UK and US Shipments Are At the Warehouses!
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Nov 04, 2016 at 12:25:52 AM
Hey all!
Well, the Aussie shipments are going well. Looks like just about everyone got theirs okay. There are a couple that I'm fixing, due to changed addresses (it's been a little while, so fair enough!), but apart from that, all good. And the responses have been fabulous!
In even more exciting news, the shipment is now at the warehouses! We're using GamesQuest in the UK, and Fulfillrite in the US.
So far, GamesQuest have proven themselves to be truly awesome, much as Aetherworks were in Australia (terrific bunch of people by the way - I thoroughly recommend them!).
So! GamesQuest is getting started on the orders tomorrow. Fulfillrite is requiring a bit more paperwork to get everything ready. Hopefully I'll have that sorted by tomorrow (fingers crossed), and then next week the US shipments will be going out together with those of the UK!
Having these shipments arrive is good in another way too - I can now get the reference cards sent back to me, to deliver to the Aussie backers. So it's all on!
~Oliver
Australian/Oceanian Shipments Underway!
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Oct 17, 2016 at 09:59:34 PM
Exciting times! The first package of books is underway to backers in Australia and Oceania!
That means if you live in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, etc., then a package will be coming to you very shortly.
Within the week, everyone in Australia should have their packages.
Seeing as I was on hand in the warehouse at the time, I went ahead and personalised all the books going out. You can see a photo of one here (before my silver pen ran out).
There was one hitch, however! None of the reference cards had arrived on the pallet. I think the printers sent them to the USA or UK... which kinda sucks. Because that will now mean that I've got to get them re-sent down here, and sent out to everyone all over again. But I figured that that's the lesser of two evils - better to have that come out in a second package, than hold everything up to go out together.
I must say again that I'm impressed with the quality of the books. The binding is good, the quality of the paper and cover excellent, and of course the illustrations are top notch.
If anyone has any issues with their postage, or would like to check where it's up to, please contact Aetherworks (the Fulfillment company) here: [email protected]
By the way, Aetherworks are some really top-notch people. Very friendly and open, they invited me to their warehouse, and have in all honesty been some of the best people I have yet dealt with! They also really know their stuff, and have been teaching me the ropes when it comes to shipping and fulfillment. These are the areas that a lot of people get tripped up on - on cost, packaging, organisation and so on. So I'm really glad to have had this experience to grow and learn (thankfully, I did most things right. Phew!).
~Oliver
Shipping Update
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 05:38:30 PM
Exciting news!
The books are being shipped!
Currently they are on a boat from Hong Kong to three different locations - Australia, UK and the USA, where they will be taken to distributors to mail across the various locations.
In the UK we will be using GameQuest, in the USA we will be using Fulfillrite and in Aus I will be doing it myself (unless I find a better option between now and then). I will also be having extra copies warehoused in these locations so that when people order copies in the future in these regions, it won't cost them the Earth to receive them.
The shipping dates, from boat to fulfillment warehouse is as follows:
New York: 17 Oct
Southampton: 14 Oct
Sydney: 29 Sep
This means that backers in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania will be receiving their packages somewhere around 7th to 14th October.
The others I am still working out final dates for, but the exciting thing is that they are on their way!
Printing and shipping has been quite a hurdle. Finding a good freight forwarder was a real battle, but now that I have one things are really in hand and moving.
I will let you know on the exact dates for Eurpoe and the USA as soon as I get them!
In the meantime, here is a recent post that may be of interest to you - particularly as it includes a bundle of pre-generated characters, and character-creation tips. It's part of a recent effort of mine to add helpful content for Infected, to make it as playable and gamer-friendly as possible. I'd love to know what you think about it.
~Oliver
New Scenario Stretch Goal And Shipping Update
over 7 years ago
– Thu, Sep 01, 2016 at 05:25:40 PM
Hi Everyone!
Well it has been a busy few weeks. I've created another scenario - got a bit carried away really, and made it longer, and more plot-twisty than I had originally intended to. That took a bit more time, but I think I've been rewarded with a really great scenario. It's called Keep Your Friends Close, and is now available for download. This time I'm doing it a little differently, by sending out complimentary copies via Drive Thru RPG. The reason for this is that it will then be associated with your accounts, and will always be available - it also allows you to leave reviews.
If you do not receive an email with this, please write to me at [email protected] and let me know what email I should be using for your Drive Thru account. Alternately, if you don't have a Drive Thru account, let me know and I'll send you it another way.
Shipping Schedule
I've been having an interesting time with the shipping. The printer dropped on me an extra $5500 USD cost to send the shipments to three different locations (I'm sending one batch to the UK, one to the USA, and one to Australia, to reduce overall shipping times and local costs). This was, understandably, pretty horrendous, so I had to scramble to get a new Freight Forwarder... which made me a quick study on yet another perilous area!
The people I were originally referred to have taken three weeks dithering... and of about a dozen companies I contacted, only one of them actually had their act together enough to give me a good price, and to get that to me speedily. That's pretty horrendous really! Still, I am pleased with them, so that's good.
I'm now sewing up that bundle. They've told me the fastest time they can get in actually shipping is by Wednesday next week... I was hoping for today, so that sucks.
From there it will be 12 days to Australia, 24 to the USA, and 34 to the UK. From there the distributors will be individually shipping to everyone!
The Dice Have Arrived
Some awesome news is that the dice have shipped!! All done - beautiful black and red Infected D10s. The USA fulfillment office has just received theirs, as have I, though the UK have not yet. It will probably be a couple of days more.
Here's a sneak-peek:
They're a little smaller than the D10s I normally use, and more sharp-edged, but they do look rather awesome, with hand-prints on the 10s, and an "Infected 'i'" for the 1. Not bad!
A Way To Avoid Future Delays
So I've been pondering about how to ensure future products don't have as many chances to get delayed, and I stumbled across a brilliant idea. It's one that a lot of creators have been using recently, and I think it's just awesome. Seeing as you're backers, and some are also game creators, I figure this might be of interest for you (this would be for future releases, not this one).
The new method goes directly via Drive Thru RPG. Instead of charging for shipping and printing, and doing a big traditional print run, which costs thousands and then has a lot of risk attached to it, in the next KS I will be merely providing backers with a PDF of the book as a reward, as well as a token to get the Print on Demand book from Drive Thru RPG at cost. This means that each backer will pay a bit extra to print and ship the book, though they could have as many as they want at that price. They also won't have to wait for a whole print run to be done - as soon as the book's live, they can order it and get it shipped!
This means that I will charge less for each pledge, hopefully also attracting more backers. It will also mean that I don't have to wait for a printer to take forever printing and shipping. I also don't need to organise the fulfillment of hundreds of books, which is very expensive and logistically challenging.
I think for a small to medium size campaign, the PDF/POD method is brilliant. It makes it much faster and more reliable for the backers and takes care of a major migraine for the creator. I think that if I had gone this way all backers would have gotten their books several months sooner.
On the other hand, if the creator sold thousands of books, then they would do better to go for a big print run, which would end up being cheaper for each individual book. But as solutions go, I think it's pretty awesome.
What do you think?
Speaking of next releases:
I did a small survey recently via my mailing list, and the overwhelming response is that most people wanted a setting expansion of the Infected universe. With this in mind, I've been exploring ideas in the UK, Australia, Europe, Canada and more in the USA. I've also started a series of blog posts called The Rumour Mill which aim to give more depth and breadth to the Infected world, with lots of ideas and options.
This is something that I would love to get more input from backers and players too! If you would like to write an article, give some advice or some ideas, please do so and if they fit the bill I'll put them up as more grist for the mill. Email me at [email protected]
Some of these ideas are also clues as to what might be around the corner in the next expansion... just saying!
~Oliver
Narrator Screen PDFs
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Aug 22, 2016 at 11:46:45 AM
Hi everyone!
I've just sent out an email to all pre-order and Kickstarter backers who ordered the Narrator Screen or its PDF (you get both if you buy the Narrator Screen).
If you haven't yet gotten your email, please make sure to check your Spam folder.
If all else fails, please email me at [email protected] and I will send it to you!
I have done it in two formats - one with individual panels, and one which is continuous. I hope they fit the bill for you, and help you to make your games of Infected just that much better!
~Oliver
