Counting down....
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Apr 07, 2021 at 02:49:36 PM
Well, we're at the point where Kickstarter counts the time remaining by hours instead of days. We're still somewhat short of the stretch goal, but I don't think it's too much ground to make up, even though there's only a couple of days left. The number of uncommitted followers has actually grown since the last update: About 390 (!) at the moment and still growing, even though the point at which to fish or cut bait is getting close. The last 48 hours of a campaign typically see a burst of pledge activity, and I expect this campaign to be the same, only more so and then some. And remember: print copies that sell through Backerkit after the campaign ends will count.
The Backerkit store is almost ready, and I plan to open it right after the campaign ends. In the past, I've worried about Backerkit overlapping with Kickstarter collecting pledges and then rolling around in my money while "waiting for payments to clear." But this time, damn the torpedoes. We need to have the store open for as long as possible while still keeping to our delivery schedule.
I'm currently working on the index, laying in as much as I can so that once we have the rest of the book laid out, the only thing that will remain is to type in page numbers. Layout and art selection proceeds without any cause for alarm.
Ready for the home stretch?
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 02, 2021 at 11:07:17 PM
Buckle up, it's going to be quite a ride. Or so I think, at this point.
Let's start with an update on the basics: The manuscript is finished and everything is into layout. We anticipate that it will take most of the rest of the month to get it looking nice. I'll give it a once-over at that point, and once the pagination is set I'll put together the index. So we plan on being ready for the printer no later than the end of April.
As for the current state of the stretch goal, well, that's why I suggest buckling up. It's going to get exciting. At the moment, we have commitments for 108 print copies out of 230 needed. That sounds like a lot of ground to cover in one week (plus however long we can keep open the Backerkit store). But this is where it gets interesting: The number of uncommitted followers continues to rise, too. At the moment, we have 316 (!) people following the campaign who haven't put down their marker yet.
So here's one way to look at it: When I first announced the stretch goal, we needed all of the print copy backers in hand, plus all of the uncommitted backers, plus some more backers on top of that, to make it. Now, we need all of the print copy backers in hand plus less than 40% of the uncommitted followers, and we'll make it. The trend line is in our favor, and the stretch run is bound to be very active. There is, I think, good reason for hope.
In the meantime, I'm going back to work so I can get a head start on the Index. Thank you again for your support!
Lowering the bar
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 10:32:25 PM
More news on the stretch goal front, and it's good (whether it's lawful, neutral or chaotic good depends on your perspective, I suppose): As of right now, we're at 70 copies reserved, with 244 followers still uncommitted. So the gap continues to shrink, and there's still almost two weeks left to go.
On top of that, we realized, after giving it some thought, that we don't actually need 250 pre-sale commitments to justify ordering 250 print copies — the point at which we can get that modest bulk discount. We always over-order print reward copies, so that the Ramen Sandwich Press team can have their personal/contributor copies, and also so that we have a buffer in case of something unforeseen going wrong. That being the case, it makes sense to knock the stretch goal down to 230 copies, knowing that we'll make up the difference just as a matter of our standard operating procedure.
We're getting there, and I remain hopeful that we'll make it.
We're halfway home
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 03:48:15 AM
As we near the halfway point of the campaign, it seems like a good time to keep in touch and post an update. We're still a bit of a ways from the stretch goal, at 57 print copies spoken for as I write this. But there are new backers coming on board every day (Hello everyone, and thank you!), and there's still a couple of weeks to go. Even more encouraging, Kickstarter's metrics tell me that we now have 216 followers (!) who have not yet put down their marker. That's quite a remarkable number compared to our location module Kickstarter campaigns, and it shows that there is a lot of potential support out there that hasn't yet expressed itself. It's like Kickstarter dark matter.
As for the work itself, I am sending the core chapters off to layout as I finish polishing them. Layout and art selection have been keeping pace with me, so I have no worries about keeping to schedule right now. As long as I flog myself over the finish line we'll get everything done on time.
I'll be honest: Proofreading and editing are not my favorite activities, and they always go more slowly than I'd like. With Book of Chance Meetings, however, I will say that it has been reassuring to go over the manuscript and find, even as I fix this and trim that, that it reads a little better than I thought as I was writing it (even the parts that are, by intention, repetitive and formulaic). I have always thought of myself as a writer first — it never occurred to me that I could take on game design until long after I'd set myself on writing as a vocation — so I always write with the reader's enjoyment in mind. That's why RPG writing suits me: Whether or not you find my work mechanically useful, I can at least hope that you'll get some pleasure from reading it. In that sense, I think Book of Chance Meetings will turn out well.
[Insert alert sound of your choice]
about 3 years ago
– Mon, Mar 22, 2021 at 05:46:42 AM
And we're funded! Thank you to everyone who has gotten us to this point. Thank you, also, to whomever put in a good word for us on YouTube and Instagram. Google Analytics tells me that we've gotten referrals from those sites — which is completely new for us — but I can't figure out how to trace the traffic back to its source.
Of course, the flip side is that we still have a ways to go to meet our stretch goal — at the moment, we're sitting at only 46 print copies reserved. However, Kickstarter's metrics tells me that there are over 180 people following this campaign (itself an unprecedented level of interest for one of our campaigns) who have not yet put down their marker. So if every one of them plumps for a print copy, we'll get close to 250. And there's still almost three full weeks left to go, so there's still plenty of time for things to happen on top of that.
For now, on this Sunday evening, it's back to work, scrubbing the core chapters so I can send them to layout. I'll keep in touch!
