The new year is here and, as always, the Dragonsteel team has big plans ahead! And that holds true for this campaign. So let’s dive in!

To kick this off, we’ll get a few clerical items out of the way by answering some frequently asked questions.

Here are our current estimates (subject to change):

You will be required to pay a reshipment fee if your BackerKit address is incorrect or incomplete and, as a result, your package was lost or sent back to us by our shipping partner. This will only apply if the address is invalid or you no longer reside there. We recommend keeping your address up to date in your BackerKit survey to avoid this charge.

When you get your shipping notification, it means your package is already on a pallet. At that point, it is too late to locate your package and update your address.

We are currently 42% of the way through shipping the $325 tier, and within that tier we just finished shipping all Edgedancer rewards. To date, we have fully packed and shipped five of the ten Orders in this tier, which include the Dustbringer, Elsecaller, Stoneward, and Truthwatcher boxes. On to the Skybreakers!

We’ve seen a common question we want to address: why is fulfillment of this campaign taking more time than our previous, record-breaking Secret Project campaign? Let’s get into it.

TL;DR—Our last campaign had simpler, lighter boxes with standardized items in each box, which meant we could pack and ship more boxes per day. Continue reading for a more detailed breakdown!

First and foremost, in this campaign, we are shipping more items in a single box. Specifically, we shipped four to five items per box for the Secret Project campaign, while each box in the $325 tier for our current campaign includes twelve items. This means more time per box, larger boxes that require taping on both ends to assemble, and heavier boxes about three times the weight of a Secret Project campaign box. For this campaign, a single person can pack a box from start to finish in about four minutes. For the Secret Project campaign, with smaller and lighter boxes, a single individual could pack a box in about one minute. Additionally, we can only fit 98 boxes on a pallet while our previous campaign pallets fit 368 boxes. Pallets have to be changed out more often because the boxes take up more space. 

Another major factor is the customizable element of these orders and the assembly required. The various Knight Radiant Orders necessitate treating each pledge with greater attention. Though the Radiant packs arrived pre-assembled, the backer packs are individually assembled (with 5 items each) and the Dragonsteel Prime books are boxed for protection. When we start shipping add-ons, each add-on will be treated like a custom order, which means we can’t pack them in an assembly-line fashion. 

In summary, for the Secret Project campaign, each month came down to running a simple assembly line for a small batch of noncustomizable items. For this campaign, there is far more variability in how our lines function to maintain accuracy and speed.

We’re burning glyphwards of strength and determination for our indomitable Dougs. This would be impossible without them.

Isles of the Emberdark will be an incredible addition to the Cosmere and it was sent to the printer yesterday! Now that the major milestones are complete (Brandon's revisions, art by the incredible Esther Hi‘ilani Candari, page layout, etc.), we can narrow down our timeline from mid 2025 to early fall of this year. Brandon dropped some further updates about this and other projects in his recent State of the Sanderson 2024. Be sure to give that a read for a big picture view of what’s happening at Dragonsteel and what we have coming just around the corner!