Here, with a lil' watermark, is the wraparound cover art by Carly A-F for the bonus 'zine!
Here we have Jirel's pal Thevin with a cover all to herself, staring us down while all sorts of mystery looms behind her. I must say, the Earthsea fan in me is also drawn to the nautical back cover.
The next time you see this art, it will be decorated with trade dress (Publishing term for "The title, credits, back cover text etc") and delivered to you digitally in ePub & PDF, as well as - if you're a physical format backer - in the mail with your copy of Blue Fire, as a lovely risograph printed 'zine.
Huzzah! We love 'zines....what if we...made more?
WHAT'S THAT? ANOTHER 'ZINE IS ON THE HORIZON!
Art by Goran Gligović
Zeynep ain't much for talking. Kawtar wants to be heard at all costs.
Meet your new favorite sapphic sword & sorcery duo in four pulse-pounding tales of flashing steel, demonic forces, and stolen kisses in a sultry and dangerous desert setting!
Collecting 17,000 words of shorts stories written by Luana Saitta, Zeynep & Kawtar will feature a full wraparound version of the above art - fan art Goran made because he loves these stories so much! - converted for risograph printing, meaning it will be a two-tone affair like Carly's City of Tears cover up above.
How do you get a copy? By grabbing a set of four excellent Sword & Sorcery novellas, published in the same formats as Blue Fire, and you can do that now because...
Work continues apace and we're looking good for getting our files to the printer later this week!
We're certainly far enough to share with you, in the backer-only content at the bottom of this post, the custom header illustrations & custom dinkus by Saša Đurđević.
AND...A PHOENIX?
Yes! You'll find this legendary flaming bird among the many magnificent elements of Matej's cover art for this collection of Morlock Ambrosius tales - the third in a set of four novellas we'll be crowdfunding in September.
Cover by Matej Kollár
We're revealing a cover a week until the crowdfund launches on Thursday, Sept 3rd at 8am EST
Cover by Goran Gligović
Cover by Brian LeBlanc
To learn more and sign up to be alerted on launch day, simple smite this link!
For BLUE FIRE we still have 10 failed credit card charges, so you may wish to check if your pledge has gone through.
If it hasn't, you can comment beneath this update and we'll respond, or perhaps first you can check out this help page for ways you may be able to resolve the issue yourself: https://help.backerkit.com/category/616-payment
Meanwhile, work proceeds apace! If you're a backer then you can scroll down to see a work-in-progress image for Saša Đurđević's back cover artwork.
We unlocked every stretch goal, invented new ones, unlocked those, invented another one in the final 48 hours THEN GOT THAT ONE???
Right now backers are being charged for their pledges.
Backers will be charged for shipping approx. four weeks before fulfillment. This is also likely when surveys will be sent out to collect necessary information such as mailing addresses, though the surveys may come sooner.
Our current goal for fulfillment is Nov 3rd, so expect to be charged for shipping in late September at the earliest. Backers in Canada will have a $5 USD shipping discount, all other backers living outside the United States will have a $10 USD shipping discount.
All backers are cordially invited to join our New Edge Sword & Sorcery Discord server through the link you'll find in the "Backer Only Content" section way at the bottom of this update.
Though we'll be much quieter for a little while, if you'd like more regular updates and other fun info, we can be followed on Bluesky, Facebook, andInstagram. Keep an eye on them, or join our newsletter.
IN DETAIL
This was a record-breaking crowdfund for us and you made that possible; we've never funded a project so quickly (21 hours), our book projects have never funded by such a high percentage (256%), and we were stunned to see BLUE FIRE get more backers than our flagship publication, New Edge Sword & Sorcery magazine, had last year (NESS 2025 got 709 to BF's 768!).
Just...wow! It is encouraging to see such a strong appetite for exciting new Sword & Sorcery fiction.
FULFILLMENT SCHEDULE As we're in a great place with the content for this book and its printer is located a modest drive from our fulfillment center, we're comfortable aiming for our goal of shipping beginning on its release date of Nov 3rd, 2026.
Those backing both NESS 2026 and BLUE FIRE do run the risk of the latter being delayed should NESS suffer delays, since they'll be shipped together, however should that occur we hope the savings on shipping will help make up for it. Besides this is only a possibility, and NESS 2026 production is currently on schedule.
Please do join The New Edge Sword & Sorcery Discord (Link at the bottom, in the Backers Only Content), a great online hang-out that I'd love to see your digital faces in, a fun spot to chat about the magazine, Sword & Sorcery in general, and otherwise connect with your fellow readers, writers, artists, and more.
It's also a breeding ground for goofs like how Meatball Subs Are The Only Real Sandwich, and the only time I get to eat one is when we've finished funding another publication.
Alright, that's all from me for now. Please make sure to read through IN SHORT for the practical details of what's happening with charging backers for pledges, charging for shipping, our rough schedule and more.
Keep your swords sharp, and your sorcery numinous,
Dare we dream of unlocking the final stretch goal, the free-to-all-backers risograph zine of Thevin's solo adventure, "CITY OF TEARS"? Maybe in overtime...
