Hello hello, fine and fabulous backers to Paradise Lust!
We took the weekend to rest and revel in our funding success; thank you to everyone who backed this campaign and helped close us out at a wonderful $26,281.06!
No matter if this is your first time backing a Book of Shadows book or you're a return from Buffomet, we're thrilled to have you along for the ride with us as we dive into this phase of bookmaking. We know Paradise Lust is gonna knock some socks off, so here's to our production going smoothly as possible!
Before we get into timeline discussion, we do ask that you ensure your payment methods are updated and/or accurate. We currently have about 25 pledges that have stalled and/or are not charged, and you have until November 30th/December 1st to update these methods before your pledge is dropped completely and you lose your ability to claim your rewards!
Now, onto the fun stuff: production!
Our prospective schedule is as follows:
December: prepress/final design production of the book, as well as campaign swag production. Since we'll receive our Backerkit funds around the first half of December, this'll be the stage in which we ensure our files are submitted correctly and the rest of Paradise Lust's interior design is wrapped up. Our campaign swag is also very nearly ready for production (save for some final artwork touchups and formatting for each items' appropriate manufacturers), so expect to see some hopeful proofing news around the latter half of December (and maybe even some physical reward photos)! This is also when we'll be sending out the survey to take down how you'd like your name to be listed in the Special Thanks section of the book, so please be on the lookout for that backer-only update for a link to the exclusive survey!
January: book printing/physical production! For as many copies as we're getting, it'll take about three weeks for the books to be printed, bound, and packaged to get ready for their overseas shipment. Not a whole lot happening during this time, but we hope to have them on a boat before February begins.
February: set sail for Washington! This month will mostly be transportation of the books from our printer overseas to our fulfillment partners White Squirrel. It takes usually around 3-4 weeks for books to land, depending on dock traffic, and then there's always a possible wait to see how long it'll take to get shipped from port to the PNW itself. This is also most likely when we'll begin releasing fulfillment surveys and charging for shipping, so be on the lookout for those emails!
Middle/late March and April: fulfillment (hopefully) begins! While White Squirrel might receive items later than expected depending on shipping scheduling and reward tier organization, this is when we hope to see packages being sent out from White Squirrel!
That's all we have for now! We'll keep you posted if anything should arise or if shifts happen to our schedules, but for now kick back, relax, and know that you helped fund an amazing book and made sure some amazing artists are paid by a congregation of crowdfunding.
I'm here with a shipping update and a Backer/Patreon Black Friday Sale.
The Backer/Patron black Friday sale starts today and goes through November 30th. You can use the code BLKFRIDAY40 on Etsy for 40% off all items (excluding ornaments, but they're still marked down). This code can also be used more than once. https://thesnarkycompany.etsy.com?coupon=BLKFRIDAY40
Shipping Update
I would estimate that we are now 3/4 of the way through shipping. This past weekend I packed just under 250 orders and sent them to the post office yesterday. BackerKit is showing that there are still 280/978 orders left, however, I believe it's actually less than 280. An order isn't marked as fulfilled in BackerKit until it is scanned at the post office. Once I take orders to the post office it takes about 1-3 days for the true numbers to be reflected in BackerKit. If you want to know if your order has recently shipped, please search your email inbox for an email from BackerKit with tracking information. Please note that you may receive a tracking email, but you may not actually see tracking information for 1-2 days after receiving that email. Emails are sent when shipping labels are printed, but from the time the email has been sent we still have to pack the order and take it to the post office. If your order has not shipped but you'd like to check on it's progress, please email [email protected] and we will get back to you.
I will be packing some orders today, and some tomorrow, but will take a break from Wednesday-Sunday for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you are not from the US, thanksgiving is this Thursday. Packing will resume and mostly likely be wrapped up early next week. Once all orders have shipped an email with all the important information about the end of the project will be sent out.
Hey everyone, I’m terribly sorry for being gone for so long. I’ve had some requests to update and that’s more than fair. I’m going to include an explanation of what I’ve been dealing with at the end, tw for death, read it if you would like to but I also understand if you don’t.
The survey should be going out next week if all things go at they should, I’m hoping to finish everything up this weekend. Everything promised in the project is still going to go through, but there may be some delay because of things on my end. I still really appreciate everything you guys have done and it was a real bright spot these past few months having the support. I’m excited that we are going to be able to make the 4 pins we unlocked, and I can’t wait to get them into your hands. At this moment I can’t say if there will be a delay on you receiving your product from my projected date as I did work in a good buffer but it will depend on how things go from here. As always, thank you.
. . . Tw starts here I’ll cut to the chase, about a month after the completion of this project, my father passed away after months of failing health and I have been struggling to work. It’s been one of the hardest years of my life, for him and for other reasons. I was his caregiver and it was not easy. I’ve had to deal with a lot of ends this year, and it’s for that reason that I’m struggling, on top of my pre existing issues. My oldest cat passed away, I lost a very good friend, and then my father passed. I am going to make sure everyone gets everything they paid for, but I am asking for a bit of leniency while I deal with everything going on. I should have done better about updating here when affected this project, but I was just so overwhelmed that i didn’t, and that is my failing.
After all the setbacks experienced that have slowed down the production process a lot -as you may already know from the previous update post., we have revised and updated our timeline to reflect the current situation, as you can see through the image below. Our goal is to ship everything as soon as possible, hoping by December/January 2024 -we're keeping our fingers crossed!
Despite these delays, the production of the pins is actually well underway! ૮꒰„ ᵕ ꒳ ᵕ̤ „꒱ა We received some production photos showcasing their progress just today, and we couldn't be more thrilled about how they're coming out! You can see that all the pins in the pictures are almost complete, with only the final stage of screen printing remaining. They are turning out to be even more adorable and vibrant than we imagined ૮꒰„ ◕ ヮ ◕˵ „꒱ა❀°。We think you're going to love them too, once completed!
ᴅᴇʟɪʙᴜɴɴɪᴇꜱ
ʙᴜɴɴɪᴇᴘᴏᴛꜱ
ᴀʟꜱᴏ ʀᴀɪɴʙᴏɴɴɪᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀɪᴅᴇ ᴍᴏᴏ-ɴɪᴏɴꜱ
We'll do our best to keep you updated -as soon as we have more news on the completion of the pins We never ask our manufacturers to rush any production, even if there have been already delays. Cause we're committed to delivering exceptional quality products as much as we can ૮꒰ ◕´ ꒳ `◕˵ ꒱ა
Thank you for your patience and understanding so far! We truly always appreciate your support, so we can't never get tired of saying it ૮₍*♡´ɷ` ₎ა人૮₍ ´ɷ` ♡ *₎ა
Sending you again tons of fluffy bunny hugs! Wish you super lovely days in the meantime, the Quirkory team~
Hello everyone! I'm just letting you know that backerkit is helping me sort out the technicalities behind ... well the fullfillment part. There's a lot more to it than kickstarter had, but wow it keeps track of everything.
You'll have options to add on more items, change your pledges around, and lock your order once these get sent out. I am just waiting for them to review and make certain I am not missing anything before we send them out.
Thanks for understanding! We're still on track for our timeframe!
Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some new pin designs that were just added to the campaign! I’m pretty excited about them, especially the first one in particular!
It’s called Kintsugi, and it’s inspired by its name which is the term for a traditional Japanese method of repairing broken pottery. The pieces are glued back together and the seams are painted over with gold powder, thus preserving the piece and making it even more beautiful for its flaw! This pin will be 2 inches, have gold plating, and include screen print details. The next design is called Balance! This one is for the people who love white, black, and gold pins! Something about that combination in pins is so stunning! It will be 2 inches and have gold plating!<3 I also added a couple of art prints featuring art from the campaign! What do you think of the new designs???<3 I’m excited to hopefully add more!!! Have a great week! -McKenzie
This is it: the last day and last contributor update we have before the campaign's end TONIGHT at 11:59PM PT! We've been able to break goal with some spare change in tow, but can we break our first stretch goal of $27,000 to guarantee our artists a bonus? Only time will tell!
Be sure to update your reward tiers if you needed anything changed to your pledge before the campaign ends this evening!
Our socials, should you like to spread the word before Paradise Lust's crew ascends back into the heavens:
And that's all for now! We'll be back tomorrow afternoon post-midnight closeout with the final word of how much we raised, what our timeline will look like, and more!
We did it everyone! Austin and I are so excited about this! I don't think I have felt this jazzed about a crowdfunding project since my very first one. I feel like we're stepping into a whole new world of art and creativity, and that this is just the beginning.
Now begins the process of figuring out how the funding and fullfillment parts of backerkit works. I will be sending surveys out today, and we will begin pulling everything together to jump the moment the funds hit our bank.
Please remember that shipping will be added on to your pledge at this point.
One exciting thing. This is an official Submerged Studio project, and so this year the book has.. an ISBN! That's right, it's all official and shiny!
To celebrate all of this... Austin and I have an announcement. And it's coming by bringing back an old friend who's stumbled on something strange....
It’s not often these days that something crosses my desk that truly catches my attention. If you had asked me a few months ago would I believe that something like this could actually exist outside of a fairy tale or a myth of old I would have told you no. But something has changed.
This will be a long term, intense project and so is not expected to launch until early 2025. We'll be setting up a page that will let you follow along as we work, and create something awesome.
Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for a wonderful start to the campaign! The first day was a major success thank to you all! <3 Just a reminder, for everyone that has already backed and anyone who plans to back within the first 48 hours, you will also receive a free set of 5 stickers, as well as a 5x7 print of art featured in the campaign!
As most of you may already know, this is my 5th enamel pin campaign! The first 4 I have launched through kickstarter and they were all successful! But after being reached out to by a team member from backerkit about trying their new Crowdfunding platform, and seeing success of other projects, I decided to give it a go and launch this campaign here to try it out! I love it so far and hope you all will as well! I'll be posting some polls and discussions to try to keep this campaign as interactive as possible with you all!<3 We've already unlocked 6 out of 10 designs, and it's only DAY 2~! Thank you all so much! I'm looking forward to adding some more goodies once all designs are unlocked ;) If anyone has any questions about how this works, please feel free to comment or reach out to me!<3 I'll be updating again soon! Thank you again! -McKenzie
