It's been a few hours since the clocked ticked down to zero (after several loops of 10-minute-overtime!) and I am still absorbing what happened the last 24-36 hours.
When this week started, BackerTracker, which estimates where your campaign will end, thought we'd be lucky to hit $14,000. Yet here we are, sitting pretty at $15,032 from 372 backers.
We received about 1000 in pledges in that last 12-13 hours alone. You all really showed up for us, pushing the campaign just over the first stretch goal of $15,000, allowing us to raise our contributors pay to 0.08 USD/words and $60 per poems. This is what every Common Bonds contributor has received, so we're thrilled to get there again!
Thank you all so much for this. You are split about 50-50 between people who have repeatedly supported our work and people who are new taking a chance on us, and in both cases, I am so grateful for the trust and excitement.
What comes next? Well, the team will give itself a little treat, first of all. Then we'll look at completing the editing on these beautiful stories and getting all the digital rewards sent to you. The latter is likely happening towards the end of July.
If you know someone who wanted a copy of any Common Bonds but didn't back in time, we have a small preorder shop open through BackerKit. If you get print copies of CB1 or CB2 here rather than through your local indie, it will be shipped alongside the third at the end of the year.
We intend to close this shop and charge for shipping when the anthology is ready to be printed and shipped. By then we will have its exact size and weight, and will be able to charge as accurate an amount as possible. Until then, we'll keep updating everyone on our progress!
Thanks everyone for your support this year! I know it's not the best of times economically, but I'm grateful to everyone who was able to support more queer literature getting published. Bringing those voices to light is one of the ways we continue to foster hope!
What Happens Next:
• Card Processing: Backerkit will now begin charging cards. Please make sure your payment info is up to date to avoid any issues.
• Surveys: Backer surveys will go out as soon as I finish them up! I'll be working on them this week, and hopefully send them out early next week, especially as our first book, Lucianus, releases on July 14. When the surveys go out, you can add any extras, and confirm your shipping address. We have a lot of books available now, and choosing (if you're not just getting the new ones) can get overwhelming. I'm hoping to add some tools to help that out this time.
So sit tight! There are some amazing books coming your way very soon. And if you're already eager for what's releasing soon at Space Wizard, check out our next two campaigns, coming in September and October!
Lesbians in Space: The Sapphics Strike Back Audiobook. We're very much hoping Mary Robinette Kowal will return to record audio for the second anthology, sequel to Lesbians in Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before. We're running this campaign in September along with BackerKit's Printopia 2026, so sign up now to get updates!
Space Wizard Year 5 Part 2! We've got even more books on the horizon, with pirates, romance, space exploration and cozy fantasy! Coming in October 2026. Sign up to make sure you get updates!
The campaign is over and funded, and I have all of you to thank for such a successful campaign!
I'm going to be setting up the pledge manager next week. And it's going to be open for a LONG time. I'm working on edits for the novel, and that's really the only work left to do. Rewards will be sent when it's complete.
You should expect updates every 4-6 weeks until we're done.
Current status: Editing is done up to page 52 of 247 (This is not yet formatted for print and page count does not reflect final print)
Thank you all, again, for your support! Until next update!
The campaign ended at noon CST, and right before it ended we got a few new backers, which means we ended with $1,423 from 54 backers! For Lemon Balm, the first book in the series and my first crowdfund, we ended with 28 backers, which means we nearly doubled the supporters from last time! We also came close to our first stretch goal, missing it by just under $80. I am blown away by this. Thank you, a million times thank you!
I'm not going to send out surveys right away. I want to wait until the editing process is done, so you can expect surveys to hit your inbox in mid-August. I'll keep updating with each step that we hit, just to keep everyone on the same page.
What's going on with the book right now?
I got my beta feedback on the 24th, and I finished the edits based on their comments on the 27th. As of right now, the manuscript was sent to my editor yesterday. She has a 50 day window to work her magic, so I should have it back to me by roughly the last week of August.
What happens next?
In terms of Aloe/campaign fulfillment — I already have all of the non-book items and copies of Lemon Balm on hand, so those will be ready to go as soon as Aloe is. I'll be working on my editor's feedback as soon as I have notes back. That won't take me very long. So long as I get the notes back in the timeframe I'm expecting, then I should have edits finished by the end of the first week of September.
I'll be sending out the BackerKit surveys around the time that I get the notes back from my editor, tentatively expecting to send them out August 21st.
You'll be able to fill out your surveys and make changes until September 1, when I lock in orders. This is when I'll theoretically order books.
Cards will be charged September 4th.
I'm hoping to have E-Books sent out a few days after charging cards, and tentatively expecting shipping to happen the first week of October — of course this is dependent on my printers and any production delays. These dates are liable to change, but this is my rough timeline.
In terms of other projects — Currently, I have another project that is slated for crowdfunding in a couple of months. You can find the teaser page here — it's not finished, and there's more to be added, but this is my next crowdfund project. It's not connected to this one, but rather a standalone grief horror novel called Such Sweet Sorrow. More information will be coming if you follow the teaser.
You can also sign up for my actual newsletter here (Next one drops tomorrow) or check out my Patreon if you're curious about Tales From The Night Garden or other projects — I have two short stories releasing October 1st in an anthology, a sapphic paranormal romance novella releasing November 16th, and then at least two releases in 2027 (one being Such Sweet Sorrow).
There is also always the Discord; just let me know you're a backer and I will give you the crowdfunding role.
This has gotten long, so I'm wrapping up with this — One last thank you.
Thank you for all of the support! I'll be back in touch as soon as I have updates on the book.
Our Backerkit for PROMETHEUS: A QUEER FUTURISTIC HORROR ANTHOLOGY has funded. Thanks to your support, we reached our initial goal and our first two stretch goals, and we're so happy we're going to be able to give this book the incredible packaging it deserves, while also doubling our compensation for authors!
The Backerkit concluded at €2,563 and all we can say is THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
PREORDERS OPEN
If you didn't manage to pledge in time but still want to secure a copy of this amazing book or the associated goodies, you can now preorder it here: Pre-Order Store
Spread the word!
WHAT'S NEXT?
We're currently running a final proofread on our digital copy of PROMETHEUS ahead of an eARC campaign to continue promoting this collection of wonderful stories by 16 wonderful authors. When this process is finished, we will begin testing out the printing process.
What can you expect when?
We'll send the post-campaign survey, which includes information like shipping and address, around July 11th 2026.
Those of you who added any eBooks from the curators or contributors to your orders can expect to start receiving these after filling out the post-campaign survey. Be sure to check the email you used for Bookfunnel download links, as ebooks will be sent to you this way! You can expect these a few days after filling out your post-campaign survey. eBook orders for PROMETHEUS will be delivered on release day: October 31st 2026
Depending on the postal services and customs, we are hoping to have our publisher copies by release day so we can ship all physical items out immediately. Items ship from Norway, so depending where you are, you can expect a waiting time of 1-3 weeks for most places.
I've sent out a few surveys to select backers to make sure everything works okay before sending out the rest. Please take the time to fill out the surveys as soon as you can. These surveys will:
1. Allow you to update your address. NOTE: Backerkit surveys that are unanswered and do not have a confirmed address will not be shipped.
2. Choose add ons!
3. Finalize your payment.
Please fill these out quickly, and everyone else can expect their surveys within the next few days.
We're on the final day of the campaign and materials have been arriving. I just got the metal bookmarks in for our deluxe tiers and they look nice, thought a bit smaller than I'd been expecting. It's been pretty hard to find places to print metal bookmarks in small batches, and the supplier I chose specialized in business cards. They're super sturdy though! Stainless steel instead of aluminum so you don't have to worry about it scratching or bending in the mail. They also make great keychains!
Also remember that this is the last day to make changes to your pledge! Shipping and tax are charged on top of the order via pledgemanager, so double check that everything is correct. I'll be sending out the surveys as soon as I'm able. Please make sure you fill those out in a timely manner! Delays in the fulfillment surveys mean delays in delivery, and for those of you picking up your book at a local event, surveys need to be filled out before claiming your book at an event!
