Update #14 - Campaign Wrap-Up (I am an unending well of gratitude)
Hello everyone!
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.
My early feedback is starting to roll in, and you know something is a good story when you get reactions like this:
Reaction to a specific event by one of my alpha readers
I'm having a blast reading through my alpha team's notes, and once I finish my edits based on their notes, it's off to the editor! Thank you all for sticking with me through the month and for getting us to funded! I don't think we'll hit any stretch goals so soon to the campaign ending, but that's okay! I'm so happy that we were able to fund and I hope that you all really love the story. That being said, if you take a peek at the bottom of the update, you'll see how far we are from the next stretch goal. Be sure to share the campaign around with anyone you think might be interested!
There's six days left to the campaign, so I figured I'd get one last poll going. We opened with vampires in pop culture, so how about closing with werewolves?
Again, I just want to say thank you for believing in these two, and finding the series interesting. It is notoriously hard to market a book in the middle of an unfinished series, and I'm so thankful to my returning backers for believing in the project, and my new backers for finding the story interesting enough to back. Money is rough lately, and I appreciate each and every dollar that has gone towards these books. You're literally keeping an indie author and artist's dreams alive. So again, thank you, a million times!
The foil prints have finally gotten to me, and LOOK AT HOW PRETTY THESE ARE!
They were so worth the wait, I'm so happy with them. The only way to get these right now is as an add-on on the backerkit campaign, FYI! They won't be in my merch store until July 11th at the earliest.
Just wanted to share since I saw them and got really happy! I hope you love these as much as I do ♥
Thank you for all of the support for my little queer series. ♥ It means more than I can express.
With Love and Brightness, Artemis Quinn
P.S. Just a reminder! We may be funded, but there are plenty of stretch goals too! If we can hit the audiobook tier, then everyone will get a PDF detailing a care package in the TFTNG universe (physical backers will get jars!), a short story detailing Corbin and Acanthus' past, the first chapter of Lavender's Elegy (Acanthus' past from François' POV), and a copy of the audiobook once it's produced! As we slide towards the end of the month, be sure to take a look at the add-ons or tell any friends about the series that you think might like it. ♥
How's it going? I just wanted to give a quick update -- my stickers and bookmarks came in! I'm still waiting on the foil prints, as those got delayed, but I'll have pictures as soon as they make their way into my hands. For now, here's some pictures of the new merch --
So sparkly!
Here's a quick shot of everything still in their bags.
I'm really happy with these, and I'm hoping that the foil prints are just as beautiful! I can't wait to see how those came out and share them with you!
In the meantime, let's have another poll! What's your favorite thing about supporting indie authors?
Thirteen days left! If we can get the crowdfund to the audiobook tier, everyone will get a free copy, as well as Chapter 1 of Lavender's Elegy and the short story High Seas! :) Let's see where we end up!
Update #10 -- Some diversity in the books, and another fun poll!
Howdy, friends!
I've been a little quiet about the actual book for the last few days, so I wanted to give another little blast of trivia about some of our main cast! I spent some time making pride flag graphics this morning, so I could share them ♥ For the images, I stuck to the main four protagonists, but if people want to know about side characters and the antagonists, I can make another post!
Some LGBTQIA+ Representation in Aloe/Tales From The Night Garden Series
Acanthus is nonbinary and genderfluid, pansexual, and gray ace.
Acanthus has the most queer identities out of the main cast. They are also the least likely to talk about their identity. They're nearly 800 years old, and a lot of their feeling comes down to, "Shrug! I like what and who I like." I
Cypress is nonbinary, pansexual, and demisexual.
Cypress is nonbinary, and has been questioning his identity since early high school. He came out as pansexual in college, and came out as nonbinary shortly before the events of Lemon Balm. He's very shy about his identity, but he's getting used to speaking up about it.
Azalea is a lesbian.
Azalea's been a lesbian for centuries, but she doesn't really talk about her identity much. She's been with her partner since the 1980s, and she's comfortable with herself. She doesn't see a reason or feel the need to explain herself to anyone.
Austin is bisexual and demiromantic.
Austin is bisexual, largely just because he wants to be inclusive of his wife. Before Esmeralda came out, he considered himself gay. He also isn't the type to use labels, but he's demiromantic. When he falls, he falls hard, but he can't picture himself loving anyone whatsoever outside of Es and his best friend Everett. (Yes, he does love Everett romantically, but Everett is aromantic, so they keep their relationship platonic.)
Also, the foil prints for these are in production! I have the bookmarks and the stickers on their way to me. I should be able to show photos of the actual physical copies soon!
Also also, I'm curious! What's the thing that's most important to you when you're picking a new series or book to read? Let me know on the poll, or you can answer in the comments below :)
We're still on track to be funded by the end of the campaign, which is exciting! I'm getting great feedback from my advanced readers, and I can't wait to share the book with you all!
Quick drive-by post to say -- Aloe is officially funded!
Thank you so much for all of your support!
Now that the campaign is over our goal, I've revealed all of the stretch goals, so be sure to see what fun things we have planned! Thank you again, you all are amazing!!
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.
My early feedback is starting to roll in, and you know something is a good story when you get reactions like this:
Reaction to a specific event by one of my alpha readers
I'm having a blast reading through my alpha team's notes, and once I finish my edits based on their notes, it's off to the editor! Thank you all for sticking with me through the month and for getting us to funded! I don't think we'll hit any stretch goals so soon to the campaign ending, but that's okay! I'm so happy that we were able to fund and I hope that you all really love the story. That being said, if you take a peek at the bottom of the update, you'll see how far we are from the next stretch goal. Be sure to share the campaign around with anyone you think might be interested!
There's six days left to the campaign, so I figured I'd get one last poll going. We opened with vampires in pop culture, so how about closing with werewolves?
Again, I just want to say thank you for believing in these two, and finding the series interesting. It is notoriously hard to market a book in the middle of an unfinished series, and I'm so thankful to my returning backers for believing in the project, and my new backers for finding the story interesting enough to back. Money is rough lately, and I appreciate each and every dollar that has gone towards these books. You're literally keeping an indie author and artist's dreams alive. So again, thank you, a million times!
The foil prints have finally gotten to me, and LOOK AT HOW PRETTY THESE ARE!
They were so worth the wait, I'm so happy with them. The only way to get these right now is as an add-on on the backerkit campaign, FYI! They won't be in my merch store until July 11th at the earliest.
Just wanted to share since I saw them and got really happy! I hope you love these as much as I do ♥
Thank you for all of the support for my little queer series. ♥ It means more than I can express.
With Love and Brightness, Artemis Quinn
P.S. Just a reminder! We may be funded, but there are plenty of stretch goals too! If we can hit the audiobook tier, then everyone will get a PDF detailing a care package in the TFTNG universe (physical backers will get jars!), a short story detailing Corbin and Acanthus' past, the first chapter of Lavender's Elegy (Acanthus' past from François' POV), and a copy of the audiobook once it's produced! As we slide towards the end of the month, be sure to take a look at the add-ons or tell any friends about the series that you think might like it. ♥
How's it going? I just wanted to give a quick update -- my stickers and bookmarks came in! I'm still waiting on the foil prints, as those got delayed, but I'll have pictures as soon as they make their way into my hands. For now, here's some pictures of the new merch --
So sparkly!
Here's a quick shot of everything still in their bags.
I'm really happy with these, and I'm hoping that the foil prints are just as beautiful! I can't wait to see how those came out and share them with you!
In the meantime, let's have another poll! What's your favorite thing about supporting indie authors?
Thirteen days left! If we can get the crowdfund to the audiobook tier, everyone will get a free copy, as well as Chapter 1 of Lavender's Elegy and the short story High Seas! :) Let's see where we end up!
