I keep thinking about dropping entries for myself, or Kalijor, on Wikipedia, but that would not be in keeping in the spirit of the site, even though I am quite sure I could generate objective entries. I still feel as though it should be someone else that does it. Someone not so closely tied to… well… me… as I happen to be.

I’m sure it will happen sooner or later. I mean, ISFDB is a step on teh way, right? Next up Wikipedia, then IMDB when teh films are given the go!!

In other news, the Fourth Key STILL has not dropped on teh books in print database. Here’s hoping it happens soon…

I think that’s about it for now. I just wanted to share the discovery of the ISFDB entry for myself and some of the books!

I hope you are all having an awesome day, and I will talk to you later.

End of Line…

Paul

Although, looking at it objectively, I submitted it the first week of April, which means it’s now been between 6 and 7 weeks and they say it takes from 4 to 8 weeks to drop. So, technically we’re still well within the acceptible time frame. Much to my chagrin…

That said, I am going to share a sale with you at The Kalijor Press Book Store. Since you can’t get the new book in regular book stores yet, please enjoy a 20% discount on everything at our own book store! Just stop on by, pack your cart full to the gills with Kalijor books (hard cover, soft cover, everything is on sale), and at check-out enter the cupon code TENYEAR.

In other news, I have made zero progress on the Fifth Key in the past 3 days. Instead, I edited/updated a good 35 pages in teh Kalijor RPG, and added somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 skills and abilities to the text. I still need to work on some descriptions/prose text, but it is coming along nicely. On the subject of the Kickstarter campaign, I’ve decided that I want to start getting some good playtesting done so I know the new mechanics are going to work, then we can start talking funding. The reason for this is simple: I want to make sure we truly are close to a releaseable product before I even think about asking for help with funding. This way, when we do get funded, there won’t be a six month wait before the final product is seen.

So, the rest of this week I will be working back and forth on the Fifth Key and the RPG book as I have time, which there isn’t much of over the next 6 days. But, I’ll get some work done regardless!

I think that’s about it for now. So, head over to The Kalijor Press Book Store and use cupon code TENYEAR to save 20%, and I’ll talk to you all later!

End of Line…

Paul

All is indeed well here at Kalijor Press.

Writing continues on the Fifth Key (things are starting to really get into gear for our heroes). Just this weekend, Riana got in her first firefight caused by her being the most wanted person in the Sol System! She followed that up with a conversation with Daray, who threatened to stalk her if she didn’t promise to call when help was needed.

Vincent is smuggling himself into the besieged Neo-Tokyo because nobody knows what will happen if Riana tries to teleport someone else using her developing abilities, and as soon as he gets to a safe spot, the crew is logging into Kalijor to start after the first of the remaining keys!

Also, we’ve discussed some reasons for how Anja is able to use her powers more effectively than Riana, and none of it adds up very well for Riana or her friends, I’m afraid.

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In other news, I’ve started David (Kalijor Press’ official artist) on art for a Kalijor Art Book! This book is going to be David’s own, and it will be merely assembled and published by Kalijor Press. So, while it will be filled to the gills with art from and inspired by the worlds of Kalijor, it will not be directly story related. This is David’s chance to really play with the Kalijor backdrop and cut loose with his amazing world-building skills to share his visions of Kalijor with you, the reader.

At this point, the book is planned to be somewhere between 20 and 30 pages of one plate per page images in 8.5×11 inch format. I’m hoping to also collect and add in some production/in progress images and narrate the book just a little, to add some insights and perspectives from David for you all to share in, but we’ll see how that goes. I am hoping to have it ready in time for GenCon in mid-august, but that all depends upon David’s schedule at this point.

I’ll keep you all posted as news is available.

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Next up, the Kalijor RPG news.

At this point I have gone through and made all of the rules/game play changes the group arrived at last time we played. I am in the process of rewriting skills/abilities for the new book. It’s slow going, at best. I may have a playable demo ready by GenCon, but I am certain a finished product will not be forthcoming until sometime next year, at the earliest.

The good news here is that, once the finished product does go live, sourcebooks will start flying off the press in rapid succession. Rewriting the source books will be much faster work than rewriting the entire main book. 

Also, I am considering a kickstarter campaign to fund the finishing of the main book. It sounds like there are several people willing to help out, and if I do it that way, there will be some pretty killer rewards offered up for the mid and high level supporters. The lower level supporters will get great rewards as well, but those mostly center around the RPG book itself. The higher level supporter rewards will also include hardcover novels, special art prints, and more (possibly the art book if it is done by the time we roll out the kickstarter campaign).

Part of the reason I’m considering this funding source is that it is going to take around $5,000 to make it happen properly. Why so much? I’m glad you asked!

You see, a good book cover, by any professional artist, will run between $500 and $1500. Add to that the literally hundreds of interior images required to make an RPG book really come to life, all of which range in cost from $10 to $200 depending upon size and complexity, and things start to add up pretty quickly. Of course, I could skimp a bit on interior art, and the true meat and potatoes of the book would still be just as good, but much of the visual appeal that one expects in a good RPG book would be lost as a result. I just don’t feel that is the best way to proceed, especially with the flagship of the line.

While it’s true that we don’t need an image on every page, it is also true that we don’t want to go more than a couple pages without an image. They add so much character and depth to the world, and help readers/players get a better feel for the environment they are entering into. The images really serve to set the stage for the epic adventures that players are going to undertake in the realms described therein.

In addition to art, there are some legal filings that will need to be made in conjunction with the book (about $1,000 worth), and the costs of actually publishing the book, both physically, and digitally (and be aware that I fully intend to publish all of the Kalijor RPG books in as many formats as possible, which includes print, iBooks, Kindle, Nook, etc. I want it to be super accessible and imminently portable).

I could print the book without the art, and without the appropriate filings, and only in one, limited format, but that isn’t how it should be. That wouldn’t be fair to you, the readers/players, and in the long term it wouldn’t be the best for the franchise/IP, so I’m not going there. There are sacrifices I am willing to make, but skimping on these bits is not one of them.

So, what say you? Thoughts you’d like to share? Please do so. I really want to hear what folks have to say!

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Graphic Novel news…

David still has the script and is playing with storyboards, but the graphic novel is on hold until the art book and RPG book are in the can. Once we have those in place, we’ll get back to the graphic novel and give it the attention it deserves!

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Other news…

Avengers rocked! If you haven’t seen it, do so. Even if you aren’t a fan of the comic, it is an epic super hero movie and Joss absolutely nailed the thing in every way possible. I’m officially pursuing him to pick up the Kalijor IP for film as I am now convinced there is absolutely nothing the man cannot do well on film.

Also, Mark Ruffalo did an amazing job as Banner/Hulk. He and Stark were my favorites throughout the film and their chemistry was top notch.

Again, go see the Avengers immediately, if not sooner!

On that note, I think I’m off to do something productive for a while. I hope you all have an awesome day and I look forward to interacting with you in the near future!

End of Line…

Paul

The Fourth Key of Kalijor is now available on iBooks! Pick up your copy today at http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9780983621553 for only $2.99!

Next up, the book should be dropping into the books in print dB any time now so copies can be ordered from local book stores and online retailers outside our own book store here. Soon… It’s been nearly six weeks now, so it should be any time.

As for StarFest… Sorry for the delay, I’ve been busy with the RPG and a bunch of personal stuff since the con. Lots to do winding up and down from convention mode.

Anyway, the con was awesome! We had a blast chatting with folks and snapping pics of great costumes (and there were some amazing costumes this year). The incomparable Meevers Desu cos-played Riana in both her sic-fi and fantasy world garb and did a wonderful job. By now there are pictures of her far and wide across the internet, so if those in our gallery here are not enough for you, I have faith that you can seek out some more pretty easily (you could start on the Kalijor Press Facebook page, to your right here…).

We introduced about 40 new people to the world of Kalijor over the weekend of the con, so that was pretty awesome, and welcome aboard to all of you new readers! Please, share your thoughts on the world with your friends and family. Soon enough we’ll have an army of fans and Bruckheimer won’t be able to ignore my phone calls any longer!

*ahem*

Sorry. I get carried away sometimes….

So, the hardcovers were a hit at the con. I didn’t sell out, but I sold enough to confirm that there is indeed demand (doesn’t hurt that they have the 2nd edition text in them either), so that will be a standard going forward, along with softcovers and ebooks.

Also, next year, I will be doing some panels! I’ll probably do one on self-publishing, both digitally and in print, and maybe something on genre fiction writing, what do y’all think? I’m trying to get onto some panels at MileHi Con this year as well, but they don’t seem to keen on responding to my inquiries, and by the time they finally do so, they tell me it’s too late to get on the program. I don’t like to speak badly of people, so I won’t. I’ll just say that is feels to me as if they want nothing to do with me, specifically. I have no idea how I offended them, or how to rectify the situation, but if any of you have thoughts on the matter, or would like to see me do some panels there, please share your ideas (or contact info for people who could help)!

And on that note, I think I am going to pack it in for a while. I have a ton of work to do on the RPG after our first play test with making characters, and there is that whole fifth novel to finish up…

I hope you are all having an awesome day and I will post again soon.

End of Line…

Paul

Kalijor Press will be at the con all weekend, with all of our books in stock (including a limited quantity of hardcovers). If I have anythign to say about it, we’ll be at the same table we’ve been at the last two years, but if we can’t get that one for some reason, then we’ll be as close as possible to it (right outside the back door to the dealer’s room in the hallway between registration and the atrium). We’ll even have some other Kalijor products there to show off and get opinions on, including some gadget cases, water bottles, and shirts. If feedback is good, then we’ll start beinging some of that stuff to cons in the future.

Joining us on and off will be David Magoun of Full Spectrum Arts. He is the amazing artist behind our most recent covers, and if you ask me, he really knocked it out of the park on the Fourth Key! He’ll have art in the art show, and we’ll have as many prints available at the table as we can (he’s had some computer trouble the last two weeks, but we’re trying to get through it with enough goodies for y’all to have a chance to get something).

As for the Fourth Key… It is available from our own online store, as well as the Kindle store, and the nook store. It is still pending approval in the iBooks store, and the Bowker database (so it’s not on iBooks or on regular book stores/web sites yet). I hope one, or both of these will go through by this weekend, but I’m not holding my breath. If you’re waiting for one of these things to happen, please hang in there, it will be soon. But, if you aren’t too particular about where you get the book, then by all means, please visit our own online store, or better yet, come see us this weekend!

I think that’s it for now, so I’ll let y’all go. Here’s hoping we see you this weekend. If not, then enjoy the heck out of it!

End of Line…

Paul

Basically, as feedback has come in over the years (or months) since release, I have kept lists of errors and tweaks needing attention and last year we went through and cleaned up, reformatted, and adjusted all of the text in books one through three. SO all of teh new hardcovers, while still using essentially the same art, have ever so slightly different interiors. Most notably, is the formatting (all of the extra white space has been removed from books one and two, reducing their page count and making them look and feel like books three and four in terms of presentation).

Actual content changes are minimal, at best, with only a few minor tweaks here and there to keep continuity across teh story arc, so please do not purchase new books just because there might be changes to the story, as that is not the case! We simply fixed some typos, cleaned up a little grammar, and tightened things up overall. Eventually, these new editions will replace the currently in-print softcover versions of teh books, but not until we have a chance to rework all of the cover art to bring it all in line with the new stuff (could be years, unless you all want to help fund the project, so no need to hold off on a purchase).

So, there it is. The new hardcovers have the second-edition text inside, but it’s seriously no big deal!

That said, I spent a couple hours looking at the RPG text last night and cleaning that up. I’ve converted 99% of what was easily convertable from the old manuscript and am now in the process of building out the skills section. I’ve reached the parts that are going to slow the process down quite a bit, as there will be a lot of rewriting, changing, and even throwing out and starting from scratch. However, I have set up teh next playtest session, so I am working on getting the skills section functional so we can at least build characters and test the combat rules.

Also, I have pushed through the sticky bit in the Fifth Key, and it is flowing much better now, so progress is resuming there.

The cos-player I contacted about StarFest has gone quiet, so I’m not sure if we’ll have someone cos-playing Riana or not next week at StarFest… As soon as she confirms or officially backs out, I’ll let y’all know…. just be aware that it could be minutes before, or even hours after, the con officially opens at this rate…

I think that’s about it for now, so I’ll get back to work here…

Thank you all for your support, and I look forward to seeing and chatting with you next weekend at the con!

End of line…

Paul

Been busy doing some general house-keeping around the sites.

I recently moved all of the hardcover books into general access, now that I’ve seen copies of all of them and they all look good. So, for those that are looking for copies and don’t think we’ll bump into one another at a con, you can now buy hardcovers of all four novels at the Kalijor Press Book Store.

Also, I went into the Merchandise Store and collapsed all of the cub-categories into just two lists under the main departments. So navigation should be a bit less cumbersome, but it means there are a lot of products in the lists once you get them up. We’ll run with it like this for a bit and see how it goes. Please drop a note with feedback if you do or don’t like it, or if there is something you’d like to see in the store.

On a similar note, I did purchase a couple things, just to check on the quality of the printing. I picked up cases for my iPad and my iPhone, as well as a T-Shirt, and a hoodie. I can report that they are very quality items and the printing seems to be top notch and long-lasting. I’ve been hauling my phone around in my pocket for months and a bit of the case itself has lost some color on a corner that gets’s handled a lot when I pull my phone out, but the art not eh back is still pristine. The same is true of the iPad case. Not a hint of degradation in the image, and the case seems to be pretty sturdy, high-quality stuff as well. The shirt and hoodie are comfy and the printing is bright and durable, although the T-shirt is fading a little bit after a dozen or so washes. Not a lot, but it is noticeable.

Anyway, I think that’s it for now. Gearing up for StarFest next week. Working on The Fifth Key, and the RPG. Fun times!

I hope you all have a great evening, and I’ll talk at you later.

End of Line…

Paul

Looking forward to seeing you all there with the new books!

End of Line…

Paul

I just wanted to pass this along to those interested. If you head over to the Kalijor Press Merchandise store and enter coupon code: SHOPSPR6 you will get free shipping on orders of $30 or more.

There’s lots of cool stuff over there from shirts and caps to mugs and iPad cases. I picked up a case for my iPhone and another for my iPad a while back, just to endurance test the printing in my pocket and being dragged around all over creation and both are faring very well. So, if you would like to get the Kalijor Logo, or even some fun pics of our cover art or characters on a case, or mug, or hoodie, act now and get it shipped for free!

Just let me know what you get so I don’t wear the same thing at StarFest….. that would be awkward….

End of Line…

Paul

They look amazing!

Hardcovers are supposed to arrive today. *grins like a school kid*

That is all….. Just thought you’d like to know!

End of Line…

Paul