The books have arrived - signing is scheduled
over 4 years ago
– Fri, May 29, 2020 at 02:42:35 PM
So, late yesterday our 4 pallets of books (2,688 copies) arrived at our local warehouse. We are scrambling with how to sign them given COVID-19 restrictions, but we have something tentatively worked out for Friday and Monday and we can only sign from 8:00 - 3:30 PM each day. Hopefully, we can get them all done in that time, but it will mean a lot of hustle and precision on the team's (Robin, Sarah, and I) part. We'll see how it goes. Robin is in the process of figuring out the quantities for each of the fulfillment houses: US, Canada, and the rest. For those curious this is the data for the US:
Below is a breakdown of the orders on this spreadsheet
- 1,859 orders consisting of 3,045 Books
- 240 - Age of Myth
- 225 - Age of Swords
- 218 - Age of War
- 206 - Age of Legend
- 247 - Age of Death
- 1,909 - Age of Empyre
We'll continue to keep you updated. I'll spend the day exercising my right hand for signing!
A place to talk about Legends of the First Empire
over 4 years ago
– Fri, May 01, 2020 at 11:15:56 PM
I've received a few emails recently from people who were saddened because now that the Legends o the First Empire was over, they didn't have anywhere to go to talk to others about it. Well, Robin pointed out that Goodreads has a great "group feature" which can be used for exactly that. So she went off and made the group.
You can access it here.
It's small right now, just 46 members, but hopefully some people from this group will drop by and join in.
In other news, the bags have shipped, so we should have them shortly, and the bookmarks have arrived so I'm in the process of signing them. They should be shipping out soon.
Stay safe and healthy all!
In preparation for shipping . . .
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Apr 25, 2020 at 07:26:57 PM
Hey all. Well, things are winding down so the last big hurdle is the most important, and that is making sure you receive your physical rewards. So let me take you through a few things.
1. For all the people who didn't answer their surveys but only had digital rewards, I went through and answered the surveys for you so that you can access the ebook and your other digital rewards.
2. There are still 4 people who have physical rewards coming - but I HAVE NOT received an address for you. So if you are: Aggie M. | Joel B. | Kurt M. | Matt S. Please respond to one of my numerous requests for you to fill out your survey - or heck, just message or email me your address and I'll get it into your record.
3. Shipments will go out in 5 batches.
- #1: Bookmarks - People receiving bookmark sets, or digital-only customers who order 1 or more bookmarks. These will start shipping as soon as addresses are locked down (more on this in a minute)
- US Totebags - Will not be shipped with books because books can be shipped using Media Mail (within the US) which is a much cheaper shipping option. So, we'll be mailing out bags to US people when they arrive - which should be on or around May 5.
- US Books - Will be shipped approximately 3 - 4 days after we receive the books (it'll take us that much time to sign them). The printer is currently proposing a May 22 ship date, which will mean we'll have to push back the retail release date because the books can't get to the retailers in that short of a time.
- Canada Books and Totebags - a large shipment will leave our warehouse and go to Buffalo in that same 3 - 4 days after we receive books time frame. It needs to wait there for a number of shipments that are transferred all at once to our shipment partner in Canada, from there, it will depend on Covid-19 staffing and other jobs to be processed in order for our books to start shipping. I'll keep you updated as we know more.
- For non-US and Canada Books and Totebags - a large shipment will leave our warehouse for New Jersey in that same 3 - 4 days after we receive books. It will need to wait until enough stock to fill a full freighter arrives there and then it'll set sail. It could take 3 - 4 weeks to make its way across the ocean. Once the shipment arrives in the UK it needs to be shipped from the dock to our fulfillment partner and depending on how many jobs are in their queue when it arrives (and what Covid-19 staffing they have), will determine when they can start shipping. Again, I'll keep you posted.
NOTE: I know we all love books but please keep in mind they are NOT considered ESSENTIAL items, and as such, they may have to wait for other more important items to ship. I'm sure the entire shipping infrastructure is having issues due to (1) labor shortages because people are out sick and (2) less shipments being made - especially internationally. We can only control how quickly packages leave our warehouse we cannot do anything to speed up the process once they leave our hands.
I should also note that timing to sign the books may be greatly impacted by...of all things...weather. Usually, we sign the books in the warehouse, but with Covid-19 our fulfillment center WILL NOT allow anyone that doesn't work for them to come inside their facility. So, we are going to do the signing in their parking lot, and of course, we can only do that on days it's not raining. Michael has already signed all the Age of Myth, Age of Swords, Age of War, Age of Legend and Age of Death books required for the Kickstarter, but obviously he can't start signing the Age of Empyre books until they arrive. We need to have him sign 2,688 books (4 full pallets) and we usually can only get through a pallet (maybe a little more) a day. Again, I'll keep you posted as we go along.
Okay, now to your part in this. It is essential that you have your address information correct. And if you need to change your address here are the steps involved.
1. Access your BackerKit self-service portal. You can find the link on your invitation (an email with the subject: Response Needed -- Get your reward for Fantasy Novel: Age of Empyre by Michael J. Sullivan). If you no longer have access to that, you can go to this link, which will present the following form:
That will send you an email with a link to your record. Once you click on the link, you'll see your confirmation page and at the top will be a button to update your address.
Now, on May 27th, I'll start the address lockdown process. You'll receive an email notifying you that the addresses will be locked in 48 hours. Once an address is locked, you won't be able to make changes as detailed in the process above. So what if your address changes before we start shipping the physical books? No worry. You can contact us with your new address and we'll update the record for you.
And that's it. Right now I'm just waiting for things to arrive, and in the meantime, I'm working on (a) Age of Death recap, (b) and updated Glossary of Terms and names (for the website), and (c) writing the behind the scenes bonus book.
I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy!
New version of PDF posted
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 06:30:39 PM
For those that read the ebook via PDF, I just wanted you to know I posted a new version. Why? Well, in reviewing the printer proofs, I found some widows and orphans that somehow snuck in, and I wanted the "pdf" version to match the print version so I re-generated it and sent out new copies. There is no change to the story or any of the words, the only difference is that some lines appear on certain pages and in the new version they appear on others.
Oh, and I also uploaded high-res versions of the Montemorcey Label and the Sullifan Crest. For those doing silkscreen printing, you'll want to send the .PSD file (which is a layered file from Photoshop). For people using it on computers or doing 4-color printing, you can use the .jpg versions.
