POSTCARDS FROM IMPOSSIBLE WORLDS // The Shortest Story

Digital rewards sent + bonus wallpapers/videos + the truck comes Monday
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 11:40:11 PM

Hey everyone!

A few exciting updates and one disappointing one!

The parcels have been packaged and ready since Monday. My logistics company told me they could get me the packing slips in time for the books to be picked up Wednesday or Thursday and shipped out, but they missed their deadlines. Instead I got the packing slips on Thursday and the truck isn't coming until Monday. It's a little frustrating, but trust me, the books are worth the wait!

The books will mail out first thing next week and should all be arriving soon:

• 2-10 business days for Canada and the US
• 4-22 business days for international parcels

Rewards have all been packaged! Some have been shipped!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 12:36:43 AM

Hey everyone!

The past few days have been a whirlwind! I managed to get all Canadian single-book parcels mailed before my flight to Edmonton Expo on Thursday, which means that if you live in Canada are waiting on either a book or a book + "Postcards From the Future" subscription, your parcel should arrive this week. (Postal workers assured me that in the event of a strike, they would arrive before things shut down.)

Also, today it was announced that Canada Post workers will continue negotiating rather than beginning an immediate strike. While a strike is still not entirely off the table, I'm going to go forward with mailing Canadian parcels through Canada Post since minor delays will still make this shipping option faster than most others.

Today, with the help some rad friend and family helpers (thanks Aaron and Daniel!), we packed up the remaining 750 parcels!

 We were kept on task by our very strict box inspectors!

 I am still waiting on the shipping logistics service I'm hiring to provide the mailing labels. These should arrive mid-week and the parcels should be in the mail system by Thursday or Friday and on their way to you!

I will send out the ebooks around the time that parcels go into the mail! The digital extras will follow early next week.

I will also get started on the custom short stories, which will be mailed out separately in October/November!

Okay, that's most of the updates I have for you for now! I'll keep you in the loop as things go forward!

Shipping party, Canada Post strike, workarounds & conventions in Edmonton/Vancouver
over 5 years ago – Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 11:36:47 PM

Hi everyone!

My fellow Canadians have probably heard about the possibility of a Canada Post mail strike starting September 26. I've been keeping an eye on the news as the final packing plans come together and trying to come up with contingencies, and I've been holding off on mailing out parcels because in the event the strike goes through, any mail in the system will be stuck there until the strike resolves--this can be a special nightmare for international packages.

The good news is that I've found workarounds for 95% of my packages, so the vast majority of you will be unaffected if the strike goes through.

The bad news is that I'm going to be delaying shipping until next week so I can know exactly what we're dealing with. Especially for Canadian parcels, some of these workarounds will be slower and less reliable than standard Canada Post mail-outs, and also end up costing more.

ALSO, if you'd like to instead pick up your rewards at either Edmonton Entertainment Expo (Booth 122) or Word on the Street Vancouver (Comics & Chapbooks Exhibitor Area) this weekend, you will have the opportunity to do so. I will have books and the Read Fast T-shirts available in Edmonton, and upcoming October guest-of-the-month author James Stevenson will have books in Vancouver. Just send me a message and I'll put items aside for you.

If you backed from any address outside of Canada, you are 100% fine! I have found alternate mail carriers for all parcels, and I am going to try to pay out of pocket for tracking numbers wherever it's financially feasible for me to do so. I will probably stick with this plan even if Canada Post doesn't strike, just to keep things simple.

If you backed from within Canada and you are receiving more than a single book (e.g., a book + a T-shirt, a book + Half-Cat, a book + a canvas), I have a back-up plan. If the strike goes through, I'll be sending by Ascendia Tracked Packet, which will be slower than Canada Post would have been, but it bypasses the strike entirely. I think this is going to cost me a little bit more, but it will get books in your hands faster than waiting on negotiations. If the strike is called off, I will send by Canada Post, which will be faster and more reliable.

If you backed from within Canada and you are just receiving a single book (or a book and eventually monthly postcards), I am going to see how many of your packages I can get into the mail tomorrow before I fly out for Edmonton Comic Expo. If you live in a remote area there is a chance that your book may not reach you before the strike. I'll speak to postal staff about this and if things look dicey, I will hold your parcel back and try to send by Ascendia Tracked Parcel if the strike goes through.

If you backed for a "Postcards From the Future" subscription, the strike could affect the mail-outs going out in early October. I am going to try to mail out the US and international postcards through cross-border shipping via USPS to bypass the strike entirely. For the Canadian postcards, a prolonged strike may delay the arrival of your first postcard into later October.

Let's hope the strike doesn't happen and I just spent a week worrying unnecessarily (fingers crossed, blood-luck rituals at the ready!), but if it does, these contingency plans should minimize the effects on shipping out.

Also, the first "Postcards From the Future" arrived today and they came out beautiful! They're printed on this gorgeous recycled matte card stock, and I'm so excited to send them out in early October.

Also, to make up for any potential delays, here's tomorrow's story a little early for you!

Thanks, and apologies if I'm slow to respond to questions for the next couple days. I'm going to spend the 16 hours before I leave for my flight madly stuffing envelopes!

Video book preview + locking surveys @ 5pm EST
over 5 years ago – Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 11:02:34 PM

Hi everyone!

THE BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED! More on this exciting news (plus a video preview of the book) below, but in the meantime, here's a more urgent deadline update:

I just wanted to give you a heads up that I will be locking survey responses at 5pm EST. You will still be able to receive your rewards if you complete your survey later than 5pm, but that is the cut-off for the first wave of mail-outs that will happen over the next 2 weeks.

If you've already completed your survey but want to change your shipping address or add-on last-minute extras, you can do that until 5pm as well.

Okay, back to the fun stuff! On Friday morning, a gigantic truck pulled up to deliver the first pallet of books!

The final product is just gorgeous! The gold foil really pops on the cover and spine, and the art paper French flap covers really feel beautiful to the touch.

Take a look for yourself!

I will be shipping these out over the next couple of weeks and I will keep you updated as I do so!

Thanks so much!

-Peter

Surveys are out + books have finished printing!
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 01, 2018 at 12:08:58 AM

Hi everyone!

You should have received your surveys from BackerKit by now. If for some reason you haven't, send me a message and I'll help you out! Also, just a reminder that if you would like to have your canvas print signed, you'll need to fill out your survey by tomorrow.

We just got the call from the printer to tell us that the books have all printed, but we missed the Purolator pick-up for the advance copies by a couple hours, so we sadly won't have any books to show off at Fan Expo. That being said, the printer did an INCREDIBLE job turning these books around as quickly as they did and the copies will ship out from the printer on Tuesday and arrive shortly after that. I'm chomping at the bit to see them for myself!

I am planning a shipping party for mid-to-late September to get all of these on their way to you!