A Year of Sanderson: Enjoy books and swag boxes throughout 2023!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
URGENT: Final instructions and details before fulfillment
almost 2 years ago
– Fri, Jan 06, 2023 at 12:45:28 PM
The time is here!! What we have worked and planned for all year is so close we can taste it! Fulfillment begins January 1st.
We Need Your Help!
We desperately need the assistance of every backer to make this fulfillment process run smoothly! With 185,000+ backers, we will be unable to individually answer every question or request we receive throughout the year. Please read this update. Be sure your friends and family who backed this campaign read this update. Share important links, pass on answers to questions from other fans, and continue to be the helpful and incredible fanbase you always are.
Important Information
We are working to address all the big questions we are receiving or expect as we begin. If you have questions, please read the FAQ links provided, or review all our updated campaign FAQs.
Project Status Update Page: We have a new status update page! We are still making the final tweaks to the layout, but this page will provide a one-stop source for progress on packing and shipping your rewards, links to buy these rewards if you missed the campaign, regularly updated answers to common questions, and a monthly downloadable activity to help fill the time while you wait for your rewards to be delivered. This will not replace our monthly updates posted here on Kickstarter, but it will provide a place to see the most important information at a glance.
How do I update my reward shipping address?: It is every backer's responsibility to keep their shipping address up to date. Though we will be "locking" addresses before beginning fulfillment, you can still update your own address at any time throughout the year as long as you have not moved to a different state or country (if you have, contact us hereto change your address). Any box returned to us due to an incorrect address or other cause able to be controlled by the backer will require payment of one month shipping costs ($10 domestic, $35 international) before it will be shipped again. (Note: If you are international, please do not use a PO box, as FedEx will not deliver to PO boxes.)
When can I expect my physical rewards to ship or arrive?: Shipments will continue to go out throughout the month until completed. We cannot provide exact estimates for any particular backer. Please do not contact us asking when your box will ship; you will receive a tracking number when it does.
When and how can I download my ebook or audiobook reward?: Your digital rewards will be available around midnight Utah time (Mountain/Denver timezone) on January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st. Ebooks will be available as a downloadable EPUB and PDF files. Audiobooks will be available as downloadable M4B and MP3 files, as well as through Spotify (both Android and iOS) and Speechify (currently iOS only) via a unique code. You will receive an email from BackerKit that includes a link to your list of available downloads and codes. (Note: Please make sure your email address in BackerKit is correct in order to receive this email!) This above FAQ also includes links to instructions for how to read or listen to your digital book.
How do I know what rewards I should expect?: You can access this information through your backer survey at any time. Rewards are listed in a way to keep the surprise intact.
One final note: Now that we are about to begin fulfillment, we will no longer offer refunds of pledges, tier changes, t-shirt size changes, etc. We are only able to update email addresses and shipping addresses for the rest of this campaign.
Packaging Update
We have two exciting announcements and one less exciting one. First, we decided we wanted everyone to receive a Cosmere-related box as their first swag box, so we have swapped the Cytoverse box with the Hoid box. What better way to kick off our amazing swag boxes than with our favorite Worldhopper?
Which brings us to our second announcement: the February box is already fully assembled! Our amazing team packaged all the Hoid boxes in just two weeks! The boxes are all palleted and ready for shipping labels as soon as we finish shipping January's box.
However, we just found out that the Secret Project #1 premium hardcovers will no longer arrive next week as expected—the bindery is shutting down early due to an incoming severe snowstorm and the holidays. We can't wait to begin assembling these beautiful books for you all, but we plan to give our team some much needed rest next week instead. We will send another update as soon as the books have arrived and January assembly has begun—likely around the middle of the month. Thank you all for understanding!
In the meantime, make sure you are ready to download your ebook and audiobook files so you can join in on the discussions and fun! We'll see you in The Year of Sanderson!
Employee Highlights + Kickstarter Update
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Jan 04, 2023 at 05:59:12 PM
Text version
Hey! Kellyn and Michael here with your Secret Novels Kickstarter campaign update! First things first: We are 80% done shipping all the leatherbound add-ons. We are still waiting on the Well of Ascension to arrive at our warehouse before we can ship it—at this point, it’s looking like that will be early next year. Now, this is just for the leatherbound add-ons that were available through BackerKit. Once we have shipped out all of these add-ons, Well of Ascension will be available on our store for any fans who would also like to purchase a copy.
Secret Projects
So, let’s talk Secret Projects! As announced in our previous updates, Secret Projects #1 and #2 are both at the printer! We had a delay in the cover material for Secret Project #1, which pushed the delivery of the books back. While we are waiting for those to arrive, we began assembling the February swag box. Once the books arrive near the end of this month, we will then spend the month of January packaging and shipping Secret Project #1, with February’s box already packaged and waiting in the wings. Unfortunately, because of the volume of January boxes, these shipments will be sent in daily batches as they are assembled, which does mean that some backers may not actually receive their package until sometime during the following month.
Secret Project #3 is going through final proofreading and layout stages, and then it will be off to the printer for that one as well. And finally, Brandon recently announced that his final draft of Secret Project #4 is done. This means that it is off to the editorial team for the final polish.
And, if you haven’t already seen, we have additional news about the Secret Projects! As Brandon has announced, regular commercial editions of the Secret Projects will be published quarterly, beginning in April 2023 with Secret Project #1. To clarify, these are standard commercial editions of these books without the premium features you will be receiving as a backer, such as cover material, binding, artwork, and two-color ink.
For those who missed out on our campaign, we did order extra copies of our premium hardcover books. After we finish shipping each Secret Project to our backers—and give enough time to ensure our backers receive the book first—our premium hardcover edition will be available to purchase on DragonsteelBooks.com. These books will be priced at $55, or $65 if you buy the whole box with the extra goodies.
Audiobooks and Ebooks
The audiobooks and ebooks of Secret Project #1 will go out to backers first thing in January, and will be available for purchase on the 10th for those who missed the Kickstarter. Michael Kramer has already recorded Secret Project #1 and the audiobook is currently in post-production. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading will jointly record Secret Projects #2 and #3. We will have more details on getting your audiobook and ebook files in a final update just before the beginning of the 2023 Year of Sanderson.
Company Update
When we launched this campaign on March 1st, we felt like we had a decent sized company. But, as always, our fanbase surpassed our wildest expectations, and we’ve had to grow a little. And we have put these new employees to work! (Watch our video to see before and after images of our employees along with clips of our assembly process.)
Each month begins with a box. The pallets of boxes are shipped to us flat and they need to be folded and prepared to be filled. Then we have filler paper machines that prepare special paper to provide protection for your rewards during shipping. Once we have these shipping supplies, we have to fill each box. First we place each product in the box, fold over the filler paper close the box, and seal it up. It is then placed on a pallet. Once a pallet is full (with approximately 400 boxes), it is wrapped and moved out of the way until it is time to put a label on the box and ship these rewards.
We have just begun packaging the February box, but we are 1.5% complete! We will be ramping up our assembly over the next couple weeks and plan to finish before Christmas.
Well that’s all for this update! Stay tuned for our next update near the end of December that will cover final instructions and details for January. Thank you again for your support, and we can’t wait for you to receive these amazing products! Happy Holidays everyone!
July Update: Leatherbounds, Production Progress, and Fun Numbers!
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Jan 02, 2023 at 07:22:46 AM
Here's a quick update for the month of July, including a fun infographic!
Leatherbound Add-ons:
The Way of Kings leatherbound add-ons are now shipping directly from the bindery! The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages titles will ship later this year when they are restocked.
Secret Project #2 has been completed by Brandon and moves to final editing and layout stages.
No updates on audiobook narrators yet. We will post an update when anything official happens that can be announced.
August 2022 Update
almost 2 years ago
– Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 03:30:26 PM
Hello all!
Summer break—at least in the USA—is almost over, our kids will be heading back to school, and we are picking up speed with reward production. We have a general update of where we are at in an infographic below, so check it out!
Common Questions
We've seen an increase in backers asking the following:
Where are my rewards, and what do I need to do since I haven't received them yet?
Rewards for this campaign will be sent during 2023, beginning with Secret Project #1 in January. As long as your survey is complete (more than 95% are), you are set for fulfillment. You can review your survey status and expected rewards at any time by logging in at https://secretnovels.backerkit.com/backer/review.
You can log in to your BackerKit survey (https://secretnovels.backerkit.com/backer/review) and review or update your shipping address at any time before December. Beginning in December you should still be able to change it, but you will need to contact us directly to let us know that it has been changed in case we have already pulled your shipment into our system.
Production Status
September Update: Stormlight Figurines!
almost 2 years ago
– Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 03:30:24 PM
Today we have some exciting news for those of you who love The Stormlight Archive. In partnership with Brotherwise Games, a new Kickstarter for Stormlight Premium Miniatures is now live!
Before we go too far in this, we invite you to read Brandon's blog post from today. In it he discusses both the "Stormlight Figurines" and the "Secret Novels" Kickstarter campaigns, and answers questions such as "Why are you doing another Kickstarter campaign so soon after your previous success?" and "Will this new campaign delay the rewards I am already waiting on?" And for those wanting a visual version, a video will be released on his YouTube channel soon, so keep an eye out for that!
Over A Year Of Work Realized
We’ve been working with Brotherwise for over a year to develop this line of high-quality collectibles. The campaign features 24 unpainted miniatures and 4 painted figurines. Every character is an official design made under Brandon’s close supervision, led by Dragonsteel VP of Creative Development Isaac Stewart.
One of our first steps in this project was developing a canonical version of Kaladin. Here’s how his character model will look as a miniature and painted figurine.
Kaladin miniature and painted figurine
The campaign features two more sculpts of Kaladin: a carapace-clad Bridge Leader version from Way of Kings and one that depicts his appearance (spoiler alert!) in Rhythm of War. If you follow the campaign, you’ll also see the unveiling of never-before-seen character designs like Eshonai, Vyre, and Lift.
A Surprise Kickstarter
When Dragonsteel chose Brotherwise Games as our partner for a 2022 Kickstarter, Brandon hadn't yet known that our Secret Novels Kickstarter campaign was the way he would choose to launch his secret novels. Part of the reason we’ve moved forward with Brotherwise—with a slight delay from the original planned schedule—is because they have their own manufacturing, shipping, and fulfillment process. The new campaign will be run independently by Brotherwise, so it won’t have any impact on this Kickstarter.
Even so, we wanted to offer something special to thank our existing backers as we embark on this new Kickstarter. If you backed at one of the “Year of Sanderson” pledge levels, your Stormlight Archive swag box will include a free miniature of Talenel, Herald of War! Here’s a sneak peek at that miniature:
Talenel miniature to be included in Stormlight swag box
We’ll reveal the design before the end of the Brotherwise campaign, where that miniature will also be available as an add-on purchase. Our goal is to make sure everyone has a chance to get every miniature from this collection!
Progress on Secret Novel Campaign
As we detailed in last month’s update, Secret Project #1 is in production and on track for January fulfillment. As our friends at Brotherwise lead the charge on miniatures and figurines, Dragonsteel remains focused on delivering the rewards for this campaign. Production of all rewards continues, with Secret Project #2 expected to go to print in the near future and swag rewards progressing through development and production. Expect a much more detailed update in October, including an update to our August progress infographic and a few behind the scenes images (spoiler-free of course).
Thanks for your support, and we hope you enjoy checking out the new campaign!
