As always, I want to start off by thanking you for your support thus far. We’ve successfully funded the project, and unlocked the first stretch goal.

Where are we now?

Obviously, we are about 10 days into the campaign, and have raised about $2,165. This is great, and based on Kickstarter fees, shipping costs, and printing costs for the book, this means that about $1,500 will come to me in order to pay the artists and other contributors for their work. (I get paid last, if at all, for the record.)

That’s pretty good! It’s a bit less than half of the raw, out-the-door costs to make the book everything I want, based on the best information I have to date – which is obviously better information than I had when I started the campaign. My estimate was that it would take $5,000 to hit all of my goals for the book; at current distribution of reward selections, we’ll hit the “get everything done” level at about $4,500 in pledges. If everyone suddenly goes print-happy and orders one book each, that will require $6,150. So my budgeting process was pretty good. This pleases me.

Where will we wind up?

Backerkit projections are both more pessimistic and more realistic, I think. They suggest $3,000-$5,800, with a most likely value of $4,400. Kicktraq uses fairly crude algorithms, it would seem, and suggests about $5,400, with a range from about $4,100 to $6,800.

So paying for everything the book needs is not crazy-talk, but it’s not certain, either.

More Backers!

The best thing for the project is to spread the word. Talk to your friends, ask them to check it out, and pledge. We’re a long way from there now, but if we could get in the neighborhood of 500-1000 backers, things become conceivable that simply are not at lower volumes.

Start Strong, Finish Strong

So, where are we?

• The manuscript is finished and edited.
• The preliminary layout has gone through two revisions, and Nathan has done great work.
• We have committed to an eBook version, and I’ll be writing a supplemental contract for Nathan for that today. Nathan also has to put in the links within the book.
• The number of art spaces has increased to 22, and I will fill them with color art no matter what. I want it, I think you want it, and it’s simply easier to give all my artists the same instructions: full-color, full speed ahead.
• I have added a two-page quick-reference guide at the back of the book. That was a great idea that Larry had, and it was easy to do.
• I have tested the layout with layers on and off, printing full-options-on on a color printer (my advice: don’t do it unless you have an hour), and printing full-options-on on my P1102w (instant print, quite readable). You can turn off both art and backgrounds if you want a text-only printout.
• The art direction is all written, and the artists are starting to sign their final contracts. I hope to have three of four in hand by week’s end, and hopefully the last soon.
• I have minor revisions to put copyright statements and attribution where they need to go. That requires some homework. Not a lot, but it’s there.
• We’ll need to generate a Table of Contents. That’s pretty trivial.
• I need to fill out the details and create Backerkit surveys
• I have to fill out the detailed information for the ISBN and Bar Code
• I have to create final versions of the cover for both the print run as well as the PDF. The print run needs a 0.5″x0.75″ space on the back for the LightningSource bar code, while my own version will need a large space for the ISBN and EIN barcode. The things you learn when you do this the first time.

And that’s basically it. Other than the art, determining if we get the custom-made cover or not (anything north of $4,000 in total pledges and that starts to look like a no-brainer), and a few administrative details, this book is well on the way to being complete and ready to go.

Thanks for your support thus far! With a bit of networking support, I know that we can hit that $5,000 stretch goal, or even beyond it.