A milestone achievement.
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jun 12, 2021 at 08:29:45 PM

Hey everyone!

Just a quick note to say thank you. Again.

Yesterday we hit a milestone first for us: our first campaign to break %1000 funding. We've come close before but fell just shy of that achievement until now. THANK YOU!

We know that it is sort of an arbitrary achievement that can be manipulated by setting a ridiculously low starting goal (like $1), but we strive to be honest and transparent with our starting goals -- they are set where they are to cover the actual costs of the initial campaign-exclusive offerings: variant covers, slipcase editions, bookplates, etc. One never knows how these things are going to go, for better or worse. Titles we absolutely love may not catch fire at all and titles we're not sure about (but still love and are hopeful for) can blast off unexpectedly. It's always a nerve-wracking gamble, and we're so happy that this one has taken off.

We've finished the translation and digital webcomic version of JOHN'S SMALL ADVENTURE, and are just running through it with Mathieu to make sure it's all up to code, so to speak. Will we unlock it today? We're sooooo close...! 

Nudge your friends into pledging and let's see what's next in the queue!

Gilded edges on slipcase books unlocked! Next up... JOHN'S SMALL ADVENTURE!
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jun 04, 2021 at 12:02:08 AM

Hi everyone!

Well, we knew it was a relatively small hop up to unlocking the foil gilded edges on the slipcase books -- only $5k -- but we still expected that to take a couple days longer to reach. But we're happy to be proven wrong! :D

So now the slipcase set will be even that much nicer than they were already promised to be. And considering that the premium edition is only a $20 upgrade, and limited exclusively to this campaign edition on top of that, why wouldn't you upgrade?! Unless maybe you're worried that you'd have to upgrade your bookshelf to show it off properly, which might then mean needing to repaint your walls, upgrade your lights and carpeting...  and of course, you'd need a super-comfortable space-age recliner to read them in and a booming hi-fi sound system to stream some space-age electronica... Hmmm, yeah, I can see where it can be a slippery slope... 

So what's next you ask? Something we didn't even realize was an option until Mathieu pointed it out -- 

JOHN'S SMALL ADVENTURE!

This 20-page story was originally created as an experimental digital webcomic as a short prequel to SHANGRI-LA. It spotlights John, the animoid basset hound from the main graphic novel, on his first trip outside the station into space. And giant mecha. It has never been printed (to date), nor has it been available outside of the original posting in French.

When we hit $78,000, we will not only re-post the original digital webcomic version translated into English for the first time behind a backer-only link, but we will also add a limited-edition 24-page printed comic edition with every physical pledge package! And we'll make it nice, too -- cardstock cover, maybe with some foil or spot-UV... we're still pricing out a limited-run, but it will be hot.

So keep spreading the word and bringing as many people as you can to the party and we'll all get more and more cool stuff! We've got even more planned after this!

Coin unlocked! Next goal revealed! This week's bonus print! And Spotify playlists!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jun 02, 2021 at 08:52:55 AM

Hi everyone!

Back to work after a 3-day weekend -- lots of catching up to do, especially considering the recent Stretch Goal milestone!

Challenge Coin unlocked!

We hit the goal for the Challenge Coin in the wee hours of the morning, so we have updated the campaign with the latest reveal: Next goal -- Foil gilded pages on the slipcase books!

This suggestion from backer Marc Labrosse was so good, we just had to work it into the schedule. (I'm ashamed we hadn't thought of it ourselves!) We needed to run the tech specs with our factory, but they were able to confirm that this is quite doable. (For those of you interested in the nerdy tech -- gilding won't work with books that contain full-bleed page printing, but fortunately, neither of these books do...) 

This little extra sweetness, on top of the heavier paper, foil logos, and ribbon bookmarks unlocked on Day-1, will ensure the slipcase editions will be the most premium collectible you'll ever find. :)

NOTE: The gilding will NOT be part of the non-slipcase/individual copies. 

(But those standalone editions will still have the foil logos and ribbon bookmarks.)

And we are ONLY PRINTING ENOUGH SLIPCASE EDITIONS TO SATISFY THIS CAMPAIGN! 

So if you are in the two-book tier, you may really want to consider upgrading. :D

THIS WEEK'S BONUS PRINT

We have also retired the Week-1 print and revealed this week's bonus print:

It is a page from SHANGRI-LA, non-spoiler-y (it happens near the beginning), but we love the composition and juxtaposition of destruction and elation.  All backers on board before next Monday will get this print added to their reward packages for FREE.

SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

If you've followed us from any previous campaigns, you probably know that we not only love narrative visuals, but we love narrative music as well. We have produced original soundtracks for three previous projects (PARIS 2119, ASTER OF PAN, and SMALL WORLD), and have curated unofficial playlists for some of our projects as well. In keeping with that tradition, we compiled unofficial soundtrack playlists on Spotify for both CARBON & SILICON and SHANGRI-LA:

Both feature a couple of hours worth of spacey electronica and moody future-tech by artists such as Toxic Avenger, Solar Fields, Michael McCann, Dead Astronauts, Squarepusher, Ed Harrison, and many more.

We should note very clearly that these playlists are UNOFFICIAL. These are just background tracks we find suitable to the mood of each book. Mathieu might have other ideas, recommendations, or opinions. :)

(In fact, there may be some exciting OFFICIAL soundtrack news in the works that we may be able to reveal here soon... just waiting on some confirmation from Mathieu and 619...)

That's it for now -- not bad for a Week One summary!

Let's see how much more we can reveal by the end of Week Two!

Sketchbook unlocked! Next up: CHALLENGE COIN!
almost 3 years ago – Fri, May 28, 2021 at 12:06:33 AM

Hi everyone!

Well, that was fast...! Even pacing out the stretch goals based on our fancy projection algorithm, you still managed to unlock the sketchbook in less than 3 days! This will be a nice one, too -- half will be SHANGRI-LA production art and the other half CARBON & SILICON production art, separated evenly and laid out in a "flip-book" orientation so that either can be "the front cover". Kinda hard to explain, so we made a quick mockup:

32 pages total, 6x9" linen cardstock cover and only produced for this campaign so VERY COLLECTIBLE. And all physical reward tiers will now get one with their orders for FREE. (Digital tiers will still get a PDF version.)

So what's next? Do you even need to ask...?

If you've followed us from any previous campaign you know what's coming up... CHALLENGE COIN!

These are nice, weighty (2oz) solid metal coins, and we have produced one for each of our last several campaigns. And since we only produce these in quantity for the campaign, they also are becoming very collectible. :) So let's get spread the word so that we can get up to $65k so that all physical packages can get one added for FREE!

(Because not to get too far ahead of ourselves, there are even more cool unlockables on the other side of that we're really hoping to reveal...!)

Best. Day One. Ever.
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 27, 2021 at 11:08:07 AM

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the new campaign! We are absolutely blown away by the response so far -- this has been our best Day-1 of all twelve campaigns we've run so far! Absolutely incredible, we are floored, but honestly... these books deserve the attention. They are phenomenal and you will NOT be disappointed!

We have a lot of exciting plans coming together for the next 3 weeks of the campaign, including interviews, exclusive new pages and videos, a bonus digital short, and of course a whole slate of cool stretch goals and bonuses to reveal. The first reveal is the Week-1 bonus print that will be included in all pledge packages for everyone who backs the campaign THIS WEEK. 

Next week, this exclusive print will be gone, with a different print offered to all backers instead, so pledge early to get them all!

STRETCH GOALS

You knocked out the first two stretch goals in no time flat yesterday, so we're revealing the next goal -- A FREE 32p sketchbook by Mathieu Bablet!

This will be a saddle-stitched booklet featuring 16 pages of production art for CARBON & SILICON on one side and 16p of SHANGRI-LA production art on the other -- a "flip book" double-feature ashcan. :)

With a linen cardstock cover and full-color matte interior pages, these will be nice. (Those of you who have backed previous campaigns can attest to the quality and know what to expect.)

That target goal might sound high compared to previous campaigns, but if we've learned anything from so far it is to space the stretch goals out strategically to keep them engaging, encouraging, and exciting. Now that we have sufficient historical data, we can better predict an achievable pace that could/should allow a new reward to be unlocked every several days/week or so. We WANT to give you everything, but we also need to make sure that their costs are covered and that they roll out with comfortable and exciting timeliness.

Follow-up goals will be revealed and targeted based on the current trend and trajectory of the curve. We've got 6+ more sweet freebies lined up, and we're really hoping we can unlock them all!

So spread the word and let's get as many copies of these amazing books into as many hands as possible!