Victory is ours. Now what comes next?
Munificent patrons,
Thanks to your unbridled generosity, the campaign closed out with $43,886 in pledges, more than five times what I'd asked for. You're responded mightily in order to employ my labor, and you shall surely receive the fruits of your open-handedness.
All backers at the Word of Creation pledge level and higher should have already received an email with the location of the backer deluxe draft. You should keep this under your hat, since the deluxe version is only for you stout patrons who put forward the effort to support it.
The original backer folder in update #1, with the free draft version, you can continue to pass around. I'll be updating the free draft version in it as I continue edits and polishing on the final deluxe.
If for some reason your email filter has eaten the deluxe version folder email, drop me a message via Kickstarter and I'll make sure you get the link.
What Comes Next
The next thing to discuss is what's going to happen from this point onward. First off, you can expect a March project audit this upcoming weekend. For those of you just now tuning in to a Sine Nomine Kickstarter, a monthly project audit is where I go over the project's numbers, identify the parts that still need to be completed, and tell you where each item stands. You can expect them at the start of each month. I also try to give mid-month updates with any fresh betas that are available for backers to download and masticate. Playtesting, comments, and observations are welcome during this period, as the text still needs to be polished and fitted nicely on the page.
Once all the art is in, backers will get a draft final for the book for them to examine. I'll let that sit for a week or so to pick up any issues I've missed, and then I'll start the print proof cycle. I usually budget four weeks to get a PDF into a final accepted proof. Once the proof checks out, I'll order the Made Gods their books, and after that's set, I'll activate the book on DriveThruRPG and send everybody their PDF code and any at-cost POD codes they've pledged for. I expect the at-cost POD codes to remain valid for the rest of the year, but if for some reason you don't get the paper book ordered within that frame, drop me a message through Kickstarter and I'll get you fresh codes.
Once that stage is complete, Made Gods will get an email with a special folder where I'll deposit the InDesign source files to the game in .idd and Scribus-compatible .idml formats. They're welcome to play around with these files and generate for-personal-use house documents and private for-their-table print editions if they feel like it.
Finally, the art pack will go up, containing all art from Godbound and Sixteen Sorrows for no-cost, royalty-free personal or commercial use. I want other small publishers to have the same chance I did, so I encourage other creators to pillage these images for their own products and hire the fine artists who made them when their profits allow.
Where Does The Money Go
Now, for those who want a window onto the financial side of things, I'm going to say a few words about how the money this Kickstarter raised is going to be spent. First off, you pledged almost $44,000, which is a thoroughly gratifying sum that richly rewards my decision to work on this project.
Kickstarter and payment processing will eat about ten percent of that, plus a margin for pledges that can't be charged, leaving around $39,000. I then subtract printing and shipping costs for 100 Made God premium-color hardcovers, which average around $40 apiece, leaving $35,000.
From this, I subtract the art cost of $8,000. Now, I've already spent $4,000 or so on art, but the basic lesson of publishing is that Things Always Cost More, so that $8,000 stays encumbered for art costs. That leaves $27,000 of gross profit. Hookers and blow time, right?
No. You see, the project is not done yet. The income from a project does not become unencumbered until the project has actually shipped. The absolute worst possible assumption I could make at this point is to assume that that $27,000 was playtime money for me to throw at capital investments or my favorite index funds. Until the last promise is out the door, that money is on lockdown. It can be spent only for things that directly advance the project's completion.
But I shouldn't need any of it for the project, right? I mean, I've got the budget right there, I've already bought a third of the most expensive art, everything looks good so far, and I've got no reason to expect that it'll go over the totals. I've done this four times before and everything's worked perfectly, so surely I can afford to buy a sack of rubies now, can't I?
Again, no. There are a lot of terrible things that have never happened before on one of my projects, and the best way to ensure that I don't have to worry about them happening now is to keep a $27,000 war chest for beating out any fires. I have been thrown a total softball on project management for this book, and all I have to do is clean the text, keep track of my artists, slot the art when it arrives, and oversee the proofing process. It would be sublimely stupid to jettison my safety margin just to save myself the suffering of waiting six months to spend the money. Besides, I already have a sack of rubies.
And now, noble patrons, it's time to go back to work. The book needs edits and neatening, the artists need directing, and the next project needs starting. I promised you a Godbound work for my next piece, and I'm thinking a gazetteer of Ancalia might suit. I'm going to have to think more carefully about that, now that the clamor of this Kickstarter has passed so successfully from my ears.
With regards,
Kevin Crawford
Sine Nomine Publishing
Marshall Binns am April 5, 2016
Thanks man, they look great!
Kevin Crawford 5 eigene Projekte am April 4, 2016
These are the 20 18mm x 13mm octagons I got with my order, which ran about $100 plus shipping. They really do sparkle admirably in the light. Different gem shades and shapes vary substantially in price, and I got these as the best balance between cheapness and excessive size on offer. It took about five weeks to get here after it shipped.
https://drive.google.com/open…
Marshall Binns am April 4, 2016
Hey Kevin, would you mind posting a pic of the synthetic rubies you got? I was hesitant ordering from a random Thai website, but I'd be excited to do so if I could see what an actual customer received instead of their promotional pics.
Robert Lionheart am April 2, 2016
Thank you for getting us the Deluxe PDF and 16 Sorrows so quickly! Its great work and I am very excited about putting Godbound through its paces on the table.
Kevin Crawford 5 eigene Projekte am March 31, 2016
http://www.syntheticgems.org/Lab-Created-Ruby-5-Octagon---Corundum--.aspx…
I got a bag of the 18mm x 13mm octagons, and they are remarkably soothing to fondle. Each stone is about the size of my thumbnail, and the weight of them reminds one that they're precious _stones_. I've got an order of oval nanocrystal emeralds coming next week, and I'm looking forward to comparing the fire between the two cuts.
Nathan Easton am March 31, 2016
FYI, artificial rubies are cheap enough now that it's well within reason to buy sacks of them. A moderately affluent gamer could use artificial gemstones to replace all the game pieces in a RISK set and play with what would have been a king's ransom a couple centuries ago.
I have, uhh, considered doing this for long-term fantasy campaigns. I think they might be comparable in price to metal campaign coins, in fact.
jamie dobson am March 31, 2016
Hi Kevin Not my first kick starter, but certainly one of the best. I've backed several projects where I've waited years for anything resembling a playable game so to have something so very near complete at the end of the backer period is a real shot in the arm as far as my faith is this kind of process can work.
Congratulations on a well run kickstarter and well deserved success. Other outfits could learn a lot from you.
Raymond Weidner am March 31, 2016
This was the first kickstarter that I've backed. Mr. Crawford, I'm impressed by your record of quality content as well as the professionalism that you bring to your projects. You more than earned it.
Vicente Cartas am March 31, 2016
Congratulations on a well deserved success.
Simon Geard am March 31, 2016
I know I'm not the first to say this, but you have an incredibly *responsible* attitude to your kickstarter campaigns. Keep it up! :)