Border Delays
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 05:44:38 PM
Hey folks!
A few people have expressed some concern about their copies not arriving, and it's easier to just put out a blanket answer.
I mentioned the possibility of some COVID-related delays a few weeks ago, but it looks like we're just now seeing how extensive some of those delays can be. All packages, international or not, were shipped at the most expedient option, but are still taking their sweet sweet time to get anywhere.
I asked one backer for permission to share a little bit of info from their package. They were concerned that their copy hadn't arrived (which is totally fair, and I would too if I were them/you), so I dug through the tracking numbers until I could find the one that matched up with them.
This took a little while for me to do, Canada Post doesn't save past shipments by name, that would be too easy, and although I selected 'email me updates about my package' on each shipment, not everyone seems to be getting them (or maybe spam filters are doing too good of a job? I dunno).
Either way, once we found the correct tracking number, I punched it in and got this:
This was an expedited parcel to the southern US, and the typical turn around on this pre-COVID, from my door to this person's, was 4-10 business days TOTAL. From what I can see, it looks like it spent about that many days being processed before it even left the Canada Post office, and then was in transit for three weeks - And is expected to take yet another two weeks - before arriving, and this is just to the SOUTHERN US.
I have a few more messages I need to respond to, and I know at least one of them is international (I'm looking at you, Jakob!), but I have to imagine it will be much of the same thing but with a much longer time scale.
That's it, that's the update - things are taking ten thousand times longer than they ought to, but it is out of my hands. I'm hopeful those of you who were in the tail end of shipping will see your packages start trickling in soon!
WE DID IT!
almost 6 years ago
– Fri, May 29, 2020 at 01:01:40 AM
It took $3000 more dollars and 6 months longer than I had hoped, but we GOT THERE!
Based on what folks are telling me, you may not see any progress on your package for days/weeks at a time. COVID has slowed everything down to a crawl, and it doesn't help that I live in a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere.
Those of you who live overseas and helped pay for your shipping costs are amazing. As you all know, $7 was collected for shipping ($10 for international backers), but the shipping cost for the cheapest package was $10.37, while the most expensive was a little over $60.
I have NO idea how long it will take for your book to arrive, and for that I apologize, but it's just completely out of my hands. Everyone should have received their tracking info either by email or phone at this point, and that will give you *something* to keep an eye on.
Is my book on the way?
Hell yes it is!
What if it doesn't show up?
Give it another 2-3 weeks. If STILL hasn't shown up by then, reach out and we'll see what's going on.
What's next?
Now that this absurd weight is off my shoulders, the next step is dealing with the issues that couldn't get fixed in the first print run (besides the correction on the cover): adding the foreward, the special thanks, and the 'about the author page', as well as addressing all the additional errors and copy edits that have been spotted by either readers or the incredibly amazing Beth that some of you may have met in the Discord.
I had originally hoped to make some D&D 5e sheets for the characters in the novel to hand out, but unfortunately, I'm just too far in the red on this endeavor to do so, especially now that I'm currently looking for work. That said, anyone who does play 5e and would like some free content of mine from the DmsGuild can reach out, and I will give you a BUNCH of free stuff by way of apology!
The Dragon's Contract
Is coming soon(tm). Between dealing with this, COVID, and everything else, I haven't written a word of The Dragon's Contract in weeks, and sadly that's not likely to change for the next little bit as I try to finalize a bunch of content and get it out for sale ASAP. That said, I'm already about 30,000 words into writing it, and expect that I should be able to start putting the hammer down on it soon. (Just because I haven't been putting words on paper doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it, haha.
Expect snippets and previews of it over the next few weeks on my Twitter account!
Did you make ANY any money from this?
Not a fucking cent :)
But, I have a book published, and my lifelong dream wasn't 'become financially stable overnight from one novel', it was 'become an author', and while this was admittedly an agonizing first step, it was still a first step - it also came paired with an education unlike any I have ever received, so I can't complain overmuch.
Can I do anything?
-Leave a review somewhere! Good reviews help keep the book fresh in people's minds and work wonders for things like Amazon's algorithms.
-Ask your local book store to consider ordering a copy, or better yet tell a friend to order a copy through your local book store.
-Tell me if you enjoyed the book! This doesn't actually help in any kind of tangible or measurable way, but I would love to know that people are at least enjoying this story.
Any final words?
This project went wrong in ways that I didn't even imagine possible, and I probably should have given up on it the minute things started going sideways... but I'm incredibly glad that I did not, and I can't thank everyone enough for sticking through it and being patient and positive, I honestly don't know if I would have gotten through this otherwise.
BOY, did I do some LEARNING on this motherfucker... the next one is going to be painless in comparison.
Now, if you'll all excuse me, it's time for me to finally put a copy of The Graverobber's Sword on my bookshelf.
Update! (part 2)
almost 6 years ago
– Sun, May 17, 2020 at 08:25:46 PM
The immediate follow up that no one asked for!
I'm taking care of a second wave of shipping today, which brings the number of books that are NOT shipped down to the pitifully small number of TWENTY SEVEN.
SO CLOSE.
Unfortunately, all but SIX of that number are international (see: Italy, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand, etc) and those cost me roughly $40-$50 a pop to ship.
That's roughly another $2,000.
I'm going to be doing some budgeting, but I think what it's going to come down to is that if you are NOT from North America, you will have to pay your own shipping - or rather, contribute the amount owing between what you paid on the KS and the actual shipping cost.
I was hoping to just quietly eat the cost for everyone, but when these last 20 books will cost the same to ship as the previous 40 have... I just don't think I can do it. This whole shipping miscalculation has already put the project seriously in the red, and I'm unfortunately about as deep into it as I can get.
Update!
almost 6 years ago
– Sun, May 17, 2020 at 06:04:33 AM
Hey Folks! I'm once again being prodded for an update, so I am here to oblige!
Not gonna lie, I really appreciate the 'someone is requesting an update' thing because it helps remind me to post updates here and not just on Twitter or what have you (not that Twitter has been a great place for me in the slightest lately... but that's besides the point).
The shipping that I wanted to take care of as of Wednesday was dealt with today, which means another 20 books are packaged and set to get shipped out on Monday.
Unfortunately, that 20 books represented the entire $400 I had budgeted because shipping is fucking expensive (I'm allowed to say fuck, I'm worn out and there's a pandemic going on).
Backerkit tells me we are down to the agonizingly low amount of FORTY books remaining, so I'm going to see if I can't apply for some kind of small loan or line of credit this week and get them OUT of my mother loving HOUSE, but in the meantime that is it.
As usual, I'll remind you that if you want to pay for your own shipping, you will jump the queue, but otherwise keep an eye on your phones and inboxes for shipping/tracking updates.
Cheers,
Jesse
May Update
almost 6 years ago
– Fri, May 01, 2020 at 08:43:55 PM
Hey folks!
I got a notification letting me know that two backers are asking for an update, so here we are! Shipping continues being rolled out, though some people have reached out on Twitter to let me know they are experiencing some odd but as-to-be-expected delays related to COVID-19, but nothing drastic to report.
I've budgeted for another $200 on shipping this week, followed by $400 next week and that *should* - actually, no, I'm not going to say it out loud, because last time I did the Canadian dollar crashed, a shipment went missing, and a literal plague happened.
Suffice it to say I'm optimistic for May! As I've stated previously, if you want to pay for your own shipping voluntarily, you are welcome to do so. Otherwise, watch your inbox for updates.
On a completely unrelated note, I hope everyone is doing okay. Obviously that's a big generality of a statement to make, but I mean it in the sense that best applies to you - I hope you're well-hydrated, not-too-anxious, staying safe, and keeping in touch with your loved ones. Bonus points if you're reading good books and playing good games, or maybe making things - but you aren't at a deficit if you aren't doing jack, it's weird out there.
Stay healthy and safe!
-J
