I have a lot of announcements and information so make sure to read through everything relevant to you.
What's in this update:
Surveys / Shipping Info
Book Updates
Ødiri’s Board Release Date
Card Game Announcement
Bookmarks!
Surveys
Smoke test surveys have been sent out! These are a test survey that only went out to a few people to make sure everything is good before we send out the rest.
And… everything looks good, so I will be sending out the rest of the surveys today!
What is a Survey?
The survey allows you to confirm and finalize your pledge, snag any additional add-ons you might be interested in, and set your shipping address/preferences for physical rewards. Once you receive your survey, make sure to fill it out ASAP.
Local pickup is an option if you live in the Boise area. If that describes you, then when you open your survey, instead of selecting a region/country, choose “Local Pickup”, and we can work that out directly with you so you don’t have to pay shipping.
If you come across any problems or have questions, feel free to send me an email at [email protected] so I can help you out!
Book Updates
Major editing is DONE!!! 🥳
The plan is to finish up the rest of the minor edits THIS upcoming week and begin formatting. Once formatting is complete, I will send everyone who ordered their ebooks those, and I will order proof copies of the physical books! If everything is good with those, then I’ll order the rest of the books and get them sent out with all the other goodies as soon as possible!
Due to personal reasons, the editor I had lined up was unable to edit Ødiri’s Board. I still wanted to make sure to get you the best book I could, so I secured additional beta readers, and my Dad helped edit the book through both developmental drafts as well as doing line editing.
Reviews from early readers are coming in, and they unanimously love the book! Comments have been overwhelmingly positive! One reader raved about how Ødiri's Board read like a professionally published story. Multiple have mentioned how they could not put the book down, especially the last fifth, going into the ending 😁
I have to thank you for your absolute patience. The book you are going to receive will be the best book it can be!
Ødiri’s Board Release Date
I am planning on setting the wide release of Ødiri’s Board for mid-to-late November. All those who ordered ebooks will receive them before then, and we'll do our best to get you your physical copies as well. Print on demand companies can be unpredictable, but we’ll keep you updated.
Card Game Announcement
I have an unfortunate announcement regarding the Conquest of Alaubi card game.
Our chosen artist was initially delivering somegood artwork, but unfortunately not all of it was up to the quality of work that I hoped to deliver to you. What's more, he disappeared after we had invested a lot of time and funding into the game, but before it could be completed.
This disappoints and frustrates me considerably.
As a result of all this, the game will not be happening at this time. All who purchased it will be given a refund for the game portion of their order.
Thank you for your understanding.
(Note that we still do have plans to develop a game, but we're putting that on hold for the time being to focus on production and other book business things.)
Bookmarks!
The last of the bookmarks are in! Aren’t they GORGEOUS? 😍
Bookmarks! :)
Ice Pebble Bookmark
Thank you
Thank you so much for your patience as we head into the last stretch here before we begin fulfillment.
I am so excited to get you all your books and goodies!
Thank you all for joining me on this journey. You mean the world to me ❤️
I have the gold foil bookmarks, and they look just gorgeous! (Scroll to the bottom to see gifs that show how shiny they are!)
Gold Foil Bookmarks!
These bookmarks are thicker than regular bookmarks and feel so good in the hand:
Close-up side of the bookmarks
I will be ordering the rest of the bookmarks next week, and I’ll update you with pictures of those when they get here!
Book Update
Editing is going very well!
I am working through the last major section of my edits before I send this to my professional editor. My alpha reader has gotten through 4/5th of the book (and he is loving it). He’s giving me some great feedback, much of which I’ll be implementing to improve the story.
I am also working on cutting words, because Ødiri’s Board is currently quite massive for a YA novel.
While the edits are not yet finalized, I recently had the opportunity to format and order a paperback copy of the book to test out a lot of things, including some of the interior designs!
The interior!
With the gold foil bookmark:
Book with gold foil bookmark
OH! And I forgot to send out an update regarding the winner of the book cover poll. The original cover has won! This means you will all receive an exclusive BackerKit special-edition cover, which will be different from the publicly sold copies.
Backerkit Exclusive Edition Cover
Thank You!
Thank you all so much for your patience! I never expected it to take this long for me to get the book out. But I really want to honor your trust in me and give you something good.
The good news is that it’s getting really close! I’m hoping to get it printed late this summer.
The new cover art is in! I mentioned in my last update that I was working with an illustrator to make a new cover that would better fit the direction this book is going in, and the new cover is done!
I love both of these covers so much.
I plan on using the new cover for the upcoming wide release, but for you, the backers, I am leaving it up to you to decide which cover you will end up receiving. (i.e. which cover will adorn the “backer-exclusive edition” of the book.)
I am getting so close with these book edits! To make things easier on myself I’ve split the book into four parts to edit separately, and I’m mostly done with part 3 and also working on part 4. After that I just have some end chapters to write, then it will be off to the editor! I have a beta reader going through the first and second part while I wrap up the other parts of the book, so we can get this book as polished as possible! I am aiming to get Ødiri’s Board published this spring and will do my best to get it to all of you before then. I just want to make sure that it is as good as I can make it to honor your trust in me.
Thank You
You all have been so patient waiting while I take way longer than planned to get this book finished. Thank you so much, I appreciate you!
In an age when AI makes it so easy to create things instantaneously (and I am steering clear of AI for my story), I am so incredibly grateful for all your patience!!
Thank you Robot
UPDATE
I have been spending a lot of time working out the timeline, distances, overall consistency, character depth, and character arcs throughout Ødiri's Board. This has been taking longer than I originally anticipated, but the good news is the book has improved SO much, and I’m getting closer to being able to send it to the professional editor!
SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
As I’ve been editing my book, it has changed from what it originally was when I started writing it years ago. It’s gotten deeper, more emotional, and more impactful. With that, although I absolutely adore the original cover, I’ve realized that the cover and series name don’t fully reflect the updates.
So, sometime this month, I will be working with an artist to design a new cover with the new series name that will better show what we want to convey. (The book title will still be Ødiri’s Board.)
The new series name, instead of “Otumpi’s Game” (which seemed confusing) will be “Game of Immortals.” As I've been going through updates, I feel that this better captures the overall story and the new direction the series is headed.
If you’re panicking because you like the original cover, no worries! Once we get the new one, we'll send out a poll for you all to choose which cover you would like to receive.
THANK YOU
Thank you once again for your patience. I hope to have another update for you soon! Have a great day!
