TLDR:
- Princes of the West ready for fulfilment
- Shipping payment and address update email to follow
- Backer Order shipping
- Stretch Goal stories will happen… just not yet.
In the last update I listed jobs to do and, despite the heat, two god-daughters staying with us for a week, an overnight trip to the airport and four small children to entertain and provide for, I managed to hit them all. Crucially, the acknowledgements were finished and final edited files for Steam Highwayman: Princes of the West were uploaded to IngramSpark. A single copy is now on rush production as a final (I hope) print proof. Since the last copy produced some weeks ago there have been hundreds of tiny changes and a few big ones – all improving gameplay, clarity and consistency. Phew!
That means that I can begin fulfilling your rewards. I dropped the fourth map from the Touring Guide – it was taking too long to produce and did not significantly add to the gameplay – and now have all the parts to assemble the map packs. The Adventurers’ Logs are complete too and I have packaging to ship these around the world.
In the next few days I will also correct outstanding errata in Smog & Ambuscade, Highways & Holloways and The Reeking Metropolis so that anyone who has ordered these will get them in the best possible state.
I’ve spent a lot of time on shipping and the original plan is still the cheapest and in the majority of cases my shipping estimates were good. In most cases your physical rewards will travel as two shipments – this is still the cheapest option, as the maps have to travel from the UK (print-on-demand not an option for these) and the books can be printed in the US, UK or Australia. In some cases (especially Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong) I’ll need to send a single package from the UK.
In the next few days I will be emailing backers by country with links to pay for shipping. Prices vary by region and also depending on whether you backed just for the books or for books and extras, but I will detail it all in the email. Up-to-date addresses will be gathered with payments.
I will do my best to fulfil the books in Backer Order – as long as I have your shipping payment and address. If you have ordered a Custom Wanted Poster Frontispiece but haven’t yet provided an image, you will have to wait until you do. In a few cases I will make shipments to single countries in one go (eg Singapore).
I can manage about 20 shipments a day, but there are interruptions and I do have other commitments over the summer, so the majority of your rewards will be on their way by the end of August. Please be patient with me – it’s a huge job and not one that I actually take any payment for personally.
Remember, if you can wait until 5 September and are attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 (the premier gamebook convention), then you can avoid any shipping charge, meet me there and collect your reward in your hand. It’d be great to see you: just fill in this form or indicate in response to the shipping email.
And the stretch goals? Well, these were a stretch! You got a stretched book (it increased by about 400 sections after the Kickstarter!) but you will get Harvest of Death and Dark Satanic Mills as well… When they’re written and done. I’m looking forward to writing these as little standalones but with all the benefit of the improvements I’ve made to Princes.
I probably won’t update on here until towards the end of the shipping process – I’ll be working by email with you personally where necessary and working through the batch of boxes etc – so expect that email and expect another update on here towards the end of August.
Next update due: 26.8.26