Thank you for humoring me and my weird little book. Now I’m going to go through some of the rewards and stretch goals from The Way of Kings leatherbound campaign and give you a quick update.
The Way of Kings Leatherbound
The 2020 edition just finished up at the bindery and is now waiting for the slipcases to be finished and foiled. After that, the book sets and the slipcases will need to be brought together and shrink-wrapped before getting shipped out, so we’re getting close!
Brandon just started signing the pages that will be bound into the 2021 editions. There are a lot of these to sign, but when they’re done, we’ll ship them to the bindery, and then the rest of the sets will be printed to go along with the signed pages.
A few weeks ago, we had an unboxing video where a set of the books was shipped across the country to us to test the box and bubble wrap. The set arrived in pristine condition, but many of you were concerned with the size of the box. So, out of an abundance of caution, we’ve ordered slightly bigger boxes with even stronger cardboard than in the video. A second shipping test, which sent the books across the country in the stronger box, arrived in mint condition.
Dawnshard
The beta read is finishing up, and Brandon is revising the story. Ben McSweeney just finished an illustration and a chapter icon, and Peter and I are looking ahead toward layout. In the meantime, we’ve settled on the interior paper, which has a nice feel to it.
The Way of Kings Prime
I’ve just finished picking the fabric that will cover this edition and have seen samples of the interior paper, which is a little lighter weight than what we use in the leatherbound books and has a nice opacity and creamy color that makes it comfortable to read from. I’m designing the spines for the Sanderson Curiosities so they’ll look nice on the shelf together but will also be set apart from the leatherbound books.
The Bridge Four Poster
Is being sent out as fast as we can get them in the mail. Hundreds of these go out each day, so if you haven’t received yours yet, you should soon.
Knights Radiant Order Patches, Pins, and Backer Pin
Sent to the manufacturer. Proofs have been approved.
Knights Radiant Order Art Prints
Have settled on a printer and are working with them on materials.
Playing Cards
The designs are almost done. Templates received from the printer, who is the best in the business, and the manufacturing process will begin soon, but I am expecting delays on this one.
Chicken Scout Merit Patch
A manufacturer has been chosen. Details are being finalized.
Epic Bookmark
Designs sent to the printer.
Bumper Sticker
Design is almost finished.
Drink Coasters
Minor design adjustments being made before sending to printer.
Digital Art Package and Novella Drafts
These will be some of the last things we put together since not all the art has been finalized. When everything is off to the manufacturers, we’ll turn our time to putting these together using the final art.
Sticker Sheets
We’re in talks with a manufacturer right now and are happy with where things are going. Here’s a small sneak peek of the latest designs, which will get shifted around a bit to fit the manufacturer's specifications. (And where you see blank space, we’re likely going to add a sticker of the backer pin, the Double-Eye of the Almighty. I can’t promise each sheet will have them, but some will if there’s space.)
Please note, designs not final.
Challenge Coins
A manufacturer has been chosen, and the files have been delivered to them. You’ve seen the tails side of the coins:
Please note, this is a mockup of the coins and not a photograph. Final products might look slightly different.
Now we’d like to reveal the heads sides:
Please note, this is a mockup of the coins and not a photograph. Final products might look slightly different.
Rhythm of War Release
A quick note to let you know about the Rhythm of War online release event. I’ve heard that a few of the stores might have a few signed and numbered copies left. More info here.
Thank You
As always, we are incredibly grateful for your support. We’re working hard prepping for the arrival of the books and merchandise and will continue to keep you in the loop. Thanks again, and happy October!
Dawnshard Update and the First Look at How the Wok Leatherbound Will Be Packaged!
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Sep 24, 2020 at 07:52:16 PM
Locked and Ready!
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 12:38:57 AM
BackerKit Update
Thank you to everyone who filled out their surveys! If you haven’t completed your survey, please check your inbox for an email from BackerKit and complete the survey so we have your address. Please reach out to us with your Backer number or email address if you run into problems.
We closed the Pre-order store, locked orders, and charged cards last week. This means you can’t make changes to your order (unless you haven’t filled out your survey yet, in which case your order will not be locked until you do). This also means we can gather all the numbers and start ordering products. We’re very excited!
The next step will be to lock your shipping address. This will be done in waves as I begin printing labels for posters this week. I expect this to take a few weeks. If your order does not contain a poster, your address will not be locked until I ship an item from your order.
Hardcover Books
The Way of Kings Prime quantity has been finalized and thus has also been ordered from the printer, though there are still a few small design decisions to be made. Isaac has picked the materials for the Dawnshardnovella hardcover to match Edgedancer as closely as possible and is hard at work getting everything else ready to print or manufacture. The Dawnshard text is currently in beta and looking good for a timely release.
Test Packaging
We’ve been working with the bindery to package this heavy bookset so it can arrive safely to you, wherever you live. Here are some pictures:
Please note that these images are using a mockup of the slipcase provided by the bindery, so the foil Stormlight symbol hasn’t yet been added to it. We’ve been informed the slipcases are currently in production, so we’re getting closer to having completed sets for the 2020 copies of the book!
As always, thank you for your support and patience! We’re moving forward toward getting everything in your hands as quickly as we can.
~Kara and Team
Dawnshard Update From Brandon
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Sep 04, 2020 at 01:19:08 AM
Hey, everyone, Brandon here with an update on the novella. While Isaac, Kara, and her team are busy collating all the different orders and rewards, I’ve been digging into writing Dawnshard.
I finished the rough draft of the book last week, and took a few days to work on another project to give myself a little distance. I started again on the second draft of Dawnshard on Wednesday, however. I usually do four or five drafts of stories, depending on various factors. This should be a four-draft story, I expect.
To that end, we’re planning to start the Beta Read as soon as I finish the second draft. We’ll give that a few weeks, then I’ll do the third draft late September. A line edit and continuity edit will follow, with a fourth (and final) polish being done early to mid-October.
If all that goes as expected—and following a proofread and copyedit—we should be able to deliver an electronic version to backers late October. So that’s our target right now! If some of those reading this arrived late and missed the Kickstarter, I will put the novella up on the various eBook sites for sale once we’ve confirmed that backers have received it.
The physical copies are tougher to put a target on. Soonest we could get the typeset book to the printers will be mid-November. Then, it will all depend on how long they take to print and ship. Our plan is to have The Way of Kings Prime and Dawnshard printed and shipped to us in the same timeframe, so we can send both in one package to those who ordered both.
Trouble is, COVID is causing historic delays in the publishing industry. Each week, we hear about big books being delayed. So far, we haven’t had problems supplying Rhythm of War (knock on wood) but we can’t predict anything about Dawnshard. We wish we could get it to you sometime in December, but I want to warn you that printing delays are likely to interrupt that. We’ll keep you in the loop.
If you prefer to wait for the physical copy before reading, know that Rhythm of War was written in such a way as to minimize spoilers from Dawnshard. So you shouldn’t have to wait to read Book Four until your physical Dawnshardarrives. Either way, though, we’re going to do our best to get it to you as soon as we can. The most important—and most time consuming—step of the process has happened already, since we have a first draft!
Thank you all again for your support. Looking forward to sharing this novella with you!
Brandon
P.S. I know many of you have requested a higher resolution photo of the leatherbound set that was sent to us, so here it is.
Isaac Unboxes Our First WoK Leatherbound Sample!
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 10:10:58 PM
