Topic: Countdown to Release

[Defendi]

I thought I'd toss up a list of the things that have to happen for the product to release.  Then I'll update you as I finish them:

Pagemake RM Version of Adventure
Pagemake RM Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HARP Version of Adventure
Pagemake HARP Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HERO Version of Adventure
Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Adventure
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Write Campaign Cartographer Readme
Edit Campaign Cartographer Readme
Sign up with RPGNow
Test my store
Get final pieces of art and drop them into the product
Get CC3 Symbols, finish maps, and drop them into the document
Put product up on my store

Lets see how quickly I can burn through them.

[Defendi]

Oh I have to finish a SM adventure too.  It's not part of this, but it's going to take some of my time.

[Defendi]

Oh!  I have to prepare a demo download.

[Defendi]

Covers!  That's a big enough deal to get its own item.  (These will probably keep trickling in as I think of them.)

[Defendi]

Get Artist ads.

[Defendi]

Okay.  Thursday I finished the RM adventure.  Friday I finished the SM adventure.  I've got all the pieces for the covers now (the final art came in yesterday).  I got a lot more CC3 symbols from my symbol artist, not all of them yet.  Got what I think is all the art (I gave the last artist a deadline of Tuesday and told him anything he tried to give me after that I can't use).  I got my fill art, that is the important thing.  You know, that little piece of art that you see over and over again when the book has some free space?  You see a fallen sword with angel feathers on it and a fallen axe with fallen angel feathers a lot in these books.  Some chapters there's one on almost every page.

Got one artist ad.

So here's what's left.  I;ll do what I can tonight.  Sometimes weekends are rough.

Covers
prepare a demo download.
Pagemake RM Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HARP Version of Adventure
Pagemake HARP Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HERO Version of Adventure
Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Adventure
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Write Campaign Cartographer Readme
Edit Campaign Cartographer Readme
Sign up with RPGNow
Test my store
Get final pieces of art and drop them into the product
Get CC3 Symbols, finish maps, and drop them into the document
Put product up on my store

[Defendi]

Page number references!

[Defendi]

Finished the RM version of the setting book.  Can I just say that indexs in Indesign are about the most awkward feature that the program has?  Good heavens.  Common word processors are better if you just want to hammer out a quick index.

I discovered yesterday how crazy I was to do two books for each product, with four systems each and possible Lulu runs.  If you count front and back covers seperately when they are seperate files, I have 20 different cover files.  I've had to do them twice now, once to create them all and once to put in some suggestions the fellow who designed the trade dress had.  Whew.  Done, though.

I also signed up with RPG now.  And I have all the art that I intend to put inside.  We didn't finish the campaign cartographer symbols, but we did get the opacity and shading issues settled so that my varicolor symbols will work.  Now it's out of my hands until she finishes.

I've added an item, though. I wrote a piece of Echoes of Heaven fiction a while back.  I think I'll throw that up on the site for sale as well, though not at a sales price unless it goes over three dollars by page count (which it shouldn't).  If you all buy it, I'll do more.  If not, then I won't do others, I don't think.  But still, we'll see how it goes and it solves the problem of me having one product for sale on RPG now less than the minumum buy.  So, the updated list:

prepare a demo download.
Pagemake HARP Version of Adventure
Pagemake HARP Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HERO Version of Adventure
Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Adventure
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Write Campaign Cartographer Readme
Edit Campaign Cartographer Readme
Test my store
Get CC3 Symbols, finish maps, and drop them into the document
Page number references
Prepare tie-in fiction
Put product up on my store

[Defendi]

All right.  We had a MAJOR disaster this week.  I think it happened BEFORE my last post, because that everning we had a thunderstorm that hit my computer with a brownout followed by a blackout.  Wednesday I came down with terrible stomach flu and didn't get to work on anything.  Wed night I tried to pul out the indesign docs and found more than half of them had been corrupted.  My daily backup had already gone off (remember, I was sick all day), and its a simple copy routine, copying the corrupted files to my secondary location.  So basically I was out a weeks worth of work.

So I spent Thursday completely redoing everything I'd done previeously.  Friday and Saturday are my low-productivity days (they are busy at work).  But I managed to test the store for free products (found a bug we haven't fixed).  Can't test for money using my own account.  You can't paypal money to yourself, so I'll have to do that later.  I finished the preview product, got the CC3 art, finished the maps, and integrated them into the product. 

So, what I have left:

Pagemake HARP Version of Adventure
Pagemake HARP Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HERO Version of Adventure
Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Adventure
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Write Campaign Cartographer Readme
Edit Campaign Cartographer Readme
Get CC3 Symbols, finish maps, and drop them into the document
Page number references
Prepare tie-in fiction
Put product up on my store

[Defendi]

Okay.  I spent time Putting finishing touches on the main book.  See, I can find errors in pagemaking (just little perfectionist stuff) in a PDF I can't see in InDesign.  Don't know why.  So I'll check it in indesign, then output it.  Then go through the whole PDF.  Find an error, fix it, rebuild, etc.  That can take 8 hours on the first version of the sourcebook.  Anyway, I've done this on three docs now.  I corrected some map art and built the HARP version of the adventure (I think the adventures take the longest, so I'm doing them first).  I wrote the CC Read me and sent it through one round of editing.  Got all the map art settled and sent the tie in fiction through one round of editing.  In addition, we tested the store and found out if you send an e-check it will take four days or so until the store releases the product to you (the money has to clear).  Right now we don't know if we'll have the sales to make the Pro version of Paypal feasable, so you'll have to log into paypal to make your payment, which means that you have to have a paypal account, of course.

So what I have left:

Pagemake HARP Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HERO Version of Adventure
Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Adventure
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Edit Campaign Cartographer Readme
Page number references
Prepare tie-in fiction
Put product up on my store

[Defendi]

All right.  I finished all the adventures last night and redid the RM setting book with bookmarks (it seems that in my version of indesign, if you rebuild the TOC all bookmarks are destroyed.)  I'm down to:

Pagemake HARP Version of Setting Book
Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Edit Campaign Cartographer Readme
Page number references
Prepare tie-in fiction
Put product up on my store

Check out the pricing thread.  I need your input.

[Defendi]

Quick post.  Here's what I have left:

Pagemake HERO Version of Setting Book
Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Page number references
Prepare tie-in fiction
Put product up on my store

[Defendi]

I thought I was going to get it up this morning, but my editor turned in notes on the covers and their text last night.  I lost about three hours to redoing them again.  (I'm not complaining.)  Here's what I have left:

Pagemake d20 Version of Setting Book
Page number references
Prepare tie-in fiction
Put product up on my store

I'm halfway through the d20 book.  I'll either get it up tonight (not likely, but possible) or tomorrow morning.

If anyone intends to buy it as soon as I put it up and will be online tonight or tomorrow morning, PM me.  We've tested the site, but I probably want to watch the first one go through, just to make sure there are no new hitches.

Oh, you also need to be paying via a CC on paypal as opposed to e-check.  An e-check takes four business days to clear and the store won't release the sale until the funds clear.

Anyway, just drop me a line if you want to be the first sale.  Otherwise, no worries.

[Defendi]

Oh, and tell me your e-mail address. 

[Defendi]

All that's left:

Put product up on my store.

[Defendi]

The tie-in fiction piece Ulcer is now on the store.

http://finalredoubt.com/store/

[Defendi]

The multi-system bundle is now on the store.  Buy soon and buy often.

[Defendi]

HARP Version online.  No one in the US has ordered yet, so you US people need to step up. 

[Defendi]

I LOVE Canada.