BackerKit FAQ
How does BackerKit crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding is a collaborative way to bring ideas and projects to life. Project creators post their idea for a project, and backers pledge money to make the project possible. Backers get behind the scenes access and backer-only rewards, which can include exclusive products, special pricing, creative input, content, and more.
To become a backer, select a pledge level that features the reward(s) you would like to receive when the project is successfully completed and make your contribution.
All-or-nothing crowdfunding model: The creator sets a funding goal and a deadline to raise funds. If the project does not meet the goal by the deadline, backers credit cards are not charged and no money changes hands.
Crowdfunding projects can happen at various stages of the creative process. Make sure to check the estimated timeline of when rewards will be delivered. Project creators will keep you updated on the progress toward completion and delivery of your rewards.
Backing a crowdfunding campaign is not the same as purchasing an item from a store. When you back a campaign you are supporting the creation of something new. Rewards are almost always delivered, but are not guaranteed.
When will I be charged for my pledge?
Your payment method will not be charged right away. You will be charged for the amount of your pledge when the campaign ends and the project reaches its funding goal. You will not be charged if the campaign does not reach its funding goal.
What happens after the campaign is over?
The Creator will send out a survey that will ask you for more information about your pledge, your shipping information, additional items you may want to add to your pledge, and collect shipping fees if applicable.
The survey will be sent to the email address we have on file with your pledge.
Any additional payment will be charged when you complete your survey and confirm your order.
Project FAQ
Why is there not a physical copy of the Stories of the Free Lands and will there be one?
There's a longer explanation for this I'm going to drop in a video soon but the short answer is, we'll be announcing a print run of the books as a stretch goal. However this campaign was always planned as a PDF effort so that we could get stories out to folks as quickly as possible. Current printing and shipping issues meant that it might be a year or longer before we could get books to folks, meaning almost two years between the launch of the core book and these stories.
"I'm not Native. Can I play these games?"
Yes.
Why Are The Stories of the Free Lands Broken Up Into Two Volumes?
Each Story is roughly 25-30 pages and after figuring out how much we wanted to pay our writers and artists, we realized that breaking the Stories into two volumes did two important things. First, it allows for folks who don't have a lot of money but still want to support Coyote & Crow to be able to help fund this project and maybe give some love to a favored writer or artist. Second, if we are able to do a physical print run of these books it will allow us to print them in a smaller, less expensive soft cover books of 150ish pages each rather than a single 300 page tome.
Is it only Indigenous folks working for Coyote & Crow?
No. We work with lots of folks and do our best to bring in a wide range of diverse voices. With that said, the writers for our content are always North American Indigenous folks and we give preference to Indigenous Americans for other positions when possible.
What will shipping cost?
The honest answer here is that we don't know. Shipping rates, even within the US, have fluctuated so rapidly that we don't feel good about giving you an estimate at this stage. What we can say is that we'll give you both the best rate and the best packaging possible. Our fufillment partner, PSI has also entered into an arrangement with ShipStation that will ensure both better tracking for everyone, as well as a flat customs fee for Canadian backers that will be included in your shipping cost.
When will we get our rewards?
For digital rewards, we are already in the final stages of the project. Art is completed, writing is completed. We are in the process of editing and layouts and should be able to deliver your PDFs through BackerKit shortly after the campaign ends. We'll announce hard dates as we get closer. For physical rewards, some are already in our warehouse and the rest are on the way. While we can't say exactly when they'll ship, it should be a relatively short turn around since the products are finished and printed.
Is There A Retailer Pledge Level?
We love local game stores! However since the primary goal of this campaign is to promote our digital stories and all of the physical products are all releasing immediately into retail, we decided to skip a retail pledge level. Instead, retailers can order all of these physical products directly through either Alliance, PHD, PSI or through our website on our direct to retailer page. For International retailers, please contact Esdevium, Lion Rampant, Universal or your local distributors and find out who works with PSI internationally.
What's going on with book donations from the first campaign?
See our website for updates on that ongoing project. The short version is that we're working to get books out en masse but we're also individually distributing books and listing their locations on our website. Getting these books will be a long process, but we're making headway!
I want to add on individual items after I pledge. Can I?
Once you get to the pledge manager portion of the campaign, anyone who backed at $20 or higher will be able to tack on any number of individual items to their pledge.
Why are you not shipping outside of the United States & Canada?
While we truly appreciate our fans outside of the US & Canada, the current shipping environment is unfairly cost prohibitive and inconsistent. We can't ensure the level of service that we feel is fair to our backers. The good news is that you can back our digital rewards and the physical items here will go into normal worldwide hobby distribution shortly after backers have been sent their rewards.
Can I donate a book in this campaign?
While we encourage you to purchase an extra book and pass it along to your local school, library or community center, we are not donating books this time around. We still have so many books to distribute through our first round of donations that it just doesn't make sense this time. Thank you!