13 Aug The Books Are Ready!

I got a package a couple of days ago, which I am very excited about!

It’s the books! Well, an advance copy of them. I am assured that the last of them will be still hot off the press by the end of next week.

I am very impressed with their quality, and here’s a preview:

I was initially concerned about the spot UV not going all the way to the edge, but then a backer mentioned that it was actually better that way!

Opening a book with a fully glossy edge = slipping, hitting the cat, cat jumps onto the gaming table, minis, tea, character sheets, dice all go flying.

Opening a book with a matte edge = no slip, page lands in the right place, the crowd cheers.

I’m now focusing on shipping the books to the fulfillment company who will be getting them out to all backers, along with the screens, cards and dice!

Unfortunately, all this has taken about six months longer than I wanted, but I have now learned just how long it takes for a printer to organise several hundred images in a document (let alone transferring that many high-res files to them!). And I’ve also learnt a lot about printing, shipping, fulfillment and distribution.

Speaking of which, the last parts are about to take place. Fulfillment in particular. As soon as these bad boys are done, I’ll have them on a ship and sent out to the fulfillment companies.

I was originally intending to go with one fulfillment operator in the UK, but since have looked into doing a split shipment 3 ways – 1 to the UK, 1 to the US and 1 to me here in Australia.

This will mean that there’s actually less transit time for each continental zone, and will cut down on costs to post to people in those regions. However, it is looking like it will be substantially more expensive to ship to three different locations! So I’m still investigating ways to get that price down (and to not obliterate me).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far in this kickstarter it’s this: shipping costs will totally kill you! So if you’re planning your own kickstarter, make sure you have the exact size and weight of your packages nailed down, and get your printer to give you postage estimates well before you sign up with them. It will save you big time in the long run.

I’m not sure about shipping times yet. As soon as I’ve got it all nailed down, I’ll get exact estimates and let all backers know.

~Oliver