On Monday, Jan 5th our shipping of orders resumed and our fulfillment person is working hard all this week to mail every outstanding order.
If you received a shipping label notice in December and are wondering what's up, have no fear! Sara printed labels for as many packages as possible before the holidays, so they'd be ready and she could hit the ground running after the break. Those packages will be shipped soon.
We've still got about 1 out of 10 backer surveys needing to be filled out. So if you're reading this and haven't seen your survey yet, please contact us here and we can re-send it: https://newedgeswordandsorcery.com/contact/
Meanwhile to those of you sharing pics of your books, thank you!
Even if it looks like you plan to eat the new issues - they're yours to do with as you will!
Digital Issues Are Available, and Physical Issues Are Shipping Out!
IN SHORT
Digital Issue fulfillment was beset by technical issues these past two days, however those problems have now been fully resolved.
If you weren't seeing some files earlier, please look again now. If you had issues with RAR compression, please look at your downloads again to find nice, proper ZIP files. The ZIP files also resolved issue 7's PDF looking all weird.
Physical Issues began shipping this Mondaypast and some people have already received their orders.
International orders are well protected with a layer of bubble wrap under a firm, fitted cardboard mailer.
Dec 12th is our last day of shipping. Anything not sent by then will go out when we resume shipping at the start of January, 2026.
82% of backers have filled out their surveys, which is great! If you are part of that 18% that haven't, please do so as we cannot send you your books until that happens.
IN DETAIL
Hey all!
We do apologize for the chaos of the past two days with digital fulfillment. 2025 seems to be the year of the computer gremlin, at least for us, but we have fully resolved the problems which you may have encountered.
Issue 7's PDF looked weird to you? Go back and download the ZIP folder for issue seven and it should be fine now.
Had trouble with RAR folders? We've replaced them with ZIP folders which shouldn't give anybody on any operating system trouble.
Files were missing earlier? They should be there now.
Meanwhile...
...if you are among the 171 backers that still need to fill out their survey, then please take a minute to do that as it's vital for us to send you your books.
But yes, that very happy time of year where new issues have started to arrive with people has begun!
Being this close to Christmas also makes it difficult to judge precisely when issues will be received, though it's fair to assume U.S. backers will receive their copies the swiftest.
Our hardcovers for issues six & seven were delayed due to an error at the printers which swapped their bookmark ribbons, so we won't have those until approx. Dec 8th. We'll ship as many as we can as soon as we have them, but hardcover backers may need to be more patient than others.
We will provide a campaign update the moment we have shipped 100% of our orders.
We very much look forward to the issues arriving in your hands, to seeing more pictures of the issues out in the wild, and hearing your thoughts on something we began work on 18 months ago!
Thanks once more for helping make this crazy thing possible.
Don't forget to fill out the Brackenbury Books Pledge Manager 2025 survey covering NESS 2025, Sometime Lofty Towers and Beating Hearts & Battle-Axes.
Don't forget that a hiccup with this big survey, the first of its kind Backerkit has ever assembled, is that at step TWO the shipping cost is showing as the maximum international rate - which is incorrect - but then if you click through to step FOUR you'll see the correct shipping, which is what you will actually be charged next week.
We can only send books out to backers who've completed the survey and this will matter very soon since:
SHIPPING BEGINS ON MONDAY, DECMBER 1ST
On Monday we will begin fulfilling the pledges we can with the books that have arrived so far, which include: All of Sometime Lofty Towers, all NESS 2025 softcovers (remaining hardcovers arrive Wednesday), and about half out shipment of BH&BA paperbacks.
THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WITH ALL THESE DETAILS Mashing the three crowdfund surveys together does help save everybody money but man it has made things a bit more complicated.
Keep your swords sharp and your shipping ship-shape,
To simplify surveys, and save money on shipping for those who've backed multiple crowdfunds, we've worked with Backerkit to combine everything into one survey for anybody who's backed:
Beating Hearts & Battle-Axes,
New Edge Sword & Sorcery 2025,
and/or
Sometime Lofty Towers
The name for that survey is Brackenbury Books Pledge Manager 2025.
Surveys are for:
Paying shipping.
Providing your mailing address.
Providing your payment information.
Last minute additions of Add-On goodies to your order .
Please check your spam folders if you haven't seen your own survey, and let us know if something has gone missing.
UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS THE FIRST TIME EVER BACKERKIT HAS TRIED MERGING CROWDFUNDS AND THERE ARE TWO HICCUPS
PHYSICAL BACKER SHIPPING ISSUE: Some people are being told the maximum possible shipping instead of the correct shipping. One backer had this problem as part of the earlier test, and he says he just clicked through to step four and it resolved itself.
Please try that and if the cost remains the same, please contact our fulfillment person at [email protected]
DIGITAL BACKER SHIPPING ISSUE: Some digital only pledges are being asked to pay for shipping. This is because a kink has caused digital only pledges to still have physical crowdfund rewards like early backer postcards attached. Turns out we can't fix this ourselves, but Backerit tell us it'll be resolved by end of day - which for them is 5pm PST, or 8pm EST etc. Just hang tight and come back to your survey later today.
Books for all three campaigns are either arrived (Sometime Lofty Towers) or arriving soon (NESS 2025 and Beating Hearts & Battle-Axes).
If all goes according to plan we hope to begin fulfillment in the first week of December. While we hope this won't be the case, any significant delay will be announced with an update.
Surveys will be going out in the near future, as soon as we tie down the final details of how to combine the orders of those who backed New Edge Sword & Sorcery 2025 as well as Sometime Lofty Towers and/or Beating Hearts & Battle-Axes. Originally it looked more complicated, but it turns out we can do it quite simply, just charging you once for the whole package at the reduced rate combining orders allows!
Meanwhile, to the schedule itself:
DIGITAL & SOFTCOVER PLEDGES - We currently expect to begin fulfilling your orders some time during the final week of November.
HARDCOVER & ALL FORMATS PLEDGES - Unfortunately there was a mix-up at the printers which has delayed our hardcovers by a week, meaning we may get lucky with the shipping gods and fulfill hardcover orders close to the same time as digital & softcover...
...however odds are we'll not be able to begin fulfilling hardcover orders until the first week of December. Past experience tells us, though, that this should still be good for getting you your issues before the holiday postal madness kicks in. You'll also get your digital copies at the same time as everybody else.
Sorry folks, this is the part of the process where all we can do is relay what we're told by the printer. That said we are currently pondering the ideal offering to make to the shipping gods that they might smile upon our new issues as they travel toward our fulfillment center in the coming weeks. Do the shipping gods like banana bread? Or maybe they'd prefer garlic bread...
We'll figure it out!
Keep your swords sharp and your sorcery numinous,
P.S. We also jazzed up the editorial page this year with a nice new header that is customized for each issue.
Staying on Schedule, Rough Dates for Fulfillment & Surveys, and More!
This is a brief update to let you know...
We continue to be on schedule as the final, "Ozalid", proofread was completed this Monday past and the truly final versions of our three new issues were sent to the printer immediately.
Thus we have reached the point where the new issues are out of our hands, and we can only report to you what we're told about their progress through printing & shipping.
Barring some unforeseen calamity in shipping the books from Hong Kong to our storage in Chicago, we expect to begin fulfillment some time in November. Thus...
Backer Surveyswill be sent some time in October, likely the middle of the month. This is when you can confirm or update your payment & shipping info, as well as upgrade your pledge if you so desire.
Some have asked will digital editions be sent in advance of print editions?
Unfortunately. no. Because of how fulfillment administration runs under the hood of Backerkit, our only option is to start fulfilling everything all at once. Thus digital editions will be sent on the first day of shipping out physical copies. This includes digital add-ons of already-published works.
Finally NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY NOVELLAS is off to a strong start!
Crowdfund exclusives include postcards of the four novellas' gorgeous cover art, unobscured by text or trade dress:
WHAT ROUGH BEAST? by Bryn Hammond, art by Goran Gligović
THE BARBARIAN AT DREAM'S END by Steve Hugh Westenra, art by Matthew Spencer.
SUPLEX & SORCERY by June Orchid Parker, art by John Golden.
THE HUNT OF A THOUSAND LEAGUES by Dariel R.A. Quiogue, art by Artyom Trakhanov.
You could unlock our first stretch goal, which is a...
This will feature an exciting new character we're dying to introduce to the world, published in an illustrated, classic 'zine format reminiscent of the 1970's S&S indie publishing scene where many authors, including David C. Smith (NESS #0 & #2, SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS), got their start!
Alright, our next update will be when we send backer surveys in October. Thanks for helping make our publications possible.
We unlocked every stretch goal in our tracking graphic, made it bigger, then hit every stretch goal in the bigger graphic!
We unlocked every bonus story, then added bonus poems and unlocked all of those!
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 "Q4 2025", so expect to be charged for shipping in 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 this link: https://discord.gg/HAjPqvxmDD
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 particular to find out when we'll open to submissions for a Sword & Planet poem for issue #7.
IN DETAIL
Wow! I am very much still absorbing the impact of the crowdfund, in more ways than one. Now I've got a story and a poem to write...
Fulfillment Schedule Having learned the hard way last year that it's better to predict a later fulfillment date and maybe surprise folk by getting stuff out early than to do it the other way around, we're playing it safe by saying that issues will be shipped out in "Q4" aka "October, November, or December".
When we're closer to shipping we will do our best to provide a more specific shipping date.
Author Progress The idea to do a third, S&P issue came later in the process than we usually have our authors begin writing, however we also got two finished stories through our open submissions back in August. Overall we feel good about where our progress is right now and everybody's working hard to make that wall of green!
Author names cropped out to not look like we're naming & shaming.
Artist Progress Art starts much later, during the middle of the crowdfund, so there's less green to be seen here and yet...there's green beyond the three completed lines for our cover art. We have received early sketches from several artists, while Oliver is working hard this week to finish pairing artists with stories & articles so the rest of them can begin work.
Arist names cropped out to not look like we're naming & shaming.
An early concept sketch of Jirel of Joiry by Simon Underwood.
Please do join The New Edge Sword & Sorcery Discord, 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.
Reader, you better believe this sucker tasted good when I picked it up on Saturday:
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.
We have other exciting book projects planned for the rest of 2025 and with the success of this crowdfund you've put us in the position to make them as great as we possibly can. Thank you.
Keep your swords sharp, and your sorcery numinous!
On Monday, Jan 5th our shipping of orders resumed and our fulfillment person is working hard all this week to mail every outstanding order.
If you received a shipping label notice in December and are wondering what's up, have no fear! Sara printed labels for as many packages as possible before the holidays, so they'd be ready and she could hit the ground running after the break. Those packages will be shipped soon.
We've still got about 1 out of 10 backer surveys needing to be filled out. So if you're reading this and haven't seen your survey yet, please contact us here and we can re-send it: https://newedgeswordandsorcery.com/contact/
Meanwhile to those of you sharing pics of your books, thank you!
Even if it looks like you plan to eat the new issues - they're yours to do with as you will!
Hi! Just checking that y'all know that while I got my add-ons post-campaign and also 5, 6, and 7, issues 0-4 are missing from the download page.
Thanks!
Digital Issue fulfillment was beset by technical issues these past two days, however those problems have now been fully resolved.
If you weren't seeing some files earlier, please look again now. If you had issues with RAR compression, please look at your downloads again to find nice, proper ZIP files. The ZIP files also resolved issue 7's PDF looking all weird.
Physical Issues began shipping this Mondaypast and some people have already received their orders.
International orders are well protected with a layer of bubble wrap under a firm, fitted cardboard mailer.
Dec 12th is our last day of shipping. Anything not sent by then will go out when we resume shipping at the start of January, 2026.
82% of backers have filled out their surveys, which is great! If you are part of that 18% that haven't, please do so as we cannot send you your books until that happens.
IN DETAIL
Hey all!
We do apologize for the chaos of the past two days with digital fulfillment. 2025 seems to be the year of the computer gremlin, at least for us, but we have fully resolved the problems which you may have encountered.
Issue 7's PDF looked weird to you? Go back and download the ZIP folder for issue seven and it should be fine now.
Had trouble with RAR folders? We've replaced them with ZIP folders which shouldn't give anybody on any operating system trouble.
Files were missing earlier? They should be there now.
Meanwhile...
...if you are among the 171 backers that still need to fill out their survey, then please take a minute to do that as it's vital for us to send you your books.
But yes, that very happy time of year where new issues have started to arrive with people has begun!
Being this close to Christmas also makes it difficult to judge precisely when issues will be received, though it's fair to assume U.S. backers will receive their copies the swiftest.
Our hardcovers for issues six & seven were delayed due to an error at the printers which swapped their bookmark ribbons, so we won't have those until approx. Dec 8th. We'll ship as many as we can as soon as we have them, but hardcover backers may need to be more patient than others.
We will provide a campaign update the moment we have shipped 100% of our orders.
We very much look forward to the issues arriving in your hands, to seeing more pictures of the issues out in the wild, and hearing your thoughts on something we began work on 18 months ago!
Thanks once more for helping make this crazy thing possible.
