Special Editions are shipping!
8 months ago – Fri, Aug 25, 2023 at 02:50:32 PM

Title says it all. These beauties came in this today, and after a good inspection, they've been deemed perfect.

I'm in the process of signing and packing them up and getting all other merch items together for each person and will be trying to get them shipped out by Monday.

Still working on the limited editions. I had a small issue with the cover, so I'm working with my designer to fix it and get that back to the printer. Should be fixed very soon.

If you're looking for more books and Kickstarter campaigns to back, check these out!

Good news!
9 months ago – Mon, Jul 31, 2023 at 05:19:53 PM

I finally have good news!

After waiting a bit for my cover designer to get me new files (she had a health related issue that delayed things), and waiting for books to come from across the pond, the proof copies from my new printer for the special edition books came in!

Look how  perfect and gorgeous they are!

I am so happy and relieved. This has stressed me out so much, and I truly am sorry it's taken this long to get to this point. I do hope the added upgrades make it up to you.

I'll be ordering up the main batch this week.

I will be closing out backer rewards with Backerkit for both of these editions. You'll have a last minute chance to add anything you'd like to your pledge through that system. International unsigned will have these delivered directly from the printer as normal like the past printer.

Limited edition, I should have the proof of that edition soon as well. Hopefully I'll have my next update on that shortly.

Thank you for being patient
11 months ago – Fri, Jun 23, 2023 at 01:56:37 PM

[insert deep breath gif here]

The first thing I want to say is thank you. Thank you for being so patient. If you're a long time supporter of me off Kickstarter you know the delays getting your goodies to you production issues I've been having aren't typical. If you're new to me, I am so sorry this is your first experience with me and am so thankful you haven't thrown in the towel. In my 8 years of publishing I've never had issues with getting books printed properly like I am now. I don't know why Murphey's Law has decided to rear its ugly head, but it has. Luckily, I've got a sword.

[insert trying not to scream gif here]

Special Edition Delays Continue.

The the replacement of special edition books finally came in. At first, pulling out the first book, I was so excited the problems from before were fixed. It was perfect. Then I pulled out the second book, because of course I quality control each one. And there was a problem. Okay, this happens. I order more just in case. Just check the next. Same problem. And then the next book, and the next book. All the remaining books had this same problem.

The problem? The ends of page chunks glued together.

I tried with one book to slowly work them free, and it worked in a way, but it wasn't perfect for some pages, and that glue still stuck to the ends.

I am beyond furious with my printer for not having the decency to make sure the QC was perfect for this replacement, and frustrated for you. Because of this, I'm trying out a different printer some friends have suggested, while I still fight with my current printer. There may be some delays as I need to work with my cover designer to make sure the cover is in line with the printer, but one way or another, I will have these promised books in the condition you all deserve them to be in.

I'm making it up to you for the wait too.

I really hate that you're having to wait. It's been a major stress factor for me for a while now. So, I'm going to be upgrading the special editions to have color and include the bonus chapters beyond the one that was already promised. This is my thank you to you for being so patient.

How does this work for paperback backers?

So, in my last update I'd mentioned that I had the paperback books in, and they printed perfectly, so I was going to send them out. That send got delayed due to a personal life thing that happened, and after that cleared up, I was noticing how long it was taking for the replacement hardbacks to come in. So I held off sending them out. I knew, if this didn't go well, I needed to make it up to everyone, and I didn't want to put paperback backers at a disadvantage.

So, you'll have two options, and I'll PM you to get your choice:

• I'll ship out the current printed versions, and you'll get a digital copy of the bonus chapters.
• You're willing to wait for the new version of the paperback.

It'll be that simple for you.

Status on the Limited Edition.

As we know, I've been struggling with this edition since I lost my original printer. I thought I had a replacement, which I announced in my last update. Unfortunately there was a miscommunication between me and the rep on my needs, and they can't do what I need. This leaves me with a printer I knew about before but couldn't do the custom end sheet printing. I wanted to avoid that, because the book would look so spectacular with that printing, but sometimes you have to pivot.

So I'm double checking with this printer to make sure they can meet my needs before I scream more and actually throw in the towel.

I will be making this up to you as well.

I will be giving you a few extra things with your pledge to make up for all these unexpected changes I've had to make. Also as a thank you for your patience, and to make up for what I can't provide when I promised I could.

I won't say yet what this gift is as I'm still finalizing it, but I believe it'll be something that helps make up for all of this.

I've definitely learned from this and will be more careful with printers I work with in the future.

How do the printings differ?

Some of you may be asking, how is this printer different than the one I'm working with for the limited edition? The printer that does these special editions (and my retail editions), is what we call a POD printer, or Print on Demand printer. They allow for orders as low as 1 to be made without costing an arm and a leg. The catch is that the books are printed with basic offers.

However, the printer for the limited edition is an off-set printer. They require larger print runs, but they also offer books with special additions. These printers aren't as cost effective for printing basic style books as POD printers at the quantities I'm ordering them.

I hope that makes sense to you!

Do you have questions?

This is a bit of an impromptu Q&A. If you have a question you want to ask me, either about this fulfillment situation or something else with my books, ask in the comments!

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The Great, the Annoying, and the... Miracle? (Important Special Edition + Limited Edition updates)
12 months ago – Thu, May 25, 2023 at 08:50:53 AM

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the silence. I've been meaning to give updates, but there's been a lot going on in the background that's taken up a lot of my time and changing things I'd say in these posts, so I wanted to wait until things calmed down. There's a lot of important information here, especially if you backed for a SE hardback and LTD hardback. So don't skip this update.

The Great

Special Edition Paperbacks are shipping! Those finally showed up on my doorsteps and they've passed my quality checks so they're going out this week/weekend. A few other packages for those who didn't get books but other merch will also be going out that I found out I missed in my first shipping batch (sorry about that!)

The Annoying

This is where I should also be saying the Special Edition Hardbacks are shipping too, but... they're not. The proof copy came in a few weeks ago, and the post office decided to feed it to a hungry shipping monster, because it was not in great condition. It was why I didn't update the moment it came it. It wasn't pretty. My shipper promised to get me a replacement, but there was enough still there for me to feel comfortable printing a full batch for fulfillment. And so I waited for them all to come in.

And they did today.... but something went wrong. Overall, they're gorgeous books! I'm happy with them on the outside. But, the inside is the issue. A handful of these books weren't glued to the spin right. Instead of directly in the middle, many were glued flush against the bottom. On top of that, for some reason, there were pages where images didn't print to the full length of the page, creating a strip of blank page. I can't explain why this happened, because it's not all images. It was only a select few ones and my file sent to the vendor was for sure set up correctly. So, I'm waiting to hear back from my printer about this error while being frustrated.

I want to give you all the perfect product you've been promised, and it's taking much longer than it should to do this. And for that I'm really sorry. I've talked with a few other authors I know who use the same printer I do (I've used them of 8 years) and they all agree this is something they're unfortunately dealing with all of a sudden and none of us predicted this would ever happen with them, as they've always been a fabulous printer.

Pictures below are examples of what I'm meaning. As it stands, all of these copies I've received fall under my "oops printing" label I usually sell at a discount. If any of these issues aren't one for you (like it is for me), message me, and I'll be happy to ship out your book as is, and I'll even throw in a "oops" discount (if discount is more than what remains on your invoice because of shipping, a partial refund) or an extra item(s) of equivalent value, your choice. (This option is not available to unsigned international orders, as those copies will come direct from a printer near your country, and not me. If those arrive with errors, after I get this current error issue domestically fixed, I will help right that issue at that time).

The Miracle?

This next update is about the limited edition. It's going to start off sounding bad, but it's going to turn out good-ish with a result that is very important to read as I need your feedback.

The limited edition has been the major source of my headaches this month. I've was working with this new printer who promised they could give me everything I promised you (my main printer can only do basic books). Everything in this relationship was going great, and I was almost over the finish line getting them my files and having a printed proof done. And then everything went wrong.

I won't be going into details, but I ended up cutting my partnership with this printer and was a little more than upset. Here I was with a promise to you for an exclusive edition, and I had no printer. So, after stress eating us out of house and home and trying not to burst into frustrated tears, I went back to the drawing board. I found some printers who could do what I needed, but their requirements for printing were out of the scope of this Kickstarter.

I networked with other authors to see what I could do, and about a week ago, it looked like I found a printer that could do some of the stuff I needed. This printer could do the foiling I needed, and make the jacket special, though not do the double-sided printing. They also couldn't do the special end sheets I promised or the painted edges. Painted edges wasn't going to be an issue, as I know how to do that myself (who doesn't like an extra special, author-made element to their books?), and the end sheets I was spending some time thinking about how I could also do something extra unique and special in their place.

Then, I was directed to my miracle. I have been in talks with a new printer that has been able to promise me everything I originally wanted, except the double-sided jacket and painted edges. Again, that painted edges piece not so problematic. The lack of double-sided jacket is disappointing, as that was a neat design I really liked. But I think considering the circumstances, this alternative, is better than what this could have ended up being. I can still do something special with the jacket. My options are foiling the title text or 3D embossing the text. And this is where you come into play.

If you backed for a Limited Edition, I want to know if you would prefer foil on your jacket or a 3D embossing. You can make a comment below or you can message me. I'd like to collect opinions quickly, so I can get this edition back and rolling, so I'll take input until the end of the weekend.

That's it for now. Thank you again so much for to patience with me, and I can't wait for these editions to come out right and end up in your hands and on your shelves.

Until next time!

Did you get a bad shipment? And SE update
about 1 year ago – Fri, Apr 21, 2023 at 04:45:26 PM

Hello, hello, hello!

I have two things that I want to talk about today. They're quick and simple, but both equally important.

Did you get a bad shipment?

If your package has arrived and something is wrong with it please reach out to me immediately. This is especially important to me right now if you pledged for an unsigned copy of any edition. Not that hand signed is less important, but I already did quality control on the books that went out signed, so, unless the shipper treated your package like a soccer ball, you should have less to worry about.

I'm worried about the unsigned books because I had my printer directly ship these out, and I've recently gotten a message about a quality control issue from a backer. I've worked with this printer for almost 10 years, so hearing about these kinds of problems is concerning. I'm hoping this isn't a recurring issue, and this just turns into a PSA, but I want to me safe, rather than sorry. So if your book comes with the wrong cover, missing jacket (for hardcovers), wonky interior, etc... please reach out immediately so I can get things fixed.

Special Edition Paperback

I got my proof copy in today (still waiting on the hardback), and it's almost perfect. I need to make a few tweaks (my errors, you can see one in one of the photos below), which are easy to do, and once the printer has those files I'll be ordering up the paperbacks for fulfillment!

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