The Sword of Kaigen & Where Loyalties Lie - Special Editions
Created by Wraithmarked Creative
SPFBO winners 'The Sword of Kaigen' by M.L. Wang and 'Where Loyalties Lie' by Rob J. Hayes get extra special editions... with a twist!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
US Backers: Answering Questions About Fulfillment!
25 days ago
– Mon, May 18, 2026 at 07:44:27 AM
Hey there, folks!
We wanted to take a moment to update US folks with an update on fulfillment! Non-US backers, this update isn't meant for you, so nothing to check out here! However, if you're a non-US backer and you missed our last update addressing international fulfillment, you can check that out in length HERE!
US fulfillment has been trucking away for a few weeks now, and we wanted to take a moment to address some comments and tickets we've been receiving!
Q: I received my tracking number, but I haven't seen movement in over a week. Should I be concerned?
A: Very fair question, especially on this campaign! Short answer: No, you should not be concerned!
Here at Wraithmarked, we print out shipping labels in “batches” of similar orders. Everyone who got just one book, then everyone who got just a book and a bookmark, then everyone who got two books, etc. This streamlines our packing and shipping process while also helping us stay organized. In many cases, some of these batches are smaller (maybe 100 orders or so) and get out the door quickly, while others are much larger (sometimes even 2000+ orders) and can take several weeks to physically pick, pack, and ship. As a result you may get your tracking number several weeks before your actual package gets packed and shipped. The tail end of a batch that's, say, 2500 orders, may even happen a month after the label is created!
Q: It's been a few weeks and I haven't received a tracking email. Why?
A: Another very fair question since a lot of people are seeing fulfillment happening and people getting their books, and this again has to do with us printing in batches of like orders.
Currently, we're working on the largest batch, that being orders with 1x copy of The Sword of Kaigen only (a bit under 2300 orders). The next batch of labels we print will be for folks who ordered 1x The Sword of Kaigen book and 1x Deluxe Bookmark (a little under 1400 orders). We will continue to work on the next smallest batch, and then the next after that. Once we print your label, you will likely not see movement on your tracking number immediately. Feel free to take a peak at the question above for an explanation on why this is completely normal.
We will still be fulfilling orders without Where Loyalties Lie or its merchandise for at least a few more weeks. There are approximately 4,100+ ordersto ship in this large group of Kaigen alone, so it will definitely take a bit of time to get through.
Q: That feel like a long turn around. Why does it take so long?
A: In short, Wraithmarked is a very a small team, and at any point we currently only have 1 employee dedicated to packing and shipping orders. We can usually divert another 1 or 2 people a couple times a week to help move things along, but it's still just a matter of how many hands we have moving things.
(And yes, we are going to be expanding the fulfillment team as soon as possible! It's next on our list for hiring, right after pulling in a dedicated customer service specialist!)
All this to say: Please do not reach out if your label has been created but not scanned in by the Post Office (your tracking number will be updated when the Post Office officially picks it up). Printing labels prior to shipping is largely industry standard, and we will reply linking you back to this Update.
THANK YOU!
We hope this clears up a bit of uncertainty for folks who have reached out. If, in the event you received your tracking number and find it has ended up where it shouldn't or was marked as delivered and not at your doorstep/in your mailbox, please reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll look into the issue! :)
Talk soon!
An important notice for non-US Backers. We are changing fulfillment partners for non-US books. Here's why.
28 days ago
– Fri, May 15, 2026 at 08:12:58 AM
Hey all. Bryce here. Going to do my best to keep this as brief as possible. This is relevant to the 20-30% of you who are not in the US. If you are a US Backer, this Update does not effect you. For our non-US Backers:
TLDR: Our current fulfillment partner has consistently been failing us, and therefore, you. So we're moving everything to a different partner.
The longer version:
I could make this an extensive list because it's a pretty long one. But I'm going to keep it to the general two points that affect you guys the most, so you understand why we are doing this.
First, we have been getting near-non-stop complaints about the subpar quality of packing and shipping of our non-US books. This has also come with a significantly higher (like... significantly higher) reports of damaged books requiring replacement. More than once the packing has been so poor that those replacement books then had to be replaced... again.
Second, repeated delays in fulfillment related to large gaps in communication and lost product.
Regarding the subpar quality of packing:
It's easier if we show you. Below is what a typical Wraithmarked book (with some exceptions) is SUPPOSED to look like when properly packed. A branded box designed for the task, book protected by tissue paper (sometimes honeycomb), layers of cardboard to keep it tightly in place and protect it from most impact issues.
This package bounced back to us after sending it out, so it's been through the ringer twice, and holds firm!
While our non-US books used to all come similarly packed, that has not consistently been the case recently. A combination of the partner failing to communicate when they were running out of our materials and not properly training their staff has often resulted in things more like this:
So... yeah. Not happy with that. Reason 1 we're moving.
Regarding the delays in fulfillment:
No images for this, sadly, but it's pretty straightforward. We will sometimes go weeks between emails with this partner, with them failing to even touch base when we follow up with questions about "Did you receive a product?" or "When are those orders being fulfilled?"
If you were a non-US Shades of Magic Backer, you suffered the consequence of this. We were told that Shades would be out the door within a certain time period. Our Head of Fulfillment followed up several times to ask when shipping would start, with no response for too long a period. In fact, we didn't hear anything back until I followed up with my big bad CEO title, and they finally got moving.
Reason 2 we're moving.
What does this mean for this campaign?
If you're reading this, then the campaign involved will suffer a delay in fulfillment for non-US Backers because of this transition. We understand that's frustrating. We actually COULD have allowed fulfillment to happen for most of these, but our confidence in this partner is so low that we would rather tell you (in some place yet again) that there is a delay than risk having them deliver more damaged product. Even if the book isn't damaged, I'm no longer willing to let this former partner impact Wraithmarked's reputation in the eyes of the people who receive terrible packaging, thinking that's Wraithmarked's baseline. Because it isn't.
Depending on how soon we can get product moved from this former partner to the new partner, the delay could be as little as two weeks. However, that former partner is (shockingly, I know) not being communicative about facilitating the transfer of our products to the new partner, resulting in us yet again being delayed in something as basic as scheduling a truck pickup.
We will do everything we can to keep you in the loop in our upcoming Updates. For the time being, I'm sorry for the delay. I'm just not willing to risk sending you guys more damaged and mishandled product, especially given the increased number of complaints we've been getting over the last few months.
If you have any questions, please comment below and someone on the team will answer or pull me in to answer.
Cheers,
Bryce, CEO
A Wraithmarked Update... BookCon!
about 2 months ago
– Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 12:52:15 PM
Hey there everyone!
Firstly, we hope you're well and your week has been lovely so far! Apologies for the copy/paste nature to this part of the update as we have lots of campaigns to touch on! We just wanted to update everyone and say... THANK YOU!
As some of you know, Wraithmarked attended our very first BookCon located in NYC! This was our first time ever coming to this convention and it was such a wonderful trip for us. We had a BLAST and it was definitely unlike any of the other conventions we've been to. As always, y'all came out to support us, and we couldn't be more grateful. Some of you also may have gotten a couple sneak peeks! ;)
We snapped a few pictures - take a look!
We just wanted to reach out and say thank you. It's always lovely to put faces to names, chitchat about campaign progress, find out what everyone's reading, share some behind-the-scenes art, and show off early copies of our books in-person (soon to be fulfilled books)!
We'd absolutely love to go again next year, and if so, we'll be sure to shout it out beforehand! Have a great rest of your week, everyone! <3
The Sword of Kaigen Fulfillment: Locking US Addresses in 48 hours! And... Some Pictures!
2 months ago
– Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 07:32:33 AM
Howdy, all!
Following up on our last update, The Sword of Kaigen has arrived in our US warehouse! We're going to get rolling on the first part of fulfillment this week, so read on to see what to expect next!
US Backers Who Got ONLY The Sword of Kaigen...
If you're here in the US and only got The Sword of Kaigen, we're going to send out the 48-hour address lock this morning, so keep an eye on your inboxes! You can expect an email from Backerkit today informing you of the 48-hour window to make final changes before they lock. Once addresses lock on Wednesday morning, we'll get started on packing and shipping those orders.
For those who wish to check their addresses, you may do so via your original survey link. In case you don't have access to that email, please click the following link!
A few things to keep in mind:
If you are expecting a change of address in the next few weeks, either provide your new address or a different permanent address that's close enough for you to pick them up.
When this window expires, we cannot guarantee that we'll be able to change the address before your pledge ships.
Once addresses lock, we'll provide our fulfillment partners with the shipping list for this campaign. Depending on their workload it may take up to three or so weeks for them to begin fulfillment. Please be aware that our fulfillment partners pack and ship pledges in an order that maximizes their efficiency. It is not something that we dictate to them.
When your order ships you will get an email with tracking information. Please be aware that it may take a few days for the tracking information to update.
Non-US Backers Who Got ONLY The Sword of Kaigen...
If you're outside the US and only got The Sword of Kaigen, our shipping partner has confirmed receipt of their portion of the books. However, they are working through fulfillment for two other projects, so we're going to wait on locking your addresses until they get caught up. Once they're ready to go, we'll post an update letting you know.
US & Non-US Backers Who Have Where Loyalties Lie in Their Pledge...
If your pledge includes Where Loyalties Lie, our printer is wrapping up the print run and expects to get them sent our way in the next couple of weeks. Once we have updates on that process, we'll share that with you here.
Please be aware that if your pledge includes both books, your shipment will be processed once we have both books in hand.
If you have questions at any point in this process, please email us at [email protected]. Even though it is rare, it may take between 3-5 business days to respond (though usually faster), and we do not work on holidays or weekends. We appreciate your patience! <3
And now... some pictures of the finished product!
That's all for now! See you soon!
Oh also... Check out our "Hitchhiker's Guide' final jacket design!
An Update to Fulfillment! And... An Upcoming Campaign!
3 months ago
– Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 04:18:58 PM
Hey there folks!
Our apologies for the delay in getting this update out the door. Between illness wracking us, moving into our first-ever warehouse, shipping issues, etc. etc., we've been a bit bogged down! Thank you all so much for checking in and for your patience!
Before we get into the meat of it, we wanted to address some confusion from one of our more recent updates regarding shipping. To clarify, "...The Sword of Kaigen print run is nearly finished and barring any additional delays, should be shipping out the first week of March." By this, we meant the final print run of The Sword of Kaigen books would be shipping to US (Wraithmarked headquarters and our international fulfillment partner), not backers. This was our bad and we're sorry we weren't more clear with our wording! To check out the full update (with pictures of the books in case some of y'all haven't seen), please check out the link below!
That being said, we have a few things to update you all on!
Firstly, the finished copies of The Sword of Kaigen have officially been received by our international fulfillment partner! We received word that they arrived around the 10th and have been booked into their inventory.
Secondly, the finished copies of The Sword of Kaigen (to be sent to us here in the States) have been picked up from the printer and are scheduled to be loaded onto a boat and shipped to us this week! The estimated arrival in port for these 15 pallets (so many!) is the last week of March. Once again, this is the shipping estimate for the books to arrive at our headquarters, not to backers.
Thirdly, we have been given an updated printing timeline of Where Loyalties Lie for mid-April. Once these are finished printing, we'll get confirmation of when they'll be packed and transported to the docks for shipping!
Thanks so much for your continued patience and support. We know you guys want these books in your hands, and we wanna get them to you!
THE ULTIMATE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY OMNIBUS
This one seemed like something a lot of you guys might like to be aware of!
On May 5th, Wraithmarked will be releasing what we believe could be considered the most ambitious omnibus edition of Douglas Adam's THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY series ever produced.
As in not only is it a full-color book, but it's going to include 42 full-color illustrations. And that's JUST the interior art. So add in the Smyth-sewn binding. And acid-free paper. And custom covers. And end sheets. And cloth wrapping. And... Well... You get the picture.
There's more detail and a LOT more art revealed on the pre-launch page, so take a look if it interests any of you guys! As always, this will be a single-print run with campaign exclusive discounts, so Kickstarter is the only place you can guarantee your copy and get it at a discount!
