Ballistic’s Report for Week Ending June 4
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jun 04, 2021 at 11:18:42 PM

This week’s report got lost in the last day of school, plus the Memorial Day holiday meant that basically I had no idea what day of the week it was. In any case, this week was surprisingly productive given the massive chaos of the last week of school.

· I shipped off all of the US and Canadian packages for Character Collections, picked an international shipping agent, and boxed up just shy of 80 lbs of books, cards, and counterrs. Also in this batch are some reships from More Perilous Journeys that never arrived.

· I finished, edited, revised, and finalized my entry for the GURPS 2021 PDF Challenge. I am told it was an easy edit, so go me.

· I finished editing and laid out in preliminary fashion Crypt of Krysuvik. It is now standing at a minimum of 34 pages, and I haven’t added the internal dungeon maps yet. I have added a bunch of full-page pre-gens, and so I’ll need some art to go with those. Monsters and finalizing some undone tables on Sunday, then I can really get going on art direction.

· On the other hand, I did send out some direction for the Crypt of Krysuvik cover. I haven’t heard back from the artist (she’d be a new addition), but we’ll see.

Gaming Ballistic Patreon

To help with ongoing funding of art and speed eventual time to delivery, Gaming Ballistic started a Patreon in January 2021. Here's the weekly update on Patreon status.

• Membership status:     47 patrons and $323 per month.
• Special Content:     Members got to see the prelinary layout of Crypt, as well as a glimpse at my      art direction process this week.

Currently Manufacturing/Fulfilling/Shipping

Project where hardcopies and PDFs are going out or scheduled to do so.

• Character collections US and Canada fulfillment has all      gone out. I arranged to put the international orders into the system on      Monday, via DHL pickup first to Greece, then mailed throughout the world.

Crowdfunding

TFT Character Collection (Launched Friday Feb 19; Closed on Tuesday, March 9 at 9pm Central)

Just for fun I checked the original schedule from the campaign:

· Campaign End: Tuesday, March 9 (5pm Central Time)

· Backerkit Phase: April, 2021

· Production: May, 2021

· PDF Distribution: June 2021

· Printing and Physical Good Manufacture: August 2021

· Shipping, Fulfillment, and Delivery: September-October 2021

PDF distribution was initiated by the end of March. Print books happened by mid-April. Stuff started going out in early May. Final domestic and Canadian distribution completed early June. I’m hopeful that now that we’re in international land, that we’ll be all delivered by the end of August.

Delvers to Grow(Launched Friday May 7 at 10am Central Time, Ended May 25 at 9pm Central)

• The campaign completed at 448 backers successfully charged. We dropped three, and hopefully we’ll pick them up in Backerkit.

Product Announcements

No new uploads this week.

In Development

Writing and content creation for announced projects. Some of this may be cryptic.

• I’ve got some slight work ahead of me finalizing      Delvers to Grow’s main book. I’m all-in on getting Krysuvik to the art      stage. I’m a bit behind on getting the books of sample characters where I      want them, but honestly the art is already underway (we defined what the      characters would look like before we made them), so even though this is      technically behind, I’m not concerned yet.

Friction

Bits of news and items that put a monkey in the wrench.

· As a result of the lukewarm reception for Delvers, the plans for the Bestiary had to be changed. I’m now going to do small volumes, probably 32 pages, of monsters, with a mix of types in each volume. I may not do stretch goals, and just focus on getting these done, the art done, and at the very end, when I’ve got all 200+ monsters in hand, I’ll look into a special omnibus bestiary that’s an all-or-nothing doorstop tome.

• I haven’t done a full reckoning, but I’d be surprised      if, after CE Mark testing and the morass that is international shipping, I      actually made money internationally. If I have to get the products tested      for each batch (and you’re supposed to!), that adds up to the equivalent      of $80–$100 PER ORDER in testing fees. That’s just not sustainable. Books      are still fine, but “stuff” needs a re-think.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• Things actually went really well given how chaotic this      week was. My wife was away on business all week, which left me as      full-time dad, and the kids were off-and-on virtual and home-bound this      week, or had special stuff going on with timing and whatnot that mucked up      our pattern. Even so, a lot got done.
• Getting Character Collections off my desk (at times      literally) and my part of it done a full 3-4 months ahead of the predicted      schedule is a real win.
• Responses to the shipments has thus far been good.

Krysuvik...moves forward; More timing
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Jun 03, 2021 at 05:36:23 AM

Krysuvik

I just turned back a preliminary edit and layout to Peter and Marshall on the Crypt of Krysuvik.

There's a lot of flavorful stuff in the currently 26-page document.

And that's without several maps, any illustrations, or some of the formatting passes. 

There's almost no way this is going to come in at less than 32 pages. This doesn't bother me.

This is pretty much where I want to be with this as of today.

Example Books

I'm expecting the Example books to come in starting Wed night, maybe Thurs, and then another every few days until next week. Then it's all on me for editing, layout, and art.

Some of that art has a head start, so it's not all from nothing.

Backerkit

I'm running a tetch behind on getting Backerkit up (schedule said "end of May"). I wanted to get more done on the actual books before throwing up surveys, pre-orders, etc. 

That being said, it's time to get working on this, so I'll be spending some time beating it into shape. Maybe a week. Give or take. Getting it WRONG is very painful.

Further Schedule

• Backerkit Phase: End of May, 2021
• Production: June, 2021
• PDF Distribution: July 2021
• Printing and Physical Good Manufacture: July-August 2021
• Shipping, Fulfillment, and Delivery: September 2021

That was the original schedule. We're behind a bit on "Backerkit," but right on schedule with "Production." I suspect that if Backerkit goes up in a week, there's a decent chance the preliminary Delvers "Build-a-Bjorn" PDF will be available for review 7-10 days after that. I'll be moving things out to you as they're ready, rather than all at once.

PDF distribution of already-existing product will go as soon as I can make that happen; this is mostly about me discovering how to use the DriveThru distribution tools rather than the Backerkit ones I'm used to.

I feel pretty good about printing in July, which means physical goods in August. Maybe sooner if a few things go right.

And thats a wrap!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 26, 2021 at 11:56:27 AM

Thanks for coming along on the ride. As always now the real work begins.

One hour left
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 26, 2021 at 08:24:07 AM

Looks like this one is almost in the bag. I hope we get a surge of backers in the next hour, but even so it’s been a good run. I will keep at the process of putting together the adventure in the example books, get them to you guys for proofing before they go hit the press as quickly as possible, and then turn my hand to the next big project: the Bestiary.

I will have more to say about that on my blog, later.

For now…jump in if you haven’t. Otherwise, thanks and I’ll see you on the flip side.

If you're following but not yet pledged...this is your moment
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 26, 2021 at 08:22:14 AM

Just a reminder. With eight and a half hours left in the campaign, if you're following but haven't yet pledged, this is your time.

There are something just over 250 people in that status. If they all came in, we'd unlock the first stretch goal. If past performance is any guidance, we have an outside shot of hitting 500 backers.

But only if folks jump on.