Latest from the Creator
Charles M. Ryan
3 months ago
New Preview Uploaded!
Hi, all!
This campaign is far from over, but I'm already working on your rewards. One of the first deliverables will be the upgraded edition of The Mason of New Orleans. It's going to include several sharp new maps, and maybe some other cool graphics (which I hope to give you...
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It is possible to 'decline' the mailing list by entering an invalid address, but there is no way to complete the form without joining the Discord, even though the wording suggests that it is optional. I don't do Discord, and my willingness to sign up for a mailing list is dropping fast
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles M. Ryan
CREATOR
about 1 month ago
Project Update: Pledge Manager and Progress Notes
Hi, all—
I have lots of cool news to share with you. But first:
The pledge manager is now open. This is where you provide me with the information I need to deliver rewards to you, including such things as:
- Your email address and physical address, so I can send you digital and physical rewards
- Your choice of art prints
- For Patron backers, your discord handle, so I can let you into the secret Patron-only chat!
- And so on.
And if you feel so inclined, it’s a chance to upgrade your pledge level, or get extra copies of print books as add-ons. So please check your email, follow the link, and fill it out. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Late Pledges!
If you know anyone who might enjoy my books but who missed the campaign, please let them know that late pledges are now open! That’s right: it’s still possible to jump in and grab the great deals offered through the campaign.
Here’s the link: https://the-mason-of-new-orleans.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/673460
There have been nearly 30 late pledges since the campaign concluded, and these are very welcome—truthfully, the campaign didn’t quiiiite cover all the costs I’m incurring bringing these books to you, but late pledges are bridging the gap.
Oh, Those Sweet, Sweet Reviews
One of the great things about this crowdfunding campaign is that it drove a lot of interest in The Mason of New Orleans even among people who didn’t back the campaign. In the last couple of months TMNO has received nearly 200 new ratings, and 50 new reviews, on Goodreads—for an average of 4.89 stars!
Sales have also been pretty brisk, with more ebooks sold in the past two months than the previous couple of years.
If you’ve already read The Mason of New Orleans, please take a moment (if you haven’t done so already) to give it a quick review on Goodreads or especially Amazon. (The latter really helps Amazon’s algorithm recommend it to more readers.)
So How Are Things Coming, You Ask?
In addition to getting the pledge manager up and running (honestly, most of the work was done by Tammie Ryan, love of my life, who has extensive experience with crowdfunding reward management), here’s what I’ve been working on over the past month or so:
- TMNO revisions: I made a handful of small revisions to The Mason of New Orleans. These included a rewrite of the opening paragraphs (I hadn’t really found Martin’s voice when I wrote the original opening), updating another short passage in the middle, making a couple of small timeline corrections, and fixing some typos. With the possible exception of the opening paragraphs, these are things most readers probably won’t even notice—but I did, and they bugged me!
- Book layout and typography: I have the full book laid out, and all my typographical decisions made. It just needs the new maps. It’s pretty spiffy, if I say so myself!
- Audiobook: This is what I’ve spent the most time on:
- I finalized the decision on a narrator after reviewing roughly 60 auditions!
- I put together a pronunciation guide for him, with guidance on 150+ names and terms from the book.
- He’s submitted two chapters so far, which I’ve reviewed carefully and sent notes on.
- And as part of that process I’ve started writing up character bios so he has better context when deciding how to voice these characters.
- Community hub: I set up a Discord server, which you’re invited to (see the pledge manager). This is of particular interest to Patron backers!
Next steps include:
- Audiobook: I’m continuing to work with the producer to move this along. It’s a fascinating process! I’m very happy with it so far, and want to ensure the final product is something we will all love.
- Graphics and the TMNO revised edition: I’m starting work on maps and other graphic items for The Mason of New Orleans revised edition. Once they’re in place I can get the ebook out!
- Print book to press: Once the revised ebook is complete, I’ll move on to print book. Most of the layout work was already done for the ebook—that is, I only have to make small tweaks to the layout file to make it print-ready.
- All the other stuff: Once the book is in production, I’ll get the art prints and book marks off to press too. And work on other items such as the alternate opening chapter and Cypher Unlimited incentive.
Then I’ll have the time and energy to dig into writing The Angel of Ecbatana. But don’t worry—I find that I can’t really type out words until they’ve stewed in my head for some time. All the bandwidth I’m putting into this project is keeping Martin’s adventures active in my noggin, and I’ve make a lot of creative decisions for TAOE. I’ll be able to hit the ground running, inspired and full of ideas, when my schedule clears up to start writing.
Thanks again!
—Charles
Includes Follower-Exclusive Content
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles M. Ryan
CREATOR
3 months ago
Project Update: We Did It!
Hi, all—
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support! The campaign came to a wonderful close yesterday afternoon. (If you didn't make it in time, see below.) We didn’t quite make it to the hardcovers, but it was an amazing success even so. I’m so excited to make, for you:
- The revised, upgraded edition of The Mason of New Orleans ebook, with new graphics, maps, and typography.
- A print version, with all those upgrades.
- An audiobook.
- And I’m going to finish The Angel of Ecbatana, and deliver it in all those formats.
- Oh, and let’s not forget the fabulous art prints!
The earliest of those rewards will fulfill later this year, with the last of them (specifically the print version of The Angel of Ecbatana) delivering next summer.
In the meantime, here’s what to expect:
- BackerKit will take a couple of weeks to collect all pledges and provide me with backer data and funds.
- Then I’ll open the pledge manager. That helps me gather critical data to provide you with your rewards. It’s where you’ll pay for shipping—and where you can make upgrades to your pledge, if you so desire.
- When the pledge manager closes (about a month from now) I’ll start delivering the early rewards.
If you backed at the Patron level, sometime in the next couple of weeks I’ll set up a community hub and invite you to it. It’ll be a place where we can chat, I can show off work in progress, and I’ll ask your thoughts when I could use a little creative input for a name or other detail.
Remember, to get any of your rewards, you have to complete the pledge manager. So please look out for an email invitation in about two weeks!
And if you know anyone who missed the campaign but might love these books, tell them they can still make a late pledge. Here’s the link: https://the-mason-of-new-orleans.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/673460
Thanks again!
—Charles
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles M. Ryan
CREATOR
3 months ago
Project Update: I'm Listening to Audiobook Auditions!
Hi, all—
Here’s some exciting news: for the past two weeks I’ve been receiving auditions for the audiobook narration of The Mason of New Orleans (and eventually The Angel of Ecbatana, as I’d like to have the same person read both).
The process is pretty interesting. I put together a snippet of the book—about 15 minutes’ worth that includes dialog by several key characters and scenes with different moods and pacing. I then posted it as an open call on the ACX marketplace (the back end of the Audible/Amazon platform). After it was approved by ACX (which, due to a glitch, took a few weeks longer than usual) it was available for narrators to audition.
Since then I’ve received 51 submissions (as of this writing—I’m still getting one or two more every day). Some—though really just a few—are pretty awful. Most are pretty good. Some are awesome! I have about a dozen on my short list.
(By the way, 15 minutes times 51 auditions? That’s a looooot of listening!)
This week I’m going to go through that short list and narrow it down to just a handful. Here’s what I’m listening for, starting with (roughly) the most important things and working downward:
- The is voice a pleasure to listen to
- And sounds like Martin, our POV character
- The dialog imparts characterization, but isn’t acting, and doesn’t have heavy accents (every character in these books speaks French—too much accenting will get tedious fast!)
- The pacing matches events in the book—a sense of urgency in action scenes, for example
- The price is right (this sort of work is done on a PFR (per finished hour) basis; The Mason of New Orleans is about 17 hours, and rates run from $100 to $800 or more PRF)
- The voice actor has an audience that may bring readers to my books
When I have it down to my final few, I’ll give them some notes (on how to pronounce names, what character voices might sound like, and so on) and ask each to submit a second audition—probably reading a shorter snippet that contains some different character voices. From there I’ll make my final choice!
I hope to get through all of this in the next few days. If we’re lucky, maybe I can share a snippet of audio before the campaign ends Thursday afternoon!
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles M. Ryan
CREATOR
3 months ago
Project Update: New Art for Everyone! (And a New Stretch Goal)
Hello, everyone—
I’m happy to announce that yesterday we unlocked our stretch goal! Olivia will illustrate Etien, Compte de Namur, increasing the set of art prints from six to seven. And everyone’s getting an additional print. As a reminder, that means:
- Backers at The Reeve or The Journeyman levels will get two prints of their choice (instead of just one)
- Backers at The Ascetic will get four prints of their choice (instead of three)
- Backers at The Squire and The Patron will get all seven!
Etien has not yet been illustrated, but hopefully we’ll have some sketches to show you in the coming week. Until then, for those who might not have seen them, here are the existing six illustrations:
I want to talk about our next stretch goal, but first:
It’s Our Final Week!
This campaign ends Thursday. There’s less than a week left to really make the most of it. Please, please, please, if you can spare a few moments, won’t you give this campaign a little shout-out to your friends and followers online? More on that below.
Word of mouth is what drives successful campaigns. And I’d really like to maximize this success, because…
Let’s Make Some Hardcovers!
Second only to an ironclad commitment to finishing The Angel of Ecbatana in a timely manner, which you all forced upon me (in the most wonderful way possible) by funding this campaign, the thing I most want from this campaign is to publish these books in hardcover.
In my day job, we make beautiful deluxe books and other game products all the time. I’ve been part of the team that built the stunning deluxe versions of the Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game, the forthcoming The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game, Stealing Stories for the Devil, and Invisible Sun (which didn’t technically have a deluxe edition, because the standard version is one of the most deluxe RPG products ever published!). Not to mention the beautiful and unique deluxe version of The Weird, along with the Cypher System Rulebook and many others.
In other words, I know a thing or two about making great hardcovers. And I want to make them for YOU. (Well, and for me. I want them too!) But we’re still at least 100 backers away from that being practical.
So: at 200 backers, I’ll publish The Mason of New Orleans and The Angel of Ecbatana in hardcover. 200 backers is double where we are now—a big ask. Can we do it? Only with your help!
Here are some ways you can help spread the word:
- Follow me on Facebook, and share some of the posts you find on my profile.
- Follow me on Bluesky, and share some of what I post there.
- Follow me on Instagram, and share some of those posts.
- Follow Olivia on TikTok, and share some of her very funny videos.
- Create your own posts on platforms you’re active on. Mention that you’ve backed this campaign, and why you dig these books. You can include some of the art below (right-click to copy or download it). Include this link: https://bit.ly/3X4VTqk
- Finally, if you’ve read The Mason of New Orleans, posting a quick review on Goodreads or Amazon is the most amazing thing you can do. Be sure to post and share links to your review!
That’s the sort of thing it takes. If every backer gave it a few minutes, we’d hit this goal for sure! It would mean a lot to me.
Thanks so much for your support!
