PROGRESS UPDATE & INTERIOR ART REVEAL
8 days ago – Tue, Dec 03, 2024 at 02:19:44 PM

Hello there!

• This week we are currently doing final layout with the goal of sending our files to the printer by or before Friday.
  
  
• As our printer is in Hong Kong, we're basically in a race against time to begin printing before Chinese New Years. So far, so good but because of the holiday there is a non-zero chance we might not ship until just after Q1 2025, roughly at the top of April.
  
  We will of course let you know if that happens.
  
  
• By some perverse twist of fate both our interior illustrators were laid so low by health issues that they had to drop out of the project in order for us to stay on schedule.
  
  However we are very pleased with the two artists who we chose to replace them, and proud to present you with their pieces for the book!
  
  If you're okay with seeing the art before you get the finished book, then just scroll past a lovely bookstore cat our publisher met this past Sunday.
  
  

DON'T WANT SPOILERS? DON'T SCROLL PAST THE CAT! THIS IS THE FINAL PART OF THE UPDATE. THERE'S NOTHING OTHER THAN THE ART TO SEE AFTER THIS:

 

FOR REAL! DON'T KEEP SCROLLING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THE INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS YET

Okay! First up is the interior illustration for WALLS OF SHIRA YULUN, by New Edge Sword & Sorcery regular Simon Underwood.

Turn that book upside-down and flip it around to see WASTE FLOWERS, by Linnea Sterte.

Next update will be a ways from now, when the advance copies have been received and we can show you some cool preview pics.

Until then, take care and please enjoy your December holidays!

127% FUNDED! (What Comes Next?)
about 2 months ago – Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 12:51:20 PM

IN SHORT

• WE FUNDED! THANK YOU SO MUCH! That's four crowdfunds for four, y'all.
  
  
• Right now backers are being charged for their pledges.
  
  
• Backers will be charged for shipping approx. four weeks before fulfillment. This is also likely when surveys will be sent out to collect necessary information such as mailing addresses, though the surveys may come sooner.
  
  
• Our current goal for fulfillment is "Q1 2025", aka somewhere in the January through March window, so expect to be charged for shipping in December at the earliest.
  
  
• All backers are cordially invited to join our Discord server through this link: https://discord.gg/HAjPqvxmDD
  
  
• Though we'll be much quieter for a little while, if you'd like more regular updates and other fun info, we can be followed on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.

IN DETAIL

Well hot damn! "Publish an 'Ace Double' style book" is a real publisher dream when you're a fan of classic genre paperbacks like we are, so thank you very much for letting us check that off our bucket list.

The two manuscripts are close to print-ready! Still, we're playing it careful with our timeline as we'd rather give you the pleasant surprise of early fulfillment than promise too much and have the book be delayed. This is our first traditionally printed book, and though we expect the process to be simpler than with our magazine, it might not be - especially with the spray color edges, which we've never done before either. We'll keep you in the loop as the process moves along.

Ah, spray color edges! So cool... It's pretty much a given at this point that they will be a rich purple, however we may explore some options with our printer and will let you know what the final result is.

I'd like to repeat that The New Edge Sword & Sorcery Discord, a great online hang-out I'd love to see your digital faces in, is a fun spot to chat about our publications, Sword & Sorcery in general, and otherwise connect with your fellow readers, writers, artists, and more.

It's also a breeding ground for goofs like, as you may have seen in our previous crowdfunds, how Meatball Subs Are The Only Real Sandwich, and the only time I get to eat one is when we've finished funding another publication.

Can we make meatball subs the official sandwich of Sword & Sorcery? Perhaps with enough...fibonacci sequence inspired layouts?



Alright, that's all from me for now. Please make sure to read through IN SHORT for the practical details of what's happening with charging backers for pledges, charging for shipping, our rough schedule and more.

Keep your double-edged swords sharp, and your sorcery numinous!

Sincerely,

Sorry for all the updates but WE GOT SPRAY COLOR EDGES!
about 2 months ago – Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 05:30:24 AM

We believe in this project, we really do, but before going to bed last night we weren't sure this would happen....and yet we just unlocked...

All soft & hardcovers will now be enhanced with purple page edges, just like the classic mass-market paperbacks from back in the day!

WILL WE UNLOCK THE TWO PAGE FULL COLOR INSERT BY SAJAN RAI???

We've got until 12pm EST, maybe a little past that if overtime pledges - on Backerkit if someone pledges in the last ten minutes, the crowdfund is extended by ten minutes and if someone pledges in THAT ten minutes then hey ten more minutes and so on - so who knows?

24 HOURS LEFT, POETRY UNLOCKED, LIVESTREAM WITH LIVE MUSIC, and ONWARD TO SPRAY EDGES!
about 2 months ago – Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 09:27:35 AM

YOU UNLOCKED BONUS POETRY BY BRYN HAMMOND!

WE'RE 90% OF THE WAY TO SPRAY COLOR EDGES!

TONIGHT IS THE FINAL FRIDAY NIGHT LIVESTREAM, FEATURING LIVE MUSIC!

Uuriintuya plays the morin khuur, a traditional Mongolian instrument also known as the “horse-head fiddle”, because its scroll is traditionally carved like an equine head.

There's all this neat stuff going on but, honestly, I've also been dying to use these:

Everybody knows...googly eyes make everything better!

100% FUNDED: Onward to poetry and spray color edges!
about 2 months ago – Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 06:01:22 AM

HUZZAH, YOU GOT US THERE!

Thank you so much. It feels marvelous to let ourselves imagine holding this hot little book in our hands.

And we need just 16 more backers to unlock Bryn Hammond's bonus poetry. Heck at 85% of the way, it's not outlandish to think we'll unlock spray color edges!

Meanwhile all one hundred of our planned hardcovers have been claimed. We're going to talk to the printer about raising the print run, but probably only to 125 or so. The crowdfund definitely remains the time to grab one.

Alright, the campaign ends at noon EST this Saturday. Let's see how far we can take this caravan!