Various current Kickstarter updates, War of Gods is a finalist, and you can vote!
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Mar 14, 2021 at 09:35:09 AM
[Apologies to backers of the Wrath of Gods and War of Gods Kickstarters for the repeat]
Good morning, and happy Saturday, everyone!
It's a gorgeous sunny morning here in NW Ohio, the birds are singing like it's Spring, and I'll be getting my first COVID vaccine this morning. I couldn't ask for much better than that.
Even though things have slowed down a bit for the Paternus: War of Gods Fantasy Novel Hardbacks & Slipcase Kickstarter, I'm super excited by the progress so far.
We've now sold out of the Aeon hardback trilogy plus slipcase tier! I had no idea what to expect from this since most backers would have to be new to the Paternus Kickstarters. I'm amazed in the best way. And there's only one of the Manu (all the things) tiers left (but there is one left!)
If you wanted the full set, hope is not lost.
I've had to hold back some sets in case of damage in packaging or shipping, lost packages, etc., but if there are any remaining when the dust settles, they will go up on a store I'll be opening on paternusbooks.com at some point. There will also be a number of "Publisher's Copies" available, which are print overruns beyond the numbered sets to 500.
There are still quite a few folks who have books 1 and 2 but haven't come in yet to get book 3 or the slipcase, and plenty of Wrath of Gods (book 2) hardbacks, signed and stamped paperbacks, posters and bookmarks, so I'm confident we'll keep climbing.
In other exciting news:
War of Gods is now a Best Self-Published Novel finalist in the 2020 BookNest Fantasy Awards – and you can vote!
Of course it has no chance since the fabulous Michael J. Sullivan's Age of Death is a finalist as well, but I couldn't be beaten into bloody submission by a nicer human being. I'm also thrilled to be sharing space on the list with my pals Rob Hayes, J.A. Andrews, Travis Riddle, and Patrick Samphire (and everyone knows, I am Andrew Rowe ;). Best of luck to all!
Other categories include:
- BEST TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED NOVEL
- BEST DEBUT NOVEL
- BEST FANTASY IMPRINT
Run on over and vote for your faves!
I think that's enough out of me for now. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reply here or send me a Message.
Thank you again from the bottom of my shriveled black heart, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
All the very best,
Dyrk
Sneak Preview of the upcoming War of Gods Hardback and Slipcover Kickstarter!
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Mar 03, 2021 at 07:47:46 AM
[also posted as an update to the Wrath of Gods Kickstarter - If you backed Wrath of Gods, sorry for the repeat].
Hello everyone! I'm very excited to share this sneak with you. The book 3 and slipcase Kickstarter page is built and currently in review by the Kickstarter team. The launch will be a week from today, on Tuesday, March 9 at 8AM EST (not 7AM as previously announced).
(Before I get started, though - has anyone still not yet received their packages for the Wrath of Gods Kickstarter? I know one backer in England just got his last week. No explanation from the post office or customs, it just arrived this many months after being shipped. If you have not received your package, please contact me and I'll see what I can find out on this end. You can either message me here on Kickstarter or email me at [email protected]).
Okay, back to the good stuff. Here is a link that allows you to take a look at the upcoming KS page, and even leave comments in a special preview/review area. It should also be a cool way to see which pledge level you might be interested in so you can take advantage of the early bird discounts more quickly once the project launches. Please do not share this outside of this update.
The page mentions a FAQ, but that isn't completed yet because KS won't let us fill it in until the project goes live. I'll be completing it as soon as I hit launch. I'm including a draft of the questions and answers here. If you have anything else you'd like me to add or clarify, I'd love to hear it.
WILL THE NUMBER ON MY WAR OF GODS HARDBACK BE MATCHED WITH THE HARDBACKS I ALREADY HAVE?
If you have books 1 and 2 with matching numbers, the number in War of Gods will be automatically matched – you don’t even have to ask.
HOW DO I PLEDGE FOR ADD-ONS?
This Kickstarter is utilizing the new built-in Kickstarter Add-Ons feature, which you can use to customize your order by adding more reward items after you choose your pledge level. First, choose your pledge level, then all the Add-On items will be become available for you to choose from. Want more than one signed War of Gods paperback or hardback? Missed the second Kickstarter and need a Wrath of Gods hardback? Want larger format posters than are offered in the pledge levels? You’ll be able to do all those things with Add-Ons.
All pledge level rewards except Rise of Gods hardbacks, Critiques, and The Tucker, are available to add to any pledge. In addition to the regular pledge level rewards are high resolution, archival Giclee print cover art posters in two larger sizes.
First, choose your pledge level, then all the Add-On items will be become available for you to choose from.
All Add-Ons will be shipped together with your pledge level rewards. An additional shipping fee will be added for each item except bookmarks.
All Add-On books will be signed by the author, hardbacks will be numbered (though matching numbers to other hardbacks is not guaranteed), and paperbacks will be doodle-stamped as described in the paperback pledge levels.
HOW DO I SEND YOU A MESSAGE IN KICKSTARTER?
· Click on my creator profile name (upper right). This will open my bio page.
· Scroll down and click the "Contact me" button.
For the previous Kickstarter, I was receiving messages on Facebook Messenger, at two different email addresses, on Twitter Messages, Whatsapp, and on Goodreads. I wanted to accommodate everyone, but trying to juggle all of them was extremely difficult and some things slipped through the cracks.
Messaging within Kickstarter rather than using email or another messaging platform will greatly help me to answer all questions more quickly, keep better track of special requests, and insure that your needs will be met when it comes time for reward production and packaging.
WHY IS BOOK 3 MORE EXPENSIVE?
War of Gods is by far the longest book of the trilogy and therefore more expensive to print. The estimated page count for the special edition hardback is 784 pages, compared to Wrath of Gods’ 518 pages – an increase of 51%.
CAN I STILL GET BOOK 1 OR 2 IF I NEED IT?
A limited number of individual copies of book 2, Wrath of Gods, are available as Add-ons. See “How do I pledge for Add-ons?” here in this FAQ for more information on how to do that.
Due to the very small remaining inventory of book 1, Rise of Gods, and prioritization of the limited number of trilogy sets available in complete set tiers, individual copies of book 1 are not available in this Kickstarter. It may be possible that copies remain after the Kickstarter ends, however, and there will be some un–numbered overruns available as well. Please contact me then if you are still interested.
I DON’T SEE MY COUNTRY LISTED AS ONE THAT REWARDS CAN BE SHIPPED TO – CAN IT BE ADDED?
Based on where rewards have been shipped for the first two Kickstarter, this Kickstarter is currently set up to ship rewards to the following countries. If you do not see yours, message me here in Kickstarter and I will add it!
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Israel
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Sweden
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
CAN I GET THE COMPLETE TRILOGY SET WITHOUT THE SLIPCOVER?
Unfortunately, no – or at least not yet. I only have so many of books 1 and 2 left, and these editions won’t be printed again. I need to do everything I can to help us reach the minimum quantity of slipcovers needed to be able to get them at the projected production cost. If I don’t reach that minimum, the slipcovers will either cost more to produce at a lower quantity order, or I’ll be left with slipcovers I’ll never be able to use.
However – if we reach the slipcover minimum during the Kickstarter but the complete trilogy with slipcover tier limit is not being reached, I may be able to add another tier with hardbacks only. If that happens, I will announce it right away in an Update.
WHY IS AVAILABILITY OF THE COMPLETE TRILOGY SETS SO LIMITED?
There are limits on complete trilogy pledge levels because supplies of these special editions of books 1 and 2 are finite – and they will not be printed again. Pledge level limits are subject to change based on greater and lesser popularity of the tiers. That means a tier that looks to be running out may have its limit raised – check back regularly if you missed out on the tier you want. I also need to hold some in reserve in case of lost or damaged shipments. Any left over will be put on sale for retail cost on my website (once I have a store set up there).
DO I HAVE TO PAY VAT IMPORT TAX? (FOR INTERNATIONAL BACKERS)
This applies only to backers outside of the United States.
Long story short, if your country charges VAT on books, then you must assume you will have to pay it to your customs office before they will release the package for delivery to you.
Full VAT fees are charged for the total pledged for the items in the package plus shipping, and VAT fees are usually around 19% to 20%. Some countries have higher VAT, but others have reduced or no VAT for books.
Longer story: Some countries have become more strict and draconian regarding VAT in recent months, making things far more difficult than they were just last year. I’ve recently seen some backers in countries that supposedly don’t charge VAT for books charged anyway (looking at you, UK customs). Sometimes countries with reduced VAT for books try to charge full rate anyway, or let it go and don’t charge at all. One backer from Germany was charged the full amount for his entire package, simply because the art cards and a bookmark – which were free – were in the package but not included on the customs form.
VAT can be either be included in the cost of goods (paid up front) or paid for after goods arrive in your country (paid on the back end). Either way, they must be paid. Pre-collecting and submitting of VAT for each country is incredibly complex and time consuming, and far beyond the capacity of my operation – which basically means just me.
What I will do for this Kickstarter, though, is list every single item contained in each package on the customs forms, and apply a value to it. We cannot put zero on customs forms, and it is illegal to put “gift” on them for Kickstarter rewards (though I did recently put “gift” for someone in Canada, and they ended up having to pay $35 VAT on books valued at $60. It makes no sense).
For bookmarks or art cards (if any), I will deduct $1 for each from the declared value of the books and put that in as “bookmark” or “art card.” Posters and other non–book items will be itemized at pledge value, just like the books. Hopefully this will help facilitate the VAT collection process and speed delivery on your end.
Some larger scale Kickstarters collect and prepay VAT by increasing the price of pledges, shipping, or both, then submitting it to various countries. Sometimes they spread the cost across all pledges and shipping costs. Some simply don’t offer shipping to countries outside of the US because of high shipping and VAT costs and their inherent unpredicatbility. I don’t do any of those. Each backer will be responsible for paying their country’s VAT on delivery, which I believe is the most fair and manageable way to do it.
One more note: Customs and VAT are another reason it is extremely important that international backers make sure they enter an up–to–date and valid phone number on their Kickstarter survey that will be sent after the Kickstarter ends, and make sure that Kickstarter has their most up–to–date and valid email. It is also highly recommended that all backers check to be sure that emails from Kickstarter, as well as [email protected], and [email protected], are in their “safe senders” lists so they don’t go to spam.
CAN I CHANGE MY PLEDGE OR ADD-ONS?
Absolutely! You can change or cancel your pledge or add or cancel any additional items at any time before the Kickstarter ends the night of March 29. After you make a pledge, a “Manage My Pledge” button will appear. Credit cards will not be charged until after the Kickstarter ends and is fully funded.
WHEN DO I PAY?
Credit cards will not be charged until after the Kickstarter ends late in the day on March 29, and only if it has reached its funding goal.
Why does it take so long for rewards to be shipped?
To be honest, it may not take that long and rewards may be shipped sooner. Be that as it may, none of the production steps, like interior formatting, cover design, and interior artwork can be given the go-ahead or ordered until I can be sure the project has fully funded. Also some production steps have to be completed before others can be begun. The time it takes for each step can be estimated, but it can’t be known for certain.
In the case of this Kickstarter, for example, production has to be completed and the War of Gods hardbacks have to be printed and in hand before we can begin production on the slipcases – because only then will we know the exact thickness of the hardcover. We can guess, and do preliminary design and such, but only then will we know the exact specifications – and we don’t want slipcases that are too snug or too loose. The slipcases in particular are why the waiting period is longer for this Kickstarter than it was for the previous Paternus Kickstarters.
That said, the plan is to package and ship in three phases. First will be rewards for any pledge tiers that do not include hardbacks, since those rewards can be gotten more quickly. Second will be any hardback pledge level rewards that do not include a slipcover. Third will be rewards for pledges that include slipcovers.
Rewards cannot be split up and sent in multiple parts. The biggest reasons for that are double (or triple) the time for packaging and cost of packing materials, and especially a serious increase in shipping costs. It is also logistically very difficult to keep track of.
WHAT THE HECK IS KICKSTARTER?*
This is for folks who are coming to Kickstarter for the first time ever and may be a bit lost – which is completely understandable, it can be a little overwhelming at the beginning.
Introduction
The first thing to keep in mind is Kickstarter is not a charity site (although there are crowdfunding platforms that are). In other words, you are not "donating money" to help someone without an expectation of getting anything (except the warm feeling that comes from helping others) back. To run a Kickstarter, a creator has to "produce something" – and it has to be something new.
Second, not all projects "succeed." When a creator begins putting together a Kickstarter, they figure out how much money they need (and how much of their own they are going to risk). The difference between those two is "the goal," if they earn at least that amount of money in the given amount of time, then it "funds" – if they don't, then it's as if it never existed. By that I mean, no credit cards are charged, no personal information goes to the creator, and the item(s) aren't created.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that credit cards are not charged until the Kickstarter ends and has completely funded. That means you can cancel or change your pledge or add additional items at any time until the Kickstarter ends.
The stages of a project:
Any successful Kickstarter goes through a number of stages, which include:
- LIVE – the time between the launch date and the end date. During this time, backers are choosing their reward levels (and they can "jump" from one to another, or leave the project altogether). We have a pretty good idea how many people will be getting items but it's a "fluid thing," and it's not uncommon for people to get "cold feet" and jump from a project in its final days or hours. So as a creator, I never count my chickens until they hatch. It's also common during the LIVE phase for creators to offer stretch goals – these are incentives for people to increase their reward levels, select additional items ("add-ons"), or encourage their friends to come along for the ride.
- PROJECT END – Every Kickstarter has an end date, that can't be changed once the Kickstarter begins. After the Kickstaterter ends, Kickstarter looks at the "goal" and the "amount pledged" and if the second is larger than the first it stats charging credit cards. Now, many of these pledges will "fail" – for any number of reasons. So the creator still does not know the TOTAL number of backers and the FULL extent of the funding, but we do know the minimums. Over the following few weeks, Kickstarter will try to "fix" the failed pledges and some will be gone forever and some will stay in the project. In theory, creators can send out the surveys then, although it is highly suggested we wait until the backer list is finalized.
- MONEY TRANSFER – It actually takes a few weeks for the creator to see the cash from the Kickstarter. First, there is the waiting period while failed cards are retried, then it takes a while (about a week) for the funds to leave Kickstarter and arrive in our bank. If creators have large expenses (like paying thousands of dollars to a printer), they have to wait until that money actually arrives.
- THE SURVEY – This really isn't a great name for this process, as I think some people think it's a "satisfaction survey" – such as, "how did you like how the Kickstarter was run?" But it's not that at all. It is a data exchange between the backers and the creators. Through the survey, people who are receiving physical rewards will give us their addresses and any other information needed to facilitate packing and shipping. It may also have other questions regarding the project that need to be answered by backers. Some creators use systems like BackerKit of PledgBox to send out surveys as well as to take orders and charge for add-ons – but neither will be used for this Kickstarter. Surveys will come directly from Kickstarter.
- LOCKDOWN – At some point (once a good number of surveys are in), we'll "lockdown" the surveys that have been completed. Once we "lockdown," your order is your order. NOTE: Lockdown does NOT prevent future address changes – that will come later on.
- PRODUCTION – Unlike when you buy something from a store, the thing you "pledged for" doesn't yet exist, so there is some production time. Depending on the printer and other reward production considerations, this can take anywhere from 1 – 6 months.
- ADDRESS LOCKDOWN – Once the books and other rewards are close (or are in hand), we will give people a few days to update their addresses. If you have moved and FAILED to let us know your new address, you may incur extra shipping costs as the shipper will charge us both to "send the stuff back to us" and then "send it back out to you." Plus it's a lot of extra work, and usually, books don't survive three trips through the mail system so we get a damaged product. So, please make sure your address is correct.
- SIGNING, PACKAGING, and SHIPPING. With a small operation like mine, all of this is done by me and a few hired hands (meaning friends and family). This can take as many as two or three weeks. Packages then have to be loaded into our van and delivered to USPS and UPS.
- SHIPPING – COVID-19 delays made fulfillment and shipping a nightmare for my last projects, and customs offices have become not only overloaded, but much more strict (and they also have made mistakes). Either way, a tracking number will be generated for each package sent, and it will emailed to you can follow its progress. Even with all the problems, everyone receives their packages in the end.
Digital Rewards
This applies only if digital rewards are included in the Kickstarter. A lot of the above applies to both digital and physical rewards. For instance, we shouldn't transfer any rewards until we receive payment. But a lot of the above is related to physical books. Digital rewards are easier to handle. If we use BackerKit – we merely post the digital files to their system and then hit send – and an email will come to you indicating a new digital reward is available and you download it. Instructions are provided to help you get ebooks onto your devices (like Kindles, or Kobo). If we use Pledgebox, they don't have this capability so we will post the files on DropBox and send a message through Kickstarter indicating where you should go to get your files. These obviously will come long before shipping starts.
BackerKit and Pledgebox
Neither of these will be used for this Kickstarter, but so you know, both are companies that are independent of Kickstarter, but they provide value-added features like an add-on “store” and can sometimes make shipping easier. Drawbacks, however, are that they cost the creator money to use, can take a considerable amount of time to set up, and backers have to add their credit card again if they wish to purchase add-ons or they are utilized to collect money for shipping.
I hope that covers everything, though I'm sure I have left something out here or there. If you have any questions, please send me a message here on Kickstarter and I will answer it to the best of my ability.
*Revised and posted courtesy Michael and Robin Sullivan.
Thank you, and I hope you all are well :)
All the very best,
Dyrk
