To say that these last few weeks have been busy—ludicrously so—is a hell of an understatement.
First off, I moved at the end of October, from a tiny house I shared with a friend to a much larger townhouse by myself. The difference in space feels enormous and somewhat lonely. And I hate moving with a burning passion. So I've been unpacking little by little, like a squirrel tucking away nuts it's never going to eat.
But just as I was in the middle of unpacking, what should arrive at my doorstep but roughly 20 or so huge boxes worth of books—that is, copies of The Key and the Crescent and A Drift Apart to be sent out to backers.
Organizing all of this was a bit of a task, as you can probably imagine, especially in mid-move. I'd been hoping to do all of this before moving, but fate had different plans in store, and everything happened all at once. (All while continuing full-time development on Arkham LCG as well, of course.) It took longer than I would have liked, but eventually, I had everything sorted out and ready for the most arduous part—signing and individually packaging each backer's copy.
I had hoped that I could invite a whole crew of friends over to help me with this in assembly-line fashion, but of course, we're in the middle of a pandemic, so...yeah. I did have some helping hands, but it still took several days!
And then I was left with 150 or so individual packages that needed to be shipped out by 11/12. I requested a USPS pickup, but they never arrived, so I activated "screw it, I'll do it myself" mode, loaded them into my Jeep, and drove them down to the post office myself (in poor weather/driving conditions, no less). But the feeling of having them all carried off into the post office—and the subsequent emotion when I saw backers posting pictures of their copies as they started to arrive—is one I'll never forget.
This whole endeavor has been incredible, from start to finish. Writing the book seems to have been the easiest part, all told. From there, editing the book (twice!), creating and organizing the Kickstarter, working with other freelancers to create the artwork, the trailer, the graphic design for the cover, finding a service to print the book, uploading the files (many many many many different times, to get it to look just right), creating the posters, creating the bookmarks, figuring out how to ship everything, ordering shipping supplies, and creating this very website—all of it, combined, feels kind of monumental when I look back on it, even if each individual task wasn't that difficult in the end.
I want to thank everyone who helped me in every step of the way—from the backers who supported the project financially to my friends and family who gave me moral support and a shoulder to cry on when it felt overwhelming.
The good news is that now that it's all done, I can really get started on what's next. First, promoting The Key and the Crescent so it can reach an even wider audience, and second...
Thank you for joining me on this journey.
P.S. In other news, The Key and the Crescent is now available for purchase in digital, softcover, and deluxe hardcover editions on the main page of my website, and in physical form on Lulu, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. And if you haven't already, please rate and review The Key and the Crescent on Goodreads—every single one helps! (Heck, copy/paste your review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble too, if you like!) Here are some handy links:
Amazon (hardcover) (coming soon!)
Barnes & Noble (hardcover) (coming soon!)