February - Books are shipped! Cat's Paw is sent!
3 months ago – Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 03:23:05 PM

Greetings Symbiotes! 

I'm pleased to announce that the shipping process for Between Clouds is complete! 🥳 Well, mostly. There are specifics that need to be covered below, but for now let's take a moment to celebrate! It's been a little under two years since this project launched on Kickstarter, and although the process took longer than expected I couldn't be happier with the result and the community that we've built along the way. So, here's what's going on! 

Shipping with Add-Ons 

On Saturday, January 27th we had a second shipping party for Between Clouds. This time we tackled orders with add-ons, like the World Map and Cat's Paw zine. They're out the door now with a few exceptions. 

Some orders remain to shipped, notably our international orders. The Heart of the Deernicorn shipping team is sending those out during business hours over the next week, since international packages have specific requirements and are more tricky to assemble. 

Print-on-Demand Copies 

The standard quality PoD copies have been sent! Backers with the following items have been sent an email from DriveThruRPG containing their discount.

• Standard Ink Softcover 
• Standard Ink Hardcover 
• Map of Empyrea 

The following Print-on-Demand items will be available by the end of the month. I'm still waiting on the proof copies to arrive, and if they're what I hoped for I will approve them and send discount coupons out as soon as possible.

• Premium Ink Softcover 
• Premium Ink Hardcover 
• Standard Ink Limited Edition Hardcover 
• Premium Ink Limited Edition Hardcover 

If you have not received an email containing you PoD coupon, shoot me a message with your name and the correct email address and I can resend it! 

Cat's Paw Couriers 

Although the Cat's Paw Zines have been sent, I still need to prepare the Cat's Paw Couriers files for digital use and send them to all backers. This should be a rather simple process that I'll tackle once shipping issues die down. 

Physical copies will hopefully be merchandised and available through andimakes.games by next month, and backers will be sent a discount code if they would like to pick a copy up.  

Fulfillment Issues

Kickstarter fulfillment rarely goes off without a hitch, and this one is no exception! If you are having any issues with finding your shipping confirmation, receiving your package, or ordering your PoD copies, please reach out to me through Kickstarter, my email ([email protected]) or Discord. I will do my best to resolve your issue ASAP! 

Returns

A number of orders have been returned to Deernicorn already, either due to an outdated address (explained below) or an incorrect name. I'll be reaching out to folks to find the correct address or name as returns continue coming in. 

Outdated Addresses 

Before the first shipping party, I sent a 48 hour notice out for people to update their addresses. Sadly, one of the shipping groups that I pulled contained the old, outdated addresses. If a book was sent to your old address by mistake, that's my bad! I'm doing my best to get orders forwarded and resent when they need to be. 

2 x Limited Edition Orders 

In earlier updates, I mentioned that orders with two Limited Edition copies would instead be sent with one of each, a Limited Edition Hardcover and a Standard Edition hardcover. If your package says '2 x Limited Edition' and you received one of each instead, that's why! I had an overwhelming number of people ask for both, so I made that true for all orders to simplify things. If you would still like two Limited Edition copies instead, shoot me a message and I can work with you to make that happen.

Thank You! 

Last but not least, I want to give a huge thank you to each and every one of you! I truly appreciate your patience, persistence, and dedication to the project as I work to make this game a reality. I couldn't be more grateful for the community that we've built and I'm excited to see where we go from here :) 

I'll be posting about Cat's Paw Couriers, updated character sheets and more over the next few weeks, so there's still plenty to come. In the meantime, you find me and share what you create on twitter, instagram, tiktok and on the Between Clouds discord server. Cheers! 

Smooth sailing,

Andi 

January - Books are shipping!
3 months ago – Wed, Jan 24, 2024 at 11:43:05 AM

Greetings Symbiotes,

How is everyone doing? I've heard from a number of you over Discord and received several nudges through Kickstarter, and I know that we're long overdue for an update! I have exciting news about shipping and am happy to answer any questions that might arise. Let's go!

Books Without Add-ons 

On Saturday, January 20th I assembled of team of my good friends and fastest learners to pack Between Clouds for shipping, celebrate the game's finalization, and have a pizza party. It was delightful! Since I was still waiting for certain add-ons to arrive, we elected to ship books only, which was roughly half of all orders and made for a simple process. So, if your order came without a physical add-on, either the 'World Map of Empyrea' or the 'Premium Printing' option (now a zine), it has been shipped! 

Confirmation and Tracking Number

If you are one such backer you should have received an email from Deernicorn (or more specifically, [email protected]) by this point. It will look like the image below, and may say that you are receiving 1 x softcover, 1 x hardcover or 1 x limited edition. This is your book and your tracking number! If you have not received such an email, check your spam folder and reach out to either myself or Deernicorn support. One of the following may have occurred:

• We have received incorrect, incomplete, or no shipping info 
• Your card bounced during the BackerKit checkout process
• You did not complete your BackerKit survey 
• You have add-ons, and your package will ship next week 
• You have a PoD coupon, and are not being shipped a book 

International Shipping 

In the last update, I neglected to address the international orders that are not Print-on-Demand. Those orders are being fulfilled in the same way as the rest of the domestic orders, meaning that a high-quality offset printed copy is being shipped from Heart of the Deernicorn here in the United States. Since everyone paid shipping up front, these copies are good to go and will be sent out at the same time as the domestic orders. This means that international backers with no physical add-ons already have books headed in their direction, while backers with add-ons will have their orders sent out this weekend. If you are an international backer and you have not received an email, refer to the common issues listed above and reach out to myself or the Deernicorn support team! 

Books With Add-ons 

If your book has a physical add-on, either the World Map of Empyrea or the Cat's Paw Courier zine (which replaces the premium printing add-on), your books are being shipping this Saturday, January 27th! This applies for both domestic and international orders. While addresses are locked on BackerKit, I'm still able to accept any last minute changes should you need them made. It's no issue! After this shipping party, the game will be shipped! I will still be around to address issues and ensure that everyone receives what they ordered. 

Print-on-Demand Copies

I still have yet to send out the 'standard' quality Print-on-Demand copies, but I'm making it a goal to get that done before the end of the month! I will post an update when I do, likely after the second shipping party on the 27th. The Print-on-Demand versions of the premium quality books have been ordered and are set to arrive soon, hopefully I can send them out at the same time as the standard books or shortly after. I appreciate everyone's patience! 

Cat's Paw Couriers

This supplement is the reason things took so long! What was meant to be an easy replacement for an add-on expanded into a 32-page full-color zine. I tried to do less, but I simply couldn't make the supplement complete without all of the included parts. Every backer will receive a free digital copy of Cat's Paw Couriers, and I intend to provide every backer with a 20% discount code for the physical version of the zine once it's available for purchase. Check out this cool cargo sheet I made below! 

Closing Thoughts 

It may seem like it, but I swear I didn't drop of the face of the earth! I've been working hard behind the scenes to make this fulfillment happen, and sometimes my executive dysfunction paired with a little ADHD makes me woefully negligent towards this kind of thing. So, my marketing and social media person (me) has been slacking off in lieu of other responsibilities! 

If you receive a copy of your book in the near future, I would love to see it! Please share any photos or videos you like on the Discord or elsewhere, and tag me if you do! Also, as always, I love when people share stories of their time with the game and would be delighted to hear about them. That's all for now. There a lot of moving parts here, so please reach out if you have any questions or concerns, and I will work to get them addressed ASAP! Cheers! :)

Smooth sailing,

Andi 

November - Pallets, Patience and Parcels
5 months ago – Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 05:09:24 PM

Greetings Symbiotes! 

How is everyone doing? Things on my end are continuing to be chaotic, and delivery is taking longer than expected (as you rightfully may have noticed). Rather than telling you when things are going to arrive, and going to tell you where they're at in the process. Then, I'll lay out my intentions over the next couple of weeks and months. So, here's the status update. 

Domestic Shipping 

I'm happy to announce that the books have arrived! 🥳 It's truly quite exciting and I couldn't be more glad that they made it to the warehouse in one piece! I would send these books out right away, but I'm still waiting on two components that I need to ship them with: the Map of Empyrea add-on and a zine supplement (explained in further detail below). I could ship the books on their own, but to save on shipping labels, costs, and all kinds of headaches, I'm electing to send everything bundled nicely together in one package. 

"But Andi, what if I didn't get the map or this mystery zine that you're referring to? What if I only purchased a book?" Excellent question. Rather than overwhelming my distributor (Heart of the Deernicorn) with books to send out, I'll be hosting two dedicated shipping days of my own. Preparing for one of these shipping days requires careful planning (printed labels, boxes, people, etc.) and I won't be able to schedule one before mid-December, which is the worst time to ship anything thanks to the holidays. So, books without add-ons will also have to wait. 

Long story short, I'll begin shipping things out at the start of the January. That's a goal that I can keep! By then I'll have the books, maps, and mystery zines all in one place, and the only obstacle that will remain is to put them in boxes and send them to you lovely folks. Anyways, you can see the two pallets the books arrived on below! 

Print-on-Demand Copies

In my last update, I mentioned that print-on-demand copies would but available quite soon. I was wrong, and sending the coupons has proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. The issue is with BackerKit segments (or groups), but its something that I can figure out with just a little time and effort. The standard ink PoD coupons have not been sent yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I've figured it out (or better yet, you'll likely receive an email). The PoD Map of Empyrea proofs have arrived as well, and they should be ready around the same time as the standard ink books. 

In some goods news, I realized that a preference for standard vs premium quality ink was collected as part of the BackerKit survey, so, don't worry about telling me your preference! For those you who have already reached out, thank you for communicating your preference to me and I apologize for the delay. 

Premium quality copies have not been ordered yet, but once I do it'll take only rough two weeks for the proofs to arrive and for me to approve them. Then, their coupons will be free to send as well! 

Supplement - Cat's Paw Couriers

I saved the best for last! Many of the domestic backers purchased a 'premium ink' add-on for their books which I can no longer provide. To compensate, I was going to send people a tote bag, but then I thought harder about what people would really want. Backers who purchased the 'premium ink' add-on will now be getting a printed, full-color zine supplement instead. 

This supplement, Cat's Paw Couriers, focuses on Symbiotes delivering cargo from one part of Empyrea to another, connecting disparate communities and restoring hope along the way. Formerly titled Kirin's Delivery Service, the supplement will add a new faction, jobs for the Symbiotes to take, unique cargo types, in-depth saddle customization and new upgrades. It will have a little more mechanical depth and challenge than the typical Between Clouds experience and imbue the family with a strong sense of purpose. 

"That sounds awesome, can I buy a zine if I didn't purchase the premium ink add-on?" Yes, you totally can! The Cat's Paw Couriers zine will be available for purchase for $15 (the price on the add-on) when the other Between Clouds books are publicly available for sale. Best of all, a digital version of the zine will be available for free to all backers (as a replacement for that troublesome piccrew portrait generator). 

Closing Thoughts 

I'm certain I missed something, but that's all for now. I apologize again for the delay on this timeline. I've learned so much about production and fulfillment through this project, and I just know that the next one is going to go so smoothly because of it. 

Full-time school, my job at Heart of the Deernicorn, my music career, and a tenuous social life has prevented me from giving this project my full undivided attention, but I'm so so excited to be on the home stretch (and can assure you it'll be worth the wait). If you reach out to me on Twitter, Instagram, Discord, email ([email protected]) or any other channel it may take me a while to respond! I am here, and I'm listening, and I will get back to you. Also, there will likely be more frequent (and shorter) updates as things are getting sent out. That's all for now, cheers! :) 

Smooth sailing,

Andi <3 

October - The Books
7 months ago – Sun, Oct 08, 2023 at 05:05:43 PM

Greetings Symbiotes, 

How is everyone doing? My fall quarter of university has begun, and with it my hopes of posting a September update disappeared. Whoops! Here we are now, and I have much to report. 

Standard Copies 

Look below, and behold. The pilot copies for Between Clouds have arrived! These aren't proof copies, and in fact the full shipment is making its way across the ocean as I write this. These copies were sent to ensure that the bulk order found its mark, and as I hold them in my hands and I can tell you that they're beautiful. I couldn't be more excited to get them to you all :) 

As for a timeline, the physical copies are expected to take another 4-6 weeks to arrive at the distributor (me), after which we need to pack them up and send them out to y'all individually. With holiday shipping thrown into the mix, there is a very real chance that many of you will not receive your packages (books, add-ons and goodies) until January of 2024. At the very least, I'll be better about updates going forward and be sure to let you all know when the bulk order arrives, along with other goodies like maps and tote bags. 

Print-on-Demand Copies

In exciting news, the print-on-demand copies are now available! They're only available in standard quality ink currently, and in my personal opinion, I would recommend waiting to order them with the premium quality ink instead. The premium quality proof copies are still on their way to me, and then they'll be available to order as well, along with the PoD Map of Empyrea. Nonetheless, you can see pictures of the hardcover and softcover PoD copies below! 

If you pledged for a PoD copy and would like to order a standard quality rulebook, please send me a message here on Kickstarter! I'm working on a way to send PoD copies in bulk once all versions are available, but for now I'll need to send them to folks manually. 

Thank You :')  

Most importantly, I want to say thank you to everyone for being so supportive as we go through the shipping and fulfillment process. I've learned a lot during the process (as I do with each and every Kickstarter campaign) about what's possible, what's efficient, and how to set realistic expectations. I'm feeling hopeful and inspired now that maybe, one day, I could run a Kickstarter with no hiccups during fulfillment and delivery...

I really appreciate the people who've been requesting updates here on Kickstarter too! My life has become so scrambled over the past few months, and it's nice to know that y'all are here to keep me on track. Please poke or shoot me a DM at anytime. You can find me on twitter, instagram, tiktok whenever. If you haven't yet, come join the Discord server, and if you would like to confirm that I'm still alive you can always check out the Deernicorn TikTok channel where I'm posting on a regular basis. That's all for now, cheers! :) 

Smooth sailing,

Andi 

August - Proofing, Printing, Pitfalls and Progress
9 months ago – Wed, Aug 09, 2023 at 08:39:10 PM

Greetings Symbiotes,

HELLO. You would think I fell off the face of the earth huh. It seems that I'm not my typical, left-brained, monthly-update self these days. So, what do I have to share? Well, physical copies of Between Clouds are in the works, I swear, and here are the deets.

U.S. Backers (Standard)

If you ordered the book and paid for shipping (likely if you're within the U.S.) then your book is currently being produced by PrintNinja using a process called offset printing. I've seen the pages (pictured above) and they look gorgeous in person. I'm absolutely thrilled to get these books to y'all, BUT there will be a wait. I approved the books for printing on Monday the 7th, and here are the times they've given me since then. 

Printing Time: 3-4 Weeks (hardcover, softcover, and variant hardcover) 

Shipping Time to Distributor: 6 weeks (to Olympia Washington) 

Shipping to You from Distributor (me): 2 weeks (depends on how many add-ons you have and where you live!) 

Total Time from Now: 12 weeks (that's 3 whole months!) 

So, that's the bad news. Books likely won't be arriving until the end of October or beginning of November! The good news is that you'll have them just in time for the holidays, and I really truly swear that they'll be worth the wait. I paid extra for the good stuff ;) 

Print-on-Demand Backers (via DriveThruRPG) 

If you ordered a print-on-demand copy of Between Clouds (likely if you're an international backer) it will be made available to you via DriveThruRPG, but when? Well, I have ordered proof copies of both the softcover and hardcover editions of the game in standard quality ink, and they should be arriving at my doorstep any day now. If I receive them and everything looks good, I'll approve the proofs and you should be able to order your copies in a week or two! 

There is, however, a catch. In order to print copies with premium quality ink or to print the limited edition hardcover, I will still need to order proofs of those versions and approve them, which should take about a month. I didn't order premium ink copies for the initial proofs because I didn't want to waste money on books that might not even be properly formatted (DriveThruRPG's system is a little different than PrintNinja's). In summary: 

Standard Ink Hardcover and Softcover: Available in 2-4 weeks (assuming no faults in the proofs)

Premium Ink/All Version: Available in 2 months (potentially less, I'm trying to overestimate here!) 

You may be asking, what is the difference between standard and premium printing? Good question! Side-by-side comparisons here and here might help you figure that out. In general, premium printing costs about $15 more but has more vibrant colors and richer blacks. The paper weight is unchanged between standard and premium printing options. I'll be sure to upload pictures and videos of the proof copies when they arrive so everyone can have a look! And, I'm sure I'll be simply elated at finally having a hard copy.

Why the wait?

Great question, vigilant backer. In past I said I wanted to have the game ship out in May, and then July, but life happened and I learned things. In honor of the many bulleted lists in Between Clouds, here's a bulleted list of things that delayed the production process for better or worse:

• Printing Changes - I learned about more cost-efficient, higher quality printing methods. Having two separate printers (PrintNinja and DriveThruRPG) was the best option but more to manage. 
• Color Conversion - Converting color profiles from RBG to CMYK for printing (something done automatically by Blurb on my last project, Soulbound) was both arduous and time consuming, especially when using two different printing services with 3 different book covers.  Also, Between Clouds has a lot of artwork, and it's very much colorful (with sooo much cyan and magenta), so getting those levels just right took me a while. 

• I'm Pedantic - I obsess over details, which is good. It's why my games are good too, but I also need to learn to let go eventually. It's something that I'm gradually getting better at. 
• Life Got Crazy - I got a new job working at award-winning game publisher Heart of the Deernicorn. That's cool, but it also takes time out of my day. I'm also in school full-time and had some rough finals this spring. Lastly, I've been in a housing insecure situation over the last week, so, things are just a little topsy turvey right now. I'm writing this update from my friend's kitchen counter, if that tells you anything. 

Add-ons and More

Physical add-ons, notably the Map of Empyrea and Tote Bag (replacing the premium ink add-on) will ship out with people's books in October/November. Sadly, people with the print-on-demand version of the game will also have to wait this long, since the maps and totes will not be PoD. 

Picrew Portrait Generator?

Truth be told, I'm burnt out on the Picrew. I got a fair start on the project, but I'm realizing now how many endless permutations of Symbiotes there are, and I don't think I'll ever cover them all. So, I might do something else instead. Don't get me wrong, I'll still finish the Picrew portrait generator if that's what everyone wants, but I feel like my time and resources could better be used elsewhere. A few ideas for substitutions: 

• Kirin's Delivery Service - A short supplement/expansion for Between Clouds that fleshes out the saddle and adds mechanics for tracking inventory. It would recenter the game's focus around delivering goods from one Empyrean settlement to the next, losing those goods in encounters and storms, and maybe a little base-building/inventory management. I think this is a cute idea! 
• No Dice No Master/GMLess Hack - A supplement for Between Clouds that would allow the game to be played without a Storyteller. Would remodel elements of the game using the framework of Belonging Outside Belonging games and story games that I've come to love. Share the responsibility of storytelling and build a world together! I would be very interested in making this happen, because sometimes I don't want to GM. 
• Betwixt Clouds - This might be more a full-expansion, but I could atleast lay out the framework now. Fantasy rework of Between Clouds, but we're flying around on dragons or mythical beasts and doing fantasy things. Might be easier for new players to grasp than 'distant-future-biopunk-apocalypse.' Fun! 

Anyways, please let me know which of these interest you. In fact, I might make a poll for the Discord to get extra opinions. 

Bye!

Okay, that was so much. Drop me a comment with your questions please. Come find me on Discord, Twitter or Instagram. Also check out my TikTok and Spotify if you like. Cheers! :)

Smooth sailing,

Andi