Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge Update 12/04/22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge update 12/04/22

Hello Karaphamily!

 

I apologize for being absent for so long. To anyone who has been paying attention to Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge progress thank you for your support. For anyone just now finding us I hope you find this product as a interesting an idea as we do.

 

There have been a lot of developments over the past several months since my last update. We will start with the issue of synthetic paper.

 

Problem:

WE WILL be using it. Just not in the quantities we had originally planned. The cost per unit has grown substantially over the last few months as the manufacturer has fleshed out our requests, created and sent us a working prototype of the binder. One of the costs they determined to be too high was the cost of synthetic paper, because of its uniqueness in the manufacturing world. Although a great product, it is not widely used or distributed, so the acquisition of the necessary volumes for Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge has pushed the price per unit into a place where we could not sell the journal for a reasonable cost and have any hope of making a profit.

 

Solution:

We have chosen 21 pages where the use of synthetic paper will be the most advantageous and we will print the remainder of the journal on heavier stock paper. To insure we fulfill our promise of a journal that can last long term.

 

Problem:

The second issue we ran into was the binder design. When I had originally thought it up, I didn’t really feel I was being terribly creative however, the manufacturer determined that the design was so unique that it would need to be created from scratch. I realize most people probably assume all products are made from scratch, I know I did. That is not the case. Anytime a manufacturer can make use of previously created elements IE: a mold for a part or, as in our case, using a base design that already exists and then customizing it to fulfill a client’s needs. By attempting to create my binder design from scratch we almost quadrupled our manufacturing costs for Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge. Obviously, that was not optimal.

 

Solution:

We chose a binder design that is currently in production from our manufacturer and are customizing that design to fit our needs. What does that mean? In the long term, not much. It doesn’t look like it will affect the functionality of the product at all, only the design. In the short term however, it means the binder you see in several promotional shots and videos that will be coming shorty will NOT be the design we will be shipping out. This will matter to some and not at all to others but, transparency is my primary goal here, so it’s important that those questions are answered for anyone who needs them.

 

Where we’re at:

• We sent over new cover designs last week
• We sent the new CAD design for the binder to the manufacturer
• We were able to get a small sample print of several key pages for a reasonable cost
• Once we receive the new prototype of the binder and the sample print pages, we will begin work on product creative ie: videos, photography etc
• We have begun working with LaunchBoom, a fantastic company that helps creators launch products on https://www.kickstarter.com and https://www.indiegogo.com/
• With their help we will begin a Pre-Launch campaign (those of you who have given us emails will receive those pre-launch promos directly)
• The Pre-Launch will help us determine a timeframe for Launching our Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge Kickstarter campaign

 

What we need from you:

If you’re supporting us we appreciate it greatly. The best thing you can do for us is to follow our social media (if you don’t already) and share our content on your own pages to help us build our community. Also, tell your family and friends who play about us to expand our potential audience. You are the key. Your voice matters far more than ours. If you like what you see then tell others, so they can tell others and move it on down the line. Thank you so much for your supporting Karaphan Gaming and Avelore’s Tome of Knowledge. We appreciate you very much and hope to bring you a fantastic product you can show off at your table very soon.

 

Our deepest thanks,

Karaphan Gaming

 

P.S.

Here’s an interesting tidbit. In case anyone is concerned with our choice of overseas manufacturing vs here in the US. (something I truly wanted to do when I began). My graphic designer a local printer for a mockup of our design. One that would use the paper stock we want. This was a sample print of the PAGES ONLY, not including the binder. They Quoted $6000.00 for a single copy of our journal. Not $600, $6000! The cost of doing business here can be stifling unfortunately 🙁