News from the whirlwind!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 07, 2021 at 04:24:05 AM

Hi everyone!

Today has been quite a storm of activity! Mostly around the (AMAZING) launch of our newest kickstarter (which funded in 20 minutes! Our biggest Day One ever!), but also with a bunch of updates to the Monolith Backerkit --

• For those of you who pre-registered for the MONOLITH campaign, we have added your Bonus Pre-reg prints to your Backerkit accounts. Please check to see if they are there. If you don't see it in your basket and believe you had pre-registered, send us a message and we'll look it up for you. Perhaps you registered with a different email address than your backerkit account.

(And for those of you who aren't aware of our pre-registration giveaways, and wish to get in on the action with our new campaign, you have until 10am CST tomorrow to go to www.smallworld-comic.com to sign up for that pre-reg bonus. Yes, the campaign is live, but we're leaving reg open an extra day to celebrate the phenomenal launch!)

• By request, we have also added plot descriptions to the add-on titles in Backerkit. So if you weren't sure if a title looked interesting, and needed a plot summary, you can now find one on those titles.

About GOLEM...

A few of you sent messages upset that a handful of copies of GOLEM are in fact available as add-ons after we said in previous updates that the best bet to get a copy was in the pre-configured tiers. That recommendation was perfectly legitimate -- there was no guarantee that any copies would be left after the campaign, and the best way to ensure yourself a copy was by selecting a GOLEM tier. We understand that some of you gave up a precious "early bird" copy, and that was your choice (ne 'gamble') to make: a $5 bet to secure a copy of GOLEM. But really, that's part of the game here: some things are limited and there is a chance they will be gone if you aren't ready to jump on them... and a chance that some might be left available after all. It's all a speculation game (for you and for us). The fact that a handful of copies were leftover was not anticipated, but that's just how it ended up. We could not guarantee anything while the campaign was still live. These campaigns are always completely unpredictable! We can't make strategic choices for you, we can only try to explain the different options for you to weigh and decide between.

Hope that makes sense and is acceptable! If you really, really, strongly disagree, feel free to send us a message and we'll look at your individual scenario.

Thanks, everyone! More news soon!

SMALL WORLD campaign launching Tuesday! Pre-register for TWO FREE PRINTS!
about 3 years ago – Sun, Apr 04, 2021 at 10:13:52 AM

Hi everyone! Just a quick weekend post, as teased in the last update --

You may have seen an email or one of a dozen+ websites announcing it yesterday, but in case you missed the big reveal...

SMALL WORLD - A CYBERPUNK FAIRY TALE LAUNCHES TUESDAY APRIL 6TH AT 10AM CST! 

Described as ``PETER PAN meets AKIRA``, this 'manga-adjacent' 248-page hardcover graphic novel by JD Morvan and Toru Terada is a funland of action and vice! And it is the only full-length graphic novel by superstar mangaka TORU TERADA!

Check out the exciting trailer!

Just as we've offered on all previous campaigns, if you pre-register your pledge before launch, you will get a bonus limited edition 8.5x11" linen cardstock print of the campaign-exclusive variant cover art by the red-hot, in-high-demand artist PEACH MOMOKO!

PLUS:

This time around, everyone who backs the campaign on Day One (Tuesday April 6th) will get a FREE Limited Edition linen cardstock print by Toru Terada!

That's TWO FREE PRINTS for simply pre-registering and pledging on Day One!

Visit the pre-registration page TODAY to learn more about the project and to sign up for your free Peach print. If you like manga, anime, cyberpunk fairy tales, ironic mashups,  dystopic vice, or beautiful and unique artwork, this project promises to be a wild ride! We've got lots of surprise extras, and exciting bonuses lined up!

We hope to see you there on Tuesday!

Smoke test sent! And final Bonus Stretch Goal item revealed!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 11:44:52 PM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick note to say that the Backerkit setup has been approved and we just sent out the first round of "smoke test" surveys. If you're new to Backerkit, that simply means that surveys have gone out to just 5% of the total backers,  random sampling to make sure that there are no bugs, questions, or confusion with the way it is set up. If you are one of the lucky 5% to be part of this smoke test, please follow the link in the email you receive and let us know if you have any trouble completing the survey.

Once the smoke test is finished (usually within 24 hours), assuming there are no major problems to address, we will push the remaining 95% of the surveys out to everyone else.

NOTE: some items have not been manually assigned yet -- pre-registration prints, etc. -- so if something seems missing, just let us know and we'll check on it for you.

ALSO NOTE: Shipping will be calculated by Backerkit based on the total weight of your order. So if you add more items, you might see some change in your final balance due. Probably not too much, but it will depend on what's being added. 

It also occurred to us that in our recent distraction, we failed to announce what the final stretch goal was...

We closed the survey when the campaign ended and were quite surprised by how close the race was -- there were a bunch of votes for all of the choices (and a few good ideas for us to consider next time), but the final tally has been counted and the winner is...

...POSTCARD PACK!

Stickers were a close second, with the cool Ambassadors Club keychain in third. (We may have to keep that keychain in mind when we get the official Ambassadors Club off the ground...)

So everyone at a physically-shipping reward tier will get a bonus set of four Monolith postcards FREE in their package. These will be full-color gloss on one side and black postage lines on the back... that's right, you can actually send them through the mail if you want. Up to you!

That's it for now, but stay tuned... we'll let you know when the rest of the surveys are sent!

Backerkit is coming! Plus: how to win an Amazon gift card!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 12:16:16 PM

Hi everyone!

What day is it? Where are we? Why are we still wearing pajamas? Where'd this full-grown beard come from?!? Seriously, this Groundhog Day reality is starting to take its toll... we're growing so focused on getting the next awesome thing set up that we shamefully forgot to finish setting up the Backerkit for MONOLITH! We were waiting on Kickstarter to finish their collection first, but by then, we were already laser-focused on the drawing board for what's coming up next...! Mea culpa, gang! We're only a week or so behind the curve, and Backerkit is now set up and in their internal review. So we fully expect to send out surveys before Friday! Stay tuned for more details and instructions once they do go out.

In the meantime, however -- here's a completely different survey that we'd really love for you to fill out if you've got a few minutes. It is just a series of questions about the MONOLITH Kickstarter campaign, and your thoughts on how it went. There are also some Qs about your comic buying habits and Magnetic Press in general. We really value your feedback and want to make each new campaign better than the last, so please let us know your thoughts. 

To show our appreciation, we will credit your Backerkit account $.50 just for filling out the survey. It may not sound like much, but it'll bring your postage down a bit! And if that's not incentive enough, we will randomly pick one response and award that backer with a $25 Amazon Gift Card! That's right -- an actual gift card for an actual store to buy actual stuff of your choosing. No strings attached (other than, y'know, filling out the survey and being the random winner).

If you don't have time right away, that's fine -- we'll keep the survey up until we get closer to locking down the Backerkit orders, which will probably be around May 5th or so. We'll post a reminder before the survey closes so that everyone has a fair chance to get their $.50 credit and their shot at the gift card before orders are locked.

Ya wanna know what else we're gonna be sending out this weekend...?

A preview of our next awesome project launching next Tuesday...

STAY TUNED!

WHAT A FINISH!
about 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 07, 2021 at 05:44:56 PM

Hey everyone!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! 

We were sincerely surprised and grateful we broke past the last stretch goal at $40k... we could have left it where it was at $42.5k and you STILL would have hit it! You all ROCK!

This is such a great way to kick off a Friday night, we are ready for a pleasant cocktail and some relaxing music. Here -- we'll even share the current soundtrack blaring in the background here:

Most of you are probably wondering what the last unlocked Free Bonus is -- well, not to draw out the suspense, but with so many new backers joining in the last 24 hours alone, we wanted to give EVERYONE a vote in the matter!

For those of you new to the party, we're letting YOU vote on what the last stretch goal unlocked at $40k will be! We've got 6 options to choose from at this link (http://bit.ly/2NVLQCK). We were going to reveal the winner once it was unlocked, but since that just happened this morning with 8 hours left to go (and another 50+ new voices in the room), we'll let it run for another 2 days and reveal the winner SUNDAY NIGHT!

I mean... it's a free thing. All the options are cool, so... suspense?

And now, the requisite "What happens next" portion...

If any of you are new to Kickstarter, here's the process moving forward:

• Kickstarter will start running your credit cards to collect your pledges sometime in the next day or so. (I've even heard from some friends that their pledges have already been collected.) If Kickstarter runs into an issue with your payment method, they will email you a notification to please provide an alternate payment method. They'll keep that up for about 7 days at which point (after a final notification), they will officially close the campaign. Anyone whose payment was unable to go through will be dropped. Everyone else's pledge will then move into Backerkit. If you need to make special arrangements, send us a message and we'll see what can be done. 
• We'll be using Backerkit for fulfillment again this time, and will get that set up while Kickstarter does their collection thing. By the time they finish their part, we'll pull back the curtains on Backerkit and get the surveys sent out. That'll probably be sometime around March 19th or so. We'll keep you posted. These surveys will ask for your shipping address, but don't worry -- you will be able to update your address before we ship, in case you aren't sure where you might be when we start shipping.
• The new book is finished and in final proofing now. Our goal is to send it to the printer in the next two weeks. We expect to have everything in-hand and ready to start shipping by the end of JUNE. All of the other bits (the sketchbook, coin, etc) are all relatively simple productions that we will begin proofing in the next week or two, so we have no worries about hitting the date with those items.
• As mentioned in the campaign itself, we will be shipping international orders with our new worldwide partner to keep those costs as low as possible. As each vendor seems to have different rate benefits in different countries, a few regions might still a bit more expensive (Israel and South America are notably absent from their list). This should mean MUCH better rates for Europe, Australia, and even Canada. There will always be localized delivery issues somewhere in the world at any given point, just know that we're doing what we can to make shipping as smooth as possible for EVERYONE. :)
•  Digital rewards will be distributed through Backerkit directly, with the books themselves being distributed through Gumroad. We will announce the release date for those when we are close to fulfillment so that all orders can be processed at once. To set expectations early: it'll be closer to when we are about to start shipping the books themselves, so late-June-ish. But we'll keep everyone updated as it draws near.

About Add-ons

While add-ons were offered through Kickstarter directly in this campaign -- a beta-test feature they are slowly rolling out -- we will continue to offer the same add-ons afterward through Backerkit. THAT INCLUDES THE FEW REMAINING COPIES OF GOLEM AND THE VIEWPOINT PORTFOLIO! 

We will also be offering digital versions of GOLEM as an add-on. 

A few of you also asked about the possibility of picking up some of our previous Kickstarter books, to save on shipping costs (rather than ordering them separately). We will be adding all of our previous campaign titles (at least what we still have in stock) as available add-ons. So if you missed out on the exclusive editions of PARIS 2119, ASTER OF PAN, WAHCOMMO, or BRINDILLE, you will be able to add those to your package. Probably not all of the extra bonus items unlocked during those campaigns, but certainly the main books themselves. We'll be checking to see what we have left from those.

A few of the bonus stretch goal items from this campaign will be available as add-ons, but perhaps not all of them. In particular, the coins will be one-per-backer. Anything else that we have extras of will be put up for sale in case anyone wants extras.

Okay -- cut'n'pasting done! Time to tip one back and have a weekend! 

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!