Shipping to begin in a few short weeks... in the meantime: TEMUDJIN launches Tuesday!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 02:34:10 AM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update to let you all know that things are progressing nicely with the pre-fulfillment preparation (in fact, the books arrived from the printer two weeks earlier than expected...! Hopefully that's a good sign that the shipping crisis is starting to calm down a bit...). Assuming nothing unexpected occurs, Quartermaster should be able to have things shipping in September as planned.

In the meantime, while you wait eagerly for your stuff, you may be interested in checking out our next great campaign launching on Tuesday...

A child is born in an ancient and distant land, celebrated by the shaman Ozbeg who senses the spirit of greatness inside him. Orphaned at birth, the shaman takes the boy in and names him Temudjin in anticipation of the man he is destined to become. But first, he must be guided and trained to listen to the spirits of nature around him, for one day, he will lead the Mongol clans to glory as the reborn Genghis Khan. A lushly illustrated fantasy graphic novel about a man torn between free will and destiny by Antoine Ozanam and Antoine Carrion.

You know we know our stuff when it comes to EYE-POPPING GRAPHIC NOVELS, and TEMUDJIN is at the top of the list when it comes to excellence. We have been huge fans of Antoine Carrion's art since publishing NILS: THE TREE OF LIFE last year, and one could argue that TEMUDJIN is even more beautiful (if you can believe it).

This is a gallery-sized 9x12" hardcover edition featuring a reflective silver foil cover with signature curved corners. In addition to the standalone book, we are also offering a campaign-exclusive “Journeyman” bundle that includes a numbered bookplate, four exclusive linen cardstock prints, a metal Chingiss era replica coin, and the hardcover book within a printed 13×16″ cotton drawstring satchel.

Check out the PRE-REGISTRATION page to get a sneak peek at that beautiful bundle, and to sign up for a FREE linen cardstock print with your pledge.

The campaign will go live at 10 am CST this Tuesday, August 23rd, and will only last 10 Days, ending the following Friday, September 2nd!

We really hope you will join us! There will be some very limited items and cool stretch goals, so the more people we can bring in on Day 1, the better we'll rank on Kickstarter's discovery carousel. Your support would be greatly appreciated! (Plus, you just don't want to miss out on this book. It is a must-have.)

Thanks, everyone!

Locking Backerkit TOMORROW! Please confirm your order info!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 30, 2022 at 09:15:44 PM

Hi everyone!

I'm typing this with hazy eyelids between naps -- seems I failed a savings throw somewhere at San Diego Comic-Con and finally caught the COVID. Ugh. 🤒 I was masked up, avoided close contact, and hand-sanitized frequently, but when surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, it was still a roll of the dice. Thankfully I'm vaccinated and boosted, so the symptoms are relatively light, but it sure does suck the wind out of your sails...

That said, we're still pushing forward, business as usual, getting ZARKASS/BLACK WATER LILIES ready to ship with GIANTESS in the next few weeks. To that end --

We will begin locking Backerkit orders tomorrow!

What does that mean exactly?

That means you have the next few days to review your order information on Backerkit to make any last minute changes necessary before we charge credit cards and export the order data for Quartermaster to start processing. So please, log into your Backerkit at https://zarkass-water-lilies.backerkit.com/ and confirm these three things:

• Correct order items (feel free to add some more stuff to your cart if you'd like)
• Correct address
• Valid payment method / CC info

If anything looks like it needs to be addressed or adjusted, please message us here on Kickstarter.

A note about bundled shipping with GIANTESS:

*If you backed both GIANTESS and the ZARKASS/BLACK WATER LILIES campaign and requested bundled shipping in your ZARKASS Backerkit survey, we have credited one of your two orders accordingly to cancel out the appropriate amount of shipping due on one of them. In some cases, this credit was applied to your GIANTESS order, in other cases, it was applied to your ZARKASS order (whichever was less).  Please check both orders if you are wondering where the bundling credit was applied. You will still see shipping on each order, but you should also see a "Complimentary Credit" applied to one that effectively cancels out that order's shipping amount. It would appear something like this:

If you don't see a credit on either order and feel you should receive one, message us.

*If you did not also back GIANTESS, this does not apply to you. 😊

Once we press the "Lock Orders" button tomorrow, Backerkit will send a final notification email and start a 48-hour count down at which point it will charge all credit cards for any balances due. Please make sure your payment method is up to date!

If you're not sure about anything, please feel free to message us and we'll be happy to answer any questions. Barring any unexpected obstacles or delays, everything should be at Quartermaster Logistics in the next 3 weeks or so, and shipping should be able to begin in the first or second week of September. We'll keep you posted as those dates loom closer, but if you can do your part to make sure your surveys are all filled out and ready, that will be a big help!

In the meantime, we'd LOVE it if you hopped onto our Magnetic-Con Art Book and Loot Box campaign ending tomorrow!

Limited edition swag and some excellent books we haven't offered here on Kickstarter yet -- $120 worth of stuff for only $60! Some really amazing artists in the book, some great exclusive collectibles, and TWO NEW BOOKS... it's a bargain you won't want to miss!

Thanks, everyone! ❤

Advance book pix! Plus: MAGNETIC-CON!
almost 2 years ago – Sun, Jul 17, 2022 at 02:40:10 AM

Hi everyone!

Hope you have all been doing well! Things have been rolling along right on schedule since our last update, and I'm happy to report that the books have finished printing and are now on their way across the Pacific. They turned out WONDERFUL! We received two advance copies of each recently and took a few pix to share:

BLACK WATER LILIES

Here's a flip-through video we made:

TRAPPED ON ZARKASS

And a flip-through video:

The bulk shipment of both books is expected to reach our warehouse (with GIANTESS) by the last week of August, so we are hoping that fulfillment will begin on both campaigns together in mid/late-September. We will keep you posted as those dates get closer.

As a reminder, we will be locking the Backerkit orders the week of July 25th. Don't worry: any shipping credit for bundling with GIANTESS will be calculated and rewarded that week, before credit cards are actually charged. Once orders have been locked and charges complete, we will distribute the digital rewards and Ambassador Points.

Until then, in the meantime, we've cooked up something we think you might find interesting...

Please join us next Tuesday for (drumroll)...

MAGNETIC-CON 2022!

Can't make it to San Diego for Comic-Con next week? No problem! While we won't have a booth at that show this year, we are instead launching a VIRTUAL Convention Booth on Kickstarter! Not only will we be offering the premiere edition of the MAGNETIC-CON Comic Art Book filled with some amazing talent, but you'll also have a crack at one of only 500 VIP Loot Boxes filled with TWO new books and a huge haul of exclusive collectibles!

The first 1000 copies will include a FREE Magnetic-Con lanyard and PVC badge... just like attending a live convention!

Each of the 500 VIP Loot Boxes will include TWO new books selected around 5 different themes to choose from. A $125 value for only $60!

But the most exciting part for our supportive and regular Kickstarter followers is what awaits in Backerkit after the 10-day Kickstarter campaign is done...

OVER 120 BOOKS and COLLECTIBLE ITEMS will be available as Backerkit Add-ons for you to supplement your order, covering a wide range of product categories!

Missed out on some collectible stretch goal items from previous Kickstarter campaigns? We’ve collected the rare remainders so that you can have one more crack at them! Maximize your shipping by loading up on a list of books you've had your eye on!

Categories will include:

• Selected new and backlist Magnetic Press book releases
• Limited Edition linen cardstock prints by hot artists including Peach Momoko and Karl Kerschl. Less than 100 of these are available!
• Rare Bonus Sketchbooks for titles such as PARIS 2119, ASTER OF PAN, SMALL WORLD, and SHANGRI-LA. Very limited quantities left!
• Past campaign Challenge Coins – yes, you read that right! We’ve got a few dozen coins left over from some of our previous campaigns… now’s your chance to complete your collection!
• Rare remaining soundtrack vinyl singles from ASTER OF PAN, SMALL WORLD, and SHANGRI-LA
• Plus an assortment of other previous campaign stretch goal items, including lapel pins, patches, postcards, and bookmarks!

Pre-register your pledge TODAY to get a two-sided mini-poster with artwork by Tony Sandoval and Chaiko added to your pledge for FREE!

We are really looking forward to launching this (non-)Con virtual convention booth experiment on Tuesday at 10am CST, and hope you'll join us! If it takes off, we'd love to make it an annual event (maybe even with actual convention stuff like online panels with creators, contests, and more)!

So please pre-register today and join us on Tuesday! We hope to see you there! 🤩

Quick survey update... now with actual FAQs!
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 12:50:31 AM

Hi everyone!

A few of you have pointed out a few errors and questions on the Backerkit set up (excellent observations that slipped through the smoke test unnoticed by anyone) --

1) The Stretch Goal bundles have now been added to all physical tier pledges! Sorry for that ommission -- we added the items and attached them to the right tiers, but since the bundle isn't being made available as a separate addon, they didn't get assigned for some reason. That is now fixed! Just to clarify: this single bundle includes all of the unlocked bonuses: the prints, the coin, bookmark, etc. If you don't see it in your cart, let us know, but please know that they are only automatically attached to physically-shipping tiers. If you backed at a digital or no-reward level, they were not put in your cart. If you choose to add physical items to your order after the fact, let us know by sending us a message and we'll manually add your stretch goal bundle to your cart. 😊 The reason they aren't added to everyone's cart automatically is we have found that many more digital-only or no-reward backers get upset when Backerkit tries to ask for shipping something when they specifically pledged at a non-shipping level to avoid that extra charge. It is easier and safer for us to default the other way. 

2) The survey question about bundling with "OGRE GODS" (which should have read "GIANTESS") is fixed. This was a simple typo from cutting/pasting from the last campaign. 🥴 ZARKASS/WATER LILIES can only be bundled with GIANTESS, with both shipping together in September. OGRE GODS will be shipping in just a few weeks (with ARSENE LUPIN and ADRTASTEA).

3) You must complete your survey to see all of your Kickstarter-added Add-ons in your cart. You will be asked to confirm the Add-ons during the survey sequence. This gives you a chance to change your mind or use the funds on something else during the survey process. The same Add-ons are available through Backerkit as well (along with a couple others from previous campaigns), so rest assured that what you see on Backerkit is the same as what was offered on Kickstarter. 😎👍

4) Again, NO CREDIT CARDS WILL BE CHARGED YET. You are merely entering the payment information ahead of time to pre-authorize Backerkit to make the charge once we lock orders. Again, this won't be until later in July, so please complete your surveys early with the comfort of knowing that any necessary adjustments (such as shipping credit) will be applied before you actually pay. 😊

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask! We'll try to answer as soon as we can (although we do have to step away from the computer occasionally... 😉 )

Backerkit surveys have been sent! Pre-order store is live for latecomers!
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jun 20, 2022 at 07:40:19 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend. A handful of you received your Backerkit surveys as part of the initial "smoke test" -- 5% of the list given first crack at the survey to test it out for any confusing info or bugs.  It went off quite well, with 77% of those surveys filled out and 0% reporting any questions or errors, so we went ahead and pushed the big shiny red SEND button to the rest of you this morning! 😊

You may have already gotten that email from Backerkit, but if for some reason you haven't, you can do one of two things:

1) Go to https://zarkass-water-lilies.backerkit.com/ and log in using your Kickstarter-associated email address (the email address you use to log into Kickstarter). That should take you straight to your survey or account summary.

2) If, however, that doesn't work for you, just send us a message here on Kickstarter and we will reply back to you with your unique link.

 Some NYAQs ("Not Yet Asked Questions"):  

"Where are my Pre-registration and Day-1 bonus prints?"

• If you pre-registered and/or backed at a physical pledge tier on Day-1, your bonus prints should be in your Backerkit baskets now. (If you are seeing this after checking your survey moments ago, please check again; we may have been in the process of adding them.) 😊 If you are expecting either of those bonus prints and don't see them, send us a message and we can look you up. If you manually added another copy of either print to your order during the survey process, you should be able to remove it just as easily until we lock orders. 

"Why is there still shipping showing up when I also backed GIANTESS?"

• If you pledged at a physically-shipping tier, your survey will contain a question asking if you also have an open order for our previous campaign for GIANTESS.  This will help us manually identify which orders to review for shipping credit qualification. Unfortunately, there isn't an automated way for Backerkit to cross-reference campaign orders, so we will have to manually confirm which orders qualify for the bundled shipping credit. We will do this during the week of July 11th, before the orders are locked and credit cards are charged. Once we have confirmed that your multiple orders/pledges qualify, we will manually credit out the appropriate shipping fee from whichever order(s) qualify. Don't worry -- this will be done before credit cards are charged the week of July 25th, so you will have time to confirm that the proper amount is being charged.

"How long do I have to complete the survey?"

• You can continue to make adjustments to your order at any time until we lock orders  -- address changes, new add-ons, payment methods, etc. Your cart remains wide open until we press the "Lock" button sometime the week of July 25th! Just log back into your Backerkit account at any time and everything should still be modifiable at your leisure.

"What if I need to change my address between the time the order is locked and the time it is shipped?"

• Locking orders is important for us to confirm final item counts for production and shipping, and so that Quartermaster can start to prepare their logistical plan for packing and shipping ahead of time for efficiency. Quartermaster will send a final address confirmation email to everyone prior to actually shipping (about 72hours before those orders are out the door), so don't worry if you aren't sure where you will be in late-September; you will have a chance to update your address closer to that actual date. (International backers: your delivery window is likely closer to late-October, but you will also receive Address Verification messages from your respective regional hubs.) 

Of course, if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them here in the comments or in a direct message! We're happy to answer anything we can help with. 😊

All of the books are currently finishing up at the printer now, and we even hope to have some advance copies to look at soon. If everything goes as planned, we should have them at our warehouse in mid-late August, right on schedule. We will of course keep you posted along the way!

If you missed the campaign, you can still join the fun!

Most items are up for pre-order on Backerkit -- just visit https://zarkass-water-lilies.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

In the meantime...

We wanted to share some support for Jellop, the marketing team who really helped us in the final 6 days of the campaign! They have a regular newsletter of hot projects (in which we were featured) and they'd like to invite you to join that community, too:

Thanks again, everyone! Your support means everything! 😁