Kickstarter

Oh man you guys, look at this:

That is seriously the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time. That's the last page of my master list of Kickstarter rewards. The very last packages are being mailed out THIS WEEK. I'm so sorry that mailing these out has taken a little bit longer than I thought it would. The last of you should be getting your books in the next two weeks or so, so if you haven't seen anything in your mail by the start of April, PLEASE let me know and I'll see if I can track it, or I'll send you another one. 

(Also: there are still a few of you who never answered the survey, so I don't have your mailing address. Get on that if you still want your copy of the book!)

I'm also posting a few photos from the Challengers opening, the Chicago Comics signing, and my booth at Chicago Zinefest. At Zinefest I even gave a presentation about how awesome it was to do this Kickstarter project! I learned that I am awful, just AWFUL at public speaking, but people seemed interested anyway. 

Also! I wanted to get the KS rewards sent out before I send out review copies to people, but here are a few of the nice things that people are saying about the book already:

"Of all the things I have read this year, “Shuteye” is easily the most affecting."

"Individually, the six stories are beautiful and eerie, but read together in the new softcover collection the full impact of what she’s created hits you."

Incidentally, if anyone has any thoughts on reviewers I should send the book to, feel free to let me know! 

For the immediate future: I am planning on doing a signing at Chicago Comics' booth at C2E2 next month, and I'll be at MoCCA in NYC April 28-29, and TCAF in Toronto May 5-6. I'm also planning on exhibiting at CAKE in Chicago in June, San Diego Comicon in July, Chicago Wizard World in August, and SPX in Bethesda in September. It'll be a busy year!

Once again, everyone, thank you so much for your help and support. I couldn't have done this without each and every one of you. 

So here we are! The book has arrived, it looks great, we had an awesome little release party at Challengers, I have a few little signings lined up, and I'm working hard on getting all the rewards in the mail. Here's a picture of the effort on the kitchen table, as overseen by the Venerable Madam Cheng-I-Sao, the cat. (We call her Mrs. Cheng for short.)

Since I have a day job, and no car, it's a little bit slow going. But I've got about 50 packages in the mail already, and another 25 sitting behind me ready to go to the post office right now. Did you know you can't schedule a USPS pickup if you're shipping things media mail? Yeah. >:-\ But it's ok - I really think we'll have everything in the mail by the end of the month. Keep an eye out - some people have gotten theirs already - but let me know if you haven't received anything by late March. 

As always, thank you thank you thank you! 

The books arrived!! Guys, this has been such an emotional roller coaster ride. You do everything you can to make the files perfect, you review the proofs meticulously, everything looks great, but you really just don't know for sure until you get the final delivery and open a box. 

They look GREAT. 

(more photos here, sorry they're so blurry, my hands were shaking with joy)

So, first thing of course is the release party this weekend at Challengers, and then we're going to start shipping out your rewards in earnest. I've also put up a preorder of the book on Shortpants Press, if you know anyone who missed out on the Kickstarter but still wants a copy. (the cover price of the book will be $20, but the preorders are still at the same $15 deal extended to KS pledges.) All Kickstarter rewards will ship first, and then I'll move on to sending out preorders. 

And... that's it, I guess! make sure you've responded to the survey with your address, and keep an eye on your mail over the next few weeks! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for supporting this project. You guys are amazing and generous and awesome, and I couldn't have done it without you.

Sorry it's been a while since the last update! The book's been printing - all of the pages are printed and trimmed now. I approved a printed proof yesterday and now it's heading off to bindery! I'm attaching some photos, so you can see the differences between this (the offset-printed proof) and the digital proof I reviewed a few weeks ago. The shading is more uniform (especially on the cover) and the pages have less of a sheen to them. 

It's looking really good, guys!! I'm super excited! 

ALSO! The release party is confirmed!! It'll be Saturday, February 11th, at Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago. I'm going to try to set up one or two more signings around the city too, I'll let you know once dates are confirmed. I'll also start mailing off your books and rewards around that week, so pretty soon I'll be sending out a survey asking everyone's current mailing address. Although, if you're in Chicago and you're coming to the release party, you can pick your books and rewards up in person if you like!