350 Backers One Week In!
almost 4 years ago – Wed, May 27, 2020 at 01:00:22 PM

It's been just over a week since we went live, and we just picked up our 35th backer. The Kickstarter "doldrums" that afflict many campaigns (most, in truth) in the middle of their run can only be overcome with new eyes on the project.

Even so, we have about 385 folks following the project who have not yet backed, so there's more than enough casual interest to fund and then some. In fact, if we got everyone (we won't) and the average pledge stayed the same (it won't), the campaign would hit about $43,900. That would make the books and qualify as an unabashed financial success as well. 

And since the only way to get there would be to amass over 730 backers . . . the authors will like that too, as their pay will have gone up by almost 50% (Gaming Ballistic's version of profit sharing is to scale pay rates with backer/customer count until the PDFs ship).

So keep it up, spread the word, re-share, say nice things if you can. Every bit helps!

Seventeen days to go!

Almost at 80%; WIP of Dragon Hunt Cover
almost 4 years ago – Mon, May 25, 2020 at 07:56:44 AM

Brief update this morning!

Holiday Weekend

For those in the USA, it's Memorial Day, the day dedicated to those who died in the armed service of their country (Veterans Day honors those still alive who served). At least here in Minnesota, it traditionally rains like mad...today is no exception.

Campaign Progress

In development news, the campaign stands less than $100 from hitting 80% funding, and still with 19 days to go. We're in the period best characterized as "the doldrums," which is that slow, steady period of funding between the first 2-3 day rush after launch and the last 48 hours near the end.

This is where a few re-shares, tweets, or forum posts by not-the-publisher have the most impact. At the current rate, we likely only need about 90 pledges to fund. We have nearly400people following the campaign who have not yet backed. This means there's enough 'latent' interest to not just fund, but succeed spectacularly.

Cover Work

I received an update to the work-in-progress image on the cover of Dragon Hunt. I liked it so much that I asked the artist if she had time to do the other four...she does, and she will. I'm procuring these covers in the anticipation that we fund, of which I have no doubt.

We've already talked about some changes. The dragon on the front cover will have fore-limbs added, to better match up with the TFT lore. The ruins in the background get more detail. Everything, in fact, gets more detailed as things go forward, and she touches up the details, adds textures, and does whatever it is artists of her caliber do. I can't wait to see it. The next four will come out roughly every two weeks thereafter, meaning I should have those done by the end of July.

Cover Preview - Dragon Hunt!
almost 4 years ago – Thu, May 21, 2020 at 10:44:48 AM

Ksenia Kozhovnikova just shared with me her rough pencils (rough! rough! This is rough for her!) of one of the covers for the new TFT books for my More Perilous Journeys Kickstarter.

This one is (obviously) for "Dragon Hunt," David Pulver's 40-page solo/programmed adventure. This one can also be easily run with a GM, since going dragon hunting (and other monsters) really ought to be a group effort. Unless, of course, you're just that mighty.

Are you?

Retail Levels Added!
almost 4 years ago – Thu, May 21, 2020 at 10:14:30 AM

There was an inquiry about a retail level - and bad on me forgetting about it!

There are now two new pledge levels. One for the new books, one for all the books. If you know an FLGS who wishes to support TFT . . . steer them to this!

Retail Level - 5 Each New Physical Books ($180)

For our retail customers! Five copies each of the printed books (no PDFs!) that are new to this campaign. This is at a 50% discount from the retail cost of the five books.

Retail Option - ALL TEN Print Books (5×) ($360)

If you missed the first campaign and want to put ALL TEN print books on your store shelves, this is your pledge level. Five copies EACH of the softcover books from "Five Perilous Journeys," plus the five books from "More Perilous Journeys" (this campaign), all discounted at 50% for retail sale. No PDFs are included with this reward!

Best First Day Ever!
almost 4 years ago – Wed, May 20, 2020 at 06:37:38 AM

Thanks to you guys, Gaming Ballistic delivered its best first day performance on a Kickstarter, ever. It wasn't even close: my prior record was less than $7,000 . . . and that was the Four Perilous Journeys campaign!

We're over 60% funded as of this morning, and hopefully we'll see another solid day. Who knows . . . maybe we'll even fund today? Four Perilous Journeys saw about 40-50% of Day 1 on Day 2 . . . and that would bring us (dare I say it) Perilously close to success.

Progress

This morning I received the updated and revised draft of The Sunken Library, which means all five books are in my hands. Now, it's all me for editing and layout.

I have commissioned the cover for Dragon Hunt!, and I've seen a work-in-progress draft of the pencils for the cover. It's glorious. The artist and I discussed some revisions and she should get back to me this week, I hope. I'll post that as soon as it's ready.

Today I hope to get preliminary work done on all five books. Not full edits, but getting the formatting and initial layouts right. On the programmed adventures, that's no small task. 

With funding moving along at a very healthy clip (knock on wood), I need to accelerate this part of it, so the moment we fund, I'm ready for art direction. Art usually takes a month or so.

Share, Share, Share some More!

We have 461 "followers" in the campaign, and of those so far, 147 have pledged. We also have 277 actual backers . . . which means 130 folks came aboard that never followed the campaign. This is excellent, as it provides a lot of latent capability to fund . . . and more than fund.

The key thing right now is reach and word of mouth. A kind word and a pointer on a social media feed from a fan, rather than a publisher or author, is huge.

Even so: we had a great first day. Hopefully Day 2 brings us that much closer!