We're almost to the end of the set
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, May 07, 2021 at 11:12:11 PM
Another quick update to let you know that we're keeping the Backerkit store open until May 13, but no longer than that. Thank you to everyone who has jumped in through Backerkit, but we're reaching the point where we really ought to wrap this up so we can place our order with the printer. We still have about 10 people who need to provide us with a current mailing address, but as long as they don't want to order add-ons, we can hear from them anytime before we actually ship.
And indeed, we are almost ready to go to press. I finished proofing the galleys, then slept most of yesterday. There wound up being more fixes than I would have liked, but the vast majority of them are minor, and almost all of them are on me for not catching them earlier. Once those fixes are implemented, it's just a matter of compiling the index and tacking it onto the end. We're almost there, and I'll keep you updated as developments warrant.
Scaling, Surveys and the Schedule
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 08:36:10 PM
A quick update and reminder, since we're supposed to lock down the Backerkit orders in about a week:
Almost everyone has returned their surveys and are squared away, but we have yet to hear back from some folks. Only a small amount on a percentage basis, but it looks like a lot in absolute terms because we got so many more backers for this campaign than we have for our previous campaigns. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
If you threw down for a PDF copy only and you're not interested in the add-ons, truth be told, we don't actually need your survey. Backerkit will let you know when your reward is ready for download, so all you need to do is keep an eye on your email address on file with Backerkit. If you ordered a print copy, however, we need you to share your current mailing address because neither Kickstarter nor Backerkit will give it to us (and rightfully so). There are still about a dozen backers who are due a print copy who need to get back to us for that reason.
We told Backerkit we'd lock orders on May 5 (and can it possibly be the end of April already, how did that happen?), and charge cards on May 16, but we actually have some flexibility on those scores. We raised enough money to pay the printer and USPS through the campaign, so we don't need the Backerkit money to fund printing and shipping. Unless a huge surge in post-campaign pre-orders comes in, we already know that we'll order 250 copies. So we can fudge those deadlines. But we do need to know where to ship print copies before we ship them.
As for the actual work, I am a little goggle-eyed from inspecting the galleys, but more than halfway done. Some corrections will have to be made, but they are mostly minor typo fixes, like "its" instead of "it's." There are a few places where "whom" needs to be changed to "who" because, evidently, I missed what is the subject of the sentence and what is the object the first three times I went over it. And don't even get me started on autocorrect: How can you not recognize that it's "drow" and not "draw" and that "lizardfolk" is one word? Ugh. Idiots. The bottom line, however, is that the work progresses. I hope to have the final proofreading done by the end of the weekend. It looks like the final page count won't change; with the index tacked on, you should expect just over 250 pages.
Down to the last mile, and in some ways, the hardest mile
about 3 years ago
– Thu, Apr 22, 2021 at 01:08:58 AM
I'm back, having vacated Ramen Sandwich HQ for a couple of days to take a break from work, and also to get out of the way of needed repairs to the ventilation system and AC (fixed just in time for a spot of unseasonably cool weather, wouldn't you know it). I found a PDF file with the galleys for Book of Chance Meetings waiting for me, so now we're at the stage where I make one last check before we add the credits and index and go to press.
I won't lie to you, checking the galleys is a gruelling task, knowing that it's the last chance to make tweaks and catch mistakes. But I'm a gonna stick my nose in it and do it, and I feel better about doing it having just had a brief vacation to shake out the brain fatigue. Bottom line: We're still on schedule.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in their survey so far, and especially to those of you who have ordered add-ons! As of now, we plan to close the Backerkit store on May 5 and charge cards on May 15, but all of that is flexible and depends to some extent on when we're actually ready to place our order with the printer. So there is still time to add some Ramen Sandwich Press goodness to your order. And if you know anyone who missed out on the Kickstarter, let them know that there will never be a better chance to get a copy of Book of Chance Meetings — 30% off the projected cover price, and in hardcover!
Blowing smoke at you
about 3 years ago
– Thu, Apr 15, 2021 at 09:25:17 PM
Blowing smoke, but in a good way. Shortly, about 20 of you will receive the smoke test of Backerkit’s survey for this campaign. I know that Backerkit suggests that we wait for two weeks until Kickstarter finishes collecting everyone’s pledges, but I feel like going for it. The pre-order store is already open, and at the moment only four backers have that red triangle by their name in my backer report, signifiying that their credit card info didn’t pan out (BTW, if you’re one of those four, please take care of this ASAP). So let’s just forge ahead, knowing that we’ll be ready to go to press soon and Book of Chance Meetings is supposed to be in your hands in June.
Speaking of which, I expect to have the galleys ready for final inspection next week. If there is no need to repaginate, I’ll go right to compiling the index, after which the book will done. We had a slight setback to layout — word to wise, keep your cat out of your workspace, or at least away from the keyboard — but I am informed that nothing was lost than cannot be reconstructed easily from backed-up files.
So we’re still on track, and if you don’t get your Backerkit survey today, expect it early next week.
Close enough for government work
about 3 years ago
– Sat, Apr 10, 2021 at 02:22:08 AM
And so the curtain rings down on another Kickstarter campaign — but not just any Kickstarter campaign. This one has been our most successful venture on this platform, far and away. So thank you to everyone who has backed us!
The big news is that we finished the campaign with 217 print copies pre-sold, not quite enough to meet the stretch goal. But over the last couple of days, I've been thinking that we really should lower the threshold to 220. We like to have about a 10% bumper in copies ordered to cover emergencies, and when you add in courtesy copies for staff... yeah, a threshold of 220 makes more sense. Those extra 30 copies to get to 250 would be within standard operating procedure for us.
So we got to 217. I know I said we would count copies ordered through Backerkit, and the Backerkit store isn't even open yet. But y'know what? It seems awfully petty to make an issue over a difference of three copies at this point. Let's just do it. Declare victory and go home. Dungeon Master's ruling: We're doing the hardcover thing. If Ramen Sandwich Press gets stuck with extra hardcover copies, we'll just offer them through future Backerkit stores at a jacked-up price. It will be a win all around, that way.
The Backerkit store should be open soon. Backerkit wouldn't let me submit it for review until the end of the campaign, because they wouldn't know how to charge us until we had a final tally on funds raised. So I'm going to get on that, and those of you who are new to Ramen Sandwich Press will get a more comprehensive look at our body of work once it is open. Stay tuned — and in the meantime, please make sure you have up-do-date credit card info on file with Kickstarter. The less they have to futz around with charges that didn't go through, the easier it will be on everyone.
Thanks again!
