Smoke Test Surveys have been sent!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 03:24:44 PM
Happy Friday, everyone!
Just a quick update to let you know that we have initiated the smoke test surveys.
If you're not sure what that means, it is a small set of surveys that have been sent to a random selection of backers in order to test the survey system. If there are any bugs or confusing questions, the smoke test will weed them out so we can be sure the larger survey goes smoothly.
If you are one of those lucky few, please watch for an email from us (on behalf of Backerkit) with your survey link and try to fill it out as promptly as you can. Backerkit recommends that we wait until 75% or so of those smoke test surveys are complete before sending the rest.
Assuming things go well, we expect the rest of the surveys will go out this weekend. We'll post another update as soon as we do!
Thanks, everyone! More news soon!
THANK YOU!!!!!!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 05:13:45 PM
Hi everyone!
What a great ride! We're thrilled that so many of you joined us for this campaign, and we can't wait to get these beautiful books into your hands! Georges is very happy with how things turned out, and the printer will be receiving the HUNCHBACK files on Monday. This will be a gorgeous set for your collection. :)
Too bad we didn't unlock the coin, but that's the thing about stretch goals -- they're there as incentives, but not guaranteed... We thought the target for that goal was sufficiently placed to unlock just before closing (based on our 40 campaigns worth of data and predicting science) but even those are only guesses. You never know how things will roll on Kickstarter, and the tide can ebb unpredictably... Regardless, you'll be getting a bunch of other beautiful prints and pieces for FREE with your pledge. 😎
We'll start building the pledge manager on Monday and should be able to get the surveys out to you by the 12th. WIth the book files at the printer, we've asked for an estimated delivery schedule, and it seems realistic to have them in our warehouse by mid-October. With that in mind, we're aiming to have everything shipped before Thanksgiving! 😊 We will, of course, keep you posted along the way, and if anything comes up we'll do our best to mitigate delays.
Thanks again, everyone! We're off to celebrate! Have a great weekend!
Entering our final week!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 03:30:12 PM
Hi everyone!
We feel some remorse over not posting many updates these past two weeks, but we've been extremely busy getting the books ready for the printers -- everything is looking great, and the final files are being sent to Georges on Monday for his approval.
Finishing the translation of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME was a powerful experience -- for anyone thinking this will be anything like the Disney animated movie, think again! The original novel by Victor Hugo is a harrowing, heart-rending tragedy, and I have to admit that Georges adaptation put a lump in my throat as we reached the end... These stories are classics for a reason, and these adaptations breathe new life into what some might think are just "flowery Victorian tales"... These really are special books, and they deserve premium treatment!
At the time of this writing, we're just a stone's throw away from unlocking the next Stretch Goal: the gold-foil stamped art card. Georges and his wife Pia designed this to be layered like the mockup shown below, and it will be beautiful.
Just take a look at everything unlocked so far!
At the current pace, that gold-leaf postcard might be unlocked by the end of day tomorrow! Beyond that, we have one more cool bonus item planned... stay tuned for that reveal!
A few of you have noted that with the Slipcase Sets all accounted for, things may slow down... while that is sound mathematics, we wanted to point out that you can still pledge for a copy of HUNCHBACK with the Slipcase Upgrade and then Add-on hardcover copies of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN, essentially building your own Slipcase Set pledge!
Granted, those Add-ons don't include digital copies, and you will have to assemble the set yourself upon receipt... those are the two primary differences between the sold-out complete set and the "build-it-yourself" set. The complete sets will be assembled at the factory and shrink-wrapped with the books already in the box. The build-it-yourself version is not pre-assembled at the factory -- the add-on copies of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN are already in our inventory as individual books, but they are identical content-wise and size-wise.
The price is roughly the same, too, although as mentioned, the Complete Slipcase Tier includes all 3 digital books, whereas the build-it-yourself version set would only include the physical books themselves (and a digital copy of just HUNCHBACK, as that comes with the print copy of HUNCHBACK+Slipcase Upgrade). Hopefully, that difference is clear enough and easy to understand...
We'll be back as soon as we've unlocked this next goal to reveal the final Stretch Goal. For those of you who have backed previous Neurobellum/Magnetic Press campaigns, you may have a good guess what it might be... 😉
More soon! Thanks, everyone!
What a great first day! THANK YOU!!!
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Jun 05, 2024 at 11:00:18 AM
Hi, everyone!
Wow, we are blown away by the turnout so far after only 1 day... THANK YOU!!!
The first stretch goal was knocked out pretty quickly, so we've updated the campaign to reveal the next free bonus item:
We always wait to see how the first day goes to pace out the rest of our stretch goals to avoid blowing through them too fast or too slow... We try our best to keep them paced to the performance so that something is unlocked every few days or so based on our scientifically-calibrated project projector. There are some really nice bonus freebies planned, so hopefully we can keep up the pace for the rest of the campaign! 😊
We honesty didn't know what to expect as, admittedly, two of the three books in this campaign were released last fall. And while HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME is a fantastic brand new addition to the collection, we thought it might be a good opportunity to re-offer DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN again for those people who may have missed the original sold-out release. (We're a pretty small operation, so the odds are good that these books are new to most of you...)
If you did pick up DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN last fall, THANK YOU AGAIN! We're happy to have you back for HUNCHBACK! And if you're torn over whether you need to upgrade your existing 2-book slipcase to the new 3-book box, well... we leave that decision completely up to you. 😉 The original slipcases are already beautiful (and out of print); HUNCHBACK can sit beside that box quite comfortably on a shelf without needing to fit inside. The new box is offered for new backers who missed the sold-out original set, and for original backers who prefer that all three books fit side-by-side in one box. It really is a matter of preference. We're sorry we can't offer the boxes for free to original backers, but they are relatively expensive to produce, particularly in limited quantities such as ours, and they really are optional to the reading experience.
Some of you have asked if there will be more books in this Georges Bess Classic Horror library -- to be honest, we don't know! Georges completely surprised us with HUNCHBACK in the first place, and he hasn't mentioned any other plans moving forward. If he does choose to surprise us with another adapted Classic, we certainly hope to publish it, and we'll consider the best formatting options at that time. Frankly, it takes him a couple of years to produce each of these (which you can see in the TLC he puts into each page), so the chances of seeing another one any time soon are anyone's guess...
That's all for now. We'll be back with more updates soon! In the meantime, you can help unlock more stretch goals by spreading the word to all of your friends and peers!
Thanks, everyone!