June 2024

Today, as promised, we want to give an update on our books due to deliver in 2024, including A Handheld History 88-95, The Console Chronicles, Citizen Sleeper: Design Works, and Heterotopias.

Thank you so much for your incredible patience with us. We have been hard at work putting the final pieces of these books together. We do know these books are behind schedule and are shipping later than we anticipated, due to various unforeseen hold-ups.

Here, we’ll give you a full breakdown of where each project is at currently, with total, full transparency, and all the information we have, our expected timelines, and some very interesting, brand new production images from the pipeline! ✨

But, first and foremost: we are approaching the finish line on all the above projects, and have more concrete shipping windows in sight! 🎉 In short - all books mentioned above will now start shipping in August and September.

In the interest of transparency, we want to share the roadblocks encountered in the past few weeks as well as the lessons we’ve learned that will, above all, improve our working process moving forwards. Please accept our deepest apologies for the delays, which we know have not been ideal - we are almost there! We will keep you updated regularly on progress.

A Handheld History 88-95 and The Console Chronicles

In our previous update, we shared the great news that both books’ text and artwork are complete, and a solid plan for how we’d close the last 10% of the distance before the overall books were finished. This plan included steps like executing proofing or formatting changes and doing pre-print checks. Unforeseen circumstances out of our control meant we had to pivot, realign, and face one last small delay on these final but crucial steps.

We’re pleased to say that we are once again hurtling towards the completion of both. However, resolving these circumstances means a little more time is needed to finish up AHH and TCC. These are circumstantial obstacles we have learned from, and will make our entire pipeline moving forward much smoother.

The next-most significant reason for the books’ delays pertain to their printing. As our wonderful audience has grown, the number of copies we need to produce has drastically increased over the past year – a testament to your enthusiasm for our work. This, naturally, has led to us identifying pain points in the printing and fulfilment processes that were previously unseen. When you consider the amount of high-quality materials we need to source and efficiently utilise, you can imagine the strain placed on production. We have never, and will never, be willing to compromise the quality of our work that lands in your hands, even if that results in delays. We think this is the right decision everyone would expect from us.

We are pleased to announce that we have a new print partner established – one who can work with us at this new scale to deliver books efficiently and at the material quality we require. Our books are made to last the test of time as true pieces of art in their own right. The best way to achieve this is by choosing partners with resources that can craft timeless books in large quantities.

We’re coming out of this delay with a strong production partner, stronger relationships, and a smoother process. Although we are missing our current shipping target, we will only be missing it by a slight margin. Still, it’s a miss all the same. We have been working daily on both projects for some time now and can’t wait for you to pore over both. Thank you, as ever, and apologies again for the delays. Both books will start shipping in August. 🎉

Although we did not initially plan for digital editions of either book, we would like to offer PDF copies of A Handheld History 88-95 and The Console Chronicles to all of their respective backers, so that you can enjoy our work in that form ahead of your physical copy arriving. Backers will receive this via a separate email soon.

Additionally, we would like to thank the sponsor of A Handheld History, Retro Modding, for the ongoing support. We could not make these books a reality in the first place without their contributions. You can learn more about Retro Modding here: https://www.retromodding.com/.

Likewise, we would like to thank the sponsor of The Console Chronicles, the Embracer Games Archive, for the support as well. It has been a privilege working alongside the Archive’s team, and you can learn more about its great work here: https://embracergamesarchive.com/

Despite being behind schedule, work on Citizen Sleeper: Design Works is going well, with week-to-week progress and an incredible amount of production revisions having taken place to ensure we meet our high quality standards.

We are currently finishing up editing the text and design layouts, and are excited to be able to share some near-final spreads with you in this newsletter. The following is several pages taken from the book's character chapters (there's a character for each and every Citizen Sleeper character, so your favourite is sure to be included!):

Deluxe Edition and Cycles of the Eye customers will be pleased to hear that the TTRPG’s text, design and layout have been completed, and we are equally excited to be able to share new spreads from CotE:

Production on several key components, including the vinyl slipmat, embroidery patches and all dice variants are complete – and we have some in hand! Please enjoy an exclusive first look at some of the physical goodies accompanying our chronicle of Citizen Sleeper:

While we will be printing elements throughout July, final manufacturing of the remaining CS:DW components and the printing of the main art book will take place in the first weeks of August.

All editions of Citizen Sleeper: Design Works and Cycles of the Eye, including the Deluxe and Anniversary editions, will begin shipping from September.

Thank you for your patience and support as we finalise these last remaining pieces for our second ever Design Works. We’ve read all of your messages - on our socials, email inbox, and Reddit - and know you have all been waiting for an update on this. We still count our lucky stars that we get to celebrate and explore titles such as Citizen Sleeper and its sequel, immortalising artist Guillaume Singelin’s work in print, alongside insights of series creator Gareth Damian Martin.

We are positive you will be as excited as we are when you finally have this Design Works in your hands in a couple of months, and we cannot wait to see your reaction to what we have created. It is almost here! 🙏

Our equally exciting title with Gareth, Heterotopias, is printing this month, and is expected to start shipping in August. We will update you with a more specific window closer to the time.

Lastly, a small update on [lock-on] Vol. 006: the design phase is progressing nicely with new article layouts being completed every week! We are currently still expected to hit our Q3 2024 window, but will keep you updated if any slight delays occur due to the aforementioned printer changes.

Thank you again for your patience and support as we navigate these hurdles. Although frustrating in the short run, it means you will be getting the highest-quality product available from us – be it book, tabletop game, vinyl or Deluxe extra, we want to ensure everything lives up to our high standards with the finesse we pride ourselves on. We’re pleased to have firm shipping windows now which aren’t too far away at all. 🎉

We will provide updates on all our products as we have them via our newsletter, social media and Discord. If you have any questions, or need help with your order, please reach out to us on Discord or email us at team@lostincult.co.uk.