Champions of Aetaltis : A Heroic Fantasy Anthology
http://kck.st/1IMG6iM : Backed this project this week.
Check it out here :
About this project
Journey to a distant land where bold adventurers wield magical blades against dark creatures from the shadowy depths. Thrill to the arcane power of enigmatic sorcerers as they master forbidden arts to strike down their diabolical enemies. Marvel at the courage of common folk who refuse to surrender to the tide of evil sweeping over the land. These, my friend, are the CHAMPIONS OF AETALTIS!
We want to publish a collection of pulse-pounding adventure stories that transport you to a world of magic and wonder. To accomplish this, we’ve gathered some the greatest fantasy authors alive. Each original tale we're bringing to you takes place in a fantasy world called Aetaltis, and you’ll come along for the ride as these talented authors explore the power of a shared setting to bring an entirely new universe of adventure to life.
We didn't mess around when it came to selecting authors for this project. We reached out to some of the very best fantasy authors alive today to write stories for CHAMPIONS OF AETALTIS!
We have a virtual treasure trove of rewards waiting for you when you pledge to back the CHAMPIONS OF AETALTIS!
To help inspire you and encourage you to get your friends involved as well, we're revealing our first six stretch goals! If funding reaches these levels, your rewards get even bigger!
UNLOCKED! Secret Stretch Goal #1: 100 Backers!
Thank you for your support! With your help we hit 100 backers today! To celebrate this milestone we're adding a digital copy of Marc Tassin's swashbuckling adventure story, The Accidental Pirates, to everyone's reward package!
The Accidental Pirates by Marc Tassin—After winning a ship from the magistrate in a card game, con-man Dysart Draymore and his apprentice Sparrow find themselves getting more than they bargained when they set sail on their prize!
We have experience delivering high quality books and have a great head start on this project already—just like we did in our previous successful Kickstarter. Many of the stories are already written, the cover design is finished, the paint on the cover art is nearly dry, and many expenses have been paid in advance. We're able to do this thanks to the exceptionally talented group of people we've brought together to create this book.
John Helfers—Editor & Consultant
John Helfers is the Hugo-nominated editor of more than one-hundred anthologies for major publishers such as DAW Books, Tor, Baen, and many others. For sixteen years John worked for Martin H. Greenberg at Tekno Books, the largest commercial book packager in the nation. John is also an accomplished author of both short fiction and novels for properties such as The Twilight Zone™, Shadowrun®, and Transfomers®.
Marc Tassin—Project Creator
Marc Tassin is the creator of Aetaltis and the author of more than a dozen short stories. His stories have appeared in a number of anthologies including multiple titles from DAW Books. He's also written for video games and role-playing games with work appearing in Shadowrun products and Dragon Magazine.
Melanie Meadors—Publicity & Consulting
Melanie R. Meadors is the writer of short story and novel length speculative fiction. She is also the publicity coordinator for Ragnarok Publications and a freelance author publicist.
Mitchell Malloy—Cover Art & Art Director
Mitchell Malloy is an illustrator and concept artist whose work has appeared in products from Fantasy Flight Games, Posthuman Studios, and Mechanical Muse. He is also an Illustrator for Riot Games and has worked on their League of Legends products.
Shawn King—Cover Design & Layout
Shawn King is an award winning Graphic Designer, specializing in print media. In June of 2014 Shawn became the In-House Graphic Designer for Ragnarok Publications (dark fantasy, urban fantasy, speculative fiction, supernatural horror). He was recently featured in an interview forAmazing Stories magazine.
Illustration by Mitchell Malloy from The Heroes of Thornwall
More than three hundred years have passed since the fall of the Atlan Alliance, and the people of Aetaltis have finally brought order to their fractured world. Fledgling nations have grown into powerful kingdoms, thriving merchant states have re-established old trade routes, and the priests of the Enaros have rebuilt their great temples. But in this time of hope, the shadow of an ancient evil is rising once again.
- Excerpt from The Heroes of Thornwall
The world of Aetaltis is a fantastic new fantasy setting created by Marc Tassin. Aetaltis was designed to embrace the classic elements in fantasy literature, games, and film that we all love and deliver them in a way that is both refreshingly new and intimately familiar.
A Conclave of Creative Minds: Marc's experience in gaming taught him that a group of creative people working together often created richer, stronger, and more fantastic worlds than any one person working alone could hope to achieve. To harness this power, Marc created Aetaltis as a shared world from the beginning. Shared worlds are settings designed to allow multiple creators to play together in the 'sandbox' in a way that lets them feed off one another's creativity without stepping on each other's toes.
One World. Many Doors::Everyone has their own way to experience other worlds. Some prefer novels, others love short stories, still others gravitate to comics, and some people love games. There is no one way to explore these realms that works best for all people. Aetaltis is built on a framework that offers many means of entry without one point of access limiting others.
The Aetaltis Project: Phase 2
This Kickstarter is Phase 2 of a larger project. The successful Phase 1 Kickstarter, a role-playing game book set in Aetaltis called The Heroes of Thornwall, was completed just before this Kickstarter launched. Each project is a stand-alone endeavor, but the end game is to bring these projects together along with some of the most creative minds in the industry to create one of the greatest fantasy settings ever imagined.
Thank you for your time and patronage! We'll see you in Aetaltis!
Risks and challenges
I believe that the real question is not "What are the risks?" but rather "What plans do we have in place to mitigate those risks?"
COLLECTING THE STORIES: Some of the stories aren't finished because the best authors are always the busiest. What if they don't deliver? --->MITIGATION: We mitigate this risk by working with pros. These are people who know how to deliver. Just glancing at their published credits shows that they know how to see a project through to completion.
FIRST TIME PUBLISHING AN ANTHOLOGY: This is my first time assembling an anthology independently. --->MITIGATION: I'm working with John Helfers to help with this project. Not only is he an amazing editor, he spent 15 years working for Tekno Books, one of the largest book packagers in the world. He's helped to assemble and edit hundreds of books, many of them anthologies, for the biggest publishing houses in the world.
FIRST TIME PRINTING AN ANTHOLOGY: I printed a book in my previous Kickstarter, but I haven't printed an anthology before. MITIGATION: I'm working with Thomson Shore to print this book, the same company that successfully printed my last book. This is the same company that prints books for Ragnarok Publications. In addition, I'm working with Shawn King to handle layout and design. Again, Shawn is highly experienced. You can see his work here and here. Everyone I'm working with has done this before.
THIS IS EXPENSIVE: This is a very expensive project. If my math is wrong or something unexpected happens, how do I keep it alive? --->MITIGATION: By paying for key pieces in advance I help to reduce the areas of risk. In addition, I have worked with my financial consultant to ensure that I can draw funds, if required, to cover sudden, unexpected costs. I REALLY hope I don't have to, but I can if I must.
DELAYS: This is a complicated project, and despite the fact that I have some amazing people working with me, it is possible that my hope of delivering by December might be overly optimistic. --->MITIGATION: I'm working very hard to plan things to avoid delays. That said, this project covers a lot of new territory for me. I can't know the unknowns, but I can promise you that I will remain in constant communication so you never have to wonder what's going on.
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