Surveys Fresh from Gen Con!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 02:30:09 AM

Surveys are starting to go out!

Remember to download your copy of the Grayshade novel e-book at the end of your survey. This first book in The Gray Assassin Trilogy is included with all pledge levels, and we hope you enjoy it.

BackerKit is split into two different pages:

•  Surveys: The checkout form that you, as a backer, will receive - please fill this out so we know where to send your items and pay any necessary shipping. You can also add additional items to your pledge if you choose.
•  Store: New backers can still join the campaign through the Backerkit Preorder page, including some of the limited items. Please share this out if you are able, as any additional funding will go directly into enhancing the RPG and novels, and paying independent creators for their work.

Speaking of Fresh from Gen Con, how about all these smiling faces? We had an absolute blast and felt so much of all your joy and energy. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We all needed this week and really feel it in our souls.

(And Emily asks you to either ignore, fear, or revere her light-fangs as appropriate.)

We are excited to get these items to you, to start working to bring you into this world, and for all the joy (and perhaps some stabbing) ahead.

Our very best to you -

Alligator Alley Entertainment, Atthis Arts, Gregory A. Wilson, and our team and communities.

Grayshade at GenCon
over 1 year ago – Tue, Aug 02, 2022 at 07:08:40 PM

First, a quick update on Backerkit Surveys -- we expect these to go out this week (had to wait for Kickstarter funding to finalize). Be sure to download your e-book which will be linked at the end of the survey!

If you happen to be attending GenCon in Indianapolis this week, we'd love to see you! Almost the entire Grayshade team with be there:

• You will find Alligator Alley (Chris, Eric, and Rich) in the exhibit hall booths 1929/2029.
• You'll find Emily in Author's Avenue (E.D.E. Bell) within the main exhibit hall.
•  Greg, Emily, Brandon, and Aaron are all guests at the GenCon Writers' Symposium (links are to their GenCon schedule).
• John Helfers will likely be found in the Catalyst Games Labs space in the exhibit hall (1603/1611/1703). 

Can I pick up my Grayshade novel at GenCon? 

Sure, why not! Stop by Emily's table in Authors' Avenue to get your copy, and she'll give you a $5 credit at her table to offset the cost of shipping.

Time to start fulfilling rewards!
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 11:54:51 PM

We have e-books that are ready to go, paperback novels that Greg will be signing at GenCon in a couple of weeks, coins that will be minted in a month, an RPG book coming next year, and the rest of the trilogy to publish!

So how are we going to get all of this cool loot to you? Glad you asked!

Backerkit Surveys

We will be using BackerKit to deliver the digital rewards, manage add-ons, and collect shipping addresses. If you are not familiar with the Backerkit Survey, it is like the final “check out” page on a shopping website, where you’ll be asked for your shipping address, download your digital stuff, pay for any added items and shipping, etc. 

BackerKit Surveys will go out within the next two weeks. As soon as they are sent, we will post another update here with additional information.

When will each item ship?

•  Grayshade novel e-book: Will be available to download as soon as you complete your survey within BackerKit.
•  Grayshade novel paperback: Will be signed by Greg at GenCon, then shipped the following week (by 12 August). If you selected the Icarus graphic novel as an add-on, it will be shipped with the Grayshade paperback.
•  Founders Coin: We expect these to ship in November. We'll post an update before shipping to give you a chance to change your address.
•  Audiobook and Digital Founder Audio Files: Expected spring 2023, will be delivered via BackerKit download. (original reward date said Nov 2022 -- we'll try to move this up if we can!)
•  Grayshade RPG Hardcover: Expected to be complete in summer of 2023.  
•  Renegade and Heretic books: Currently planned to release Renegade (Book 2) in summer 2023, and Heretic (Book 3) in early 2025. These dates will likely shift earlier/later as we get closer.

Please reach out to us in the comments with any questions or concerns!

From Emily: For You
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 03:30:47 AM

Hello, it is the 16th of July and what happened is real. I'd like to share here what I put onto Twitter. It's all I have to say right now, and as I recover, and I hope that it is sufficient.

- - - 

Hi, everyone. I'm real exhausted, but it's important to me to speak one final time about the #GrayAssassin campaign. I need you to know a few things. If you have a moment.

First, I'd like to reiterate and for the record: We had no intent to run a stressful or imposing campaign at this time. I won't get into the depth of preparation we did, but I had very solid data to say we'd fly past $25K. I know why we didn't, and it's not on Greg or on me.

That said, I also fully understand our community gave extra for this. You saw we weren't giving up and you pulled us over. Literally as we were weeping and going on about our lives and our love and our fears. You saw us.

And I saw you. I saw every pledge, I saw every upped pledge. Every old friend. Every returning reader. The -trust- from marginalized communities. A small press who learned of us in the final hours! I saw the shares, the posts, and absolute SAVE that you gave us.

We needed this on every level. I am intensely grateful.

I promise you: this is not just to make us happy or for us to feel fulfilled, though it certainly has. We will do good with this. We will do all in our power to enable art. From @gregoryawilson. From @therisingtithes. From @trendane. From me. And not just!

More global speculative fiction. More like One Arm Shorter Than The Other by @gigiganguly. More like "Diamir’s Favourite Fork" by @queer_of_swords. More that is unexpected and necessary. More for charity, and community. We will always give what we can.

As for Grayshade, I hope you enjoy the book. We'll get Tren working on the audiobook. (Audiobook - yay!) And Renegade and Heretic are going to be so next level. ⚔️ And I'm going to see what I can afford to do with the coin.

That's just on our side! Maybe the RPG will nudge someone to help me back into gaming. 🙂 And I'd love to see the board game produced; it's really special.

To each of you who supported in any way, my deepest and most profound thanks. Thank you. I would like to reach out individually, but in my exhaustion and your sheer numbers (!), I hope this will do.

Most importantly, what we leaned on throughout this campaign, in our escalation of revealing stories - 😄 - that was all true.

Through our pain and our joy, our art is made of love. I am so grateful for my family. My writing family. My friends. Our communities. So much power in this love. They can and do hurt us, but they cannot touch this love. With it, we shine and with it, we prevail. 🌞

Again, thank you.

AND WE'VE ARRIVED!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 16, 2022 at 05:29:36 AM

WE HAVE FUNDED! We are so incredibly grateful to you all--and we reached it with time to spare, so even the $27k stretch goal, for The Honest Thief to be fully fleshed out, is now within reach! We'll have more to say later, but for now: thank you all so, so much, and let's see how things finish out!

     --Greg