Misadventures at the Block Party

[Kevin]

I had a nice weekend, and hope you did too.

Misadventures at the Block Party

I only put in five hours Saturday and then took off for the neighborhood block party.

The weather was perfect. The sun hid behind the clouds most of the time so there was no sunburn or hot periods, there was a constant nice, cool breeze and pleasant company. The Block Party was fun.

HOWEVER, I’ve discovered I am badminton dyslexic or something! I can't serve a darn badminton birdie (or is it fly-cock) to save my life! I looked like a comedy skit or cartoon character: Swoosh. Miss. Plop the birdie is on the ground. Swoosh. Miss. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. Miss, miss, miss. Plop, plop, plop. Arrrgh! I was pathetic (although everyone except poor Jennifer, my partner) we're laughing their heads off. Grrrr. Badminton mental block! I can’t believe it, but I'll overcome it by next year, you can count on that!

Caught up on some TV late that evening, went to bed early, caught up on some sleep. Woke up to yummy blueberry pancakes (Kathy is awesome) and spent half the day sitting outside on Kathy’s tropical patio reading comic books until our pals Rita and Alex came by to have dinner and chit chat. Nice.

Palladium’s Rifts® & the Megaverse - The Art of John Zeleznik Masterwork Edition jumps off to a fast start!

I guess fans and collectors agree that the Masterwork Edition of Palladium’s Art of John Zeleznik is an awesome deal, because we sold 14 copies over the weekend! Got pre-orders for about a dozen of the regular hardcover edition too.

That’s better news than you might think, because 1) Palladium will need the money to cover the printing cost of the book (even though we don’t charge your credit card till a week or so before the book is expected to ship), and 2) the Masterwork Edition is even more awesome than any of us thought, because one lucky person will get a color sketch in his book.

Johnny Z and I have been working closely via computer and telephone to get the art book done and to the printer (8-10 week turnaround for a hardcover, color book). In one of our conversations John says, “Oh, I’d like to include a the color sketch from cover X in one of the books. You know, to surprise someone with and extra special piece of art, do you mind?” Of course, I don’t mind! How nice is that. I’m telling you John Zeleznik is a class act from A to Z. Heck, all of Palladium's staff and freelancers are the salt of the Earth.

To avoid favoritism, I’m gonna random generate which numbered book will get it and whoever is that number will get the color rough in their book (I didn’t ask John the medium, I assume it's watercolor, acrylic washes or marker, and probably only 4-6 inches). I’ve also seen some of the pencil sketches and they are sweet. Some large, some small, some detailed, some not so detailed, all original sketches and all very cool. I’m still taken aback by Johnny Z’s idea and generosity.

Anyway, the art book is looking fantastic. If people don’t love Rifts® and the Megaverse® – The Art of John Zeleznik, I’ll be stunned. Btw, these color, hard covers are expensive to produce, so even the mass market edition may be something of a collector’s items as I don’t think we will print more than 3000 to 5000 as the initial press run, and I don’t know if we will do a reprint. It might be cool to leave the book a one shot special at the close of Palladium’s 25 Year Anniversary celebration. Giving every purchasere a book that will, hopefully, become a unique and fun collectible.

Tomorrow is your last chance . . .

Tomorrow – Tuesday, August 22, 2005 is your last chance for the Super-Collector’s Grab Bag. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

We packaged another dozen Christmas in July Super-Collector’s Grab Bags today. I think everyone will be pleased when they get ‘em later this week. Remember, this deal with original, finished artwork ends August, 22, 2006.

My thanks to all the artists who contributed to their artwork to help Palladium earn money to help cover the printing cost of new books, and to all of you who ordered one. The fight to keep Palladium going continues and thousands of you have joined the battle. Thank you everyone.

Gotta run . . .

Hey, shouldn’t you be writing and submitting articles to The Rifter®? No? Well, I know I should be writing or doing any number of things, especially after my short weekend, so see ya for now.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer and Badminton-boob