You Did It <3
6 months ago
– Sat, Mar 09, 2024 at 08:58:40 PM
The countdown has closed, the confetti has blown, and we are done.
I know I’ve said it in previous updates, but I am so freaking proud of you guys. You backed, you shared, you came and conquered. And now we get to create some beautiful books, beautiful art, beautiful swag, and I can’t wait to send it all to you.
There will be more updates in the future—specifically I’ll try to do one every 2-3 weeks to keep you all updated on progress—but for now, we get to rest. And I’m gonna go crash and eat some chocolate.
Expect backer surveys to go out in the next 2-3 weeks, and the sooner those are filled out, the better. You’ll have the opportunity to add things you might’ve missed all the way up through the end of July, and after that the surveys lock.
I think that’s everything for now! Be proud of yourselves. This was incredible.
-Darci
WE HIT 10K!!!!!!
6 months ago
– Sat, Mar 09, 2024 at 03:58:35 PM
Wow. Just...wow.
I... am so freaking proud of you all. And so grateful.
This all started because I needed new cover art, and you've taken it and made it possible to do so much more.
These special editions are going to be amazing. And it's all thanks to you.
There's still four hours left in the campaign, too. I really thought it would get down to the wire, but you brought it home early and I couldn't be more happy.
From this point on, any extra profit will go toward the artwork, making sure it's as lovely as we can get it. I have a whole slew of artists to reach out to, so I'll keep you updated on who we go with!
Livestream!
Remember, I'll be going live on TikTok tonight at 7:30 Mountain Time! FOLLOW THIS LINK to get there and join in! It'll be music, and questions, and snacks (well, snacks for me, I wish I could share with you all), and fun! I'm so thrilled, and so grateful, and I don't think I'll ever be able to say that enough.
See you in a couple hours for a livestream party! You all deserve it!
-Darci
Eighteen Hours Left | More Artwork!!!
6 months ago
– Sat, Mar 09, 2024 at 01:04:11 AM
What a Ride!
Today is the last day to back! If you know anyone who's on the fence, let them know they can back at a lower tier and add physical items later in the backer survey, or just commit and take the plunge with us all at the last minute!
If you'd told me four weeks ago that we would get this close to 10K, I don't know if I'd have believed you. The joy of stepping away for a few hours, then coming back to see you all have hit yet another milestone has become my favorite hit of dopamine ever.
Stretch Goals!
Alright, here's the deal. You hit 9K and I promised you a beautiful full-color art piece in the Deluxe Editions. And that is exactly what we're gonna do.
BUT ALSO, if we get to 9.5K, we can get a second piece of artwork done. And if we get to 10K, we will have a third piece made.
What does this mean?? If we can get this campaign to 10K by 9PM Mountain Standard Time, then each of these gorgeous Deluxe Editions will feature a different piece of artwork, and we can have them made to show off a moment or a character specific to that book.
Now, these art pieces would also be made into vellum insert prints for the standard tiers, and the digital backers would receive it with their digital art pack as well. But only the Deluxe Editions will have the artwork bound into the books.
If we do this, the end results will depend greatly on the artist we go with (I already have some in mind and I’m reaching out to them), but the end result will be beautiful, and I can’t wait to see it!
Living the Dream
Have I dreamed of being able to put full-color artwork into my books? Absolutely I have. And at this point I genuinely believe we can do it. You all have been incredible. You've spread the word, you've shared, you've shouted, and I genuinely couldn't ask for better backers! You have surpassed every expectation I had and more.
Remember too that for every social media share you tag me in, I'll enter you into a giveaway to receive a TARGET themed t-shirt! And you can definitely enter yourself multiple times by sharing on different platforms. My handle is @darcicoleauthor on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube. Oh, and I'm u/darcicole on Reddit as well if you're active there.
You all have left me constantly astounded throughout this entire campaign, and I'm gonna need to sleep for a week when this is over!
-Darci
A Correction!
6 months ago
– Fri, Mar 08, 2024 at 04:33:18 PM
I apologize to the Digital Only backers, I was mistaken. You're not able to add physical items to your pledge in Kickstarter, but you will be able to add them when you receive your BackerKit survey a couple of weeks after the campaign ends. And then you'll have until the end of July to choose and make those extra purchases, at which time (July 31) surveys will be closed to prepare for shipping.
So, as long as you're ready to have the initial pledge charge go through, you're all set!
Thank you all for your patience with me. This is my first time running a crowdfunding campaign, so if I seem overly-communicative it's only because I don't want to under-communicate lol. I'm working on getting BackerKit set up for your surveys, and you'll be able to add-on extras or anything you missed from the initial run.
With just over 24 hours to go, I'm incredibly happy with how this campaign has gone. And still, it's not over until it's over.
-Darci
Less Than 36 Hours To Go 🥳
6 months ago
– Fri, Mar 08, 2024 at 08:29:21 AM
Stretch Goals Update:
You did it!!!! We got to the 8.5k goal, and now you get all three pins!!!!
I’ve been very lucky in the last 24 hours to have been put in contact with a new pin manufacturer that has given me a much better price on them. I’m very excited, because that means the money saved there can go toward better artwork for you guys!
I’ve been thinking about what to offer you for the $9k goal, and I think I’d like to do one more thing to make the Deluxe Editions nicer—we could put the new artwork in the book, in full color. It would only be the one page, likely at the beginning of the book, but I think these Deluxe Editions would look really nice showing off a piece of color art. What do you think??
Some Reminders:
Errored Pledges
Once the campaign closes, you will be charged for your pledge! Please make sure the card or account you’ve attached is prepared for that, or your pledge might error. This can happen if you don’t have the funds ready, or if your bank flags the charge, a card is experienced, etc. If your pledge is errored you’ll have one week to fix it. If you do not fix it within seven days of the end of the project, Kickstarter will permanently drop you from the campaign. I cannot control this! I will reach out if your pledge errors, but please make sure you’re prepared to address it if necessary, I would hate to lose any of you to a glitch 🥺
Backer Surveys
About two weeks after the campaign closes, surveys will go out through BackerKit. I’d recommend making sure you have a BackerKit account prior to that, but if you don’t you’ll be prompted to create one at the time. Backerkit handles the back end of campaigns a little better than Kickstarter, particularly things like digital reward fulfillment and shipping details.
Physical vs Digital Rewards
A reminder to all Digital Tier backers (Tiers 1 and 2) that you will not be receiving the physical swag stretch goals unless you go in and add them to your pledge. I’ve made sure they’re all available in the add-on section, so you can do that now if you like. These add-ons will also be available to add in the BackerKit survey after the campaign ends, so long as you are a backer. Please be aware that if you’re adding them on, you’ll be charged shipping as well.
Thank you 🩵
When I decided to do this, I set the bar very low. A thousand dollars of pledges was not even enough for me to pay for the cover art I wanted to finance, but I really didn’t want to not fund at all. I was confident we could reach that, and fairly confident I could get to the 3k mark, where I hoped I’d have the profit to pay for the covers.
Now we’re sitting here at nearly nine thousand, and we’ve funded not only the cover art but multiple amazing stretch goals.
You did that.
I am overwhelmed with so many emotions. I know some of you are coming here from Dragonsteel’s campaign, and let me tell you, I do not have the team they have. I do not have that infrastructure. That is a dream, but I’m not there yet. It’s just little ol’ me, doing the best I can with advice from people who have done this before me.
It’s a lot for one person to handle, but I’m handling it. I’m lucky to have amazing artists and creatives to hire, and a husband who understands how much this is to carry, and takes the kids when I need to focus on this.
And you. I’m grateful to have you. Is that cheesy? Probably. But for those of you who are new here, that’s kind of par for the course. It may sound cheesy, but I promise it’s genuine. None of this would be possible without all of you and the support you’ve offered here. I cannot emphasize that enough. Thank you.
Livestream!
Tomorrow night, leading up to the close of the campaign, I’m going to hop on TikTok and go live (if my wifi will cooperate). I would love to have you all come hang out! Call it an informal Q&A. This will not be the official meet & greet, that’ll come later. But just a way to celebrate the end of this amazing run. I’ll go live at 7:30pm mountain time, and hang out for 90-ish minutes. Once the campaign closes, I’ll probably go MIA for a while to rest and recover from this madness 😅 but I’ll be back, and we’ll get all this amazing stuff made and ready for fulfillment in the fall.
Thank you again!!! I hope to see you tomorrow night, come say hi!
-Darci
🩵
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