Kickstarter

Comments

1. 1. 

      Creator Brodie on January 2

      Love Audio books and as a consequence have upgraded my pledge from £5 to £25.
      One thing thought Kate, please make contact with Audible, they are massive in the Audiobook world and I myself have a subscription through them where i get all my Audiobooks delivered directly to my smartphone each month.
      I'd much prefer to be listening to this Audiobook through them so i can set sleep timers, create bookmarks etc. Hell you would make a fortune in sales

   2. 

      Creator Mark Cohen on January 1

      @Kate, Your proposed pledging structure gets my vote.

   3. 

      Creator Crispy Leper on January 1

      @Kate It seems I'm not alone in saying "that sounds great, go for it" :-)

   4. 

      Creator Michael Rozdoba on January 1

      @Kate, yep, looking good from this backer's pov too :-) Btw, will the audio book be unabridged? I certainly hope so. Happy new year to @all.

   5. 

      Creator John Urquhart Ferguson on January 1

      Sounds good, Kate.

   6. 

      Creator Joshua Westbury on January 1

      Audiobook stretch goal gets my vote.

   7. 

      Creator Alexander R on January 1

      I think an ultra high tier including a custom leather or library cloth cover hardcover edition, autographed by Kate, David and other members of Frontier would be a great addition. Would be priced accordingly at several hundred per copy.

   8. 

      Creator Jim Collins on January 1

      +1 on what Simon Maher mentioned.

      Thanks Kate for the extended and informative update below. Your proposed and current stretch goals sound absolutely fine as does the pledge structure. I particularly like the approach you have taken for Stretch goal 2 with holding all on-demand paperback orders back to accumulate for 4 weeks so as to reduce costs. That’s a simple but very effective approach.

      Stretch goals 3 and 4 sound very achievable and not too elaborate (which is a good thing). MP3 is perfect in terms of compatibility and being DRM-free. However open source purists may want Ogg Vorbis but if it was me I would leave them to transcode it from MP3 to Ogg Vorbis themselves.

      Your proposed timing for these goals is perfect to capitalise on the launch of the ED but also makes sense to launch at that time for consistency.

      Finally thanks for your kinds words about us backers being your business partners. With your forward planning and honesty that you have shown since the beginning of this project I have no doubt that the quality of your work will do you and the Elite franchise justice.

      Thank you.

   9. 

      Creator Simon Maher on January 1

      Sounds good to me, just make sure potently working for free doesn't mean you cant afford food ect haha. Seriously I've been there before it certainly isn't a nice place to be.

   10. 

       Creator Ian Crawford-12 months to the Alpha Rel. on January 1

       I'm happy with your plans for the Stretch goals. The ebook will be good, an additional Audiobook will be great.

       I think at the moment there are just under 100 people who have pledged that want a mention during the story, that's a lot of names to shoehorn into your story. I hope you have some sneaky way of getting all those names into the story :)

       I am not sure if this has any bearing, but aren't you are a Freelance Journalist and could be judged on anything you release, so you need to produce the best quality product you can.

       If at the end of this process you end up with making a little cash out of it, then brilliant. Actually I'm happier for an individual to make some dosh out of KS than a large company, like Frontier, but that's another story.

       Anyways, gotta go treat this hangover ... with a fry up.

   11. 

       Creator Stewart Forgie on January 1

       Still hoping for a hardback here too but here is hoping after Feb2014 this will take off and be a commercial success for you. It would be the icing on the cake for me to see that!

   12. 

       Creator TFG [Revenge killing demigod muahahaha] on January 1

       That looks more than fair! As carlsberg says, make sure you're conservative with the new stretch goals.

       One minor addition you could do, is an upgrade for the £75 and above to change their 'Slightly Stalkerish' copy into a Hardback? I'd go for that if it was available, although it's probably too difficult to cost up front.

   13. 

       Creator Victor Tombs on January 1

       I have not changed my opinion Kate. The audiobook approach is unique and will be a great addition to any audiobook library. :)

   14. 

       Creator carlsberg on January 1

       sounds good to me :)
       although the stretch goals 3 and 4 are £tbc i wouldn't try and price them too low. it's quiet here at the moment, but once the E:D KS ends and people have more money i think this'll pick up speed again.

   15. 

       Creator Kate Russell on January 1

       So I gave it a lot of thought last night and read all of your comments.. I also listened to some audio books and realise that there are a range of options in terms of production value... so I am still waiting on replies from my friends in the business with sensible quotes... one thing I know is I don't want to do an audio book on the cheap, recording in a bedroom studio for little or no money. Number one, I don't think it would do the story justice, and number two I don't like relying on people's good will because if anything goes wrong with the job and for whatever reason deadlines/quality standards are not met, I need to be in a business relationship with the supplier so I can insist things get done right...

       So, with that in mind, and subject to quotes coming in, I have thought the following structure for the stretch goals would work:

       Stretch 1 - £5,500 (reached) - professional editing & cover art for ebook

       Stretch 2 - £6,000 (reached) - ebook as above and typesetting for print-on-demand paperback production for all £5 pledgers and above at cost price (I run the order period for 4 weeks around releasing the ebook and would also open orders up to non-backers for cost price plus 40%.. this would hopefully drive down the price of the print-on-demand run, which would be produced in one hit when the ordering period is finished, so you will probably have to wait a month or so for the final delivery) ... the other thing I could offer here is print-on-demand for anyone who wants to order a hardback book, though bear in mind if hardly anyone orders one it could get very expensive.. though I will undertake to sign any hard back copies :)

       Stretch 3 - £TBC - basic DRM free audio book - this would be professionally recorded and mastered, but would just be my voice (and any cameos like DB).. this would be available to purchase for the going rate for an audio book to all, but those who pledge £25.00 and above will get an MP3 copy FREE (N.B. only if we make the stretch goal)

       Stretch 4 - £TBC - fully produced DRM free audio book - exactly the same as above but including musical stings/beds between chapters and to build tension in places, plus some sound effects where needed to enhance atmosphere.

       So why give it away free Kate? Well, I have always been one for taking risks.. and whilst tis option means I will spend another several weeks of my life potentially working for free, I think offering the audiobook free for £20 pledgers is the best chance we have of funding it.. I will add another tier at £25 for the later-comers who want the book deals but won't get in the story text... if we can get 400 people pledging that level that's over £10k.. which is bound to be enough to make a kick-ass audio book (tbc on quotes!)... and once it's made if it really kicks ass and I can release it in Feb 2014 when 200k Elite: Dangerous pledgers are chomping at the bit for the game download, then I reckon I could sell a good few at commercial rates, and that will be my cash reward :)

       So, why am I being so honest with you here? Someone in the main comments thread said "we're your backers not your business partners".. but you know what? As it's your money I'm going to use, I see you as investors, so you really kind of are my business partners. Plus I have really valued your input.. the business side of this is all new to me. I am a writer, and have never self published before. I want to do it right, to do you and the Elite franchise justice...

       So... in lieu of getting the numbers in, what do we think of that pledging structure?

   16. 

       Creator carlsberg on January 1

       @commander keith, the paperback is already sorted, it s stretch goal we've already passed and won't be changed.
       now it's bigger/better print runs or audiobook.
       i think the pay-on-demand paperback is more than adequate and the more that want one, the cheaper it'll be anyway.
       the audiobook appears to be a very popular option, so i see no problem with doing that as well, as long as kate can find the spare time and funding to do so.

   17. 

       Creator Commander Keith [@mistertricker] on January 1

       I agree with Jonty. Paperback first.

   18. 

       Creator Brodie on January 1

       I would like to add that as a subscriber to Audible it would be good to have an Elite book on there.
       Audible gets tons of traffic through its main site and through its parent site Amazon.
       Having the one and only official Elite audiobook on there would be great business and publicity.

   19. 

       Creator Brodie on January 1

       Audiobook gets the vote for me as well!

   20. 

       Creator Matthew Benson (AKA "Chonty" in E:D) on January 1

       Just another thought - 'audiobook' evokes memories of the old BBC Radio series of HHGTTG, something that you've referred to as an influence for your own story (even as far as the working title ...)

   21. 

       Creator Jim Collins on January 1

       Re-posting here my comments from the general comments thread:

       I think Jonty is right "Book first, worry about spoken word later".

       An audiobook can be expensive and if you are going to do it yourself it is going to take up a lot of your free time outside of work.

       You have done a fantastic job so far on this project Kate and I wouldn’t want to see you over committed. Working on personal projects of any kind outside of work long-term is no fun.

   22. 

       Creator Andre Czausov on December 31

       +1 for the audio book... though it would be nice to have a bit of attractive dead tree on my shelf too :)

   23. 

       Creator Jonty H. Campbell [Founder/Random Input] on December 31

       Book first, worry about spoken word later.

   24. 

       Creator Mark Cohen on December 31

       I too would prefer the Audiobook.

   25. 

       Creator carlsberg on December 31

       The basic and comprehensive print runs would reduce the purchase price of the book to you... hopefully down to a fiver for the bigger run... so I guess the choice is between a cheap book, or buying the book for £10-ish on print-on-demand

       maybe i'm missing something here, but if more than 100 people wanted a copy of the print-on-demand book, this pushes down the cost price of the book anyway, not as much as a proper print-run, but surely to a certain extent, it makes a comprehensive print-run (and corresponding stretch goal) irrelevant anyway. unless of course, you're confident enough in the standard of the finished book that you think you could get a publisher to take it on for a full commercial release to a wider audience. (it doesnt have to be just for elite gamers)

       and the audiobook idea appears to have pretty much unanimous backing.

   26. 

       Creator Diny81 on December 31

       I also would prefer the Audiobook. and if (when) you reach the Stretch goal could you make it a tear, as I would like to keep away from iTunes as well and paying for every thing up front would be more convenient.

   27. 

       Creator Alien on December 31

       "and if you can make it to central London easily I will even hand it to you personally!"
       Now I wish I could afford to pledge £75 :D

   28. 

       Creator Paul Batkin [Hamerstein on FD forums] on December 31

       I'd love an audiobook, as I don't really buy any physical literature anymore, everything goes on my faithful Kindle, as my Kindle supports Audio-books that'd be my thing.

   29. 

       Creator Drew Wagar on December 31

       Audiobook does sound very interesting - something I have no experience in whatsoever. I think it would work particularly well for a comedy/fun book.

   30. 

       Creator Ian Crawford-12 months to the Alpha Rel. on December 31

       I have gotta say, that I would also prefer the Audiobook.

       I've managed to stay away from things like iTunes. Whatever service you decide to use, can you make sure that I'll be able to pull down the audiobook to my Android phone/tablet without getting tied into iTunes please.

   31. 

       Creator Simon Maher on December 31

       The audio book sounds good.

       Happy New Year and I hope you have a good night :-)

   32. 

       Creator Sean Houlihane on December 31

       I feel the audiobook idea makes more sense than investing more in the physical book. I'd also hope that the margin on an audiobook beats that of the print-on-demand service, so it might be easier to sell in useful numbers. then again, I've never bought an audiobook yet (h2g2 doesn't count)

   33. 

       Creator Kate Russell on December 31

       Thanks for the feedback so far.. just so you know what you're deciding between I have checked with Drew who has more experience in the costs side of things..

       The basic and comprehensive print runs would reduce the purchase price of the book to you... hopefully down to a fiver for the bigger run... so I guess the choice is between a cheap book, or buying the book for £10-ish on print-on-demand and having the option to buy an audiobook version with DB cameo for the going rate for an audiobook...

   34. 

       Creator Marko Susimetsä on December 31

       Go for the audio! :)

   35. 

       Creator Victor Tombs on December 31

       Yes, audiobook for me Kate. Hope you have a good time tonight. :)

   36. 

       Creator Andy Kerr on December 31

       First of all thanks for the update and being willing to give up so much of you time doing this so well done on doing so well.
       I really like the idea of the audio book so providing it works for you then I would say go for it. I would personally rather spend more getting the audio book than I would getting the print book (which I will also get).
       I am now just waiting for you to cost up the stage play and the film :)

   37. 

       Creator Crispy Leper on December 31

       @Kate
       I agree with the previous comments, go for the audio book.
       By the way I might just take you up on that personal delivery service. :-)
       Have a great New Year & see you in 2013!

   38. 

       Creator Dave Woods [Owner of the Daffy Duck] on December 31

       Agreed on the audiobook (makes sense seeing as I kinda suggested it...)

       Also, might be doubling up on my pledge soon with my other Kickstarter Account... So expect to see two of me...

   39. 

       Creator Charles Kelly on December 31

       I'd love an audio book so I'd be in favour of changing the later stretch goals. I know it might be a little unfair on anyone that pledged for those stretch goals but they can still remove their pledge and with 35 days to go it's not like you're doing this last minute.

       Anyway thanks and hope you have a great new years also. :)

   40. 

       Creator Matthew Benson (AKA "Chonty" in E:D) on December 31

       Thanks!
       My recommendation is to prioritize the audiobook - that sets you apart from the other books (who would turn down a chance for a DB cameo?)