All right!

The stars have aligned, the omens are favorable, and the proofs look good. So today the Adventures Dark and Deep Bestiary will start going out to the Kickstarter backers! (FIVE MONTHS ahead of the originally planned date, I might add!)

Copies of the books are on their way to the backers (pdf codes were sent out, and orders for the hard copies are being entered even now).

The book is also available for sale for folks who didn’t get in on the Kickstarter. Spread the word, let your friends know, and thanks again for helping make this book look great. We honestly couldn’t have done it without you.

I’ve been been wanting to do an update on the Bestiary for the last few days, but have been holding off as I’ve been watching the numbers on the artwork tick up and up towards one of those “significant numbers”. And lo! and behold it has happened.

We have now gotten 75% of the artwork completed. Less than a hundred pieces to go.

Stop and think about that. Since June 9, when the first batches of art were sent out to the artists, we’ve gotten nearly 300 finished, gorgeous, pieces of art in, in just nine weeks. That is, frankly, a lot quicker than I expected (and it’s a good kind of surprise!).

If we keep up this breakneck pace (and who knows, with summer vacations and the like, if we’ll be able to), all of the art should be in hand around the beginning of September. I’ve already gotten about half of the edits from our illustrious editor, and should hopefully have the rest in a couple of weeks. Then it’s just a matter of final tweaks to the book itself, doing the final layout adjustments, and off we go to the printer for proofs.

I am… very unofficially and informally… estimating we should have books in hand by Thanksgiving if all goes well. Woo-hoo! Beats the heck out of next March.

And, as always, let me thank the Kickstarter backers for your incredible support of this project. Without you guys, it simply would not have been possible. You guys are awesome.

In the meantime, here are a few more pieces from our awesome group of artists. Enjoy!

Behir…

Allosaurus…

 And, finally, a demon who needs no introduction…

Tonight marks a momentous milestone in the Bestiary project. As of right now, more than half of the art has been turned in by the artists. That’s not sketches, that’s final pieces. Plus, I heard from our esteemed editrix that she will be sending me the first half of her corrections and suggestions tomorrow.

Woo, and might I add, hoo!

If we continue at the present rate, that means all of the art will be completed by the end of August, and I should receive the remaining edits by then as well. Obviously, I have no idea if the art will continue to come in at such a prodigious rate, and until I get a-goin’ on applying the edits to the master file, no idea how long that particular part of the process will take.

But the takeaway is, we’re way ahead of schedule. If… and I must emphasize if… all proceeds according to current projections, we’re looking at an October or November release (so, four or five months ahead of schedule). That’s not official, that’s a best-case scenario. But damn the book is coming together nicely!

And, of course, I have a few pieces of art for your perusal. The horned devil, the mimic, and the necrophidius. Enjoy!

It’s been a while since the last artwork update on the Bestiary, so here we go. It is exactly one month since the first descriptions went out to the artists, and we have at present received 43% of the finished pieces. If we continue at this rate, we’re looking to have all the art in and done sometime in August, which would be just incredibly ahead of schedule.

But just as important as the art is the editing, and while I spent the holiday weekend with our editor, Mollie, she was actively correcting my prose, and is deep into the demon section of the book. So hopefully I’ll have her edits within the next couple of weeks, and can then go through and start applying them to the manuscript.

Although the official release date is still March, given the progress we’ve made so far, I am unofficially going to tell you that a 2013 release is definitely in the cards. With luck, we’ll even have it available for your busy Yuletide shopping needs.

And, without further ado, here are a couple more pieces from our incredibly talented artists, for your edification, the mud-man, Beelzebub, and the piscodaemon…