May.
Well, that’s it. I’m depressed now.
You saw the title there. I was hoping this project wouldn’t have your standard-issue Kickstarter delays and all your books would be in the mail at the end of this month, but it is not to be. I’m a dope. The books won’t be in your hands until May.
I’m so sorry, you guys. This sucks.
Chalk it up to me being a total noob when it comes to dealing directly with printers. When they told me I’d get the books in 6-8 weeks, I thought “WOW! I can send them out by the end of January!” But it turns out “6-8 weeks” means “6-8 weeks from final approval,” and the approval process is a fairly drawn out thing involving several different checkpoints and various packages of “proofs” going back and forth between here and Hong Kong. (Do you know what “ozalid proofs” are? I sure don’t, but I know I approved some today!)
Ultimately it’s a good thing that they ask me to sign off on every stage of the process, but it does add a LOT of time, especially when there are slight corrections here and there (as there have already been). So between the approvals, the corrections, the Christmas break, and Chinese New Year (Two weeks off in HK. Great for them; they should get two weeks! Bad for us, though.), we’re way behind. And, of course, this is all before the books get on their month-long journey on the proverbial slow boat from China. These are all things I should’ve seen coming, but, well… noob. I’m sorry for letting you down.
BUT. On the plus side, I can tell you this book is going to be utterly GORGEOUS. They sent me a blank “dummy” copy of the book this week, and I couldn’t be happier with the paper, binding, everything. This thing is a MONSTER. The print quality in the proofs is just incredible. We’re making some minor tweaks to the color now, mostly because I’m an insufferable stickler, but everything should be sorted soon. I’ll post some photos along the way.
Apologies again about the delay, guys. It’s no one’s fault but my own. If you were planning to give this book to someone as a gift between now and May, please send me a message and we’ll work something out. I’ve got all the art books and pendants here now, and everything else should be finished within the next few weeks, so we’ve got some options. I might even be able to get some advance copies by the end of March.
I’m trying not to stress out too much here… I owe you guys a lot, and the worst thing to do right now would be to rush through this approval process. I hope you can forgive me for my total ignoramousness.
(NOTE: As soon as I get the books, I’ll message all of you to make sure I’ve got your addresses right. No moving worries!)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Dag, yo. The turnaround did seem a bit quick to me when I was pledging, but hey, delays like this are the nature of the KS beast. Take your time on the proofing thing for sure. And take heart, we’re still all right there with you. 5 months really doesn’t take anything away from 10+ years. Just keep us in the loop.
Mister Alexovich, don’t sweat it. I’m not your fan for no reason, nor will I ever be. As I was done reading Serenity Rose’s comic I felt like there was only one thing I would never let myself do. Forget.
I started listening to The Birthday Massacre (at first as a means to remember the comic,) and that is another thing I am grateful to you for. I had not heard or read about them prior to me visiting your website. This is where I put my heart back in my thorax and ask of you to keep writing and illustrating as long as you enjoy to do so and for my own selfish desires even after that. Peace, rock on or whatever farewell phrase you fancy, mister Alexovich.
DAMMIT! I haven’t been keeping up, got waylaid with all the personal problems and holiday problems, and now I find out I missed this?! Please tell me that your book will be available for purchase later and this wasn’t the one and only chance!
Argh… Like Demonhype, I missed the Kickstarter. I hope like hell you’ll have extras available for purchase, or a second run at some point?