Immortals Handbook: Ascension 3.5E Print version...do you want one?

[Upper_Krust]

Full disclosure here, Zander is a very good mate of mine and I gave him a copy for a (late* ) Christmas present.

*remember I initially tried to get these out around Christmas.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey amigo!

thanks for stopping by.

I received my Mixam copy today and have fallen in love with this book - and I don't even play 3E or 3.5E anymore!

I can't put my finger on it but it has the charm of a 1E book but with great artwork, far, far higher production values, and a logical layout.

I think its reminiscent of a bit of old school gaming due to the black and white interior art.

As for the higher production values - I think most of that is down to the awesome job Mixam did and the glossy pages really sell the book for me. I keep going on about the weight of the book, but it just gives it a bit of a luxurious quality.

I think most RPG books go with Silk pages (halfway between Matt and Gloss) and I just wanted to see what the Gloss pages were like. I was impressed even though the book weighs a full kilo.

Even though I'm a non-epic, 5e devotee now, the contents are inspiring. For example, some of the feats that don't already exist in 5e could easily be toned down and converted to a non-epic 5e campaign.

One of the strengths of the book was always the 100+ epic feats and 400+ or so Divine Abilities to customize characters and monsters with.

In contrast the Portfolio section I think is a bit weak (something I have fixed in the upcoming 5E version), its too copy-paste with too many abilities.

And the information on deity types and powers are a boon for any worldbuilding DM. Each time I dip into this book, I discover something new I can use.

I thought you, often in the role of DM, might get something out of it buddy. Glad you enjoyed it.

In short, I can't recommend Immortals Handbook: Ascension 2023 highly enough. It's a delight!

I appreciate the kind words mate but I mean seriously "It's a delight"..., lol, you eejit. Wait til I see you.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Got the secondary packaging on Wednesday but had to wait another day for Amazon to show up with my Parcel Tape + Dispenser (only arriving at 5pm today) which I wanted to use to to strengthen the 'pyramid' spines of the secondary packages.

Now that I finally have everything ready to go, all pending books should be shipped early Friday (ie. Tomorrow) morning.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey all!

Okay so I got all outstanding orders shipped this morning (including all the books to Europe - if that's you).

One generous fan ordered two books (to the USA) so I thought, well they won't charge the same to ship two books together as they would to ship both separately...no of course not. They (initially) charged me almost TRIPLE. $96 to ship two books when it was $33 for one. I refused to pay it and after some measure of common sense and/or pity, I got her down to the price of TWO books - which I still thought was ludicrous. Utterly crazy shipping costs.

Anyway, that's 15 books shipped out. 4 people are still deciding if they want one (I'll give them a month before I will let potential others snap them up). 1 book still available.

Lessons Learned

Obviously this was just me testing the waters into Printing Quality for potential future Kickstarters, but it seems clear that unless you get the postage fulfilled by the Printing Company, its in NO WAY financially viable to ship the books myself - the costs are simply astronomical. Doubly so given 80% go to North America.

Mixam only fulfill on orders of 500+. I suspect the chances of me selling 500+ Print copies are slim to none. Print Ninja fulfill on 250+ but they are slightly more expensive (than Mixam) on numbers less than 750.

Of course it might be worthwhile partnering with another 3rd Party Publisher who has done this thing before. But I will wait until I have one of the 5E books completed before approaching anyone.

 

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

Hey all!

Okay so I got all outstanding orders shipped this morning (including all the books to Europe - if that's you).

One generous fan ordered two books (to the USA) so I thought, well they won't charge the same to ship two books together as they would to ship both separately...no of course not. They (initially) charged me almost TRIPLE. $96 to ship two books when it was $33 for one. I refused to pay it and after some measure of common sense and/or pity, I got her down to the price of TWO books - which I still thought was ludicrous. Utterly crazy shipping costs.

Anyway, that's 15 books shipped out. 4 people are still deciding if they want one (I'll give them a month before I will let potential others snap them up). 1 book still available.

Lessons Learned

Obviously this was just me testing the waters into Printing Quality for potential future Kickstarters, but it seems clear that unless you get the postage fulfilled by the Printing Company, its in NO WAY financially viable to ship the books myself - the costs are simply astronomical. Doubly so given 80% go to North America.

Mixam only fulfill on orders of 500+. I suspect the chances of me selling 500+ Print copies are slim to none. Print Ninja fulfill on 250+ but they are slightly more expensive (than Mixam) on numbers less than 750.

Of course it might be worthwhile partnering with another 3rd Party Publisher who has done this thing before. But I will wait until I have one of the 5E books completed before approaching anyone.

Sounds insane. Why would they charge triple?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey FEBF buddy!

Sounds insane. Why would they charge triple?

I literally have no idea. She said something about the weight being over 2kg. But why on Earth that translates to $96 (technically £78) I don't know. But its clear that me shipping books in any sort of quantity is financially non-viable.

I am very happy with the quality of the books however.

Also one other thing. The girl in the post office said allow AT LEAST 4 days for delivery, when I could have sworn Parcel Force were saying 4 days for delivery. Perhaps I read that wrong.

As soon as anyone from North America gets their copies let me know - just to see how long it actually takes.

Potential Kickstarter

Looking at the cost analysis of Mixam vs. Print Ninja, while Print Ninja fulfill (do the postage) at 250 copies (compared to Mixam at 500 copies) the price difference at the 250 copy mark is virtually DOUBLE the cost at Print Ninja. The costs even out at 750 copies and after that Print Ninja is cheaper per copy with any higher numbers. So there is no ideal solution. Print Ninja do have a few extra features that I would like to add to the book, but even their options are not perfect (in terms of what I would love to get).

I think the only way a Kickstarter makes sense is if I partner with some other 3rd Party Publisher. Otherwise I don't see myself hitting sales targets to get to the numbers needed for shipping fulfilment.

The alternative is to go straight to Drivethru and just accept a lower quality book (which is still okay for the money I suppose). If I do end up printing say 20 high quality copies from Mixam again, then I suspect I will have to charge something like $65 + shipping next time (with a +10/+20/+35 split for UK/Europe/North America). Obviously I do now have a much better idea what it takes to pack these books, so I believe it would be a much 'smoother operation' in the future, If I go that route again.

 

[Alzrius]

WOOT! My Mixam copy of Ascension 2023 arrived today!

It's a beauty, and I'm absolutely in awe of the artwork throughout the book! I really need to convince my current group to try and epic-level game just so I can whip this bad boy out!

Excellent work bringing this to fruition, U_K!

 

[MazzelDazzle]

Just sent out for mine after a generous grace period. Very very excited to receive!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Alzrius buddy!

WOOT! My Mixam copy of Ascension 2023 arrived today!

Well that's a relief. Looks like 8 business days to get to North America (for you at least).

Fingers crossed all the other five books shipped at the same time arrive very soon (and safe and sound).

It's a beauty, and I'm absolutely in awe of the artwork throughout the book!

Well aside from the cover the interior art is 80-90% Midjourney and 10-20% me repainting over it. So I can only take a tiny bit of credit. I prefer to commission or license art but for this book that wasn't financially viable.

I think it turned out pretty decent though - the blacks really pop with those glossy pages.

Was a bit annoyed Cth'or-lu sort of gets lost in the middle of the double page spread but lessons learned for next time.

I really need to convince my current group to try and epic-level game just so I can whip this bad boy out!

Glad you like it, it makes it all worthwhile to know people get a kick out of it.

I take it the book was undamaged?

Excellent work bringing this to fruition, U_K!

...and to think it only took 16 years.

Literally this print version would not have happened without you always asking me for one amigo - so thanks.

 

[Alzrius]

Glad you like it, it makes it all worthwhile to know people get a kick out of it.

I take it the book was undamaged?

I tell you, getting to read this in print has really made my day. I'm also excited to see that you filled out the artifacts for a few of the example deities in the back of the book. New material for 3.5 IH gaming at last!

Insofar as the book arriving safe and sound goes, there was a very, very tiny ding on the upper back corner, but it's not really noticeable, so I'd call it 99% fine.

...and to think it only took 16 years.

Literally this print version would not have happened without you always asking me for one amigo - so thanks.

Glad I could help out; the end result is a win for everyone!