Hi rebels! 

Last time we spoke, I said manufacturing was nearly complete and we were almost ready to start transporting books. 

THAT HAS HAPPENED. 

The timeline proceeds as previously planned.

I’ve received my advance copies, and they look fantastic. I knew Mina had made something really special here, but at points I audibly gasped at how nice these books are. And I’m easily pleased, but even Mina, who is much more discerning, is delighted.

The photos below don’t entirely capture their majesty, but let’s save some surprises until they’re in your hands, eh? 

For those of you who ordered Heart, Spire, or Royal Blood in the Voidheart pledge manager, those PDFs are coming to you today. Please refer to the last update for how to access them if you don’t receive an email from Backerkit containing direct links.

If you have an account on www.rowanrookanddecard.com and you’d like these PDFs added there, please email [email protected] and tell us the PDFs you need added, and the email address attached to your account. We’ve got limited customer service cover next week, so this might take a few days.

If you backed the Royal Blood crowdfunder, you’ve already seen a version of these, but it bears saying here too. Voidheart Symphony is being delivered later than we initially thought it would be. Voidheart isn’t the only project where that’s happened, and I’d like to address why it happens and what we’re doing to get better at planning our projects.

The major reasons are an absolute insistence on high standards for production, and the decision to keep working on our books until they’re delivering everything we want. Most often this means more content, and sometimes it also means additional rounds of editing or testing. We’ve also got to acknowledge that, as a small team with (in some cases) some quite serious health issues, our ability to recover from delays is limited. 

What this means in practice is that, in future, we’ll be starting out with longer timelines on our books - even when we think “oh, it’s just some revisions! It’ll be straightforward!”. Leaving room for good ideas, “yes, and…”, and “f*** it, we can do it better” (genuinely, that’s what one of the rows on the project timeline planner is now called) is a vital part of how we work, and we’ve got to be proud of that, and ground our project management in the knowledge that we will keep working until the book’s as good as we can get it. 

So, in short: longer timelines at the outset, fewer revisions to them. That’s the plan. 

This may be my last message to you. From here on out, I’m handing over to Logistics Alex, who will track Voidheart’s delivery to our warehouses and oversee the fulfilment of your orders. I think he’s even more excited than I am to get these books to you so you can start playing.

I’ve had a wonderful time making Voidheart Symphony for you, and I hope you’re every bit as happy with it as the team is.

Take care of each other.

- Chant