$125k stretch goal unlocked -- set your alarms: final slipcases opening tomorrow!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Oct 27, 2022 at 01:44:16 PM

Hi everyone,

As no surprise, you did it: the final lot of Slipcases has been unlocked! We wanted to put it within reach, but we really thought it might take another day or two... you all continue to surprise and humble us. 😊

In order to give everyone a fair shot, we want to give everyone plenty of advance notice:

The new tier will be activated at 12 pm CST (-6 UTC) tomorrow, October 27th.

This is roughly the most central median time for our early-morning backers in Australia and late-night backers as far east as Kyiv. 😊 There's no perfect time for everyone, but at least you don't have to keep hitting refresh on your device for the next 21 hours...!

It looks like we're pretty darn close to unlocking the sticker set at 2000 backers, too, so even tho we're not there just yet, here's a peek at what those will possibly look like:

We've also gone ahead and revealed the final two stretch goal targets: a cool 2-sided mini-poster at $175k and a surprise-to-be-revealed in the off chance we make it past $200k. Those milestones may seem extremely far away, but so did $125k a few days ago... a lot can happen once that final lot of slipcases open up! Even if they are all snapped up by existing backers upgrading their hardcover sets, it will still add a nice spike to the graph. And if more of them are snapped up by new backers, that spike could be even bigger. Either way, those final targets aren't out of the realm of possibility... we still have nine days to go!

...but then again, who knows -- the ACTUAL demand for slipcases might only be from 36 or so backers looking to upgrade, and the rest could sit there collecting dust until the campaign ends. This project has broken our brains and thrown a lot of what we thought we knew about running a Kickstarter out the window, so at this point, nothing would surprise us. 😉

I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

The plan as we go into week 2
over 1 year ago – Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 03:45:21 AM

Hi everyone!

Wow, I can't believe it has only been a week since we launched... so much has happened, it feels like a month already!

A huge THANK YOU for all of your feedback and responses to the previous update. It's wonderful and amazing to see so many enthusiastic people onboard -- you are precisely why we love Kickstarter as a platform: being able to interact and exchange ideas while things are still live is awesome and energizing! 🤩

There were so many great suggestions, and we value each and every unique perspective on the whole slipcase-count topic. And while there clearly isn't any one direction that can please 100% of the crowd, your input has led to what we hope might satisfy most people. So here's the plan:

•  NEW STRETCH GOAL: At $125k, we will unlock a final tier of 250 more Slipcases. This sincerely will be it, capping the total at an even 1000 copies. While we like the poetry and symbolism of capping it at 888 copies, we have to produce them in rounded increments, and that odd number would leave us with 112 extra copies left sitting idle that could just as easily make that many more eager backers happy (and we don't want to go through this conundrum again...) 😊 That really is the entire impetus of our dilemma: wanting to satisfy as many backers as possible while finding a reasonable level of exclusivity. 1000 copies is a nice round number. 
• The original lot of 500 slipcases will include a unique gold-foil-stamped bookplate with numbering between 1-500. Here's a mockup of what we have designed:

We may also add a golden stamp inside the frame for additional appeal. The remaining/later 500 will be black and white only, numbered 501-1000 of 1000. Note that these are all printed on lush linen cardstock, so they will all be nice regardless of when you secured your copy (but clearly the early bird version is EXTRA nice). 😊

• If/when this final lot is unlocked, we will announce a specific time at which they will be made available. This way, folks who already have their sights on a set can set an alarm. 🧐 We're looking at 12pm CST of whatever day follows the unlock, so that should be a reasonable evening hour for most folks across the Atlantic. (Pan-pacific backers... you may have to wake up in the wee hours...) 

We hope this course is acceptable for everyone. We still have some distance to go to reach that final unlock which will mean selling through more of the hardcover sets and paperbacks, but with the unlocked golden coin and bonus prints now part of each tier, those should hopefully continue to be extremely appealing on their own. We're happy to see that organic discovery is still very healthy, so if the current trend continues, we could hit that goal by Thursday or Friday.

Speaking of coins, we added them to various graphics on the campaign page -- here's a mockup of what we are aiming for with the factory:

These will be 2" in diameter with bas-relief sculpting. The square hole in the middle is the part we are not 100% sure about until we have confirmation from the factory, but the rest should be feasible.

As a final note on the slipcase topic, we want to reassure you that these are and always have been exclusive to this Kickstarter campaign. We set the initial quantity at 500 because that's what our original budget could handle. We didn't set the limit in a crafty scheme to create artificial scarcity; we really thought that's all we'd be able to afford. (The same goes with the standalone hardcover sets -- the initial quantity is merely what our initial budget called for, and if those run out, we will have to consider adding another lot.) Quite frankly, based on our previous campaigns with exclusive slipcases, 500 seemed like a sufficient number.  The incredible demand right out of the gate on Day-1 caught everyone by surprise -- us as well as the flood of disappointed backers. And they were our priority.

The tricky thing about Kickstarter is that you not only have to plan for failure, but you also need to plan for success! In hindsight, we failed to imagine such success. We could/should have left room for these additional lots in our outline, with each lot uniquely differentiated for those early supporters (sorta like what we're doing now retroactively).  Our big error (aside from not planning ahead) was being so adamant in writing with our initial declarations before thinking things through. And boy, have we learned a lesson!

We want to be as transparent with you as possible in all aspects and decisions that go into these projects. As backers, you deserve an insider's access to the production process of what you're supporting, and we are happy to share that with you. We don't want to come off like any sort of Big Bizness or secretive operation that is only out to make moar monay. We want to make cool stuff. For you. To ENJOY. Because if we are successful at that, we get to do it again. That's what gets us out of bed in the morning: making cool stuff. (Believe me, if it were the money, we'd have given up ages ago...) 😝

Smashing Stretch Goals like toothpicks...
over 1 year ago – Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 12:04:16 AM

...y'all are giving us a real workout trying to keep up...!

😊

All physical pledge tiers will now include THREE linen cardstock prints! The hardcovers will now include a bound-in ribbon bookmark, and the slipcase edition hardcovers will include gold foil gilding on the page edges. (If you're not sure what that means, here's an illustration:)

Next up is the coin stretch goal (which looks like it could be unlocked by the time we finish lunch...) We're working on the design with the factory now, so we hope to have something to reveal shortly...!

The burden of unanticipated fortune...

Those extra slipcases went a lot quicker than we thought, as did the original offering... In hindsight, we should have set the original number available at 1000 copies, but who knew that this campaign would take off so quickly? We have been debating here whether it would be prudent (or ethical) to add another 250 slipcases to the campaign, but we did say that the last increase would be it, and we don't want our word to be taken lightly... but so many people are crying for more... their pleas are ringing in our ears... 🤔😓😩 I dunno... what do you all think?

• Do we stick to our word and stay with the current 750 slipcase sellout?
• Or do we open another stretch goal (at, say $125k) for another (TRULY FINAL) 250 slipcases?

The last thing we want to do is upset any current Slipcase backers who feel that they would have been exploited by a sliding promise of exclusivity... If we say something is limited and exclusive to a campaign, we mean it! We don't want to damage our reputation by devaluing our own declarations...

...but we also hate to deprive or disappoint enthusiastic backers who are eager to support the project, the author, and us as an indie publisher. 😟

Either way, the hardcovers and slipcases are indeed 100% exclusive to this campaign (with any few leftovers made available exclusively through our webstore). And of course all of the campaign-exclusive stretch goal bonuses. Only the paperback edition will be available in stores. That we guarantee.

What do you all think? Please sound off in the comments below!

Thanks, everyone! Have a great weekend!

An incredible start to an incredible journey!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 11:15:01 AM

Hi everyone!

This is what you did to our Kickstarter track record yesterday:

...YOU ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED IT! 

Yesterday was our BEST DAY-1 EVAR! And we owe that entirely to YOU! We shouldn't be too surprised -- this is a fantastic book by an amazing author, Chaiko. We fell in love with it the minute we first saw it. It might have been the most immediate acquisition offer we have ever made. You can probably understand why from the bits and pieces shown throughout the campaign. Needless to say: you will NOT be disappointed. 😉

We've been so submerged in Monkey King these past several weeks, we thought as a cool reward for a great Day-1 we'd share the unofficial Spotify soundtrack playlist that we've been listening to during the layout and translation of the book:

(If you don't have Spotify, you can also stream it from the embedded player on our MONKEY KING preview page here.)

It includes a variety of moods and selections (including -- yes, we know -- some non-Chinese and Japanese tracks), but they all set a great tone for the epic martial arts fantasy drama that is THE MONKEY KING. Frankly, we could have filled it entirely with just Kenji Kawai's IP MAN Scores, but wanted to mix it up a bit...😉

Stretch goals revealed!

Now that we have gauged the campaign's initial trajectory, we've placed some mile-markers in the sand for bonus freebies that, at this pace, should (hopefully) unlock every 2-4 days until we cross the finish line. Bonus linen cardstock prints, some nifty upgrades to the hardcovers, and yes, a Challenge Coin. 😎 We haven't added an image of the coin yet as we have some cool ideas that we are discussing with our minting manufacturer now, but if we get past the next couple of milestones, we think it'll be pretty special.

In addition to stretch goals based on pledge totals, we're also trying something new this time: 

Stretch Goals unlocked by the number of backers on board:

We're already pretty close to unlocking the next Pledge-based and Backer-based stretch goals already, but that's the secret to a good incentive -- there's always something more just within reach! Let's see how far we can get in the next 16 days!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has not only pledged, but pre-registered, commented, messaged us, and/or shared the campaign with their friends or family on social media. Some of you caught a couple of typos and errors in the campaign page itself, and we are grateful for your diligence! Putting a campaign together is a mighty big undertaking, and being a small indie boutique operation, some things can slip under our radar, so your help and feedback are immensely appreciated. 😊

If you have any other questions, we welcome you to message us directly or post in the comments. Fair warning: messages are your safest bet if you're looking for a reply from us directly, as we can sometimes miss comments (particularly once they start getting spread out between the campaign page and each of the updates themselves). We will try our best to stay present and responsive though! We can't be live on the board 24/7, but we definitely check in every day -- a live campaign is like hosting a party, and while we love mingling with the guests, we have to make sure that everything is going smoothly in the kitchen, too... 😉

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR JOINING US! THIS IS GOING TO BE A FUN RIDE!

250 more Slipcase Sets unlocked!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Oct 22, 2022 at 01:35:13 PM

Hi everyone!

Woke up this morning to see two more stretch goals have been smashed -- you've not only unlocked another Bonus Linen Cardstock Print, but we also just added 250 more slipcase sets as promised for reaching 1250 backers! If you had your eye on those, you better act fast -- they move quickly...! 😊

For those of you who already had a Slipcase secured with your pledge who might be worried that adding 250 more devalues the exclusivity or scarcity of those original 500... well, 750 is still pretty exclusive and scarce. 😉 We're not ones to arbitrarily go back on our word when we say something is going to be a limited edition, but in this particular case, we had no idea the original sets would disappear in a mere handful of hours leaving those who arrived a bit (but not very) late out of luck.  By setting a new opportunity to get a copy of the Slipcase on the horizon, we hoped to give everyone a fair shot. (Granted, we thought that goal wouldn't be met until after the weekend, but c'est la vie...!)

So have at it, everyone! When these 250 are gone, we will NOT be adding more. At that point your only option would be to watch the campaign regularly in case a Slipcase backer cancels their pledge, putting their copy back into circulation.

Thanks for your ongoing support! Please continue to spread the word!