Hey everyone! Checking in because it's been a year since this campaign wrapped up and we're definitely overdue for an update!
Progress
There's been some considerable progress on the page revamps, and it's been so amazing seeing some of my old art and characters come to life in a whole new way. Here's a sneak peek of a new scene we're adding:
Timing
As for the original timeline for delivery, there's a few reasons why I'll need to be moving it. The Booktopia event that I was accepted to in June 2024 seemed like an amazing solution to a lot of my issues in continuing my comic series: The funding would help me make the changes I wanted to make to some books that were showing their age, it would get me the stock to run a Book 4 Kickstarter, and would hopefully be an easier sell at conventions for folks jumping in at the very beginning of the story. It was going to take time, but since I was pretty underemployed, I had plenty of availability, and felt confident in a 2025 delivery based on my workload at that time.
However, just when I was launching, I was hired for a salaried job that was a full 40+ hours every week. Had it been like any of the previous crowdfunds I've run, I could have delayed the launch, but unfortunately, the timeline for the Booktopia event was set by Backerkit, and not at all flexible. So I went ahead as planned, and just hoped I'd be able to find a way to make up that lost time eventually. It was not an easy first couple of months, and there was a lot of drain on my energy as I tried to find ways to balance everything. I’m doing a lot better than I was a year ago, and the extreme relief of a full year of steady predictable income is definitely worth it for me right now.
But it’s been a year since this funded, and I’m about 33% of the way into the redrawing. My book’s definitely not going to be finished this year. Even 2026 might be tricky. I’ve been hiring art assistants to help with as much as I can, but the pace I can manage does not align with getting a book together this year, and that's been a huge disappointment to come to realize.
On top of my personal life causing delays, I live in the US where tariffs are being extremely volatile, and shipment to domestic and international countries moved into a really scary space this year, which not only affects how much it might cost for me to get rewards to a backer, but also how expensive books and other rewards will be when I’m ready to print at all.
I will continue to do my best with the time/resources I have to make this book happen, no matter how long it takes. But I also respect my backer's timelines and financial situations given the current political climate. The money accounted for book printing in this campaign has remained untouched, so if for any reason you would like to adjust or refund your pledge, please reach out. I'll provide an update once the project gets to a point where I'll be drawing money from the funds, re-evaluate shipping estimates based on the latest tariff information, and identify if there's a date after which refunds are not possible.
Thank you SO much for your understanding and for supporting independent artists and authors. I'll plan to make another update in a few months with further progress and previews.
