BackerKit Surveys coming early next week! Please read for details since they are MANDATORY \o/
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 12, 2020 at 12:08:02 AM

Hey everyone!

I know I had scheduled the BackerKit Surveys to go out on the 8th but the book design took me a little longer than expected and I wanted to make sure I was all wrapped up before turning my attention to the Surveys.

Alas it is now finally time! The Surveys will start going out as early as today to about 5% of you as a Smoke Test and once that's completed then we get to the remaining backers next week. If you are among those receiving the Surveys today and happen to catch any glitches, shipping fees that might seem out of place, etc, please do reach out and let me know.

We are moving on to the final stage before going to print which is collecting all your names for our Thank You section of the book.

And that's why BackerKit Surveys are mandatory and absolutely necessary. I will collect your names for the Thank You section, your shipping addresses and fulfill digital rewards all through BackerKit. 

Meaning you don't fill them out, you won't get any of the rewards you pledged for. I know this might sound harsh or even unfair but using a third-party pledge manager is the ONLY way I will be able to fulfill your many different pledges without getting anything wrong. Through BackerKit's system I'm able to electronically sort all the various packages, correctly ship them out and automatically keep you all up to date with individual tracking info.

Unfortunately every Kickstarter I run there are about 20 to 30 backers that simply choose to ignore the surveys making it impossible for me to mail their rewards. Once again, without the surveys I don't even have a shipping address to send stuff to...

If you don't complete your BackerKit Survey then your pledge is forfeit and the cash invested will be considered a donation towards the project so please make sure you do get your BackerKit Survey and fill it out in a timely manner.

Surveys are sent via e-mail, are easily accessible without needing any sign-up or registration and are pretty intuitive to fill out.

Filling out the BackerKit Surveys also marks the LAST opportunity to grab a PRINT ON DEMAND hardcover exclusive Kickstarter edition. You'll be able to either switch your pledge tier or add a second book to your order.

The hardcover edition also comes with a gorgeous dual-sided dust-jacket featuring art by Marvel's cover artist LUCAS WERNECK (which you can see above used in an alternative color scheme for the credits as well)!

On the very first screen of the Survey you will be able to either continue with your current Pledge Tier or switch to a different one. You'll then be taken to an Add-Ons section where many items and collectibles will be available to be added to your order including the LIMITED & EXCLUSIVE Holofoil set of 9x cards by Marvel's artist IBRAIM ROBERSON:

Early next week you'll get an e-mail with a personal link to your BackerKit Survey. It's important to respond to your survey as quickly as possible since I will need the information in it prior to sending items to production. The surveys tally up the final counts of each item and that's why these go out so far ahead of the actual shipping date.

Surveys will be sent to the e-mail account registered with Kickstarter and they may end up in your Spam or Junk Folder. Please keep this in mind and give your Spam a peek every now and then. I'll send another update shortly after Surveys have gone out to make sure you know when and where to look for them.

Please note: If you used your Facebook credentials to log int to your Kickstarter account the Survey will be sent to the e-mail address registered with Facebook.

How long will BackerKit Surveys be online?

I will lock down surveys on September 21st giving you all around a full week. After that time backers might not be able to add all items on to their pledges, have their name on the Thank You list or fix any payment issues occurred during the Kickstarter campaign.

As mentioned above Pledge Managers also allow backers to add new products to their packages. One of the steps in the survey offers a menu of sorts of other graphic novels, collectibles and more and you are welcome to pick and choose whatever you like. All the products purchased at this step are shipped alongside your Kickstarter rewards.

Important info: Credit cards are not charged immediately when you finish filling out the  surveys and has added anything to your original pledges. At this time all we are looking for is the final tally of each product to make sure we print them in enough quantity to cater to all orders - especially the more in demand and collectible items like the PRINT ON DEMAND Kickstarter hardcover exclusive edition.

***Your credit cards will only be charged in late September after the Surveys have been locked.***

Do I need to sign-up for BackerKit?

No, you do not. You don't need to create a BackerKit account to fill out the survey. When you receive the e-mail just click the survey link to be taken to the online form and that's it. You'll answer a couple of questions about your reward choices, provide shipping information and purchase add-on items if you like.

What happens if I need to update my Shipping Address after Surveys lock?

You can review your shipping information up to two weeks ahead of fulfillment. I will make sure to constantly communicate our dates and you can always retrieve your BackerKit Survey clicking the original link or by visiting BackerKit.com and inputting your e-mail under "Lost your survey?" button.

What about any add-ons I might have purchased already through the Kickstarter campaign or want to add now?

That's why BackerKit is so important. It gives backers a chance to either upgrade their original pledges or add extras like collectible cards, previous books, a full menu of The Few and Cursed items and other titles like Lost Kids and Too Good to Be True. If by any chance your over-pledged you will get extra credit to be used towards any add-ons on BackerKit. Just go through the menu of items on the third screen and pick whatever you want.

Otherwise any leftover balance at the end of the Survey process will be charged separately and the system will automatically ask for a payment method, it's all very intuitive and automated.

If you have any questions about BackerKit, the surveys, add-ons, anything really, please do not hesitate to either reply this message or shoot me a direct e-mail at [email protected]

I will be back in touch again next week to confirm the Surveys have been sent to all backers and I will make sure to keep you all informed as we go through each step of fulfillment.

Thank you all so much and I hope you all stay safe.

Felipe

That's a wrap on Art Production of Shadow Nation! Now we go to print and start digital fulfillment \o/
over 5 years ago – Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 04:09:50 PM

Hey everyone!

This year of 2020 has not been easy and I believe I can share that sentiment with most if not all of you. I saw this today and man did it resonate with me, I had to share with you all before we get to the really good (albeit rare) good news. Nothing better than to kick things off with a chuckle, am I right?

Anybody else feel like that? Feel free to to leave a comment!

Anyway, I'm super thrilled to announce we wrapped production on Shadow Nation! Rui Silveira has turned in the last pages this morning and I already have Téo Gonzales working on colors. The lettering is complete actually as we were working on it side by side with the art.

What this means is we're going into the home stretch before sending the book to print in China. I expect to spend another week or two at the latest reviewing everything, polishing the dialogue, getting all the extras in place and fixing any last edits on the high res files going to the printer.

Speaking of extras... I have a surprise for you all since you were all the best backers in the world and so supportive with everything that's been going and the delays we've gone through.

THE DUST-JACKET FOR THE KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE EDITION WILL NOW FEATURE ART ON BOTH SIDES!

Yes, that is something extra that I was able to pull off and add to the Kickstarter Exclusive Hard-Cover Edition! This was supposed to be our ultimate stretch goal that we didn't really hit but I thought what the heck, let's make this book as special as I wanted \o/

I also would love to share the finished artwork for the bookmark by Mexican artist Clonerh. This is going out with any and every pledge going out in the mail. You have seen layouts and previous versions but this is the first time I'm sharing the complete art:

So what's gonna happen now is the following and please bear in mind these are estimates that can change without prior notice. There's still a pandemic going on, travel is extremely limited and let's not even get into everything that's going on with the USPS.

But anyway here are our latest dates in a bit more detail now than before:

•  End of August: Production on Shadow Nation wraps up. Check \o/!
•  September 8th: BackerKit Surveys are sent to backers (please mark your calendars!)
•  September 16th: Digital Copies sent to Backers
•  October: Printing and shipping from China to the US
•  Mid to late November: Fulfillment of physical rewards

Please be aware of the September 8th date as BackerKit Surveys are absolutely important and mandatory to all backers. I will collect your names or handles for the Thank You list using those Surveys, digital files will be distributed via BackerKit and I will also use them to get the right shipping addresses.

That's it for today's update, folks. I also wanted to thank you one more time for the patience and support shown throughout the year and this production. Rui, Teo, Deyvison and I really felt at peace working on this and that is absolutely on you. Not once did I have to deal with a disgruntled backer and that says more about you all than about us creators.

If you have any questions or comments make sure to leave a comment, send a DM or shoot me an e-mail at [email protected]

All the best!

Felipe

Last month of art production and then we are done! \o/
over 5 years ago – Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 12:29:02 AM

Howdy, folks!

We're coming up to the end of the road for the art production on Shadow Nation. Rui Silveira & Téo Gonzales are working on the final sequence of the book and should be 100% in the next four to five weeks max.

It's always bittersweet wrapping up a book but we are all really proud of this one. I'm going to let their art on the most recent pages do the talking. I wish I could post more pages but one must always be mindful of spoilers - especially in a story where the end is quite frankly mind-blowing!

Here are some dates for you all to keep track as we near completion of the artwork:

•  End of August: Production on Shadow Nation wraps up.
•  September: BackerKit Surveys are sent to backers while we prep Shadow Nation to go to print.
•  Mid to late September: Digital files distributed through BackerKit
•  Mid to late November: Fulfillment of physical rewards

I don't really anticipate any big changes on the above since we are so close to finishing the book already but anything can happen and COVID-19 is still at large causing a cascading effect on all Kickstarters I've ran and still need to fulfill.

The main reason everyone in our team took our time with this book and ended up delaying fulfillment by a few months was the pandemic. Because we wouldn't be able to ship out rewards until late September or even October anyway we decided to really allow ourselves to work without worrying about pressing deadlines.

Ultimately I think this was really worth it. We did the book exactly as we had envisioned and I hope you can all tell from the previews above. I will continue to update you on a monthly basis until fulfillment picks up and then you'll probably hear from me every week or couple of weeks at the latest.

All the best!

Felipe

P.S.: How about a preview of the artwork being painted for the bookmark by Clonerh to wrap this up on a good note?

Coming up on page 60, folks!
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 01:00:36 PM

Hey everyone,

Time for another one of my monthly updates. I'm afraid we haven't had the same progress as we did in previous weeks but illustrator Rui Silveira fell ill a few days ago and has been in recovery. He assured me it is not COVID but it still took him out of commission for the better part of a week.

Considering he had this big project to turn in for his daily job which had him working for a few days straight with minimum to no sleep, I'm thinking his body just needed to reboot. We're getting back on track though.

This update won't be as chock full of art because we are getting into some heavy spoiler territory and I certainly do not want to ruin anything for you all.

But nonetheless here are a couple of pages:

I also have a bit of an update on one of the items unlocked via Stretch Goal during the Kickstarter. For those keeping tabs we unlocked an exclusive collectible bookmark with artwork on both sides by Mexican artist CLONERH KIMURA.

Clonerh is a fantastic artist and he did one of the most beautiful portraits ever of the Redhead a year ago. We decided to do a companion piece featuring LaVerne and he sent over his sketch/layout just last week, check it out:

I just updated backers on The Few and Cursed #6 about the travel ban for people coming into the US from Brazil which is delaying the fulfillment for that campaign. Unfortunately it looks like that will delay all the Kickstarter campaigns.

For those not aware I'm from Brazil and I currently reside here. Up until the pandemic started I flew constantly between Florida and Brazil spending half of the year in one country and the other half in another.

Until I can resume my travels I'm stuck here... 

As of right now, with the book still in production, we're still following the same calendar I outlined before and fingers crossed that won't change much. I will keep you all updated as things progress but feel free to continue leaving comments or shooting me emails at [email protected]

Thanks so much!

Felipe

Few and Cursed online store updated with new stuff! Forgot to add that to the update yesterday... oops!
almost 6 years ago – Wed, May 20, 2020 at 01:34:56 AM

In my excitement yesterday to share our fantastic art progress on Shadow Nation I ended up forgetting to let you all know that we've update our The Few and Cursed webstore with orders shipping out in the Summer.

https://paintingtheworldred.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Please hit the link below to find the pre-orders active for the Redhead Art Book, the slipcase for all six Crows of Mana'Olana books, our latest collectible cards & more \o/

If you missed any of the Kickstarters or if you are looking for other books I might have published please visit our store and put in your pre-order.

I will be shipping these out in late July / early August. All items will also be available when we do the BackerKit Surveys for Shadow Nation closer to our production end date.

Thanks so much!

Felipe