Status update and some eye candy
over 3 years ago – Sat, Nov 21, 2020 at 01:29:21 AM

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had a great week! It seems like most of you domestic US backers have gotten your packages already. If you haven't yet, they're likely a) in transit, or b) were waiting for the original sketches to come in from Dominique. Those arrived earlier in the week and are now at the warehouse, so those remaining packages should go out early next week.

We asked those backers if they'd mind if we shared their sketches, and most said "sure!" So here's a flood of those beauties! (Update continues further below.)

Dominique really went above and beyond on these. And they're big! Larger than the book itself, so the warehouse will be polybagging and finding special packaging to insure their protection in transit.

I also have to share this piece below -- Dom graciously offered to send me a "surprise" in the package for my birthday and asked what character I might like. I picked Lando Calrissian (because anyone who knows me knows my love for Lando), and when the package came in the mail, here's what was on the outer envelope:

I thought that was amazing on its own, but inside he included this as well:

So awesome. Love that guy. (Dom, I mean. And Lando, too. Both are the best kind of scoundrel.)

Okay, that's all fine and good, but what about the rest of us folks outside the US?!?1!

We've been working overtime this week getting the rest of the fulfillment lined up. For Canadian backers, now that we have the remaining sketches, we'll have your packages dropshipped to a postal carrier in Ontario next week, so you should have yours forwarded from them shortly thereafter.

The rest of the world packages will be going through our fulfillment partner in the UK, as mentioned previously. We're only now waiting on our VAT number assignment from gov.uk so that we can send the bulk for them to start shipping. This is a new process for us, so we don't know what to expect, but they say it could be as soon as a couple days up to a couple of weeks (but we're pushing for the former). The fulfillment partner, Kixto, is very experienced at Kickstarter and crowdfunding fulfillment, so once we get that number they should have the palette of stuff within a week, and boxes should start going out within days of that. We'll keep you all posted, naturally.

On the upside of all this, we're learning a lot for next time, so any of you who followed us on to the ASTER OF PAN campaign or WAHCOMMO will hopefully benefit from a streamlined process.

That's it for now. Have a great weekend and we'll have more to share shortly! Thanks, everyone!

Domestic shipments are on their way!
over 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 06:29:43 PM

Hey gang! Happy Tuesday!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that ALL DOMESTIC SHIPMENTS* have been sent! US backers should receive an email with their tracking information shortly (if you haven't received it already). That tracking info is also available on your Backerkit Pledge Manager.

(*okay, almost all shipments -- we JUST received the package of original sketches from Dominique Bertail, so those are being sorted and forwarded to our warehouse today, so those shipments should go out by end of the week. I gotta say, they are all gorgeous... and big! Bigger than my scanner platen! I will share them all soon pending backer approval...)

What about non-domestic shipments?

We are in the process of pre-packaging Canadian boxes now, which will be dropshipped to a postal forwarder in Ontario by the end of the week. There, they will apply postage and tracking info, which we will forward once they are sent.

Same thing with the rest of the world international orders -- we are preparing a skid full of all items for our UK fulfillment provider to assemble and forward accordingly. That skid should go out by end of the week, and should get to the fulfiller next week. They should be able to turn them around quickly.

The only unknown caveat for those international packages:

Apparently there is a matter of VAT-related paperwork that needs to be filled out and registered. This is admittedly new to us, and our UK partner is working on this, but it's not clear how long that might take. Hopefully not long at all. But that process might delay their ability to ship to some degree. Still unknown, but the process has started, so fingers crossed for a smooth setup. These are all lessons for next time...! (Any of you who have followed us to www.asterofpan.com or www.wahcommo.com will find some comfort in what we take away from this project...)

Excited for you all to get your stuff! Hope you are as happy with how it all turned out as we are!

Download link fixed! Please try again!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 11:41:17 PM

Hi Everyone!

A quick update to acknowledge and apologize for the broken link to the main PDF file -- a checkbox wasn't properly checked linking the file to the product on the storefront. Sorry! :(

It is fixed now, so please try your purchase again using the same code.

If you have not received or lost your email from Backerkit with the links, you can find all of your digital codes and their respective product links in your Pledge Manager. If you don't remember the link, you can get there by going to paris-2119.backerkit.com and logging in with the email address associated with your Kickstarter account. You should find all of your stuff there.

(You can also message us for your invitation link if that doesn't work.)

Sorry for that hassle, everyone! Seems to be working now (?) but let us know if you run into any more trouble!

Lesson learned... Let's try this again... NEW Digital DL process
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 11:39:57 PM

Hi Everyone.

Well, ya live and ya learn. And we've definitely learned how NOT to distribute digital downloads moving forward. While the process set up does essentially work, it also introduces all kinds of complications: accidental charged purchases that need to be refunded, a confusing 5-step process requiring emailed download links, a string of settings that are hopefully connected correctly in the first place, etc, etc. Not to mention, the absolute flood of email notifications we receive from our webstore system from each $0 purchase... literally thousands now. We didn't even stop to think about that side-effect. It not only clogs up Outlook like you wouldn't believe, but all of those $0 purchases throws off the accuracy of our webstore analytics data... So yeah -- no bueno.

So... WE'RE STARTING OVER!

THE NEW PROCESS

You may have already received new notifications from Backerkit sent out with this update this morning.

Essentially, three of the four rewards -- the art book, sketchbook, and soundtrack -- are now being distributed directly from Backerkit. You will find direct links to those items in your Pledge manager. So all of those items are now available through 1-click links gathered nicely in one place inside your existing account. :)

The main book PDF is now being offered through Gumroad. You should now find a special link in your Pledge Manager that goes directly to an HD version of the file on Gumroad that you should be able to purchase/download for free. A much simpler 2-click process. (If you still have trouble with that process, please message us.)

Unfortunately, we still need to use some sort of tracked-download/file-stamping platform to distribute the main work in order to adhere to our license commitment. While Gumroad PDFs are DRM-free, they do add your email address to the cover page for accountability. That should be a minimal compromise for readers and authors alike.

NOTE: The old codes/links through our webstore are still active.

So you may still download those items through that original process if you so choose. It will be much more hassle, and will certainly introduce much more confusion, for us to switch those codes off. So the choice is yours as to which method you wish to use.

A few questions from the audience...

• A retailer has asked if their tiers get the digital rewards. In brief: yes. However, it was our own oversight not to include those in the tier's itemized description, so they weren't processed through Backerkit. If you backed at a retailer tier and would like the digital files, please message us and we will send you those files directly.
• Several of you who have graciously followed us to our ASTER OF PAN and WAHCOMMO campaigns have asked how we will be doing digital distro on those campaigns. Well, certainly not through our webstore, as this failed experiment lesson proved! :)  If this new method of Backerkit + Gumroad works well, that may be the new method moving forward. But we'll see. If something even better comes around, we'll try that.
• We've been asked if the PDFs can be provided as .cbr files, too. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, our license requires more secure formatting, and .cbr files are unfortunately way too easy to modify, edit, split apart, and redistribute in so many ways. Since they are essentially just a .rar file full of .jpgs, that format isn't at all secure or allowed. Sorry!

And a humble word from us...

...and by "us" I mean "me". :) While Magnetic is a collective effort of myself, Lisa Wu on PR and Sales, and some oversight feedback from our man Rick at Polarity, the daily management and assembly of these campaigns falls mostly on my shoulders.  Together, we strive to make everything look and work as professional as possible, as if assembled by a much larger team with the resources of a full-sized publishing staff. But we're not a full-sized company. We're still a scrappy indie. I personally built and manage our website, webstore, and each of these campaigns using the best over-the-counter tools and third-party plug-ins we can find. We try to make the best decisions to make it as easy as possible for you, our supporters, to follow us and (hopefully) spread the word so the Magnetic brand can continue to grow and we can continue to bring you more awesome and unique art books and graphic novels. 

Sometimes we misstep and try something that falls flat. This first attempt at digital distro, for example. But we want to learn and improve from your feedback. And we appreciate your providing it, even when that feedback hits like an aggressive punch to the gut... I totally understand your frustrations, but please understand that we're only capable of so much. :) Things like license restrictions, international shipping rates, etc, are totally out of our hands. We'll do whatever we can to ease those frustrations and to make you happy, and are very open to suggestions, but please just keep in mind that for the most part, those requests and efforts will come down to li'l ol' me. So if there is any delay in comment feedback or status updates, its just a matter of my own spinning plates and split focus, not a sign that your comments aren't being heard. :)

We -- "I" -- appreciate each and every one of you. And am immensely grateful for your support of our authors and titles. And hope we can count on your continued support! :)

                           -Mike

Digital Download codes sent!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 10, 2020 at 10:04:31 PM

Hey everyone!

More than 4000 codes have now gone out to everyone getting any of the four different digital download items from the campaign: the full book PDF, the sketchbook PDF, the art book PDF, and the soundtrack. Many of you have already downloaded the files -- we hope you enjoy them!

If you haven't gotten your email yet, check your spam folder, or let us know in a message.

So here is how the digital fulfillment works:

1) You should get a message from Backerkit containing your unique download codes for each of the four digital items. The messages should also contain links to those products on our webstore. (For example, the link may look like this: https://store.magnetic-press.com/products/paris-2119-future-history-art-book-digital-download )

2) Go to that product page in the link and add one copy to your cart.

3) Proceed to checkout.

4) Enter the code you received from Backerkit for that item in the "Discount Code" box on the right in order to get 100% off that item. 

5) Complete the $0 order. (Or feel free to buy some other stuff while you're there... the digital item in your cart will still be free!) When the order is complete, you will get a download link to the file itself. The same link will also be emailed to you.

Please note that the digital hosting serivce (SendOwl) might need a few minutes to process your link, so if you don't see one right away, or haven't gotten the link by email, please check back shortly.

You can use these codes again if you ever need to re-download the file.

We had a blast putting these together and are really happy with how the soundtrack turned out. Hope you all agree! :D

The rest of the stuff

We're pretty much all set to start shipping all domestic orders... as soon as the signed bookplates arrive. International tracking says they are almost at the destination postal carrier, so I'm hoping that means they're here in the next day or two. Rest assured, they're coming! We'll let you know the moment the boxes start going out!

One last thing... 

The WAHCOMMO Kickstarter ends in 3 days!

We just unlocked the collectible coin and revealed the final stretch goal: a swanky golden die-struck cloisonné pin designed like the amulet Fox wears. If you've been on the fence about backing this beautiful book, please hop on now so everyone can get one for FREE!

Visit www.wahcommo.com to see the campaign!

Thanks again, everyone!