Steve Long Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Howdy Herophiles! Hero Games is proud to announce the launch of its first Kickstarter project: The Book Of The Empress! You can go to Kickstarter and pledge your support here: Book Of The Empress Kickstarter. Our goal is to raise $10,000 in pledges by January 29 to produce the book. We'd appreciate any support you can offer! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, here's how it works. Kickstarter is a form of "crowdfunding," in which people such as yourselves offer their financial support for a creative project to see it completed. You can pledge as much as you want, from $1 up to any amount. At certain pledge levels (such as $10, $25, and $50), there are special "rewards" you get for backing the project. For example, for the BotE Kickstarter, pledging $25 gets you a PDF of the book and thanks in the credits, while pledging $50 gets you all that and a copy of the hardcopy printed book. When you pledge to back a Kickstarter project, no money is taken from you unless the project reaches its full funding level. If it fails to reach its goal (in the case of BotE, $10,000), then no money is taken from anyone and the project doesn't see the light of day. But naturally, we hope that doesn't happen! Here at Hero we're looking at Kickstarter as an intriguing new way to continue to publish HERO System books the fans want. If this one funds successfully, then we'll plan and launch Kickstarters for other books. Please join us in leading Hero into a new and exciting era! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Count me in! I've made my pledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Excited for this and I will pledge, just not sure if it will be for a PDF or physical copy. I much prefer a hardcopy of the book, but a quick question/comment. $30 shipping to Canada? Is that correct? I've ordered a lot of stuff from the USA over the years (including numerous orders from Hero) and I've never seen a $30 shipping charge for a single book before. Oh, and a second question. If I do pledge for a physical copy of the book, do I pledge $50 now and pay another $30 later for shipping, or do I pledge $80 right off the bat and the $30 for shipping comes out of that amount? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Over 10% already! A chance to have Steve come run a game? [think]Must not max out credit card. Must not max out credit card...[/thinks] I will definitely be donating when I'm not at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balabanto Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter I support Hero no matter what the supplement is. Count me in for a printed copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Already at 14%. I know Kickstarts tend to slow down after the first few days and pick up again near the end, but if things keep this pace and we reach 100% in a week or two is there plans for more rewards or improvements if a higher goal is reached? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted December 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter $30 shipping to Canada? Is that correct? I've ordered a lot of stuff from the USA over the years (including numerous orders from Hero) and I've never seen a $30 shipping charge for a single book before. Oh, and a second question. If I do pledge for a physical copy of the book, do I pledge $50 now and pay another $30 later for shipping, or do I pledge $80 right off the bat and the $30 for shipping comes out of that amount? The amount quoted is correct -- it's based on the US Postal Service rates for sending a book of this size to Canada. Traditionally Hero (and many other companies) have been willing to eat a large chunk of that cost, but this isn't something Hero's willing to do with a Kickstarter. None of us here are happy about it, believe me. As I understand it you would pledge $80 and indicate with your pledge that it's a $50 pledge with $30 for shipping -- I believe there's a way to do that when you make the pledge. If you find that's not the case please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted December 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Already at 14%. I know Kickstarts tend to slow down after the first few days and pick up again near the end' date=' but if things keep this pace and we reach 100% in a week or two is there plans for more rewards or improvements if a higher goal is reached?[/quote'] You're correct that the most pledges tend to come in at the very beginning and the very end, with a "slow period" in the middle. But hopefully we'll be well on our way to funding BotE before the initial slowdown. If the project exceeds the $10,000 goal we'll definitely consider posting some further rewards or improvements to the project. We haven't thought about that in detail because we don't want to count our chickens 'fore they're hatched, but we definitely want to support the fans who are supporting us if we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter As I understand it you would pledge $80 and indicate with your pledge that it's a $50 pledge with $30 for shipping -- I believe there's a way to do that when you make the pledge. If you find that's not the case please let me know. It appears that the amount you pledge and the reward you select are two different things. So I think they'd pledge 80$ and select the $50 reward. In the future, it might help to make the rewards with shipping a separate item. I don't know if you can have multiple rewards at the same amount but that's how I'd do it; there'd be an $80 reward that said "basic book plus shipping to Canada" and a $100 reward that said "basic book plus shipping to Europe". Anyhoo, BotE not my thing, although I might kick in a few bucks, especially if it gets close to the end and there's only a bit more to go for the project to meet its minimum. Good luck folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptPatriot Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter People have done specific selections for other countries in the past. Some of the other sci-fi campaign settings that was advertised from D3 I believe comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djkester Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Pledge Made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quozaxx Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Does this mean that the only way to get a hard copy (or PDF) of the book is to use kickstarter? Or (if the project goes through), hard copies will be eventually available through my favorite gaming shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted December 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Does this mean that the only way to get a hard copy (or PDF) of the book is to use kickstarter? Or (if the project goes through), hard copies will be eventually available through my favorite gaming shop? If the Kickstarter succeeds, that should allow Hero to print enough copies to make the book available to other customers. However, AFAIK there are no plans to offer it to distribution, so even at that the odds are you won't see it at your local gaming shop -- you'd have to order it directly from Hero here at the Online Store. If you want a copy, by far the best way to get one is to back the Kickstarter. That makes the project (and thus the printing of the book) more likely to succeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted December 31, 2011 Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter I threw $50 at the project, and it looks like things are moving along nicely with four weeks left to go and already a third of the goal funded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted December 31, 2011 Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter If the Kickstarter succeeds, that should allow Hero to print enough copies to make the book available to other customers. However, AFAIK there are no plans to offer it to distribution, so even at that the odds are you won't see it at your local gaming shop -- you'd have to order it directly from Hero here at the Online Store. If you want a copy, by far the best way to get one is to back the Kickstarter. That makes the project (and thus the printing of the book) more likely to succeed. I chose the "no rewards" option when I made my pledge, counting on buying the book from the Hero online store once it's printed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted January 1, 2012 Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter BotE is listed as one of the "Staff Picks" on Kickstarter now. Hopefully that will get it some attention from people who otherwise might not know about it, or even about Hero for that matter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armitage Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter The amount quoted is correct -- it's based on the US Postal Service rates for sending a book of this size to Canada. Traditionally Hero (and many other companies) have been willing to eat a large chunk of that cost' date=' but this isn't something Hero's willing to do with a Kickstarter. None of us here are happy about it, believe me.[/quote'] Something to consider... Several people from other countries, discussing this Kickstarter on another forum, expressed the opinion that a 228 page softcover book should fit into a Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope, going anywhere in the world for about $14. Many US publishers seem to be completely ignorant about flat-rate envelopes, which honestly are the only affordable way to ship books internationally without paying the book's value again in shipping. And some will tell you the books won't fit, which isn't accurate except for massive tomes. And it's a shame, because a lot of times what keeps non-US players like me from getting a new book directly from the publisher is not the actual book's price, but the outrageous shipping charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndreare Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Made a pledge, as close as we are it looks certain the book will get published after all we are 75% there all ready. Plus I think it would be cool to get my name in another book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Goodwin Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter There's usually also an "...and handling" added to shipping. I seem to recall that when I got my 6E1 and 6E2 from Hero Games, they were pretty heavily armored -- each was inside a box, which was inside packing material inside another box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Wow, 80% of the way there already... and someone made the $2,000 pledge. Go go gadget BotE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter Wow' date=' 80% of the way there already... and someone made the $2,000 pledge. Go go gadget BotE![/quote'] It was quite a tempting package to the Hero with money. Steve Long comes and runs a gaming session, and you get copies of other books Hero publishes? I wonder who the wealthy Hero is? Good news that things are almost to 80%. I wonder how much longer it will take to cross the finish line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Bruins Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter I just jumped on the bandwagon to show some support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter OKAY, I need to know...who was the 2k backer? Wanted to do that my self but no where near the money to justify it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter OKAY, I need to know...who was the 2k backer? Wanted to do that my self but no where near the money to justify it... That's not information Hero Games can release publicly. If he wants to reveal it himself we certainly won't stop him, but otherwise we'll respect his privacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Re: BOOK OF THE EMPRESS Kickstarter In other words, since the book is dedicated to whomever made the $2,000 donation, you'll have to wait for the book to read the dedication. And if you really want to know, you might donate a few extra bucks to the project to make sure it happens because otherwise you'll never find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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