Fantasy Novel: Age of Death by Michael J. Sullivan

Lock down approaches, and what it means to you.
over 4 years ago – Tue, Oct 08, 2019 at 08:51:59 PM

Hey all Robin here, I have an important update today regarding locking down orders. What does this mean?  Well, as you know we are using BackerKit to manage the project and it allows for a bunch of things.

• Updating the name you want in the afterword.
• Adding tips.
• Adding items such as additional books, ebooks, tote bag, or bookmarks
• Paying for additional items
• Inputting your address for shipping.

As long as the records are "open" you can make all kinds of changes listed above,  That has been a good thing as we keep getting people adding to their orders (so far we have raised an additional $13,464 from within BackerKit and thank you all for your generosity). But the downside of this freedom is I constantly have sand shifting under my feet.  Changes to names require me "checking to see if they occurred and if so update the master list. Adding books means getting more shipped (so the older books don't go out of print  (and so far I've made two additional orders). Also, I've been going through and "fixing up orders." For instance, people adding ebooks to a reward level that already has them, or people ordering bookmarks because they don't know they are coming.  

Until the records are locked down, there is a constant, churn as people add or remove items and that absorbs a good amount of my time.  So, I'm going to be locking down orders in a few days, and I'll start shipping bookmarks, and some of the totebags that have come. I'll also be charging credit cards for additional items added in BackerKit (because I've been spending thousands of dollars ordering extra copies of Age of Myth and Age of War.  

So the TL:DR version - if you want to adjust anything about your Add-on items. Do it now, because you won't be able to in a few days.

In other news, the Kickstarter Acknowledgment has been updated. (And I burned several days with all the corrections (which are difficult to do by hand).  In seeing the errors reported, it was apparent that the Backerkit field was sometimes truncating off data so that someone like W. Cooper was coming out as W. Coop.  I have since gone through all 2,894 records with names and found another 20 (beyond those that were reported to me via email and message) that looked to be incorrect. I've also sent emails to people when I wasn't sure if there was an error or not.  For instance, it looks like some people had typos in their surveys such that "Brant Seibert" was input as "Brant Seiberr."

Please watch your email for any message from [email protected] which start with URGENT - I've sent out about 80 of them with questions regarding your order or your name so please respond to me as you find them.

In other news, I'm expecting the last of the copy edits either today and tomorrow, and I still have a few beta changes to go through, but all in all the book is looking solid.

Oh, and one last thing. Locking down the orders won't affect future changes to addresses. So, if you expect to be moving soon, no worries. We'll have an "address lockdown" happen in the future when the books have come in. 

Say my name!
over 4 years ago – Mon, Oct 07, 2019 at 01:39:18 AM

Hey all, Robin again. So we are getting really close to locking down people's records. This is essential because it essentially "freezes" the project so I know (a) counts for ordering extra items (like tote bags) (b) have a final list of names for the acknowledgments (c) we can finalize some weight-related shipping costs.

To that end, I've extracted from the surveys all the names I have so far. If you don't see your name, it could be (a) you didn't fill out your survey (b) I made a mistake when alphabetizing (c) I somehow missed your name altogether. 

Please check your name here and make sure it is 100% correct!

I've also had to "normalize" the names (added periods to initials, used & instead of "and") so you may find yours is slightly different than you input. NOTE: I also found a number of "half entered data which I'm assuming was a mistake - for instance, a last name that appeared as "Bla" rather than "Blake" - I'm not sure why there were so many of these, but I think I got them all. But again, please check your name carefully. After all, these will be in print forever and we want them to be correct.

If you find a problem with your name, please leave a comment here or send me a private message.

We are getting close!!

Are you one of the 87? I hope not.
over 4 years ago – Fri, Oct 04, 2019 at 01:39:26 AM

Hey all, Robin here. We have made amazing progress as of late regarding people answering their surveys.  We are down to just 87 cats that need herding across the finish line - that's pretty good!  Remember these surveys are not "customer satisfaction cards." They are essential communications so that you can get your rewards.  If you DO NOT fill out your survey you can't....

• Receive your ebook which will be ready in about 10 days
• Have your name included in the print and ebook
• Ask us questions to be answered in the Q&A session
• Get your physical books, bookmarks, and tote bags because we have no idea where to send them!

A few items to note:

• You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. You have been sent an email with the survey, and all you need to do is click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. 
• After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts.
• If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey from this link. 

My thanks to the 3,119 people who have done their surveys. Not having to track you down saves me time and aggravation. It's very important to me that people get what they paid for, and it's only if you fill out your survey that I have the data to do that. 

Okay, that's the soapbox speech for today. I'm back to going over copyeditor and beta reader feedback!

Robin

A bunch of updates
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 02, 2019 at 12:44:24 AM

Hey all, Robin here, again. This will be a rather long update, but there is a lot going on and I want to keep everyone in the loop.

• Michael and I had to postpone our trip to the beach by a week (he wasn't done with his final read and wanted to have that finished before we went on vacation), but we did go this weekend and had a great time. A full trip report will follow, but for now, I have too many other things going on. Thanks, all for the TIPS that made this trip possible.
• Michael has finished his last pass through the book, and I have line-edited his changes. In addition, we have received final feedback from a number of the beta readers and provided little "tweaks" here and there - but no major changes have been required (whew to that).  We have also received the copy edits from Laura, and expect the copyedits from Linda in a few days. This means we are getting really close to having a version that can be sent out to you. Now...that version will STILL need to go through gamma readers, and we will send you the FINAL version after they have gone through it. But generally speaking, when we are at the gamma reader feedback level there are just very minor issues (typos, a missing or added comma, and things along those lines. All of this leads me to bullet #2...
• We should have ebooks going out around the 13th. They will be delivered through the digital download area of your Backerkit self-service portal.  This is the same link you used when filling out your surveys.  And an email will go out with a link for downloading the book.If you can't find your backerkit self-service link you can retrieve it here by inputting your email address.
• We have ordered (and received 100 tote bags) because that is all the printer had available at the time.  But no worries, they are getting more later this month, and as soon as they do, we'll be making a second order. When we have all the bags we will be LOCKING down records with tote bags (and charging cards if money is due) so we can start shipping them. If you plan on getting a tote bag and you have not yet filled out your survey PLEASE DO SO RIGHT AWAY, so we know how many to buy.
• The Kickstarter funds transferred to our account. So now that we have money in our hands will start distributing the digital rewards. Again, you'll find those in the Digital Downloads of the BackerKit. All total we only lost 13 backers ($578) due to failed credit cards, and a number of those backers have "rejoined" by paying their amounts via Paypal or through BackerKit.  At this time our total for the project stands at: $131,291 raised from 3,219 people  -- thanks all, this really is an incredible level of support.
• Our total counts for books so far stands at: 6,116 copies sold (3,247 ebooks & 2,869 hardcovers). That would be an amazing first week's sale for a book traditionally published, so you all have proven that authors don't need to go that route to still be successful.
• Because I'm a bit paranoid about having the Age of Myth and the Age of War hardcovers going out of print, I've already ordered 20 cases of both, and they have come in and been signed by Michael. However, with our current counts, (because people have been adding hardcovers on when they do their surveys) we still need another few cases of both. So, I'm going to be locking down (and charging credit cards) for people who have bought copies of these other books so that I know I have paid orders before buying more.
• I also should note that for people who have extra books, I've sometimes gone in and adjusted your records so you aren't "overcharged" for shipping (because the system treated it like two shipments - one for the pledge, and one for the add-ons).  For instance, someone who backed at the "Hardcore" level then added 2 books was "upgraded" to the THREE BOOK NIGHT because it saves them a few bucks in shipping. I will continue to check all orders with addons to make sure you aren't being overcharged.
• Likewise, I contacted a number of people who added bookmarks in case they didn't realize that a set of bookmarks comes with any reward level where you get a physical copy of Age of Death. For people who reported ordering them by mistake, I've adjusted those records as well. 
• Speaking of bookmarks, they have come off the printer and are on their way to us (should be delivered by the end of the day. I plan to ship out the "add ons" of these in the next few weeks (after Michael signs them, of course), and for those who are getting Age of Death your bookmarks will be shipped with the book.
• We are heading to New York on the 13th for the recording session. I took some of my tip money and added 2 tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway.  I'm going to be going with Sarah, my daughter that has been so instrumental in the Kickstarters in the past. We are both very excited about that!

Well, I have to get back to looking at the changes from the beta readers and the copy editors. Plus we have a reader visitor who is arriving later today so I need to clean up my office ;-).  As I said, things are really busy, but we are always happiest when that is the case! Thanks once again for your continued support. You all are the best!

Don't miss out!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Sep 21, 2019 at 05:10:49 PM

Hey all, Robin here again. I'm pleased to report that everything is going well. We've had 2,492 people fill out their surveys, but that means we still have 645 people who haven't done so.  These surveys are VERY important.  People who don't do them will miss out (and I hate it when that happens).  For instance:

• Their name won't be included in the acknowledgments.
• They won't have their questions answered on the Q&A video
• And most importantly, we won't know where to send your physical rewards!

Now, our next step comes at the end of this month when we will "lockdown" surveys so we can...

• Order the number of tote bags required -- if you don't fill out your survey, and you wanted a bag, it may mean that there isn't one (NOTE: We'll refund you the money if this happens).
• Order from Del Rey additional Age of War and Age of Myth books to ensure we have them on hand (in other words we don't want them to go out of print while we are producing Age of Death)
• Produce the ebook - which we will deliver in October -- and if we don't have your name, it won't be in there. NOTE: We can (and will) add your name to the retail version.

Most importantly, we want to make sure your name is in the print version. We are laying out the book now, and as soon as we have copyeditor and gamma reader corrections it's going on press. If you haven't filled out your survey, your name will not be printed!!

On a more personal note, I feel an extreme sense of responsibility to make sure people get what they pay for. Because of this, I'm constantly sending reminders, posting messages, and sending out emails to people who haven't done their surveys. This followup takes a great deal of time. And that is time I could use to work on Age of Empyre or get a bit more sleep. So, if for no other reason, please do it for me. It really helps if I don't have to track people down.

Okay, that's it for now.  Bookmarks have gone to the printer. I'm adding in copyedits found by the beta readers, and both Michael and I are giving the book our last read-throughs. We'll keep plugging away, and please, please, help us help you get what you paid for...fill out your survey.

Oh, and if you lost your BackerKit invite, you can use this link to recover it. All you will need is the email address used when you backed the project. If you aren't sure what that is, comment or send us a message and we'll PM it to you.