July Update!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jul 06, 2021 at 02:57:40 PM

Hello!

Jon here again. I thought it was about time we shared some of what we’ve been up to on Ralph’s book! 

Our layout artist Paul has been working away for months now, skillfully crafting the phenominally complex layout this beautiful book deserves. With so much extra material unlocked we’re just now reaching the final lap, and everything is looking marvellous. 

Once we’ve locked in each chapter, Ralph will collate an appendix which will give you vital information about each piece featured, which you’ll be able to reference as you dip in and out of the book. It’s really going to be quite something.

Anyway enough talk - pictures!

In other news we’ll soon be locking down the pledge manager and charging your cards for anything you’ve added on. We’ll be sure to give you plenty of notice of exactly when that is happening as soon as we finalise the date. But now would be a good time to check your address, and make sure you haven’t missed any Add Ons you’d like. Once it’s shut, it’s shut!

Thanks again for all your amazing support with this project. It’s been a joy to work on!

Jon (and Ralph!)

Backerkit update! Please do read this one!
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 27, 2021 at 11:08:07 AM

Hello!

We were notified of an error in the set up of Backerkit. 

So what happened?

We thought we had set up two entirely separate options: 

1: The Art Adventure book you pledged for, costing £35, on which a shipping fee is payable as noted on the campaign (and for which you paid as part of the campaign).

2: A seperate Add-On version of the book, costing £40, which includes shipping. Just to keep it nice and simple. The intention was you could throw as many of those in your cart as you wanted and there'd be no complex shipping to figure out.

Now, it turns out we did not have this set up! When we (well, let's be honest, I) edited the "Add On" version, via the "Add Ons" section of the pledge manager, I was editing the main book. There was no separate Add On version. In hindsight this makes total sense. 

Unbeknownst to us, the pledge manager was charging you shipping for Added-On, extra copies, at a different rate than we'd offered. Well, clearly that's not ok. We're not in the game of scamming you for some extra shipping! So, after a bunch of head scratching, we've found a solution. 

For backers only, there is now an Add-On version of the book available, which is £40, with free shipping as advertised. This is only visible if you've already pledged for a copy of the book.  So you can't pull a sneaky, pledge £1, and then get an Add-On copy for less shipping. That wouldn't be fair to everyone else!

For late pledgers, that offer is not available, though there is reduced shipping on multiple copies of the book - you won't pay the full shipping amount on each one. So it's still a fair deal. 

Here are some options that might apply to you:

I already did my survey!

Thanks for being on it! If you've already done your survey, and you added on an extra book (or even more than one), you may be one of the 9 people currently be in line to pay more shipping than we promised when cards get charged. 

You should be able to go back into the survey and edit your pledge, swapping out added-on copies with-shipping for the new one which is £40 including shipping. 

Let me know how that goes - while clearly we don't want to cause you loads of inconvenience, we'll work on this until it's precisely what we offered you in the first place. I think we're there right now, but let me know if it works for you.

If it doesnt work as planned, just let us know, and we'll find a fix. We will give plenty of warning before anyone's card is charged. And we certainly don't want anyone to be unhappy. 

I didn't pledge for an extra book!

Then you're all good. No need to do anything. You're golden! If you do decide you'd like an extra copy, and there's still time, it now comes at the reduced price of £40 including shipping. :)

I haven't done my survey yet!

Then you're all good. The options you'll see when you complete your survey will be correct. 

I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused with this - we do feel it's important you get the deal you were promised, even if this means dipping back into that survey. 

Right, our next update should be something a lot more entertaining and which will have less use of the word "shipping" in it.

Thanks!

Jon & Ralph

Pledge Manager and Back Cover colour studies
almost 3 years ago – Tue, May 25, 2021 at 01:51:11 AM

HI,

I am happy to announce that at 5pm GMT+1 today, Tuesday 25th, the Backerkit site supporting this campaign will be launched. Every backer will receive a link.

The Backerkit pledge manager will allow you to order additional books, prints, etc. It will also enable the purchase of the remaining original artwork, including the colour studies for the back cover. These will be available on  a first come, first served, basis.

So if you, or a friend, missed out during the Kirkstarter campaign you can now catch up.

Ralph

Memoir - back cover painting gone to auction.
almost 3 years ago – Sun, May 16, 2021 at 11:06:29 AM

The finished painting for the back cover - Memoir - is now available to purchase. Rather than do a first past the post listing I decided to auction it through Ebay.

The painting will be sent framed, as seen in this photo, via UPS with free international shipping.

Follow this link for the listing:

Memoir - original fantasy oil painting by Ralph Horsley | eBay

Good luck on your bidding!

Ralph

Pledge Manager is Imminent
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 13, 2021 at 12:58:23 PM

Hello!

Hope this finds you well!

Our pledge manager is poised to open. We're doing the last few bits and bobs, and then it'll go into approval, and then it will be thrown open. We're using the Backerkit service for our pledge manager

What is a Pledge Manager?

A pledge manager is a site external to Kickstarter which allows us to collect information for delivery of your rewards, let's you manage your info, add more rewards, get downloads and more! It's a little bit more flexible and user-friendly than a Kickstarter Survey. (As much as we love Kickstarter!)

What can I do in the Pledge Manager?

In the pledge manager you'll be able to do several things:

1: We'll collect your address so we can send you your stuff

2: If you pledged for a sketch book plate, you'll be able to make a request for the subject matter of the sketch. Please remember it's a sketch, so thing in nice broad terms.

3: You'll be able to add on more funds if you'd like to for a signed art print, or original. We'll be adding a new signed print of the back cover art alongside the front cover print.

Because Backerkit is a bit more flexible than Kickstarter, it lets us do a couple of things really simply: If you'd like one of the remaining pieces of orginal art, you'll be able to simply buy them like you would from a web shop, no matter what your pledge level - Kickstarter doesnt really let us do that nearly as easily. 

There are two original art borders still available, and they'll be sold in the pledge manager on a first-come, first-served basis when the pledge manager opens. 

Ralph is also adding in some framed, original colour studies for the back cover painting, entitled "Memoir". Check them out:

They'll also be first-come first-served. We'll warn you when that pledge manager will open ahead of time so you can be ready!

Speaking of original art, the original oil painting of the back cover image is heading to Ebay. We'll let you know when the sale begins in another update - it's likely to be this weekend that the sale begins. It's already a sought-after piece, so look out for that!

Progress

Progress has been great on the book - it's a highly complex layout job, and we unlocked lots of new pages, but it's coming along very nicely indeed! This update is long enough, but we'll share some pages with you soon!

That's it for now!

Jon & Ralph