Jan
12th
2019
Time's almost up on the print version. · 1:10am Jan 12th, 2019
And the organizers are a long, long way below goal. If you want in, now is definitely the time.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-maretian-hardcopy-edition#/
It's possible they'll go to press with the orders they have, or not. IndieGoGo isn't Kickstarter; it pays even if the goal isn't met, if that's how the people set up the project. But if you're on the fence, you probably shouldn't take chances... and if you know someone who wants the thing in print, now's the time to either nudge them or front the money, if you have it, yourself.
(Once again, I get not one penny out of this. This is done at cost, so far as I can tell.)
It’s a fixed campaign so no money unless the goal is met. Fewer books means higher printing cost per book. I guess 100 copies is the sweet spot where the books can be had for a reasonable price.
A real shame. I ended up reading the fic over the past weeks to see if it was worth getting a physical copy of. (It was!)
I would back it for sure if I knew that the cover art would be made accurate (no giant planetoids in the sky, for example). And the other stuff you pointed out.
Well sod. I certainly hope it works out, I was quite looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I don't know any one who's willing to shell out that kind of money (or any kind of money) for hard-cover pony fiction.
I had no idea there was even a book until I saw this post, and I have the feeling I might not be the only one. It sucks, if I had the extra cash I would definitely back it.
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The below-the-radar and word-of-mouth nature of these projects is definitely a problem. Ideally you want as many people as possible to keep printing cost down, but often people don't learn about them until after the fact and you get several smaller, more expensive print runs instead.
Even if you learn about them in time you get very limited time to make up your mind – a month, sometimes less. October was a hectic month as I had to try to read enough of both Project: Stardust and Murky Number Seven to be able to decide whether to get them or not.
I suggest joining the Printed Fiction Hardcopies group. We do our best to inform each other about new printing projects as we catch wind of them.
IIRC, Avonder's previous campaign (Project: Stardust) also had problems reaching its goal. The deadline was extended by a few days, it was advertised on a few sites and ended up reaching 131% (here's an incomplete graph). A lot of people don't pledge until the last day so there's still some hope for The Maretian.
As much as I love this story and would love a book , I'd be much more likely to throw $20 your way for a PDF of the artwork and new typeset / proofread version. Put a few edits in there ; maby an exclusive day or two?
I honestly hope that it makes the goal. Managed to snag copy #4 for myself, assuming it goes to print.
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Lemme get this straight: you're judging the quality of a hard copy of a story you've already read (I know you read it, we had our banter with each other in the comments) by the cover art, which is something that the artist is, in fact, allowed to use some degree of artistic liberty in? Seems like such a strange thing to get hung up on... you sure that's the actual issue?
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They shouldn't have artistic liberty when it comes to major inaccuracies like the Martian sky. It treats the story as being less real, when the actual story is based in as much scientific/astronomical reality as possible.
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Being less real. About a story that features talking technicolor horses that can do actual, honest-to-god magic getting marooned not only on another planet, but in another dimension entirely. Can you see whereabouts you lost me with that logic?
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Look, the giant things in the sky is a major issue for me, okay? Can you at least understand that? Plus there were a few other smaller inaccuracies with the Amicitas. $102 is a lot of money, and I'm not prepared to buy this. A few weeks ago, I stated more accurately my views on this printing: If the issues with the cover art were addressed, I would "be more likely" to buy the book. I'm more focused right now on recording all of the spoken lines in the story with my own voice and eventually editing and releasing that to the Fireball YouTube channel I made, as well as working on the story's four songs with some other people. We're just hitting a snag right now with Spitfire's part of "Home".
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The thing here is suspension of disbelief. An impossible detail would annoy me as well, especially if it covers a double digit percentage of the front cover.
That said, this specific art is supposedly featured on a dust jacket. These are known to be removable or replaceable.
Somehow i forgot about this campaign. Well, if it works i have copy #47.
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ing cool...
Understand? No, not really. Let it drop, though... that I can do. As for the price tag, that actually seems about right. The project description states that it's being printed as a 3-tome set with each tome consisting of roughly 450 pages of text, and then you add the fact that 3 different sets of cover art are supposedly being commissioned... and actually, $102 seems a little on the low end, if we're being completely honest. You do you, though. Personally, I think that accurate or not, it looks REALLY f
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A good point that I was trying to get at with my comments about the already somewhat ludicrous premise of the story. Doesn't change the fact that it's a damn good story though, IMO
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Agreed, a good story it is. But, there is always that little detail that just rips that suspension of disbelief right from under your feet. For me, in this work, that was the depiction of the BFR. A tiny detail in a long forgotten chapter but it still irks me for some reason. Way more than it should.
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share.dmca.gripe/AsBfVE7ABj8EYtLt.png
There's a weird stigma of not backing until success is assured, which obviously hurts the crowdfunding process. I'll try to address that.
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Thanks for sharing. That's both fascinating and quite disturbing.
49% of the way there as of this writing. I've put in my pledge. Any other takers?
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Maybe it's just me, but I honestly feel that with the premise of this story alone we threw all concepts of realism out the window. That is why I have difficulties understanding some of the complaints I've heard so far, and honestly might also be why I don't really have that one detail which just shattered my suspension of disbelief. Because from the moment that ponies, magic and inter-dimensional marooning entered the equation, it was suddenly not so far-fetched that perhaps Mars' sky looks different than it does IRL, or that there are fundamental differences between the BFR of this story and its IRL counterpart. But hey, this is just me spitballing about something I don't have the answer to. Take that as you will
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Realism. Basically one or the pillars the Martian universe stands on. No fancy hyperdrives, teleportation, or Iron Man moment. Lots of cursing by the lone engineer trying to engineer his way of the planet, while calling it science.
Every spaceship is justified. Every danger is justified. (Initial dust storm being that one detail...)
The second you remove realism from that universe, it collapses. Instead of science, you get technobabble. Danger feels manufactured for the drama, rather then part of the setting.
Does adding ponies remove realism? Yes, but as little as possible. It is the premise of the story, so I will let it slip under rule of cool. The cave too. But those are the only freebies. Any other change definitely needs to be justified. And in this story, it was.
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In this setting. Obviously, in the marvel universe Mr Stark can hyperdrive around all he wants.
I wish I could chip in, but that's outside my budget range at the moment, though I'll try to buy you a coffee or two tomorrow.