Content Editing to Wrap up Soon
over 2 years ago – Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 04:14:07 PM

Hey Folks,

Thank you all for bearing with me. The good news is that Alex and I have begun going through the edits and are well on our way to wrapping up the content editing stage. We have gone through about 20% of the edits so far and I am hoping to wrap this up by the end of the week - or possibly next week. I've gone through all of Ash's feedback and the good news is most of the changes are relatively superficial. We're not looking at any massive rewrite requests. Most of the changes are around clarity and consistency.

The bad news is that this editing stage should have finished last week. Unfortunately, I had to cancel multiple meeting with Alex as I have been dealing with an illness for which, after speaking to my doctor earlier today, has finally been identified. I have been completely exhausted the last month - on top of numerous other symptoms. Luckily my doctor suspected the illness and began treating me last week even before the bloodwork came back. I am well on my way to recovering and am feeling significantly better. Unfortunately, this has set us back another week or two and, for those counting, marks my third significant health event of the year. I am hoping this is a three-and-done situation.

I've spoken to Alex and we are going to meet again Thursday evening. As soon as we finish this stage, the book will go to Becky for the final round of polish editing.

Thank you so much to everyone for bearing with us as this projhect has faced countless delays. I cannot tell you how much your patience throughout this process has meant to me.

Shane

Editing and Writing Update
over 2 years ago – Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 07:54:02 AM

Hey Folks!

I normally post these updates once per months on Monday's but this weekend is my 10 year wedding anniversary so my wife and I will be taking a long weekend away.

Editing

Adventurer's Agency is still in the content editing stage with Ash. I spoke to Ash and he should have all of his notes finished by next week, at which point Alex and I will review all of the changes and wrap up the content portion of the editing phase. Frank Ard, our typical copy editor, is currently in the middle of upending his life as he moves to Gerogia, USA after accepting a new position there. Congrats, Frank! He will still continue to provide editing for us, but he will need the next month or so to settle in and begin his new job. In the meantime, I have brought on a second Copy Editor, Becky McKenna, whom I have known for nearly a decade. She has already worked with HHP as a playtester and she is excited for a more permanent role. It is likely that she will take over providing the final layer of copy editing to Adventurer's Agency beginning in late August. She is extremely detail oriented but works quickly. We expect her to complete the final round of edits by late September. From there, we will need about two weeks to finalize the layour for hardcover printing before sending the book off to the printer.

Agency Contracts

The companion adventure booklet is progressing smoothly. I talked to Alex last week and we compared notes as we are writing this book jointly. At this point, four of the six adventures are nearly complete. And significant playtesting has already occurred for them. One of the adventures, Prison Break, will have the party break into the Franzhold, a coastal prison north of Blumont, to rescue a wealthy merchant who was (allegedly) smuggling magic items into the city. Here's a sneak peek of the adventurer's map. If the party can successful rescue Urgan One-Eye, they'll be rewarded with some of the merchant's wares - assuming they don't end up in prison themselves.

That's all for now! I will have another update in September to let you know how things are looking!

Shane

Major Editing Progress
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 07:47:28 AM

Hey Folks,

First off, I just want to apologize for the delayed update here. I've recovered about 95% from my surgery so almost back to normal but not quite. Between that, going to Origins Game Fair, and then my kids having all of last week off, I've gotten behind on a lot of things. However, significant progress has still been made!

Editing

Frank Ard finished his first round of edits, sent them back to me, and I spent my evenings last week going through them. I finished going through the edits, made some formatting and layout changes, and then sent the book off to Ash Monogue for Content Editing. I spoke to ash and he is returning from vacation this week and should be able to get to work after that. I'm anticipating I will have his feedback to review in early August. As soon as I receive it, lead writer Alex and I will review them, make changes, and send the book back to Frank one last time for copyediting. We are getting close here!

Agency Contracts

The adventure booklet companion to Adventurer's Agency is the only area where we've had delays this month. I have been too busy to begin writing my portion and Alex has had to take some extra shifts at work. Despite this, as the booklets will be printing in the US, we have an extra two months to work on Agency Contracts compared to the Adventurer's Agency timeline. 

That's all for now, everyone! I will be back in early August for the next update. I hope you're all having a safe and enjoyable summer.

Shane

Survey, Editing Update, Agency Contracts, and Origins Game Fair!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Jun 05, 2023 at 10:20:35 AM

Hey Folks!

It's been quite a month and I'm excited to share where we're at!

Survey

We're currently conducting a survey with our backers and email subscribers. We really want to hear from you about what you want, what we can do better, and your input on our ideas for the future! The survey will take about 5-7 minutes to complete and at the end, you'll receive a code for a $5 credit you can use on our website for anything you'd like. Your feedback is super important to us and I can wait to hear your thoughts! https://forms.gle/qQEuezNqNooo3fTr8

Bad News

I'll start with the bad news first which, luckily, shouldn't affect Adventurer's Agency too much. Last Friday, I had a common surgery that had some complications. My recovery was supposed to be about 1-2 weeks but now it will take 4-6 weeks and I am in significant pain and am bedridden for the time being. Luckily, as you'll see in the next section, that won't have too big of an impact here. I still have a lot of work to do for Adventurer's including designing the Deck of Many Things cards and the Agency Contracts adventures but my role in the actual book over the next month or two is pretty small.

Editing Update

Not a ton to share here other than Frank is still completing first round editing on the book. I was hoping he'd be done by now but Frank is juggling multiple projects right now, along with a lot of stuff in his personal life. I checked in with him last week and he's hoping to wrap up this editing stage in the next two weeks. From there, it goes to Ash Monogue for Content Editing.

Agency Contracts

Now that the book is out of my hands, the new big focus are the adventures for the Agency Contracts. Alex has two of the six adventures mostly completed and playtested. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and we agreed on the next steps moving forward. He has ideas and outlines for about 15 adventures. I will choose four and will write these adventures myself using his notes. Luckily many of these adventures have been playetested already and its simply a matter of converting notes into adventure text. The turnaround time on printing Agency Contracts is significantly shorter than the hardcover for Adventurer's Agency (weeks vs months) so they should end up arriving at our studio at roughly the same time. My goal is to finish a rough draft of these adventures before the end of July and start editing and playtesting them.

Origins Game Fair

I'm also excited to share that Joe and I will be at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus Ohio later this month. If you'll be there, come say hi!

That's it for now! Next time I should have another update for you on the editing progress.

Shane

Editing Progress, Updated Timeline, and More!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 08, 2023 at 05:39:50 PM

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