Just a quick update to let you know that the digital version of the 12 Sandy the Dragon adventures are finished, on itchio, and digitally distributed!
I've sent distribution keys to those who had the dragon-specific adventures only, and for folks who got the whole collection, you won't get a new key because the key you already have gives you continued access to the collection. You'll just need to go back to the big StoryGuider collection page and download the new files to get the new games/books!
AND... the digital coloring books are out there too! This is the print-and-play for just the characters so you have some extra pages to go along with your adventures or can check out just the characters before you try the game!
I hope you enjoy these print-and-play releases, and I'll have our regularly scheduled print-on-demand progress update at our regularly scheduled monthly interval as well.
I'm here with your monthly StoryGuider update, and... proofs for the Heroes and Friends series came in!
I’ve gone through all the proof copies and, overall, they're pretty OK, but I did find a few issues with:
Layout in relation to book seam (image or text too close to inner seam)
Print quality (resolution unclear on an image or section of text)
Page # placement error (image layer was partially overtop of the page number on one page)
So, I am fixing those ASAP. Revisions have already been submitted for proofs round 2, and I'm using expedited shipping to make sure they get here as fast as possible.
And in parallel to all that, I’m working on Sandy the Dragon!
There’s 12 more stories and The Big Book of Dragons yet to come, and it’s moving along. Right now, I have all covers colored and laid out (shown below), and all the prepatory pages for the whole series are written and proofread (this includes the credits/ISBN page, skills practice page, recommended supplemental activities page, story summary page, and internal title page). Additionally, all content drafts are completed.
What’s left here is taking all the content drafts and getting them to final draft stage, which does involve a lot of clean up and fine tuning along with matching to art and confirming layout. I’ll be starting on that this week, and I am hoping to have that completed before summer break starts during the 2nd week of June.
Beyond that, there’s still lots to do, but I’ll leave our big running schedule to cover those items!
COMPLETED:
Oct – campaign funds released from Backerkit
Oct – send contracts for funded art to artists
Oct – draft the Tome Traveller Trilogy (part of the Heroes series)
Oct → Nov – collect first round of art from early artist kick-offs (from itchio and ko-fi prefunds)
Nov – artists working on Heroes series
Nov/Dec – finish writing the new Dragon series adventures
Nov → Jan – reformat the Heroes series
Jan – Heroes series art due
Jan – order Heroes series proofs (round 1)
Jan – artists working on Friends series
Feb – Friends series art due
Feb – Heroes series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
Jan – Mar – reformat the Friends series
Jan – Apr – artists working on Dragon series
Mar – Dragon series art due
Mar – send backer surveys
Apr – update + order Friends series proofs (round 1)
Apr – update + order Heroes series proofs (round 1.5)
Apr – set up digial pages for Friends and Heroes series
Apr – fulfill digital print-and-play for Friends and Heroes series
May – Heroes series proofs arrive
May – Friends series proofs arrive
May – Friends series proofs review, update, reorder (round 2)
NEXT STEPS:
May/June – Heroes series proofs review, update, reorder (round 2)
May/June – reformat the Dragon series and make coloring book
June – order Dragons series and coloring book proofs (round 1)
June – set up digial pages for Dragons series
June/July – fulfill digital print-and-play for Dragon series
June/July – Friends series proofs arrive, review, update (round 2)
June/July– if no issues with Friends series, start to distribute POD keys
July – Heroes series proofs arrive, review, update (round 2)
July – Dragon series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
July – if no issues with Heroes, Dragons, or coloring book, start to distribute POD keys
July – Sept – continue release of OK’d proofs as possible
As always, thank you for supporting the project, and I have lots more info on this (and other work) in the TTRPGkids monthly Dev Log if you want the nitty gritty details on the whole process.
Until next update (late June), happy gaming, and have a good start to your summer!
Tea’s on, confetti’s settled—what should we conjure next? Bedazzled hardbacks, bonus art by Leigh & Suzie, or bunny oracle cards? Tap your pick and set the next surprise free. ✨📚
I didn't expect the move to turn into an epic side quest, but here we are. I ended up pulling my first all-nighter since college after the movers ran out of room with only hours left before I had to be out of the house. That led to me renting a storage unit from my phone and making runs until everything was finally cleared out.
It was a lot, but I'm here, I'm settling in, and I'm very happy to be in the new place.
On the CC&C front, I now have an August slot with my editor, and I'm really excited she was able to squeeze me in.
One unexpected upside of packing up my entire life is that I had a lot of time to think, and I finally worked through some of the story issues that had been making me feel stuck. That feels like a huge win.
So at this point, CC&C is moving into the next phase. The plan is:
final prep on my side
editor in August
revisions after edits come back
then proofing and delivery
Thank you for sticking with me through both the book chaos and the life chaos. I’m excited to keep moving this project forward, and I’ll check in again soon with the next update.
In my last update, I gave a quick notification that digital fulfillment was going through for Sandy the Dragon and the coloring books! I hope you've had a chance to download your new adventures and can enjoy them over the summer!
For our regularly scheduled monthly big update, we're really in a holding pattern right now while waiting for all the proofs to come in, and, once those arrive and I can review them, I'm hoping we can get print-on-demand keys your way. Last I checked, they should be arriving within the next week, so you may be getting another notice early July for more rewards!
The draft is done! I’m very excited to have hit that milestone.
I do need to put a short pause on this project, because I’m moving in a little less than two weeks, and there is just no way I can give the book the attention it deserves in the middle of that chaos.
Once I’m settled after the move, I’ll do a full read-through and edit. Then it will go to my editor. Since my timeline shifted a bit, I’ll need to grab her next available slot.
I’ll check in next month with updated dates. After I get the edit back, I’ll work through those notes and send the book to the proofreader. From there, the ebook versions will be finalized and delivered.
I’m really excited to have made it to this next stage.
Hi lovely humans (and any suspiciously well-dressed rabbits),
I owe you an update, and first: I have not forgotten you. Not even a little.
I realized recently that some of you may not be on my newsletter, where I’ve talked more about what’s been happening behind the scenes, so I wanted to catch you up properly here too.
The honest version: I got to the end of Crystals, Carrots & Cosmic Clues and realized the book wasn’t quite working the way it needed to. The pieces were there, Ana was still very much Ana, and the rabbit-related chaos remained deeply committed to its job, but the story itself needed a stronger shape.
So I made the tough author call and rebuilt a big chunk of the book. I’m now back around the halfway point with a version that feels much better, much more magical, and much more like the story I actually want to put in your hands.
On the fulfillment side, I also ran into some technical weirdness with the pre-order store, especially around entering the stickers and add-ons correctly. Tiny sticker logistics: somehow more dramatic than expected. I think I finally have that part figured out, which means I’m getting closer to being able to send the store and surveys your way.
I know this has taken longer than planned, and I truly appreciate your patience. I care about giving you the cozy, strange, bunny-complicated book I promised, not just rushing something out because the calendar glared at me.
Thank you again for backing this story into existence. I’m still here, still writing, still wrangling magic rabbits, and still very grateful.
