Realmscapes

Kickstarter/Highlander Day 11: Come Onboard Our Ship of Discovery!

We need just 1,765 more ‘$25′ backers to reach our goal for October!

One aspect of 'Columbus Day' that is certainly worth remembering is that it is a celebration and remembrance of the human creature's innate drive to explore new worlds beyond our own. Whether it be breaking the bonds of earth, uncovering the remnants of a 2,000-year old civilization, or delving into the microscopic world of micro-organisms, humans love to explore different horizons. We crave the education and romanticism of "the discovery".

The discoveries we make fuel the engines of our imaginations to invent new technologies or better services to improve our lives. And also to create stories to inspire, reaffirm, or remember.

The Highlander franchise is a fantastic environment for inspiration, reaffirmation, and remembering. It is good to be able to look back at the history of our civilization through these characters and see what we have done well, and where we can do better. There is the very real human side of the Immortals as well as they interact with their own kind as well as the mortals who come into the personal circles.

But perhaps you have never delved into the world of Quickenings, sword duels in parking garages or Parisian alleys, and men in the shadows recording the history of those involved in "the Game". And perhaps you have no interest to. Evenso, this pledge drive campaign is about much more than just a globally popular franchise and loyal community very much desiring more stories from the Highlander realm. I am personally a mega-fan of Highlander, and I very much look forward to the honor of developing stories in that universe, for the fans as much as for myself and all the creatives involved with the films and TV series.

Still, Kasandra and I have worked very hard to build this relatively new publishing company (Grail Quest Books) up so that it could be in the position to court valuable properties like Highlander and Decipher's WARS. As we have developed our own properties, such as Shadow of the Stars and Stitched Crosses, we have come to know immensely talented individuals--artists, writers, composers, audio and video engineers--who are also looking for their big break. They are a large reason we founded GQB. All of these individuals have given us fantastic work; we desire to compensate them for their labors, and to hire them for future projects so that we can help them achieve their goals and earn a living doing what they love to do. And as we grow, the more chances we have to work with and discover even more talented individuals who deserve an opportunity to be read, seen, or heard.

Getting the publishing license to the Highlander franchise, and executing the job well of developing the book series we have planned out with the property's senior creative consulatant David Abramowitz, will help us to accomplish this goal! It is natural for fans of a property to gravitate towards similar creative works as they wait for new products to be made available. Highlander, WARS, Shadow of the Stars, and Stitched Crosses would all benefit from having Highlander in the Grail Quest Books fold--especially with the new Highlander "reboot" film in the works.

Grail Quest Books is a kind of ship, offering you passage to new universes and horizons undiscovered, or known ones you haven't visited in awhile. We need help putting a major port of call on our voyage--Highlander. Even if this port isn't of interest to everyone, it being on the "stops" list will still enable us to build a bigger and better ship that benefits all of our readers, regardless of the fictional realm(s) they are interested in, as well as provide resources that will help us to explore as much of the worlds and horizons in those realms as possible.

Please consider helping us to add the Highlander franchise to Grail Quest Books' list of properties so that we can reach our goals as well as aiding those of our creator-friends and your goals of being entertained and inspired. Thank you!

Kickstarter/Highlander Day 5: Rewards

We're at $536 of the $90k we need--or 3,578 more '$25' backers needed.

One vital aspect of Kickstarter are the rewards. If you look over other projects in the publishing department you see lots of projects able to offer physical copies of their products at low tiers. To be honest, we don't know how these others do it at such low tiers. We crunched numbers for several nights before launching this campaign and $75 was the absolute lowest we could start at. Those running the Kickstarter project have to pay for the rewards either from their own funds OR from the monies raised via the Kickstarter campaign.

It will cost us about $12 (shipping included) for each book made available in the fund drive; the $25 tier is the most popular tier. If 1,000 backers selected that tier and we only raised around the goal then we'd have to cover $12,500 worth of books with only about $6,000 (all the rest of the money raised goes towards licensing fees, Kickstarter fees, cover art, and printing). Unfortunately we cannot even offer the folks backing us at the $25 tier a coupon with their e-book copy to get the in-print book for a special price (it's against Kickstarter rules).

We'd love to be able to offer even a copy of the regular edition of the softcover version of Book 1 at the $50 tier, and especially the $25! But to consider this we need to hit our $90k goal and assess the backer landscape at that point. If we decided to do either of these options it would be as simple as announcing that it is so, so the backers already pledged wouldn't need to do anything else (except if they live outside the U.S.--international backers would just need to add the extra $15 to cover in the S&H).

As it concerns what we are offering at the most popular rewards tier:  the advanced copies of each of the e-book versions (at least three, but the story may force a fourth book to be added), which will be doanloadable via a special link privetely sent to the backers. As I have heard it, these PDF versions can manually be formatted for a Kindle (for those who have those devices), and should be readable on Apple mobile/reading devices anyway since it's a .PDF file.

Is there something we can add to the .PDF file to make it more valuable? Perhaps a special intro by one of the actors from the TV series? Can't promise this, but if this would add value to the product than we'd like to know.

We'd also like to point out that the special 'Q&A' access to the author won't be limited to just Q&A, but will be an opportunity for fans to weigh in on the storyline (if they don't mind sharing their ideas), or on general things they'd like to see in a major Highlander fiction work. Maybe an idea or two intrigues us and we decide to work with that person to develop it.

Either way, the forum will be an interactive one checked on a regular basis, with the understanding that the author has a job and responsibility to do a stellar job but we appreciate that you cannot write in a vacuum; also to assure the fans that we (with Davis/Panzer Productions' blessing) have a solid plan in place for this series. Afterall, we are working with the TV series senior creative consultant, David Abramowitz, and that is exciting for us and (hopefully) for the fanbase.

Hopefully these insights on the rewards help give some context and answer some questions (or concerns). Give  a shout...and please consider to support this project so that we can bring Highlander back to the forefront of the fantasy genre!

Help Us Seize this Moment!

Another real Moment--the biggest one yet--has arrived for Grail Quest Books to finally take its place on the main stage: getting the Highlander license!

We need to raise $90,000 in 60 days by way of a Kickstarter campaign for this to become reality. That sounds daunting, but look at this way:

Update: We now only need 3,584 people to pledge $25 for us to reach this goal. That's barely 10% of the population of the city I live in now (Bangor, ME), and just 5% of the city I grew up in (Bristol, CT)!

For $25 you get pre-release e-book copies (.PDF format) of all the books that we will be publishing for the series PLUS exclusive insider to the author (me) and possibly other creatives as well! The rewards are a bit if an interesting dilemma because it gives the appearance that we are charging $75 for a book that would probably cost $15. The reason this looks a bit out of whack is because we have to pay for the rewards out of our own pocket and we don't have several thousand dollars to cover everyone who we expect to bid at the lower levels. We would offer at least a coupon to those getting the ebook copies of the books, but this is prohibited by Kickstarter's rules. So at the lower levels we can only offer rewards that have no real production cost (outside of my labor as writer) or shipping costs.

For this to be successful we are going to do everything we can to make sure as many people know about the campaign as possible. You will see these links on both my and Kasandra's Facebook pages. If you wish to click 'Share' whenever you see them that would work just fine :-) Please feel free to post regular links/updates to the campaign on your Facebook and/or Twitter --but nothing that would be considered spamming. Help with this would be deeply appreciated. 

What we need to do is build momentum in the campaign; Kickstarter has its own community of donors and they often base their decision to support a project or not based on the pledging already going on.

This Kickstarter campaign is a no-risk initiative for those who donate.

One thing to make clear whenever you post a link to Kickstarter is that this is an "all or nothing" system. Meaning donors only have their pledge taken out from the funds if the campaign is 100% successful--and funds are taken out the day the campaign ends. In this case that is November 16th. In the disappointing event that the campaign is not successful, those who have pledged will NOT have any money taken out from the credit card or bank account or whatever they used to pledge the funds.

This is a tremendously exciting time for all of us connected to GQB. (Which numbers about 40 people, and counting.) Bringing this license on board would put this company and its entire group of talented creatives that we have been blessed to work with over these last 3+years firmly in the spotlight within a matter of weeks.

A successful Kickstarter campaign would help us all reach our creative goals--related to GQB or not--all the faster. Our appreciation for the support we receive to reach this goal cannot be overstated.

Please help us out; this is truly a unique and exciting chance to be a part of something really special :-D

Why I Really Really Don't Like 'Free'

Although this post is from the view of me wearing my publisher hat, it really can translate to just about any aspect of entrepreneurship.

A trend in publishing that I like less and less, and a trap that I see more and more budding creators falling into, is "Free". I understand it's appeal to authors looking to get a foot in the door. They might see "Free" as a way to get read and build an audience, or maybe something else entirely. It is possible they have heard of an industry pioneer who paved the way for their success by starting out with massive amounts of "Free" product. (Look behind the curtain, though, and you will find a well-developed hook, or perhaps they make the majority of their money in another capacity, or simply the fact that that person has become in and of themselves a unique brand.)

But really, whatever the motive, "Free", especially by itself, is something else entirely.. and long term it does far more harm than good to a creator's success, and the creative industry in general.

1. "Free" = "No Value": I have written dozens of magazine articles along with thousands of words of prose and hundreds of pages of script. If after all that labor the best I had to look forward to is to give all that time investment and hard work away for maybe a hundred faithful readers, then what is the point? To just give away writing for "Free" is completely unfair to the talent, to the work, and to the all the others that make a living developing their craft. "Free" is hardly a great motivator either. Writers need to be paid for their work, even if it's $5 for an ebook. And what is more, if a creator is not willing to respect one's own work and put a value on it, why should anyone else?

2. "Free" = "Bad Conditioning": Do you remember learning about animals that were conditioned to ring a bell for food? Society is the same way. Everyday we condition ourselves (or are conditioned) to accept certain things as normal or to expect a return for investment. Following this to conclusion, how do you think your audience is going to react when you move your work from "Free" to "No longer free"? You are going to lose a solid chunk of your audience who were along for a free ride because you conditioned them to expect your work to be "Free". Further, your work is far less likely to be taken seriously by fans or prospective publishers/producers because of the signal "Free" sends to these potential big time investors.

3. "Free" = "False Advertising": Believe me, producing creative product is no picnic at the beach. It is labor--enjoyable labor, yes, but it is labor. Slapping a "Free" label onto that product of labor sends the absolute wrong message that it probably didn't take much to compose the work. This will lead to a nasty clash considering the above two points. It will also leave the impression on some "aspiring writer" that "anyone can do this". The result will be someone else with potentially far less talent also charging "Free" for their work. Having affirmed the "get what you pay for" sentiment, audience members who read that work and determine it to be terrible will then (rightly) assume that your "Free" work is likely equally as bad--or worse(!!)--and not even bother to give it a chance.

The other side of this coin is that you inspire a writer with untapped talent to pen a fantastic story. Unlike you, they decide to put a price tag on it and make some nice money, maybe even leading to an agent and book deal. And what did you get out of this service to the industry? Well...nothing, because you charged "Free" and were lost amongst all the other obscure titles and anonymous authors in the "Free" bin.

There is a proper place for "Free" in the creative realm. Giving material to reviewers or charity or allowing a portion of your work to be sampled for "Free" or running a specific, limited time promotion for another product or service is acceptable in their proper contexts. But as a rule instead of the exception, "Free", by itself, is a harmful path to follow. I can empathize with the desire to be read and the belief that any audience is far more desirable than no audience. But in the long run the opposite will out leaving disappointment, cynicism, a watered down creative industry, and/or an unfair representation of your fellow creators.

GQB Commentary: Ruminations on Stitched Crosses, Episode 3

I considered skipping this episode, making the Stitched Crosses audio drama a 5-episode affair. My fear was that the episode's heavy exposition and mono-setting would slow the whole story to a halt.

The reality is, "Sir Honour & The Legacy of the Knights Templar" establishes a vital piece of Markus's character (his tunnel vision concerning God's relationship with him), introduces the Norman copy of Scripture that Sir Jacques possesses (which will come into play later), and provides detail on the Battle of Cresson (his survival of which is what prompts the Templar Grand Master, Gerard de Ridefort, to assign Markus to the army marching to meet Saladin in an effort to permanently silence him).

This part of the story also provided me with an opportunity to "teach" some (likely) little known history about both the early Christian period as well as the Medieval world. In the case of the former: it is believed that Hypatia, a prominent Greek female philosopher and scholar from Alexandria during the 4th-5th centuries A.D., may have possessed an original copy of the Septuagint (a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and perhaps some of the New Testament canon. Hypatia herself was a pagan and a powerful female at a time when women were not supposed to be learned or articulate; despite this, she was held up as a hero by several members of the Christian community.

Her possession of these valuable ancient texts is considered a possible reason why a group of Christian monks rose up violently against Hypatia (among several other reasons--Hypatia had her share of political and social enemies due to her powerful persona as a woman in a man's ancient world). Reading about this, I followed it through to conclusion and supposed that perhaps the Christian Bishop of Alexandria, Cryil, recovered the Septuagint and NT canon that was in her possession, forming one of several Codices that would help the Christian world to accurately publish copies of the Bible for centuries. (A few of the Codices are still in existence; the most complete edition, the Codex Sinaiticus, recently became available to the public via a website that reveals the contents of all its pages.)

I also wanted to put my own a theory out there concerning why the Templars were so secretive about their operations. So many scholars and arm chair historians assume the worst about the Templar order--afterall it works so well for lecturing and ratings for History Channel documentaries. So this episode supposes what the Templars might have been planning (and another reason why they would operate in such deep secrecy) if they possessed a complete edition of Scripture written before the Church centralized its power and became as much a political entity as it did the center of Christendom. Under this premise, the Codex that Cyril may have retrieved, and now lost to posterity, five centuries before the Templars existed very nicely slotted into Stitched Crosses.

Thus a closer look at real history reveals possibilities that are much more likely (in my view), while retaining more than enough natural intrigue. One thing that Indiana Jones reveals is that history possesses plenty of mind-boggling mysteries all on its own without adding un-necessary bits of the supernatural to everything. (Although you wouldn't know it if you've only experience the character via Indy 4, heh.)

And speaking of Indy: I had a terrible time title-ing this episode, until my eyes fell on my Indy DVD and book collection...