ISSUES HAVE ARRIVED, SHIPPING HAS BEGUN!
5 months ago
– Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 10:28:45 AM
IN SHORT
-
THE NEW ISSUES ARRIVED: Physical copies of New Edge Sword & Sorcery issues 1&2 have begun shipping to backers!
-
TRACKING: You may receive an email saying your package has shipped, but notice the tracking says "Label created, package not in system" for a few days afterward. That's a totally normal part of the process and nothing to be worried about.
-
ARRIVING WHEN?: It'll take a second for our fulfillment person to ship this many books, and everybody's at the whims of the postal service, but hopefully all or most of our physical format backers in North America will have their books before Christmas.
- DIGITAL FORMATS: ePub & PDF files will be sent to backers immediately after this update goes out!
-
DO YOU ENJOY LONGFORM YOUTUBE VIDEOS?: Then you may dig this high quality, two-part special on the new issues of the magazine as assembled by Jay Requard. Part One features an interview with our editor, Oliver Brackenbury (me!), and Part Two has a panel discussion with three of our authors - Kirk Johnson, Jeremy Pak Nelson, and Sarah Macklin. Both include readings of excerpts from the new stories, and full, original songs by bands Jay feels have an S&S vibe to them.
-
THAT'S IT FOR NOW: The next time you hear from us should be when we're ready to announce our 2024 crowdfunding campaign, for issues 3&4. Until then, we hope you enjoy the new issues and have a lovely holiday season!
IN DETAIL
Huzzah, we made it!
It'll take a second for our fulfillment person to ship this many books, and everybody's at the whims of the postal service, but hopefully all or most of our physical format backers in North America will have their books before Christmas.
You may receive an email saying your package has shipped, but notice the tracking says "Label created, package not in system" for a few days afterward. That's a totally normal part of the process and nothing to be worried about.
We very much look forward to hearing what you think about our new issues, and encourage y'all to share pictures of your copies out in the world. Tag us on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter!
You can also give us a nice review on Goodreads, which is always appreciated. Here's issue one, and here's issue two. We're still deciding if we want to put the new issues on Amazon.
Now, on to...
THE FUTURE!
It's funny, the way publishing forces you to think very long term can put you out of sync with everybody else. A part of me feels like issues 1&2 were done back in early August...because, except printing and shipping, they were.
Meanwhile I knew the best way to make producing our next year's issues go smoother, and deliver them more quickly to you, would be to start planning them immediately. So it's been easy for me to slip and think, just for a moment, that we'd already released issues 1&2! Heck, I've already been working on 3&4 for three months now.
In fact, there's been notable progress on the writing for issues 3&4 just since our last Kickstarter update! Here's the spreadsheet, with author names cropped out so we don't shame anybody.
There's been so much other planning done already, too, like finishing our artist line-up and choosing what cool crowdfunding exclusives we'll have next time. It's very tempting to spoil y'all with contributor names or other big reveals we have up our sleeve!
We've learned and accomplished so much with issues 1&2. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the support that's made it possible to do this, and to make some exciting plans for 2024.
Have yourselves a lovely holiday season and, barring something unexpected, the next time you'll hear from me is when I'll be able to share the first exiting news about issues 3&4...
Sincerely,
Issue One Cover Reveal, Peek at Advance Copies, and (alas) a Delay
7 months ago
– Fri, Oct 13, 2023 at 05:59:53 AM
IN SHORT
- ISSUE ONE COVER ART REVEAL: Scroll below the dog pic to see it.
- ADVANCE COPIES RECIEVED: Scroll bellow the dog to see what our completed issues will look like in soft and hardcover.
- UNEXPECTED DELAY: Books will now begin shipping to backers at some point between Nov 13th and Dec 1st (approx).
- OUR NEXT UPDATE: ...will be to confirm the books have begun shipping to backers.
IN DETAIL
Let's start with the bad news, then finish with the fun stuff.
THE DELAY
The books are printed. They have been shipped from the printers. They are on their way to our fulfillment person in Chicago, who'll begin fulfilling your orders as soon as they arrive. "Nov 13th to Dec 1st" is when we've been told to expect them.
We thank you all for your patience. This delay was a mix of two things; it being our first time going through the traditional printing process, and an event that was out of our control.
We'll better understand all the steps in the process next time and, in the interest of quicker turn-around for that next time, we're working toward having all the writing for our 2024 issues completed by the end of our next crowdfund. Here's how the progress spreadsheet for that currently looks:
Barring something truly outrageous happening, our next update will be to confirm the books have arrived in Chicago and begun shipping out to you all. Again, thank you for patience. This is been a long ride, but the advance copies we're currently staring at with hearts in our eyes make it clear this will have been worth it!
If you'd rather not see the issue one cover art or the finished issues before you hold them in your hands, then don't scroll past the Adorable Puppy (tm).
ISSUE ONE COVER ART REVEAL
Here it is, by Caterina Gerbasi.
From issue #2 onward the concepts for our cover art will be taken from the content of stories inside the issue. But for #1 it felt like we should try to capture the ethos of the magazine, a visual equivalent to our slogan of "Made with love for the classics, and an inclusive, boundary-pushing approach to storytelling!".
A while ago I found myself looking at a Frank Frazetta's painting, "Against the Gods", when it struck me how the painting focuses on the barbarian's chest as much as, if not more than, his face. Then I thought of how I'd said many times that I'd never seen a trans barbarian S&S character. Mix that with how S&S characters' bodies often tell a story with the scars they collect in their dangerous lives, and how part of our mission is contributing to making a place in S&S for more diverse individuals and... Voila, we have ourselves a transman barbarian on the cover, scarred chest proudly on display, standing triumphantly, and wielding a battle-axe akin to the NESS logo!
Now to see it printed nicely on issue #1, alongside issue #2...
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
For comparison, and fun, I've put our original, Amazon POD issue #0 alongside the new, traditionally printed ones.
Here's those hardcover bindings, with "perfect-bound" (glue binding) #0 on the left, then one & two with their lovely sewn-stitch bindings and ribbon bookmarks.
And a close-up on the new issues' "t-shirt tag", whose design we decided to simplify by removing that background rectangle you see on #0.
And here's some closer pics of just the new issues in softcover:
As you saw in the big group shot with #0, we also changed the back design for our softcovers, jazzing things up by using some interior art from one of their stories and, on the bottom half, a kind of retro 70's album cover track listing of the contents.
Hoo boy it felt great to put these on my bookshelf today. I can't wait until we start to see pictures of the magazine out in the wild, being enjoyed by...you!
Once more, with feeling, thank you for your patience. The next time you hear from us, it will be to let you know we've begun shipping issues to backers.
Take care,
