(no subject)

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

This is just me looking for advice.

Back in early june, I supported a well-known artist's kickstarter, for her to put out a sketchbook of art. I paid for a more advanced piece that was to include a personalized sketch.

Now, her kickstarter ended on June 4th.

Her page says "Allow another 6-8 weeks after sketchbooks are printed" for delivery of those personalized sketchbooks.

She updated about a month ago saying she was working on them and that most of the people who asked for a sketchbook with that perk have gotten theirs, but she doesn't respond to any personal email asking for an eta on that sketchbook. I've tried most of her public media sites, as well as the personal email she used to contact myself and other buyers of that sketchbook.

I totally understand that sometimes a more popular artist takes a longer amount of time, but the fact that I'm receiving no response to a simple request for an eta on my sketchbook...that trips alarm bells with me.

I'm not sure what to do at this point, since she won't respond to any email contact.  I'd love to get my sketchbook with my personalized sketch, but seriously....it's been twice the amount of time she said it would take. Am I just being too impatient? 

Comments

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think you are being impatient.
I sponsored a kickstarter back in November and only just got the physical rewards this summer. However, that artist kept us up to date via email and the kickstarter updates. A few were important like "I'm having trouble with the printer and we will be delayed at least a month" but most were "Hey everyone, just checking in and letting you know where the books and other rewards are." He was also very available and answered emails and kickstarter comments promptly. When my first set of rewards were delayed, he kept in touch with me via email and also threw tracking on my big rewards box just in case (We're in adjacent states).

So anyway my point is, this person should have gotten back to you by now and should be keeping her sponsors updated. Are you international shipping by any chance? Did you comment on the actual kickstarter pages? I only ask the last one because those can be seen by other users who may want to sponsor her in the future.
Being popular shouldn't matter. The person I sponsored publishes comics through his own site as well as other venues and was using his kickstarter to promote his new book at places like NY comicon. He still had time to email me and reply to comments.
I hope this was a little helpful, good luck!

[wolf-goat.livejournal.com]

The person in question does not have a stellar record for customer care/communication. I expect you'll get your sketch but I would highly doubt the artist will really care about getting it out on time, since their treatment of customers in the past has reflected this. Nice art, poor attitude.

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

First off, she should be communicating more. a lot of this could have been headed off with better communication.

Now, as to the timeline, you say the Kickstarter ended June fourth. and that personalized sketchbooks should be expected "6-8 weeks after sketchbooks are printed". when she received the actual sketchbooks into her hands should be the date for determining if its late or not, not the date the kickstarter ended.

was there a message posted saying she had the actual physical product finished and in hand?

You said she's posted update about a month ago that she was working on them. If she's still within that 8 weeks after they arrived in her hands, she may be avoiding answering queries about arrival because its still within the original arrival window. If the update about a month ago was actually at the END of the original estimated date, definitely make more direct queries as to where it went.

Either way, most relevant piece of data here for how late is it is when did she receive the sketchbooks so she could start the personalized sketches? it makes a huge difference in timeline if they were physically in her hands at end of June vs end of August.

[astrapomancer.livejournal.com]

I totally know which campaign this is as I backed it as well.

I have had a total of 5 updates via email (last one was 2 or 3 days ago) and I think I remember the artist mentioning that they were going in perk tier order? I also just received my items and perks last week so they are shipping out- although slowly. With the large volume of backers and their schedule, they may very well be behind but that's certainly not an excuse to ignore your inquiries though. Hopefully you hear back from them soon.

[talakestreal.livejournal.com]

yeah, I saw the latest update. Apparently she decided to do all the sketch ones last. I would have thought that the people who paid the most towards her campaign would be the first ones to get their rewards, but I guess she's doing it differently.

And apparently the only way I'm going to get an update is via her campaign updates. That's better than nothing though.

[zzyzx.livejournal.com]

If it's the artist I'm thinking of, she's shipping out the just plain sketchbooks first, then the signed ones, then the signed ones with prints, and then the signed ones with sketches, getting out as many as possible to begin with and the ones that are going to take the longest last. If she did all the sketches first, it would delay everyone else who just wanted a sketchbook without an additional sketch. And considering just how many there were, I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to take a bit and may be difficult to send out individual status updates, but I wouldn't worry too much.