Kickstarter

For those who haven't been keeping up with the updates blog, I have exciting news! Not only is everything progressing on or ahead of schedule, I'm going to be able to offer you all more than I promised at the end of the KickStarter campaign. 

Even though we didn't come close to the stretch goal for audiobooks, I've been trying to find a workaround that would still allow me to produce them for all of those interested. Earlier today I signed a contract with Open Book Audio, who will be putting together an audiobook version of the first book in the series (and possibly its sequels, depending on how things go).

What this means is that every backer will get a copy of the audiobook! 

I'm incredibly excited to be able to offer this to all of you. I know that some of you really wanted the audiobook, so I've spent the last three months trying to work things out. I certainly hope that everyone will enjoy both it and the ebook! It shouldn't be long now; once I get the review from the review backer, everything else should fall into place within a couple of weeks!

As always, don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns! I'm always happy to listen.

Thank you so, so much for your time and support,

Morgan Bauman

Hello,

Sorry to disturb you all. I've been maintaining the updates blog, but I wanted to cross-post this just in case. I'm done with editing and am moving on to formatting; very soon I should be able to order draft prints and finish formatting the ebooks. 

However, this means that I won't be able to make changes fairly soon. If you are interested in having your name in the Acknowledgments section of the book, this may be your last chance to let me know that. Please do let me know if you'd like to be listed in that section. All you need to do is send me a message with your preferred name, and I'll include you.

The deadline for those is this Friday.

In more upbeat news, everything has thus far gone exactly according to plan or surpassed it. As a result, delivery of rewards should happen right on schedule barring any unforeseen incident! The details are all available on the updates blog for those interested.

Thank you so much for your time and support,

Morgan Bauman

Hello! 

I've been keeping up a blog for updates here, but I wanted to keep everyone informed, including anyone who doesn't follow that blog. 

First of all, I'm still accepting names for the Acknowledgments section--no matter how much you pledged, I want to thank you for your support! Just let me know what name you'd like to be thanked by, and I'll happily include you. Many of you have already responded, which I definitely appreciate! I don't want to miss anyone who wants to be included.

Next, here's a list of what I've accomplished since the KickStarter funded two months ago:

• Sent out survey to determine rewards
• Used survey to set goals 
• Researched applicable tax information
• Legally set up Qol Press as an official press
• Filled out paperwork so that I can legally do business as Qol Press
• Set up contact information that I can give to readers without compromising my own safety
• Organized a CreateSpace account with all of this legal information so that I can be taxed appropriately
• Bought ISBNs for the entire series
• Assigned ISBNs for the paperback, epub, mobi, and pdf versions of the book while setting one aside for an audiobook
• Created an icon for Qol Press
• Commissioned interior artwork and maps
• Formalized the interior layout of the book (including margins, spacing, font size, page numbering, chapter breaks, etc.)
• Designed the cover layout
• Wrote the back blurb for the cover, leaving space for the review backer
• Formatted the finished artwork and made a number of design decisions
• Planned the paperback packages for interested backers
• Got more than halfway through production of the bonuses for said packages
• Sent out the book for editing to a number of experienced readers (people who work[ed] professionally as editors or writers)

I'm just waiting on the last of my editors before I can get everything else underway! I'm ahead of where I expected to be at the end of July, and, despite being busy, I've been having a wonderful time getting this book ready for you.

My current plan, fingers crossed, is to post a download link to the pdf, epub, and mobi versions of the book on a member's only post about a week before Black Friday. At about the same time, I'll mail out all of the paperback packages. A week after making the book available to all backers, I'll launch the book on Amazon itself. This means getting you your books in November rather than December, hopefully. If draft copies turn out poorly, this date might have to be pushed back, but we'll see.

Also, the paperback packages will be available for ordering until the end of September. The cost is still $8 plus shipping from Oregon to you, not including paypal fees.

If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me at mbauman@qolpress.com -- I'm always happy to hear from you! 

Thank you all so much for your support!

Morgan Bauman

I hope that all of you have been doing well! I've been posting updates here as things progress, in case you'd like more details about where we currently stand. Today I sent out mass messages to all of you asking whether you'd like to be credited in the book, as well as your preferred name. If you don't wish to be listed in the Acknowledgments section of the book, you are under no obligation whatsoever to respond! 

I want to thank all of you again. This would not have been possible without the help each and every one of you provided. I want to make sure that you get as much out of this campaign as I can possibly give you. It seems like a matter of course to me to include you in the Acknowledgments, but I don't want to list anyone without their explicit permission.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if there's something that I can do to improve this process for you! I'm always happy to respond.

Thank you so much,

Morgan Bauman

First of all, here is the first post on the new blog; I'll be running things over there from now on (unless it's something urgent), since several people seemed to want fewer updates, but many wanted very frequent updates, so I thought it'd be a good compromise.

Secondly, tomorrow, the cover artist (whose net handle is Kaorien) is hosting a livestream at 1pm PDT (GMT-7). I'll post the link on the blog linked to above when it goes live. She'll be coloring in one of the first settings readers encounter in the book, and I'll be there to answer questions and discuss the books, writing, and anything else related to this KickStarter!

Finally, with regard to the paperbacks, let me clarify: 

• If you send me your general location (even just the country), I can estimate shipping for you. Just send me a message or comment below. 
• What I can afford to include varies wildly depending on how many people contribute, but I can definitely guarantee that all books will come with exclusive, book-related goodies no matter how few or many people chip in.
• If you want to order several, you'll of course get a discounted rate on shipping, and you'll still get everything with each book. 
• These mystery bags are going to be available for purchase until we hit December.

I hope that clears up any remaining questions! As always, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns. I'll be posting at the blogspot blog from here on out, so this may be my last KickStarter message for a while. Don't worry--I'm still hard at work!

Thank you all so much for your support,

Morgan Bauman