A quick update for us all today... the campaign closes tomorrow! There are still a few last secrets and challenges in store, so let's get to it:

There are just two more keys to unlock... one is for our last-minute backers to help with, and the last one will begin tomorrow after the campaign concludes. We'll explain a bit more!

🔑 Ivy House Key 7 is pretty easy to explain... we actually have several thousand followers who haven't yet backed at any level, so just a handful more folks waiting until the last minute will get us to the goal. Good luck to all! Unlocking this door will reveal a new SFW print set add-on as well as the free addition to every Bonus Box.

🔑 Ivy House Key 8 is a unique challenge that begins once the campaign "ends" at noon PT tomorrow, August 14th! To earn this key, you'll have to keep the campaign in Overtime mode (also known as a "Backer Train") for at least 2 hours after the formal end of the campaign at 12pm PT/ 3pm ET tomorrow.

A little bit more about Overtime mode: this is the same thing as the Backer Train shown on the front page, just extended to keep the campaign going after it's scheduled end date. You can refresh the train with an additional 10 minutes by backing OR adjusting your pledge level (putting an add-on in your cart, for example). We reach our goal if the campaign is still going by 2pm PT / 5pm ET!

This bonus reward greeting card will be included automatically for ALL tiers (not just those with the bonus box) as a thank-you for being a part of our first Leveling Up campaign... and also our very first prose book campaign :] We have loved running this campaign for you, and truly appreciate you all... hopefully you'll be able to pass this appreciation on with an illustrated thank-you card that you can send to a friend (or just keep for yourself). 

You can find all this information and a bit more discussion by clicking on the image above... Good luck, everyone!

 

Have you voted yet? Don't worry, you've still got a few days left!   

Additionally, thank you all so much for your feedback; it's all been read and heard. We've mentioned it before (and you can find this info in the FAQ as well), but art shown in the campaign is always subject to additional tweaking and polish--everything from placeholder edge painting mockups to the pins to the vellums shown in this campaign will be getting additional design, editorial oversight, and detailing.

If you haven't backed a Vault crowdfunding project before, please be prepared for regular future updates where we will share final art (and sometimes even last-minute upgrades). In our opinion, it's always nice to deliver something better than what was expected.

You all unlocked a mystery item when the campaign reached 250k in funding earlier this week! We have been trying very, very hard to get this item listed, and are unfortunately a little stuck on one last detail from the manufacturer 😭 Since you all were so wonderful and patient, we are at least going to give you a bit of a sneak peek of what we are working on! Please take a look in the backers-only section below to see!

Once the campaign ends, there will still be time for those who missed out to grab the books! Later this month, we will open the late-pledge store with some new items, and additionally will add some special items that were not available during this campaign, such as the plushie (if we can get our production questions answered), signed Born in Fire books and the green Ivy House keychain. But certain earned bonuses and pricing will only be available to those who backed during this campaign. We will of course make another update when all of this news is ready to share!

Here's what to expect from us in the near future:

Although we are almost to the end of this adventure, that doesn't mean we're done with our Leveling Up publication adventure :] Thank you so much for being a part of this campaign, we hope you have fun on the final day, and we'll start updating the final challenge at noon PT! 💜✨

 

Another week, another update! Check out the news as we head into our final few days ✨

We know you're already in love with the Leveling Up series, but are you possibly one of the many fans of the Demon Days, Vampire Nights series as well? If you're in one of these cities, you can meet K. F. Breene in person at one of her upcoming signing events!

Check out Katie's events page to join her in celebrating her gorgeous new edition of Born in Fire, out now from Aethon: Vault books, or find it at your local book shop. 

You asked for some previews, so here you go! Our bonus tassel booksnark, based on careful consideration of our Backer comments. Thank you to everyone who contributed thoughts and feedback!

And, we are soooo incredibly close (95% there!!) to our next unlock of a bonus enamel pin added to every pin set. You don't have to do anything--if your reward includes the pin set, a box, or a enamel pin add-on, you get the bonus pin at no extra cost. The hard part will be making sure YOUR choice is the winning option when we make our goal and the poll goes live... we took a little bit extra time this week to mock up our next few options:

Will you choose Dave, Edgar, or the goblin-Puca form of Niamh that matches with the alicorn-Puca pin? Start noodling now, because we thing that poll is coming!

Finally, we have a bonus add-on unlock ready and waiting to go live as soon as we hit goal. Want to help us make that final 5%? We've got some lovely sneak peek videos (here, here, here, here, and even here) showing the look of the book before all of the add-ons you've unlocked. If you want a new way to share the excitement with friends, feel free to share one or two of these videos and help us make our goal 💪  

Our collaboration with the Paranormal Romance Royalty campaign is now live! Backers of both of our campaigns will automagically receive a bonus sticker sheet, featuring stickers from both of our campaigns! You get some beautiful books, and we'll make sure you get a little extra fun as thanks.

Check out this sweet deal, and be sure to back their campaign if you haven't already! This offer ends when our campaign closes, so you have about a week left on the clock :] 

Speaking of which...

All good things come to an end... even this campaign. Next Friday, August 14th, the campaign will come to a close. But don't worry! Many items will still be available in our post-campaign store.

What is the post-campaign store? It's a Leveling Up store for the campaign that will remain open until after all Pay Over Time backers have received their survey. That means, the late pledge store will be open at least until late November 2026.

We won't be able to offer every single item shown in the campaign, and it's possible some prices will be adjusted slightly to make sure that backers of this campaign always get the best value, but if you were a backer who was not interested in the full set but did want to pick up an add-on or two, this will be your chance. 

But that's not for another week! We have those last doors to unlock before the end of the campaign, and we think we're gonna make it there. We'll see you again in our next update 💜

Happy Thursday, all! We hope you've been well. And continued thanks, of course, for your support of the project as we dive into our second week... we've got some love to bring to you all, too! 

We've been keeping an eye on all of the great suggestions and conversation, and one particular piece of feedback that really stood out to everyone, especially Katie herself, was that we could make it a bit easier for folks to get a little piece of the K.F. Breene magic along with their books.

To that end, today we've listed a new add-on item: signed bookplates that can be easily added to your sets.

What's the difference between our two signature options? Here's a little breakdown: 

And, don't forget--we've also go the (sparkly!) campaign-only Ivy House keychain add-on available! We hit 100 orders on this item last week, and so we UPGRADED it to include white glitter enamel instead of the flat white enamel. This item is only available until the end of the campaign, so be sure to grab one while it's still on the menu.

Thank you as always for your discussion and feedback--we are definitely paying attention, and want to make sure this set raises the bar and lets everyone join in on the fun.

We'd venture to guess that a LOT of you are fans of all sorts of paranormal romance, so we're pleased to announce a collaboration with our friends (and fellow Breene fans!) at Bonkers Romance. Their newest campaign, Paranormal Romance Royalty, launches in just a few days, and those who back both Leveling Up and their upcoming Paranormal Romance Royalty will receive a free sticker sheet featuring art from both of our campaigns.

We'll have more details for you soon, but if you are already a Leveling Up backer at any of our tiers, just back their upcoming campaign at an applicable physical tier to receive a paranormal sticker sheet featuring love and stickers from both of our crews.

Just another way for us to say thank-you to the dedicated fans of the genre! 

The people have spoken! You all are getting a bookmarksnark ✨ We're not quite finished with the new design, but we'll most certainly have it ready for our next update, which we'll be posting on Tuesday, 8/4. Thanks to everyone who voted, and keep an eye on the next unlock... any interest in us posting some potential enamel pin art to preview in our next update?

We also added a little preview of our next upcoming unlock as well... this unlock was based on a reader comment thread, thank you for the great suggestion! 

And, one final note for this update: we do love everyone for their participation in our polls, discussion section, and other forums. We also know the leaderboard is a big motivator, but please make sure you don't accidentally post spam (repetitive replies, single word replies, or automated replies)! Thanks for keeping this campaign an awesome place to visit and hopefully to stick around. 

Until our Tuesday 8/4 update, please have a wonderful Friday and weekend as well!