February Progress Report

It's been a long time since the last progress report because things have been absolutely *%$#ing insane. Publishing a game is like having a baby, but labor take several months.

Right now we are at the final stages of layout. There is not as much art as I was hoping for, but still much more than the other LARP books on the market. The other thing I'm happy about is that we're not using any photos of gamers retouched with Photoshop. Those always looked crappy to me, so we're only using original art. Lisa is currently working 60 hours a week at her real job, and then putting in around 20 hours a week on Purgatory. I'm cooking, cleaning, and doing shopping, so she will have all the time possible for Purgatory. I feel bad about burning out my girlfriend doing work on my game, but she is the best at this, and I can't do layout to save my life.

We decided to go with Lightning Printing, due to their quick turnaround and lower costs. Plus, they'll list us in the Ingram database once we have an ISBN and Library of Congress number. The Ingram database is used by Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, and Amazon. This will make Purgatory very easy to order from your local bookstore.

Other things we're working on:

• Yes, the t-shirts are still in the works. Release date is April 2nd
• We'll be producing some small one-inch buttons. One will feature the Purgatory symbol, and the other may feature the Atomic Hyrax logo. Release date is April 2nd
• Lisa is working on the Character Cards right now, and it looks like the entire character sheet will fit on a business card, so you can carry it in a deck of cards. We'll be printing up a whole bunch and selling them in packages of 20 for those of you who want your Character Card on cardstock, or don't want to mess up the binding of your book by photocopying it. Release date is April 2nd
• We're working on some stickers, one inch by two inches, of the Purgatory symbol. These will just be promotional stuff at conventions, but we might offer them for sale if anyone wants them. We think the buttons are much cooler and permanent...
• I've started on the next game, King Monster: Smashing of Cities. No, it's not live-action or related to Purgatory in any way. Release date TBA

Here's a bonus for the readers of the website. Anyone reading this that is not actually from Seattle, WA (in others words, if you don't know me personally) can e-mail me (use the subject line "JON, I CAN READ") and let me know why they should win something. Bribes and/or nude personal photos are acceptable as reasons for winning. The most inspiring and/or pathetic e-mail will win a free copy of Purgatory, signed by me. Your message of desperation and pleading will also be featured in a future Progress Report. Deadline for entries is April 20th.