Today's news: news is coming...
about 3 years ago – Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 12:59:18 AM

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're all doing well. We realize it has been a couple of weeks since our last update here, and we wanted to check in so that you didn't think we've disappeared... The big question on people's minds (well, specifically on the minds of our Canadian and International backers) is "where's my stuff?!"  Seriously, right?! We're right there with you! I mean, come on! This is starting to drag on a bit, innit?!

Believe me, we fully expected to have very specific progress to report by now -- the Canadian packages were loaded on a truck and sent to our postal forwarder in Ontario two weeks ago. The same service we used for PARIS 2119, and that went off pretty smoothly and without a hitch.

Turns out Canadian Customs have apparently amped up their security requirements a bit since PARIS, probably because of all of the inbound shipments trying to circumnavigate the overly-congested US ports. (Our printer told us that some of our other books were almost re-routed from Long Beach California to Anchorage Alaska!) So we're now dealing with that hiccup in order to get those packages cleared for final delivery. (Sigh.) Yet another unexpected complication, but one that should hopefully be solved very shortly (by Friday if I can throw any weight around... and I've got weight to spare...).

Rest-of-the-world International orders are being priced out now by DHL and another global courier service. DHL did a pretty good job with the PARIS 2119 packages, although we have heard about a few odd incidents in different countries caused by local postal carriers. DHL mostly handles the delivery into a country, then hands the packages off to local postal carriers for final delivery, so that last leg of the journey can be unpredictable depending on where you live. We've heard from a few UK backers who say Royal Mail hasn't done a great job following through very quickly or even updating the tracking status online... So we want to get different service quotes to weigh the benefits and risks of each. I'm hoping this can be figured out this week too.

Believe me, these are both very high on our priority list, and we're pushing to get answers as soon as we can. But as of this moment, writing this update, that's all we have to share... For those of you who have followed us along through the more recent campaigns, please know that we're in talks with Quartermaster Logistics (a very reputable worldwide crowdfunding fulfillment service) for WAHCOMMO and beyond, so hopefully ASTER will be the last of the logistical headaches (for a while)...

We do truly have the highest, noblest intentions, and want each and every one of you to be satisfied in the end. There's only so much we can do from our home-offices, but please know that we're on it. And we'll hopefully have actual news to report very soon!

Thanks once again for all of your understanding and support!

The next amazing launch coming Tuesday -- MONOLITH by LRNZ!
about 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 06, 2021 at 10:32:32 PM

Hi everyone!

What a whirlwind week it has been --  domestic ASTER packages landing in backers hands, Canadian orders getting ready, Ambassador Points awarded... what could make this week even more exciting...?

MONOLITH BY LRNZ AND RECCHIONI LAUNCHING THIS TUESDAY!

Yep, it's launch time again, and we're bringing another blockbuster graphic novel to the table, one you will not want to miss! From visionary graphic designer LRNZ (GOLEM, VIEWPOINT) and the dramatic mind of writer ROBERTO RECCHIONI (ORPHANS) comes a cinematic, psychological thriller for the digital age!

We're following up our 2016 campaign for LRNZ's VIEWPOINT artbook with a feature-length, oversized hardcover graphic novel stunningly painted by LRNZ --

This project was hinted at in the pages of VIEWPOINT, but we're excited to present the completed project in a gorgeous oversized gallery edition! If you're familiar with LRNZ's work, you know you can expect a dazzling variety of graphical styles, designs, and storytelling that perfectly exploit the unique abilities of comic book art. DIfferent styles used to capture different mental states, etc. It is really powerful, outstanding stuff.

Make no mistake, this is a rated-R movie, but one that you will want to "watch" over and over and over again.

Check out the pre-registration landing page at www.monolith-comic.com !

The campaign is also offering the last 400 copies of LRNZ's GOLEM, as well as copies of the original, 200-page VIEWPOINT Art book and a brand new Limited Edition Box Set of ORPHANS Season One!

And if you pre-register your pledge today, you can get a bonus linen-cardstock print by LRNZ added to your order FREE !

Just visit www.monolith-comic.com to register before the campaign launches on Tuesday to get one of these beautiful prints added to your order at no extra cost.

We'll be showcasing a TON of LRNZ's beautiful work created in the 4 years since the VIEWPOINT campaign, so please mark your calendars and join us for the launch and video premiere on Tuesday the 9th at 10am CST and help us have a great day-one launch!

Unboxing pix (spoiler alert)
about 3 years ago – Thu, Feb 04, 2021 at 09:24:19 PM

Hey everyone!

The boxes are starting to be delivered! We've gotten word from a few folks that theirs has arrived, but got proof of our own as we put ourselves down for a standard package, so we can see just how everything is being packaged and shipped... and our warehouse team did a great job! We took a couple of unboxing pix, but we will put those waaaaaaaay at the bottom of this update in case you don't want to see any spoilers. (We totally get it if you want to be surprised...)

Ambassador Point assignment continues -- thank you to everyone who registered a Points Account in the past 24 hours! Your points have been assigned! Y'know, if you do the math, the coupon value of those points is roughly equivalent to 10% back on every dollar pledged/spent... That's a pretty good membership perk! And we're hoping to build some new cool perks for the program later this year. So keep collecting and stay tuned!

Now in stores...

We wanted to take a minute to acknowledge that yes -- the retail version of the book was released into comic shops today. It will still be a couple of weeks before they make it into regular book stores, but those comic shops who did order copies should have them available today. While we had scheduled everything so that all rewards would be in backers' hands before the retail release, sometimes delays cause those dates to smash into each other. We have to commit to retail release dates 6-10 months in advance, and it can be very complicated and risky to change release dates, especially the closer they get. So there's not much we can do but do our best to get rewards out as smoothly and quickly as possible. But there's not much we can do about port congestion and pandemic-related delays.

Hopefully what you are really excited about, and why you backed the campaign in the first place, is for the wealth of exclusive extras that you CAN'T get in stores: the bonus stretch goal items, the exclusive variant cover editions, the signed bookplates, digital downloads, etc. Oh, and maybe also to help an indie publisher keep the engine running so we can continue to fill your shelves with the coolest books in the world. ;) But if your main hope was getting your copy first, just know that that is our intention going into this game, but sometimes things don't work out as planned. And hopefully, as we get more experienced and our process gets better, that will become a consistent reality!

SPOILER TERRITORY... BE WARNED!

What you see when you scroll down is a fair indication of the awesomeness that is headed your way... STOP READING NOW if you want to be surprised!

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Domestic shipments out! Ambassador Points awarded!
over 3 years ago – Thu, Feb 04, 2021 at 11:52:59 AM

Hi all!

Just a quick update to say that: 

A) The first big batch of 869 Domestic US orders were delivered to the post office last Friday and are in transit, with the remaining 208 Domestic orders set to go out this week!

B) Canadian orders will be boxed up and dropshipped to Ontario for forwarding immediately after that!

C) We're still waiting on an update from gov.uk on our VAT for all remaining non-North-American orders. :( It is absolutely mindboggling. But we're looking into backup plans. We're not going to let this go as long as the international orders for PARIS 2119 took... 

D) We also assigned the bonus Ambassador Points to all Backers who have an account on our webstore. If you log into our webstore (using the same email address as your Kickstarter/Backerkit account), you should see those points added to your balance. If you don't have an account on our webstore, we had nowhere to award those points. :)  So if you'd like to set up an account, just go to store.magnetic-press.com and click on the Ambassador Point button on the lower left of the screen to register. Then message us here on Kickstarter and we'll manually assign your points to your new account.

That sums up the latest news on ASTER as of today, but we've got one more exciting thing in the works that we'll reveal near the end of the week... if you've been following our last few campaigns, you might realize that it's about the time when we reveal our next project...

Stay tuned! Big reveal this weekend! :D

Domestic shipping starts this week! (And some pix!)
over 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 24, 2021 at 07:30:17 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you're having a good weekend -- we spent the week getting the final order data formatted and domestic postage labels purchased and into the hands of our warehouse team so they can start shipping THIS WEEK! We don't foresee any problems getting domestic orders out quickly, so you should start seeing your tracking notifications coming in the next several days. Canada -- you'll be next. The rest of the world, hopefully right along with them!

We were also pretty happy to get copies of some of the stretch merch yesterday -- we admit we hadn't seen it all yet! The bulk was shipped straight to the warehouse, so we just got our sample-package of everything yesterday... and it's all pretty sweet. :)

As cool as it all is, we may not have thought through the consequences of including the nerf balls -- those are gonna make the boxes a bit thicker! -- but hey, it's all fun stuff. Those are the best kinds of lessons. :)

So stay tuned -- shipping updates and tracking info coming soon!!!