Here we are, in the final 10 hour stretch! We've passed $12K and are closing in on the narrator stretch goal! You are all amazing!

We can't thank you enough. It's been an amazing experience getting something new and different off the ground, and your support and encouragement mean everything! We are excited to be looking forward to the coming months, working with each of the authors and fulfilling rewards.

As a thank you to the authors, we are adding an additional 500 words to the Author (and Author + Songwriter) tiers. Authors: you can either use this to expand your stories a little if you're feeling squished for space or to include a second story! (Or donate the space to a friend!)


Once again, thank you all! And please feel free to reach out in comments or DMs or through email. (Discord also works well, as we're building a community over there.)


All the best,
Michael & The Team @ The Black Piper

Hi all,

Looking at the results of the audiobook vs soloists and crunching the numbers (and thank you to all 44% who voted), it came out pretty close to even. So, we've decided to go ahead with, well, both options, but staggered so that the audiobook, with Reggie West as narrator, becomes a reward if we finish the campaign with at least $12,500, and we will keep the goal of hiring soloists if we finish the campaign with at least $14,000.

Also, if we do get the audiobook reward, it will automatically be applied as a reward to all tiers. (So, you would all get it.)

So, win-win-win.

Also, happy pi(e) day. If you celebrate with actual pie, drop a comment letting us know what kind of pie. (My favorite is cherry, but we're doing huckleberry, since huckleberry's pretty swell as well.)

All the best,
The Black Piper Team

Hi all,

As we are looking at narration for a Tales of The Black Piper audiobook, we are considering swapping out the $14K goal - from the current "recording of soloists" to "a narrated Tales audiobook" - but we want to get your thoughts first. (As an aside/FYI, for those who are getting the ADVENTURER tier, The Clockmaker will very likely be narrated as an audiobook.)

Let us know your preference with regards to Tales of The Black Piper with your votes! (And comments, if you have any.)

Thanks in advance!
Michael

P.S. you can hear the first episode of The Clockmaker here, narrated by the amazing Reginald West.

Hi all,

We've made a few small changes to the author contract template and wanted you to be aware.

First, we've fixed the royalty math. Essentially, the words "numerator and denominator" were swapped. Whereas, originally it was impossibly saying that you'd potentially get more money from royalties than we actually made from sales, now it should work out properly.

For total transparency, we have no idea what royalties will look like. But we still want to make sure to offer you some revenue should the anthology do well.

Secondly, we've removed the non-disparagement clause. Whereas this was intended as a protection for both authors and Black Piper team members, we've heard form some who believe that it could be used against authors by disallowing them from speaking up about issues, and whereas the author can be seen as "the little guy" in the relationship, we want to ensure that authors have as much power as possible. If you're an author, and you'd still like that clause in your final copy of the contract, we would be happy to include it. Again, we see that clause as a protection for everyone but are also very interested in making things as good as they can be for you!

If you have any other thoughts, concerns, or things you'd like to address, please don't hesitate to message us. And you can ask via email or publicly if you'd prefer. Please don't ever think you need to feel like "the little guy" (or gal)!

And thank you to those who have brought these issues to our attention!

With gratitude,
Michael & The Team @ The Black Piper