Chthonic Codex: Production Problems & Dismal Delays

TL;DR: an accident happened to the plate used to print the boxed set, which is now unusable. Shipping is delayed to May, and I’ll refund any order if asked to.

The Long Form: I have a box at the printing studio with all my material and plates. The boxes got moved (now it lives on a shelf in the Acid Room) and somehow the plate used to print the boxed set ended up damaged. As in, there are grooves and big, long marks on the cover, and it’s now unusable. I went there to print some covers and etch a map. Cue major bumming out. I came home, played with lego and had a beer.

It’s not the first setback this project stumbled into. I spent most of December ill. Broke two ribs in January. I put in slack during planning to cope with unforeseen delays. And I got to the point where I’m working on this project a lot and was going to deliver on time.

And then this happened and more work is piling on top. And in absolute terms is not much, but I’m worn thin. I got to the point where designer fatigue is showing up, and I did the boxed set design and etching earlier on because I was fresher. So, something snapped, and I started to doubt whether I can deliver this on time, and with the outcomes I expect.

I’m going to delay the release because, while I’m not deathmarching, if I don’t delay the release i feel it’s going to be awful.

And if this turns out to be awful I’m going to feel awful about it forever. I want to get this right.

So what I can say is: I’m going to ship in May, if you’re not happy with it I’ll refund the Codex in full, and I’ll throw in some kind of physical or PDF freebie. I’m still unsure what. Maybe a limited edition print of the Devouring Idols, or more content, like some excerpts from the fourth book (yeah, I’m going to release a fourth book, 64×3 pages ended up being not enough, go figure).

I’m really sorry. I’ll happily refund any preorder, even if you received part of the deliverables.