Ampliterra November Progress Update
Very exciting news – we’re on the brink of launching Ampliterra: Echoes of the Rift. We received the first handful of books from the printer and are putting the finishing touches on our webstore, planning our shipping, sorting out logistics… all of that good stuff!
It’s been a little while since I’ve given a full accounting of what we’ve been up to, so let me walk you through the full process since last March. If you want to know more about the work that went into everything pre-March, check out the Ampliterra Process So Far blog post
Before you read on, though, would you be willing to answer a quick 2 question survey to help us with setting up our online shop? Keep reading until the end to see a sneak-peek unboxing video of the first copies of the book!
April 2023
After the Kickstarter ended, Sadia (our Art Director) and I went through the full list of potential illustrations that we had made early in the process and prioritized which ones would be most impactful with our budget. Ultimately, we ended up with 68 illustrations, which is a really nice collection of artwork.
May 2023 - July 2023
Once we knew which illustrations and artists we wanted, we got everyone started with their assignments. Sadia wrote up comprehensive art briefs for each piece to give artists a sense of what we were looking for.
At the same time, Julie-Anne Muñoz started laying out the book. This was a pretty herculean task given that we expected the book to be around 300 pages with 68 illustrations.
After Jam finished a rough layout draft and we had enough finalized illustrations, Jam, Sadia met several times to go through the book page-by-page to figure out where we might need to trim or add extra text, where we might need new illustrations, and how we would handle a few wonky page-fit issues. We ended up adding 4 illustrations, a lot of text, and 2 new characters!
August 2023
August 2023 was intensely busy. Once we knew where we would need extra text, I got to work drafting. This was an intensely collaborative process with Caleigh Wells (our editor) who helped brainstorm, draft and fix errors.
Then Caleigh did a final edit of the entire book to find those pesky typos and errors that had eluded us on our many earlier readthroughs. I can’t emphasize enough how much of a difference this made.
As we were finalizing the layout, I was also looking around for a printing partner to manufacture the physical copies of the book. After some glowing reviews from Jam and our friends at Dinoberry Press, we went with PrintNinja. They made the process quick, easy, efficient, and affordable. I’ve really appreciated their partnership through a logistically difficult process.
October 2023
Once we submitted the files to PrintNinja in August, the wait began. Production takes 3-4 weeks and then shipping takes 6-8 weeks on top of that. Luckily, we had a small handful of copies expedited so we could take product photos and send out some promo copies. Those arrived in late October and they look incredible. The print quality is even better than I had hoped and seeing this project in person and holding it in my hands for the first time was a pretty surreal experience.
November 2023
With some books in hand and the rest of them making their way across the ocean by boat, we got to work building out our online shop, figuring out shipping, and getting materials together for fulfillment. Sounds straightforward enough, but this has lots of moving parts!
I’m hoping to be able to set a release date and open everything up for pre-orders in just a few weeks!
You’ll hear more from us in a few weeks about how to get your copy of Ampliterra: Echoes of the Rift soon!
Austin
Unboxing the first copies of the book!
