Spellbook UNLOCKED and Charlie Jane Anders' Magic Revealed!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 03:55:31 PM

Goodness! I can’t believe we’re tossing out another stretch goal update so soon!

Thanks to so many people upgrading to the Tarot Tier and a flood of new backers, we just broke through the $18k mark, which means that everyone at a subscriber tiers is gonna get our Spellbook Pack—our favorite fantasy stories and art we’ve published over the years—like this little treasure:

NEXT STRETCH GOAL

We also revealed our first mystery stretch goal for Arcana: signed copies from the one and only Charlie Jane Anders! If you haven’t read any of Charlie Jane’s work, she’s won the Hugo, Nebula AND Locus Awards for her writing, and—in our totally biased opinion—All The Birds In the Sky is just one of the best genre-melding books out there (half sci-fi, half fantasy, all amazing).

Charlie Jane graced F(r)iction #15: Identity as our Pioneer, and you can see a little bit about how we developed her feature here:

If you’re new to reading F(r)iction, well first off, WELCOME. And secondly, we do a big Pioneer feature in every issue, in which we build a spotlight around an author whose work is having a big impact on publishing. From legends like Joyce Carol Oates to new genre-benders like Jeff VanderMeer, we’re always on the lookout for great pioneers.

Each feature is centered around a new piece of writing from our celebrity author, and CJA’s original work in Identity is a about a man who consumes a magical root that gives him the power of endless aphorisms in order to seduce a woman too clever for him…but those aphorisms quickly get out of hand…

Once we reach 350 backers, we’ll unlock a special tier of signed copies from Charlie Jane herself! We’re just 15 backers off, so keep an eye out!

Thank you all for joining us in this crazy dream. Your support means the world to us! We’ll be back soon with more updates about Arcana and our remaining stretch goals.

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Misfits at F(r)iction

TAROT UNLOCK! COMIC CHAOS! (oh yeah, and some tech support
over 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 10, 2020 at 02:00:32 PM

Morning lovely backers,

We’re jumping in with a SHORT MESSAGE—you didn’t think we could be laconic, did you?—to say that we broke through the $17k mark last night (thank you new backers!), which means that our Tarot Tier is now open! 

In this special pledge tier, you’ll get a 3-book print subscription, a print copy of F(r)iction #16: Monsters (because it has a super rad Tarot story in it), AND the gold-foil Normal Tarot Deck with a little hardcopy instruction book. It’s got a $130 value that we’re bringing to you at $100!

Please note: There are only ten available!

 ZACH HOWARD TIER 

Speaking of limited edition awesome, Zach Howard opened up a rad portfolio critique tier. If you’re unfamiliar with Zach, he’s the award-winning comic artist behind Hellboy, Sean of the Dead, Ninja Turtles, and Wild Blue Yonder. He also volunteers his time to teach in maximum-security prisons with us!  

He’s donating his time for an exclusive portfolio review of emerging comic creators. But hurry! There’s only one available!

QUESTIONS ABOUT INCREASING TIERS

Now that we’ve unlocked a bunch of free awesomeness with our stretch goals, we’ve been getting messages asking how backers can bump up to the tiers that get this free swag. Feel free to keep messaging us (we love attention!), but we thought it might be helpful to summarize here too.

First off, here’s who will get all the current unlocked stretch goals:

ALL BACKERS (even the $1 backers):

• The Darlings Story Pack

ALL READER TIERS (Taster Teaser and up):

• The Darlings Story Pack
• Horror Story Pack

ALL SUBSCRIBER TIERS (Subscription Mania and up):

• The Darlings Story Pack
• Horror Story Pack
• Comic Extravaganza

Right, for all of you who wanna increase your pledge to snag these free goodies, here’s the way to do so:

•  Step 1: Make sure you are logged into your Kickstarter account and then go to our campaign (here!)
•  Step 2: Click on the big green button with “MANAGE MY PLEDGE” in the top right corner
•  Step 3: This will take you to a new screen. Then click the “CHANGE MY PLEDGE” button near the bottom
•  Step 4: Selection a new Pledge Level and then click “PLEDGE”
•  Step 5: This will take you to a new page, with all the add-ons listed. If you want to add any add-ons, you can do it there!
•  Step 6: Confirm that pledge and you’re DONE

Hopefully we’ll be unlocking a bunch of cool new swag as we go, including FREE BOOKS at the final stretch goal of our Arcana issue (you’ll get our Identity Issue and it’s soooo shiny)!

Thanks again for helping us make this crazy dream come true. We’re so excited to bring you these art-soaked books, and to run all the cool literacy programs these books support! You’re all AMAZING!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Misfits at F(r)iction

P.s. For all the Tarot lovers out there, Normal Tarot’s campaign is in its final 46 hours, and they have a cool silver deck too (if you all wanna check it out).

Legacy Fully Funded, Arcana Kicking Off, and Stretch Goals Unlocked (oh my!)
over 3 years ago – Mon, Nov 09, 2020 at 05:18:04 PM

Good morning dear backers!

Wow, what a weekend! Thanks to a flood of new backers, our second issue of the year—Legacy —is now FULLY FUNDED!

We can’t thank you enough for helping us reach this goal. The Legacy issue is going to be a splendor of gold foil and cursed bloodlines, full of heartfelt memoirs and some resounding echoes of ancestors past.

COMIC UPDATE

Since we’ve already gushed about the art and the cover—if you missed it, check out Update #5—we wanted to give you all some great news…

For seasoned readers of F(r)iction, you’ll know there’s a short graphic story in each issue, but now—because of ALL OF YOU—for the first time in F(r)iction’s history, Legacy is gonna have not one... but TWO COMICS!

Check out Harry Goeldner and Tyler Champion’s post-apocalyptic journey through Australia, as a father takes his daughter to see the old world, with dubious intensions in mind…

But PLEASE HOLD—NOT DONE!

We also have an utterly heartwarming and inventive take on curses from author/artist Sam Dow, whose pen casts a look at a young woman living with a curse…and finding love in the oddest of places.
 

Thank you all for making this possible. We’re just giddy that all you subscribers will be able to hold this gorgeous book in your hands! Th-aaa-nk you!

UNLOCKED STRETCH GOALS:

In funding Legacy, we blew through two stretch goals.
Celebrity Mayhem Tier: Victoria Schwab, bestselling author of the Shades of Magic Series—now being developed as a major motion picture by the team that brought us John Wick—donated signed copies of her new bestseller (that sold out in like…ah…20 minutes).
 

Comic Extravaganza: When we hit 16k, we unlocked this exclusive Kickstarter pack of our favorite comics from the last five years. ALL subscribers will get this beauty delivered in all its digital splendor FOR FREE!
 

ARCANA KICKOFF

Now that Legacy is done and dusted, we’ve set our sights on the last book of the year: Arcana. This issue will focus on the mysterious and secret world of magic, prophecy, witchcraft, hauntings, and gods.

On the creative side, we’ll be looking for new voices to join these pages over the next couple months, so if you’re a writerly type (or you know some writerly types), we’re open for submissions! Check out this wee video to see what we’re looking for:
 

NEXT STRETCH GOAL:

To celebrate starting to unlock our Arcana issue, we partnered up with the AMAZING folks at Normal Tarot to bring you a magic-soaked subscription tier. We’re huge fans of these peeps—check out their campaign which broke $100k with a couple days left—and, like us, they have a penchant for specialty printing and metallic foils!
We also share an artist with them—the ever amazing Samantha Dow—who illustrated their new gold deck.

Thus, we’re bringing our campaigns together to create an exclusive subscription tier. You’ll get a whole year of F(r)iction, including the Arcana issue, AND (because it has a rad tarot-infused tale) F(r)iction #16: Monsters too! And you’ll get the Normal Tarot Gold deck, with a cool little instruction manual. For all your prophecies and predictions...
We’ll unlock this tier when we hit 17k—just $723 away. With only 10 pledges available, keep your eye on it!

A LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE

We’ll be back with new stretch goals to unlock—the keen eye will spot we have a charming tier upcoming with F(r)iction contributor, Lev Grossman—author of The Magicians Trilogy—and some really stunning story and art packs!

Thank you all again for making this possible, for helping us to bring stories and art into the world and to run the education programs these books support! You’re all as magical as it gets!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Misfits at F(r)iction

New Stretch Goals Unlocked and Legacy Cover Reveal!
over 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 06, 2020 at 02:37:23 PM

Hey lovely backers!

Hope you all…ah…got some sleep the last couple of nights? And that everyone has a cup of tea/coffee/too-healthy green juice to prop you up this morning (we, certainly, NEED it)…
Right, maybe distraction is best. Let’s try that!

SPARKLE AND SHINE

First off, a huge thank you to the folks at Kickstarter who featured our project BOTH in their recent announcement about KS raising more than $200 Million in Publishing AND in their Election-Day shoutout.

LEGACY PROGRESS

Thanks to some very lovely backers in the last 24-hours—who really, REALLY needed a lot of art and back issues—we crept over the $14k line! This means that we are now 77% funded for our gorgeous LEGACY issue.

And so, without further ado, we would like to present a work in progress of the gorgeous cover for the issue!

And FYI, we’re gonna be specialty-printing that thing up with GOLD FOIL to make it oh-so sparkly on your shelf. All those cool little symbols, the god’s head jewel, pretty letters…ALL SPARKLY AS HELL!

And just because everyone likes sneak peeks, let’s take a wee look at how the interior art for the issue is shaping up:

Our Boss Lady/Editor-in-Chief/Art Director (man, Dani wears too many hats) has been showing process photos and videos and will continue to do so, if you wanna check these out in more detail (and scroll through all the progress shots):

Dani’s Twitter here!

Dani’s Instagram here!

STRETCH GOAL UNLOCK X 2!

HORROR PACK: First off, with the spookiness of Halloween still hanging in the air, we reached our $14k stretch goal. So, ALL READER TIERS will get their hands on a spooky collection of the best horror we’ve published throughout the years…

*If you’re confused what a “reader tier is,” it’s anyone who pledged to “read something,” so Taster Teaser and upwards.

CELEBRITY TIER: EMILY A. DUNCAN: Do you love blood magic? And expansive world building? And a strangely high amount of sexual tension for a love interest that involves a character whose face is randomly covered in creepy eyeballs? Then Duncan’s books are for you!

Emily, who appeared in F(r)iction#13, has generous donated AND SIGNED the first two books in her ongoing trilogy. But hurry! Only three sets are available.

NEXT STRETCH GOAL:

Once we hit $16k, we’ll be FULLY FUNDED for Legacy. Something so incredibly exciting that we need to celebrate with maximum color and glory…and what’s more colorful and glorious than comics! If we get hit this goal, all subscribers will get a free pack of the best comics we’ve put out, included the ones most popular in our prison classrooms. If you haven’t read any of our comics yet, check out this gorgeous preview…

Thanks for keeping this dream alive and making sure we can deliver these books both to YOU and to all the amazing students we serve!

Get some sleep tonight!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Misfits at F(r)iction

Funding Update and Art Add-On Help!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 04, 2020 at 09:00:20 PM

Happy Sunday, Dear Backers!
First off, a little happy dance. Look at this RAD funding progress!

We’re almost halfway to funding the amazing LEGACY issue! Think Spirted Away meets the apocalypse! Thank you so much for your support (and for all you lovely folks who took to emailing your friends to recommend these strange little books). You are all just the WORLD’S BEST HUMANS!

ADD-ON HELP

Now that we’ve unlocked the Art Print Add-on, we know you want to make your walls just as colorfully weird as our dear Boss Lady’s, so here’s how you can do it!

HOW TO APPLY ADD-ONS (if you’ve already pledged—which we assume you have if... you know, you’ve received this update):

• Step 1: Make sure you are logged into your Kickstarter account and then go to our campaign (here!).
• Step 2: Click on the big green button with “MANAGE MY PLEDGE” in the top right corner
• Step 3: This will take you to a new screen. Then click the “CHANGE MY PLEDGE” button near the bottom
• Step 4: Reselect the Pledge Level you already have (or select a new one if you’d like to change your pledge), then click “PLEDGE”
• Step 5: This will take you to a new page, with all the add-ons listed. Select the one you want and hit “ADD”
  Step 6: Confirm that pledge and you’re DONE

One small note: Apparently the add-on won’t work unless you’re already pledging a tier that includes a physical copy (something to do with shipping calculations?), so you’ll need to upgrade to the “Mix-it-Up” tier in order to add prints!

After the campaign is done, we’ll reach out with a survey through which you’ll tell us which cover or interior art you want for your poster! Unfortunately, the internet will break if we try to send you samples of the 614 unique pieces of interior editorial art of F(r)iction’s past, but we can totally show you our 17 shiiiny covers. Check them out!

For these, you can get the full landscape  image (left), OR you can do it Boss-Lady style and rock it in book-posture format with the title work (right)!

Ps. If you're after Fr4 or Fr5's covers (because they are GORGEOUS), the original art is only vertical. So you can do it with full image (vertical) or poster-style!

PLEASE NOTE: We have had a number of reports of a technical issue during Step 4 from our instructions above. Several backers have let us know that when they click “PLEDGE,” a little loading wheel of death comes up and the page freezes so they can’t get any further. Sometimes refreshing the page and then making sure that you have selected a tier with a physical item can fix this issue. We are working with Kickstarter to resolve it, but if you have any issues getting the add-ons to work (they are super new to Kickstarter and still being tested), please do email us and we’ll help you work it out: [email protected]

THE NEXT STRETCH GOAL

We’re only 5 backers away from unlocking our next stretch goal: THE DARLING STORY PACK, a collection of the stories our editors have fought for the hardest. These little beauties were plucked out of the slush pile and then workshopped for months and months to bring them to light. I know...CRAZY, but we loved them THAT MUCH.
Here’s a preview of one such jewel. It’s about vampires…and penguins. And it made us cry…
 

Remember, even pledges of just $1 will unlock this amazing story pack, which will be given to absolutely EVERYONE WHO PLEDGED, totally free!
We’ll be back tomorrow with some really exciting comic announcements (what do Shaun of the Dead, Hellboy, Ninja Turtles, and F(r)iction have in common? Well, you’re gonna find out!)
Until then, you rock all the socks!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Misfits at F(r)iction