Fulfilment Update and DUNGEON BITCHES
over 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 17, 2021 at 05:24:23 PM

Hi everyone! 

I hope you had a good holiday season and a good new year. 

We're continuing to work on fulfilment, split by region:

US Backers

The copies have made it to our US fulfilment partner, and shipping should start on Tuesday, after Martin Luther King day. We expect everything to be sent out this week and all backers to get their books by the end of the month. 

If your address has changed, let us know and we'll update the shipping info. 

EU Backers 

We sent all the EU copies out by the end of December, so most should have it out the country by Brexit. Despite this, a couple of the copies may have been late and incurred customs charges following the UK departing the EU Customs Union on 31st December. 

If you are in the EU and haven't received the book yet, check your email for these customs emails. If you haven't received any customs emails, get in touch with us. 

UK Backers 

Your copy should have definitely made it to you by now.  

If you are in the UK and haven't received the book yet, get in touch with us. 

RoW Backers 

We sent all the RoW copies out by the end of December, but if you're in somewhere very remote it may not have arrived yet. Remain patient with us, but if you are in the EU and haven't received the book in a week or two,  get in touch with us. 

Damages

We've seen a couple sad reports of damage to the books sustained in transport. If you've recieved your book and it is damaged, send us an email to [email protected] and we'll see about getting you a replacement. 

Dungeon Bitches

Emmy has been hard at work on a sweet new Kickstarter called Dungeon Bitches, which she describes as a "A Queer TTRPG, in Which Disaster Lesbians get Fucked Up in Dungeons":

In Dungeon Bitches, the world is harsh and cold. “Polite” society has  left you with no place, so you’ve struck out to find one of your own.  Out into the dark cracks and forgotten margins. It’s not an easy life,  but at least it won’t be a lonely one.

Dungeon Bitches is a game about queer women banding together. It’s  about trauma. It’s about community. It’s about pain. It’s about  survival. But most of all, it’s very gay.

A WARNING: THE GAME CONTAINS GORE, NUDITY, AND SEXUALITY.

Lesbian romance and sexuality are prominent features in Dungeon Bitches, including options for playing asexual Bitches.

The art is by Sarah Carapace and is really cool! 

Head on over and check out the page here.

Speak soon, and enjoy the books! 

Thanks, 

Zach

Fulfilment Progress Update - Europe Delays
over 3 years ago – Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 02:07:24 AM

Last week we received the first pallet of the Stygian Library at SoulMuppet HQ and UK and EU fulfillment has begun! 

First, the good news.

Some of our UK customers have already received their books, and we sent out about 90% of the (non US) international copies on Friday last week. 

We finally received the second pallet of books today, which is destined for America, and it should be on it's way to Exalted Funeral soon. 

We're expecting UK customers to get their books in the next week. 

We're expecting US customers to get their books in mid-January. 

We're attempting to get the rest of the European/ROW books out in the next few days, so they reach customers as soon as possible. 

Europe Delays

That said, there are some significant issues with the UK border right now caused by political and epidemiological conditions. 

Due to the spread of a new Coronavirus strain and rising numbers in South East England, a number of European countries (including France) have closed their borders to the UK over the last few days. We've not been able to send any new books to Europe through any postal services, as they had all closed their services.

As of tonight, the UK/France border is due to re-open, but we're not sure when full postal service will resume. 

As for the books we have already sent, we don't know whether they successfully made it across the border before restrictions were announced, or if our books are currently stuck in Dover! 

We're also expecting even more turbulence at the border when Brexit happens, roughly a week from now, as a deal is still not arranged. 

Please stay patient with us, and we'll make sure we get all our European customers their books as soon as we can. We'll keep you updated as the news on international shipping changes. 

If you are a European backer and you have received your copy, do let us know! 

Please bear with us, and wherever you are please let folx on social media that you have your new books! 

Thanks, 

Zach

Fulfilment Soon To Begin
over 3 years ago – Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 01:17:53 AM

Hey everyone, 

Quick update! We're expecting Stygian Library hardcovers to arrive at SoulMuppet UK tomorrow. Shipping to UK, European and RoW shipping will begin this weekend. 

We'll send the US books to our fulfillment partner, Exalted Funeral, and they're hopefully receive the book before the end of the year, able to start shipping in early Jan. 

We're locking addresses for all backers in 24 hours. If you're going to move before the start of January, please put your new address into BackerKit. 

Wish me luck with shipping! It's more than a ton of books. I'm to have a lot of fun this weekend. 

Thanks 

Zach

Printing Delays + Next Steps
over 3 years ago – Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 12:44:39 AM

Hello everyone

Apologies for the delay in updates.

TL;DR: Due to issues with COVID, Brexit and foil printing, we’re now expecting books to reach customers in early/mid January.

Since the release of the PDF version in September, we’ve been working on the final files for the printers. This involved sorting out the limited typos and graphical issues within the layout, as well as preparing not just the standard print files but also a special set of files to manage foil embossing. The back and forth surrounding these amendments took more time than we expected, but both parties agreed to sign off for the print proofs two weeks ago today.

Due to COVID related delays and low availability of the foil printers needed to print the cover, we’re expecting printing to conclude in the middle of December. This is bad for us, because it means that the books will likely reach the UK in the last week of December, around the 1stJan cut-off date for Brexit.

Our books are being printed in Europe so this creates an issue for project fulfilment.

For those not keeping up with British politics, UK businesses are being advised to prepare for a ‘No-Deal Brexit’, with the UK exiting the European Union without a deal and reverting to World Trade Organisation terms. While this shouldn’t mean any tarriffs will be added to books, it is going to create delays for books going in and out of the EU.

What are we doing about this?

As few books as possible are going to touch the UK. We’re going to work with a new range of partners about creating workarounds so your wonderful RPG books don’t have to go through UK customs.

While I’m still going to handle all UK backers myself, our EU and “RoW” backers are going to be handled by a new European-based third party fulfiller directly from the printers, avoiding UK customs.

The books for USA/Canada fulfilment will go direct from printers to our US fulfilment partner directly, avoiding UK customs.

The good news is that despite the unfortunate delays and the logistical complications they cause, we are not passing any increased costs onto you, our customers.  The shipping costs you have already paid during the BackerKit will not be increased, but it will sadly take a bit more time for Stygian Library to reach you.

I’m sorry this update has come so late. I wanted to let you all know the solution we have to the problem, not just that the book was going to be late.

In any type of creative project, you have to choose between doing things well and doing them quickly. When we announced this project, it was a 80 page digital print run, but by doubling the amount of art, and attempting an offset print run with all the bells and whistles, we’ve taken on a lot and, of course, Covid-19 and Brexit haven’t helped.

Thank you for your patience and custom. Please send any queries or concerns to [email protected]

Zach

PS: Apologies for the lack of images in this update, the Kickstarter image uploader tool seems to be broken today. 

BackerKit Closing In 48 Hours
over 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 10, 2020 at 09:46:12 PM

Hi everyone, 

We're working through the second lockdown in the UK to get you your books are soon as possible. 

Just a short update, we're closing the Stygian Library BackerKit in 48 hours. We'll be locking orders and you'll no longer be able to pre-order. After this, your next option will be when the book is on general sale in 2021. 

If are a backer and haven't heard from BackerKit, please drop us a message or email [email protected] and we'll do what we can to help you. 

Thanks 

Zach