Stretching for Materiel
about 1 year ago – Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 12:49:03 PM

Greetings Backers!

Our stretchiest stretch goal yet, at the $125k mark, is a three-parter. We’re calling it Materiel Upgrades, and the deliverables will improve our warehouse and our work spaces.

There aren’t any add-ons, but you’ll get some digital freebies, and since these upgrades will help ensure that we stay in business, there are definitely benefits down the road for everyone.

Industrial Pallet Racks
We’re running out of floor space at our warehouse, and we have at least three more Schlock Mercenary books to print. This facility is the largest nearby space we can afford, so the best solution is to go vertical. The safest way to do this is with industrial pallet racks. They’re cheaper than renting more space, but that’s not the same as “cheap.” We’ll get lots of pictures and video so you can see the upgrade in action.

Convention Kit for Howard

With your help last year we discovered some tools (including a *very* fancy chair) that help Howard work enough hours to be productive despite chronic fatigue he endures from Long Covid. We prototyped a traveling version of this at GenCon Indy this year, and learned a lot. With your support, we’ll be re-designing it for Dragonsteel Con in November, and doing so with an eye toward letting Howard do more public appearances. Again, we’ll get pictures and video, along with a parts list, so you can see how it all works. And maybe you’ll get a chance to see it in person at a future event!

Techno-Cane Tutorial

Howard designed and built a cane for himself this summer, and now he wants to share a much less expensive version with everybody. We’ll order the parts and shoot video of the assembly and kit-bashing, so that anybody who needs a cane that can carry their phone and their water bottle (and maybe even more) can build such a thing themselves.

The first two deliverables are really all about helping us maintain our business. The last one is about helping other people, especially the newly disabled, improve their quality of life. With your help we’ll be able to deliver all of this.

Last year our backers (and lots of you!) helped us reach the stretch goal that bought Howard a zero-gravity chair and a couple of different canes. We were astounded by how much these helped him, and it’s no (ahem) stretch to say that embracing these accessibility tools changed all of our lives. We look forward to having the opportunity to share our experience with others in ways that will improve their lives without them needing to run a Kickstarter.

We could write a thousand words to describe how grateful we are that you’re backing our projects. For now, though, here are five:

Thank you for your support.

—Howard & Sandra Tayler

Desktop Background and a new Stretch goal
about 1 year ago – Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 10:21:52 AM

Greetings Backers!

We’ve unlocked both of the desktop backgrounds! (The one for 85k AND the one for 1000 backers) One is ready right now, you can download it from this Dropbox link. We've included three size ratios to start and Howard may add more. The other is coming as soon as Howard can get it made and will be added to that Dropbox folder.

See how pretty!

We're also adding a stretch goal. 

At $110k we'll make a coin for Clan Gugro. This coin will be included in the NCO and HESH levels and will be available as an add-on for all levels that ship physical projects. 

We have more stretch goal announcements to come. Thank you so much for all your support!

Howard and Sandra Tayler

We've Funded!
about 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 06:13:33 PM

We've fully funded! Thank you so much!

The days leading up to a Kickstarter launch are always anxious for us. With your support, though, the anxiety can just back right on off, because now we've entered those days where we get to be grateful instead of worried. 

Is your enthusiasm infectious? Yes. Yes it is. Thank you for... re-infecting us? Maybe that's not the right metaphor here. The important thing is that with the project funded we can start unlocking stretch goals. These little objectives help carry the project from "funded" to "profitable," and that's how we're able to [checking notes] eat and sleep indoors, and continue to put Schlock Mercenary into print.

As of this writing we've unlocked the Mandatory Failure Mission Patch and the coin for Soulward Honor, both of which are available as an add-ons for all pledge levels that include physical rewards. We've also unlocked back-of-book sketch selection for HESH-level backers.  

We're probably within 24 hours of unlocking both the $85K desktop background and the 1000 backers desktop background. We hope to reach the "pay contributors more" goal in the next 72 hours, but really, we're just guessing how long these things take. We have more stretch goals planned, and we'll start posting those as we're closing in on 100k. 

The best way you can help us reveal and reach these goals is to spread the word. Is this the best book for introducing your friends to Schlock Mercenary? It is! The most recent book is always best! But you don't need to recruit new readers to help the project along. Every time we run a Kickstarter—EVERY TIME—we get to the end, and just after it closes somebody says "why didn't you TELL me?" 

We try to tell everybody, we really do, and with your help maybe this will be the Kickstarter where nobody tells us they missed it. Post links to your social medias, talk about the project with friends, and let people know why you're happy to support it. Your words are far more powerful than any advertising we can buy, more powerful than any advertising we can't buy.

Thank you again for all your support!

—Howard and Sandra

p.s. (from Sandra) I would really love to make Howard figure out what to reward you with if we have 2000 backers. It's very funny to me to watch him be completely baffled.