Happy September, all! As promised, a little update from us to let you know that we're alive and kicking :]
The format of these monthly check-ins will generally start with production updates, and then any relevant news that might be fun to share. So, without further ado...
Production updates!
As you know, our main focus is naturally on the book set itself! This is a deluxe, premium edition, so our attention is staying firmly on making sure this book comes out to be as beautiful as possible. We have a list of interior illustrations that Corin is working on as well as some polish to the covers, and we're looking forward to sharing more with you soon.
Our other priority is custom items. We have already reached out to our write-in backers for their information, and a few folks have already been selected by Katie for inclusion as characters in the soonest upcoming new Leveling Up book :] Exciting!
We've got quite a lot happening behind-the-scenes at Vault (more on that in a moment), but we're expecting to get that Store launched (don't worry--we hadn't forgotten!), as well as really buckle in on producing many of our rewards starting in October.
What else are we working on? Well...
Our big event of the year... NYCC!
Pardon this light update--this is one of the busiest times of year for our team. Vault makes sure to attend one big event per year... that one is New York Comic Con (also known as NYCC)! Have any of you been there? While it does have "Comic Con" in the name, it is really more of an all-media convention. As such, we'll be in attendance from October 8-11 with a lot of our LitRPG titles coming along with us. If any of you happen to be attending, please feel free to stop on by and say hello!
After the hustle and bustle of early October we'll be able to bring our attention right back to Leveling Up. Our main intent is to stick that landing on our fulfillment schedule, with all of your goodies in hand by Spring 2027.
Thank you all very much for your patience as our small team gets through this busy time of the year, and we'll see you at our next monthly update on October 16th!
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:
The final Ivy House keys!
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!
The enamel pin unlock
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.
The mystery gargoyle unlock...
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!
What comes after the campaign?
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:
we will post monthly updates after the end of the campaign while all Pay Over Time backers complete their pledges, which will take about 4 months after the end of this campaign
after all pledges are in, we'll be sending out surveys to collect your address and any other info for fulfillment
we'll keep you updated about production of books and other items, and we will let you know when fulfillment begins in the first part of next year!
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 ✨
K. F. Breene on tour!
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.
Reward previews time~
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!
It's finally Edgar time
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 💪
Bonus reward! Leveling Up x Paranormal Romance Royalty
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...
The end of the campaign... and beyond
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.
This is one of the add-on items that will NOT be available in the store... only during this campaign!
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!
💜 Amazing add-ons
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.
What's the difference between our two signature options? Here's a little breakdown:
Alpha tier and above: Books in these tiers will include a high-quality, bound-in, embellished page with a thank-you message from K.F. Breene as well as her signature in each book of the set. Special note: Since the bookplate wasn't available at launch, we'll also include a complimentary blank bookplate with the Alpha (and above) tiers as well so you're not missing out! But if you want to purchase signed bookplates just for the heck of it, those are available in the add-on sections.
Signed bookplates: These are author-signed, 4x6" rectangular bookplates with an adhesive backing that can be affixed to the inside, if wanted. They feature the same color scheme and art as the box set, and are priced affordably to make sure that anyone who wants one can add it to their cart.
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.
Now featuring white glitter enamel!
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.
💜 Our upcoming Bonkers Romance collaboration
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.
Support both "Leveling Up" and the upcoming "Paranormal Romance Royalty" campaign for a thank-you sticker sheet gift!
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!
💜 Poll results, and we keep moving towards our next unlock~
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?
*unbiased cough* Edgar?
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!
Well, not quite a full week, but you know what we mean! We've been absolutely blown away by your energy and enthusiasm, and we're ready to make this campaign even better as we keep hitting out goals 💜
✨ Unlocks galore! and more in store
As you might have seen, we've achieved some very cool unlocks so far, including new connecting edge paintings, custom endpapers, a 2-page spread map illustration, and even a free bonus bookmark added to all bookmark sets.
AND, best of all, we are only ~70 backers away from our next unlock of 1000 backers... the next unlock is just around the corner. Because we love you guys, we'll be keeping an eye on the campaign all weekend and will be sharing the next unlock as soon as you've made goal.
What's coming up next? That would be the sixth Ivy House key unlock... because we've exceeded our expectations, we've also activated a little extra surprise in the entryway. As you know from the books, there are multiple secret passages and interesting details scattered around Ivy House, so you can't really let your guard down...
... we'll give you a little hint, though. The last two days we've been adjusting our plans to accommodate the wonderful feedback and requests you've all been making. It's VERY possible we will be unlocking an item or two that we didn't think we'd be able to offer... something a bit loose and flowy, we're thinking? and maybe also something a little softer and squishier. I guess you'll have to stick around and find out!
✨ Speaking of Keys...
We had some great feedback about the Ivy House Keychain on our last post! Because the Keys are such an important feature of the campaign, and because we've had requests to make them available to those who missed out, we've been trying to figure out a solution that works for everyone. So, we're happy to introduce a second Ivy House Key, now available as an optional add-on to everyone.
What's the difference between these keys? There are two available keys at the moment:
1. The Ivy House Pre-launch Exclusive keychain (already upgraded!)
2. The Ivy House Campaign Exclusive keychain (✨this item is upgradable to white glitter enamel✨)
The first one is a Pre-launch Exclusive Ivy House Keychain to supporters who also backed the campaign, featuring the unlocked Ivy House gem that they worked so hard to achieve. This one has the dark "iron" color of the key in the book, but with a special purple metal effect as shown in the graphic! This item will not be made available again. As a thank-you to our early supporters, this keychain was also significantly discounted... thank you all again for your love and participation!
This second Ivy House Campaign Keychain is ONLY available during this campaign! This will be the white version of the key with gold detailing, to match the set offered in the campaign. We've decided to make this a mini-quest... if we hit 100 orders on this item, we will upgrade the flat white enamel to white glitter enamel. After the end of the campaign, this item will not be offered again.
To protect the exclusivity of the second keychain we may also offer a third keychain, but if we do, it will be listed after the end of the campaign in the late-pledge store for those sorry folks who were not able to join us during the live campaign. This possible keychain will be a simpler green version with no unlockable effects.
✨ The Queen Breene (& Christine) Dream Stream, for those who missed out!
In case you weren't able to join us for the Launch Day festivities, we've got the recording of the full Livestream event for you ready to view, right here!
Thanks so much again to K. F. Breene andCN Crawfordfor a great time. Please be sure to check out some of Christine's wonderful work, and we hope you enjoyed the stream (and that you got your submitted questions answered!)
We'll keep you apprised of new unlocks and new additions in our updates here, and in the discussion forum... thank you all again, and have a beautiful weekend!
