Dear #MarkedbyOdin, after the big reveal that the final draft of Mark of Odin: Ragnarok had been completed, we didn’t stop for a second. A month ago, and in these weeks a lot has been happening. It’s time to share them with you, now that the final countdown for the pioneers of Ragnarok is getting closer and closer.
PIONEERS OF RAGNAROK
This is how we are going to call all of you who step forward to face the battle of the end of time before anyone else. Everyone who participates in Mark of Odin: Ragnarok Early Pre-order Campaign will be included in the Pioneers of Ragnarok Thank You! This way, I will be able to share with all future readers that you were the ones who made the creation of this incredible book possible.
PRINTING SAMPLE
Just this week the first print sample of Mark of Odin: Ragnarok has arrived, made by our friends at Printcolor, from Barcelona. With it I have been able to test the first layout of the book. This is the first time that I am going to layout and edit 100% one of the books in the saga from scratch (after having done it with the hardcover edition of the first book in English for Amazon). So, for me it was very important to be able to physically see a sample to know if I am on the right track or not.
For this test, I have taken a very risky approach, pushing the margins as much as possible. Ragnarok has about 240,000 words (Road to Valhalla was 210,000 in 610 pages) and I managed to condense them into 590 pages. Obviously, this was too optimistic. So, after making the pertinent corrections, I can know that the final layout will have 625-630 pages. Yesterday I shared a video showing this test copy that you can watch below.
The front and back cover are not the real ones that the book will have. I wanted to take advantage of Michael Komarck’s illustration of Operation Nighthammer and the photography of The Edge of the Katana. The truth is that they are very cool, who knows if they will not be able to be used in order to print a printed edition of the bonus chapters during the early pre-order campaign…
THE COVER OF RAGNAROK
Last week I also sent the proposal for the Ragnarok cover illustration to Michael Komarck. For this occasion, we are going to put aside the subtlety to achieve a more direct and impressive approach. With Ragnarok it is clear that dramatic and very epic situations are going to happen. That is why I want the cover to reflect it, unambiguously.
Even so, there is nothing closed until the artist, Michael Komarck, does not put his hand and I can see his proposals. After all, he’s the expert for these things. That said, I warn you that normally since I send a proposal and receive the final result, it can take at least two months. That is why this issue could condition the final delivery date of the books. I would have loved to have the cover for the pre-order campaign, but with artists of this level… Getting them to work with you is already winning the lottery. We will have to arm ourselves with patience, but the wait will be worth it.
THE PREVIOUS STEPS
Well, before we can launch the early pre-order campaign, we have to migrate the platform to a new server, as well as update a lot of things. We have been two months with the previous technical work, since it is going to be a very radical change (in what are the bowels of the web). Just last week we did a migration of domains, emails, and more to prepare for the transition.
I am not going to fool you; we are going against the clock. My goal remains to launch the early pre-order campaign on Friday, October 1 (next week). But… Yes, there is always a but… I cannot guarantee it, since we still have many things to do and the technical-human-time resources are very limited.
The idea is that when we have the migration and the update of systems completed, we can implement the payment method for Bizum, as well as enable all the options for the campaign.
EARLY PRE-ORDER CAMPAIGN
Once we launch the campaign, the idea is that you can purchase your exclusive and limited edition of Mark of Odin: Ragnarok. Either on paper or digital. There will be the option that you can add an additional contribution, in case you want to support us even more to launch the book. I also hope to offer you the option of a limited t-shirt (there is no design for it yet, although possibly his is related to the new illustration, we will see).
The physical edition of the early pre-order will be limited and exclusive to purchase during the time it is available (30 days surely).
It will include:
- Printed edition with velvety binding
- It will be a numbered edition with your name printed (For example: nº 130 for Pepe Martínez)
- Digital edition
- Registration key to improve your account to access the bonus chapters of Ragnarok and the stories of Volume 3 of Odinpedia
- Exclusive bookmark
- My signature and personal dedication
- Your name included in the Pioneers of Ragnarok thank you section
- Shipping with courier for Peninsula and with Post Office for islands.
If we manage to overcome different sells milestones, we will unlock additional extras that will not entail any additional cost for you. Among them would be:
- Exclusive Ragnarok postcard
- Printed edition of the first six bonus chapters of the saga
- Printed edition of Volumes 0 to 2 of Odinpedia with color illustrations
- More options could be investment for the development of the Odinpedia App, production of the video clip of More than one light and more …
As I already mentioned, only with the registered readers on the website taking the step of facing Ragnarok, we could get the first three extras. So, it will depend on you whether we can do it or not. My focus for this campaign will be to focus on getting those of you who have the two books or the first to have the trilogy yes or yes.
For those of you who only have the first book or for new readers, we will offer special packs of the three books or the last two, both on paper and digitally. In that case, the editions of The Awakening and Road to Valhalla will be limited and exclusive to this campaign, so they will reflect that they are part of it.
EARLY PRE-ORDER CAMPAIGN TRAILER
Right now, I’m working on a new trailer for the early pre-order campaign, which you will be able to watch when we launch. Although I considered several options, in the end I have chosen to continue using the music of Knut Avenstroup Haugen as a base. The trailer will be a direct claim to you to encourage you to join the Pioneers of Ragnarok.
WE CONTINUE WITH THE EDITION AND REVIEW
Parallel to all this, I continue with the process of reviewing the book, correcting errors and improving details of the story. Feedback from the review group keeps getting better and now I’ve been able to add feedback from a few of you as well. In total, sixteen #MarkedbyOdin have been selected to participate in the Ragnarok Beta. They have access to the prologue and the first two chapters and have already started commenting so that we can improve the final version.
BE READY!
It may be Friday the 1st of October, it may be a few days later, but… Get ready! Stay tuned to your emails, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter … At any time, you will receive the notification, the warning… To be recruited as pioneers of Ragnarok.
Will you dare to take the step?
Remember, everything is connected.
Xavier Marcé
