Small update! New reward!
about 2 years ago
– Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 10:00:55 PM
Hi everyone! We're almost a week into the new Kickstarter and its going well! We're 63% funded, which is a little better progress than the Season 3 and 4 Kickstarters. I'm really happy with the way things are going and I appreciate your support so much!
I have two things to talk about today:
New Reward! Someone asked why I wasn't offering the Season 5 PDF as a stand alone reward, since I've always done that in the past. The answer is... I forgot! Don't worry, I've added the PDF as a separate reward for those of you who just want the current season. Remember, the Season 5 PDF also comes with any reward that includes the Season 5 book. Its also part of the Modest Medusa PDF Library.
Season 1 & 2 Prints: A few of you have asked if I still have the Season 1 and 2 prints available. I do have a limited quantity of these. Please let me know if you're interested. I there's enough interest I'll offer these as an add-on.
That's it for today. Thank you all for your support. I expect to talk about Stretch Goals later this week as we reach 75% funding!
- Jake
Almost 50% funded already!
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Sep 22, 2022 at 09:58:41 AM
Hi everyone! I can't believe we're almost 50% funded after just one day! What an amazing start. Its been 4 years since the last Modest Medusa book and I was a little nervous you all might have lost interest. I'm so glad you came back, and I really, really asperate your support!
Ill be talking about stretch goals later this week as we get closer to funding but for now I want to show off the art for the three prints I'm offering. In the very first Modest Medusa Kickstarter I offered an 11 x 17 print to go with the book. This became a tradition with Seasons 2 and 3, but I skipped it for Season 4. I'm excited to be able to resume the tradition this time and offer prints for Seasons 3-5!
Here's the Season 3 print, featuring Marah facing off against the monsters of Yeld.
The new Season 4 print, with Modest dealing with the loss of Marah.
The Season 5 poster featuring Modest and her classmates!
Good morning! Lets answer some questions!
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Sep 21, 2022 at 08:33:27 AM
Good morning, everyone! The Modest Medusa Season 5 Kickstarter is off to a really strong start this morning. We're already 25% funded! I really, really appreciate your support. I know its been YEARS since the last book so I'm really glad you've decided to stick with me!
I've gotten several good questions this morning that I'd like to answer! If you have any other questions feel free to leave a comment or send me a message!
Why are you reprinting Season 4? A whole bunch of you have asked this! Way back in 2018 when I ran the Season 4 Kickstarter I was convinced I could no longer do hardcover books. The cost per book had almost doubled! A bigger problem was keeping up with reprints. Around that time I knew that my Season 2 book was close to selling out, which meant I'd need to print more soon. The thought of financing another 1000 copy print run of an expensive hardcover book was... daunting. I couldn't afford it out of pocket, and I didn't think a big Kickstarter would be successful. So I resigned myself to the idea that hardcover books had to go away, and from then on I'd only be doing softcover.
The thing is... no one liked the softcover books. They were REALLY unpopular! The Season 4 Kickstarter did very well (thank you all) but enthusiasm for the new format was thin. I could see the disappointment when I met people at cons and signings. "Do you have any hardcovers left?" became a constant question. I decided I had to find a way to start doing hardcovers again!
It took a few years to figure it out. Rising costs made it difficult and teh pandemic and paper shortages through a wrench in my plans. I also didn't believe anyone would want to support an expensive Kickstarter JUST to finance an older book. Eventually the solution was to combine the reprint with a new Season and try to finance it through a Kickstarter with a razor thin profit margin and all the fat trimmed off. You'll notice this Kickstarter doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles and gimmicky rewards? I couldn't afford that AND print two hardcover books! But you've all told me that hardcovers are what you want, and I'd honestly rather make the best book that I can then a lunchbox or a pin! They'll be room for that kind of thing with the next project!
Everything is more expensive this time! I appreciate that none of you have actually complained about this, but its a very understandable questions. Its true, everything is more expensive this time! Costs are insane right now! One of the reasons its taken me so long to do a new book is that costs have been so daunting that I wasn't sure if it was actually viable! As I mentioned above, the cost of printing hardcover books has almost doubled! And handcrafted items involve another artist who needs to be paid for her time, costs and creativity. I've tried my best to keep prices reasonable, but I know a few items are steep. I appreciate your generosity, but please don't pledge for anything you can't afford!
Why can't I get the Season 1 & 2 books? Sadly Seasons 1 and 2 are completely sold out! My plan is to try to do a reprint Kickstarter for these books next year (complete with a 5 book slipcase). In the meantime the Digital Library pledge contains all 5 Seasons.
Who did Modest Medusa's voice in the Kickstarter video? I worked with my friend and voice actor Emmavoid to create this Kickstarter video. She provided the voice for Modest and I think she did a great job! Maybe this won't be the last time she voices Modest?
How will shipping work? I won't be charging for shipping during this Kickstarter. Instead, I'll be charging for shipping separately through Backerkit. What this means is that after the books are printed and have arrived at my studio I'll send you an invoice through Backerkit and you'll pay for shipping at that time. This allows me to charge you the most accurate shipping prices possible instead of trying to estimate them 6 months in advance. We used Backerkit for last year's Mermaid Hunters Kickstarter and I feel like it actually saved everyone money! Backerkit is very easy to use. I'll be posting an update toward the end of the Kickstarter with a full guide, and you can ask me questions if you need to!
Will some items have extra shipping costs? Maybe. The 11 x 17 art prints will be shipped in tubes. At the moment I don't THINK this will involve an extra cost. If it does, it should be minimal.
Will their be local pick up? Yes! I'll be arranging a weekend where locals can pick up their rewards, likely at a local shop.
I think that's it for now! let me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you all so much!
- Jake
