Modest Medusa Pre-Order Store!

Big update: Backerkit is live!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Jul 18, 2023 at 10:27:02 PM

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a nice summer and staying cool. It been hot as hell here! I have a lot to talk to you about this week, so lets get to it!

We'll be covering:

• Backerkit
• The new 48 Hour Modest Medusa book
• Custom Book Sketches
• Shipping Update

Backerkit: The Backerkit for this project is live now. You should have an email in your inbox. If you can't find it let me know! For those of you who don't know, Backerkit is a tool for managing  Kickstarter projects after they end. I used it previously with the Mermaid Hunters project and it was really handy. If you've never used Backerkit before the I sent email will ask you to make an account. When you do you'll find your Modest Medusa Kickstarter pledge already waiting for you. For example, if you pledged $25 for the Season 5 book, that amount and item will be listed in your Backerkit cart (and marked as already paid for).

What do you need to do next? Not much! First, I'd like you to confirm your shipping address in Backerkit. This will help make sure I send your package to the right address. You don't need to do this if you're ONLY getting a digital reward. Next, you can decide if you want to add on additional rewards. I'm offering the brand new 48 Hour Modest Medusa book, but there's also lots of extras like stickers, coloring books and prints that you can add if you want to. To be clear, you DO NOT have to add anything at all!

Once you've selected your add-ons and updated your shipping address you're done for now. Next month I will be adding your shipping cost to Backerkit. I'm waiting till basically the last minute to do this to make sure I can get you the best shipping price. About a week after shipping costs are added I'll be charging your account for you total, which will include shipping plus any add-ons (anything you selected during the Kickstarter is already payed for, of course).

Here's a tentative timeline:

• Today: Backerkit is live: Choose extra  add-ons and update shipping address.
• Mid-August: Shipping costs will be added to Backerkit.
• Late August: Your Backerkit account will be charged for shipping and add-ons.

Please contact me here, on Backerkit or at [email protected] if you have any questions!

48 Hour Modest Medusa: During the Kickstarter we didn't quite hit the stretch goal for the 48 Hour Modest Medusa book, but I decided to do it anyway! This new book is available for the very first time as an add-on through Backerkit. This new book is 188 black & white pages and includes 4 complete Modest Medusa stories, including 2 that were created JUST for this book! This is a sequel to 24 Hour Modest Medusa, which is also available through Backerkit. I hope you'll add it to your order!

Custom Book Sketches: Custom markers sketches for your Modest Medusa books have always been a popular reward, and this time more of you pledged for them then ever. However, there are still a  few of you who haven't told me what you'd like me to draw for you! No problem, theres still time! I sent you a message about this on Kickstarter awhile ago, but you can just message me here or at [email protected] to tell me what you'd like. If I don't here from you'll I'll do a really good Medusa for you!

I'm also offering Book Sketches as an add-on through Backerkit, so if you'd like one now is your last chance! If you select this add-on please send me a message and tell me what you'd like!

Shipping Update: No news. I know that's frustrating. The printer delivered the final proofs to me earlier this month and they look great. I think they were really worth holding out for, even if it set the whole project back by months. The printer did a very good job and the new books will look great on your shelf next to the first 3 volumes. But at this moment I'm not sure when they'll ship from the printer in China to me. I am expecting a confirmation any day, so I'll let you know as soon as I know. My GUESS is  that I'll have book in hand late next month.

Thats it for now. Thank you all for your patience. We're getting so close!

- Jake

I haven't forgotten about you!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jul 14, 2023 at 01:33:31 PM

Hi everyone. Its been a few weeks since my last update. I don't have a lot of news for you today, but I wanted you to know I haven't forgotten about you. I've been working to get everything taken care of, but I haven't wanted to post anything until I have real news. I THINK I'll have real news to share next week, so look for that.

In the meantime here's one of the many custom book sketches I've done over the last few months. I'll share them all with you eventually.

Talk to you soon!

- Jake

June update: custom books illustrations and printing problems
over 1 year ago – Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 06:08:44 AM

Hi everyone. Its June already. Time is going by so fast. Please stop, time!

Just two things to talk about right now, although I hope to have another update for you before the end of the month.

1.  Printing: Things are going slow at the printer. I've been keeping this news to myself, but its time to let you know. There was a problem printing the book covers. They had to be redone, which is a time consuming and costly process. I've known about this for a few weeks, but I still don't know if this will cause a delay or not. Right now I'm expecting the books to arrive in Portland in early July. The printer said there could be a delay, but its not clear if there will be yet. So I'll let you know as soon as I know.  My hope is that if they are delayed it won't be by too long. At this point you've all already waited long enough.

2. Custom book illustrations: I always offer custom book illustrations for the inside of your Modest Medusa books. These are drawn on 3 x 4 inch adhesive sheets and later pasted into the books. This time more of you then ever took me up on this reward! Which is great. Thanks! As of yesterday I've finished all of these that I can (you can see two of them right here). Unfortunately, about half of you who selected this reward still haven't told me what you want. That's fine though. I'll be sending you messages on Kickstarter today asking you to let me know what you'd like to draw. So please look for those later today!

Thats everything for now. I hope to have another update for you before July. Have a great rest of the month!

- Jake

May update!
over 1 year ago – Wed, May 17, 2023 at 05:23:35 PM

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a nice May.  May is always a busy month for my.  All 3 of my siblings have their birthdays in May, and so do several of my friends. My own birthday is at the end of the month too. And then there's Mother's Day. Lots of busy weekends! 

I don't have too much to share with you today. But here's some small updates:

• I'm still waiting for final delivery date confirmations, but I THINK books will arrive from the printer in early July. Which means I'll be shipping them to you in July. I suspect I'll have shipping date confirmation early next month.
• The Backerkit will finally go live next month. You'll have the chance to add on extra items to your pledge if you want (like the new 48 Hour Modest Medusa book), update your shipping address and pay for shipping. Good news, domestic USPS rates have gone down!
• Speaking of 48 Hour Modest Medusa, this new collection of 24 Hour Comics will be available for the first time through Backerkit. I finished up the final story for this collection last week and I'm putting the book together now. It contains 5 stories (2 brand new to this book) and is over 180 pages!
• Custom book illustrations are coming along. Slow but steady! If you paid for one but haven't told me what you want please let me know when you get a chance!

I think that's it for now. I know this project has ended up taking months longer than anticipated and I really appreciate your patience and support. I think you'll be very happy with the books once they're in your hands.

Talk to you soon,

Jake

Proof!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 01:13:08 AM

Hi everyone. I hope you're having a nice April. The last month ended up being really weird for me. A lot of unexpected work that set me back a bit. Let me explain.

Last update I showed you the cover for the new book and told you that I was planning to send the files to the printer soon. I did! But it ended up being complicated. The printer needed me to make a bunch of changes, and unfortunately I just didn't understand what they wanted. We figured it out over about two weeks of back and forth communication, but it was a lot of extra work and small changes.

Thankfully now everything is going well. The printer prepared proofs of the Season 4 and 5 books and sent them to me for approval. The washed out colors are my own crappy phone camera. In person the proofs look very vibrant!

What's a proof? As you can see in the photo a proof is basically a single complete copy of the book that the printer assembles prior to full production so that I can make final checks and approve everything. In this case the proof is actually two sets (one for each book) of three separate items.

• 1 set of paginated ozalids: These are the full size unbound printed pages, presented separately so I can closely examine them for mistakes.
• 1 set of digital color proofs: These are bound books that are meant to be examples, but not final products. The interiors are printed with a laser printer and the binding seems to be more for show. These are just to show me what the whole thing will look like when assembled, but are not an indication of final quality (you can see them in the pictures here.)
• 1 set of blank dummies: These are blank hardcover books. The exact page count, size and paper and binding quality as the finished product, but completely blank.

So what I'm doing this evening is looking these over and making sure everything is correct and that there's no errors that need to be fixed or adjustments that need to be made.

So when will the books arrive? That's a good question. I missed my original "materials in" date, and the delays I described above have set the whole project back again. They'll have an estimated delivery for me soon, but at this point my guess is books will be in my hand sometime in July. That's a LOT later than I hoped, but I have no one but myself to blame for that!

Hopefully I'll have an estimated date to share with you later this month. In the meantime I'll be working on book sketches and preparing the Backerkit. Thank you so much for your patience and support!

- Jake