The Dark Thorn by Shawn Speakman

Hi Everyone,

THANK YOU for helping make The Author Preferred Edition of The Dark Thorn be a success! I'm thrilled with the results. It was all you and I am sincerely grateful.

These last few days, I've been working on the BackerKit Survey pledge manager details as well as being sick while on vacation. Talk about a triumvirate. And let's not forget about that water leak that is no longer happening but causing all sorts of consternation with the insurance company. Bah! Adulting sucks. My sons have no idea how good they have it.

I hear what you are thinking. "Shawn, stop whining. It helps no one." And you're right, of course.

What are the next steps now that the crowdfund is finished? Vacation ends tomorrow, at which point we will go home. Thankfully the house is a normal temperature and all fans and dehumidifiers have been removed, so we can actually live there. I'll finish the BackerKit Survey details over the next few days and submit it for review. By Monday or Tuesday, I hope BackerKit will authorize the survey and it will go out to all of you.

I will give until July 29th for you to answer your survey (which includes number/letter requests, personalization requests, the name you want printed in the BackerKit Backers section at the back of all editions of The Dark Thorn, etc.). Then I'll take final payments on August 5th for any additional Add-Ons ordered.

I should be getting my copyedit back on The Dark Thorn in the next few weeks, so I'll tackle that. Then the book will be laid out (it kind of already is since we are using a similar layout to The King-Killing Queen). During all of this, I'll be preparing the merchandise files, getting all merchandise into production, and will be continuing to write the Choose Your Own Adventure here on BackerKit. Because that's fun.

I have a tentative timeline of shipping by April 1, 2025. But if all goes well with all elements of this -- especially Don Maitz's extra are that he will be producing due to the Stretch Goal being hit -- we might be able to ship a month or two before that. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, if you have any questions, do let me know! I'm always around! Think I'll go be sick and lay down in the shade and watch my kids play at the lake.

Shawn

Hi Backers of The Dark Thorn,

Similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure of old, you get to choose what happens to Merle and Snedeker as they journey through Seattle to find a rare and risen evil just north of the city. I have written the first THREE parts of the story and NOW YOU decide where it goes from there by reading and then voting in the attached poll.

Then, in two or three days, I will continue the story based on the majority choice and offer another poll! All the way to the story's conclusion. Get to reading. And voting, of course.

With Magic,
Shawn

PS: This is definitely a first draft! Take that with a huge boulder of salt.

Hi Backers of The Dark Thorn,

Similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure of old, you get to choose what happens to Merle and Snedeker as they journey through Seattle to find a rare and risen evil just north of the city. I have written the first TWO parts of the story and NOW YOU decide where it goes from there by reading and then voting in the attached poll.

Then, in two or three days, I will continue the story based on the majority choice and offer another poll! All the way to the story's conclusion. Get to reading. And voting, of course.

With Magic,
Shawn

PS: This is definitely a first draft! Take that with a huge boulder of salt.

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for being absent. On Wednesday, my house flooded due to a burst pipe. It's thrown our lives into complete disarray. Between the whirring fans to the rumbling humidifiers to the 80 degree heat inside the house to help dry it all out, it's been a real nightmare during the day and at night while trying to sleep. I've barely had time to look at this BackerKit because of it and for that I apologize.

That changes tomorrow. While the house continues to dry out so the contractor can assess the real damage (no books were involved, thankfully) and begin fixing it, we are leaving this hot, noisy life for a vacation. We already had one planned for the 4th of July but we are merely leaving earlier. This will be better for our sanity and should give me the chance to pay more attention here.

In a few minutes, I'll upload the new 500 words for the Merle & Snedeker story. The poll will be a part of that, so be sure to vote on the story's direction. I'm really liking this Choose Your Own Adventure-esque style of storytelling. I can see the story's end, I just have no idea how you are going to take me there. I will be posting every two days, I think, while gone.

In other news, we just crossed the $130,000 Stretch Goal! WOO! WAY TO GO! So five new interior illustrations from Don Maitz will join the ten he's already working on. And the S&N, S&L, and Rare editions will have a full-color tip of Don's original cover. Here is that tip:


The $140,000 Stretch Goal is the coin! No it isn't, it's a signed tarot card! I'd love everyone to have it. We'll see if we can get there in time. And how might we? I added two new Add-On Items to the BackerKit. For those people who didn't pledge in the first 72 hours, they can now order Tarot Cards #1-8. If you placed your pledge in the first 72 hours, then you'll be getting Tarot Cards #7-8 already! FYI. 

And I added a 12" x 18" print of the Map of Annwn by Jared Blando. Some people asked for it so I thought I should at least make that happen! He's turned in a lovely job.

Okay, I'm off to get that second part of the story added to backer inboxes. If you have any questions, just ask. I'm always around. Mostly. Water notwithstanding!

Shawn

Hi Everyone,

The Dark Thorn BackerKit has hit $115,000! Better endpapers for all editions and gilding for the S&N, S&L, and Rare editions will be happening!

That said, we are about to hit $130,000 already. How could that be happening so fast given that we are in the lull of the crowdfund's middle week? Well, bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and his Team Dragonsteel backed The Dark Thorn yesterday. When that happened, BackerKit notified all of those who pledge to Brandon's work that Dragonsteel had done it. That's over 100,000 people receiving an email about The Dark Thorn. And some of them were curious enough to venture to us.

So welcome, all you Sanderson fans who found this BackerKit. Happy to have you here! And thanks to Dragonsteel for backing The Dark Thorn! With one simple button push, they literally helped reach these awesome Stretch Goals.

To that end, I do have a question for all of you because I value giving you what you want. The next Stretch Goal is a metal coin shipped with all physical tiers. The Stretch Goal after that one is five more interior illustrations by Don Maitz. It occurs to me that maybe I made an error when designing those Stretch Goals and that people would prefer more interior illustrations than a coin, a coin they can buy as an add-on if they like.

So vote below. Have your voice heard. Keep the stretch goals as is or flip the next two around. And I'll see what I can do about it.

With Magic,
Shawn