curved corners on the block and embossed gloss element on the cover! Described as "The KARATE KID set in a FINAL FANTASY universe", if you loved ASTER OF PAN, you will not be disappointed with FALSE GUARD!

THIS IS A SHORT CAMPAIGN! 10-DAYS ONLY!

We will admit, the decision to offer this on Kickstarter was a strategic call made just last week, and with other projects already on our slate for the months ahead, we wanted to see what an abbreviated campaign might be able to accomplish. We're looking for creative ways to make pledging to our campaigns more valuable, not just in the many cool exclusive incentives and stretch goals, but in ways to reward repeat backers and loyal followers...

There's the DAY-1 Bonus print for everyone who pledges TODAY. There's the WEEK-1 Bonus Print for everyone who pledges before next Tuesday. And there's a bunch of preliminary stretch goals in case we can actually make those numbers in the short amount of time (including another exclusive, limited Challenge Coin for your collection...)

...But here's the best part for YOU:

FREE SHIPPING TO PREVIOUS BACKERS*

Because these books are already on their way to our warehouse, we can include your pledge in any other upcoming shipment you may be expecting (*specifically SHANGRI-LA/C&S or CARBON GREY)... AT NO EXTRA COST! That's right, we will include all of your ordered items from this campaign with your other campaign package to minimize shipping! Regardless of how many additional books you order!

What additional books you ask...?

ADD-ON TITLES

We're also offering some recent and upcoming releases as Add-ons, each with their own CAMPAIGN EXCLUSIVE LINEN PRINT! Each of these titles is worthy of their own campaigns, but we can only run so many of these things a year... (believe me, they're EXHAUSTING...)

You can learn more about each title at www.magnetic-press.com.

Thanks! We hope you'll join us for the (short but exciting) ride!