The Book of the Hakutaku: a Bestiary of Japanese Monsters

Ebooks Are Out!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Sep 07, 2018 at 07:58:03 PM

Greetings yokai fans!

This update was supposed to be posted yesterday, but it seems like it didn't go through and got saved as a draft instead.

I am happy to announce that the ebooks of the Book of the Hakutaku are finally done! Thanks so much for your patience with me finishing up the ebooks; August was a very busy month, and I wasn't able to finish them as quickly as I thought I could have.

Many of you already got your download yesterday, of course. However, I am sending out another download shortly which contains an updated version of the ebook. The update fixes an issue where some of the ebook-only backer names were left out of the credits at the beginning of the book. They got left off due to an issue with shipping addresses and surveys, but in the end it was my fault that they got left out. I'm sorry about that.

You'll be getting an email from BackerKit very shortly with your download link in it. You will find a .zip file containing a PDF and a .mobi file. The PDF is a print replica of the book, and the .mobi is a file you can use on your Kindle or other ereader.

Books, bookmarks, shirts, and all the other rewards are currently being manufactured, and I will have more news on that as I receive it from the factory. In the meantime, enjoy the ebooks! Thanks again for your support!

Shipping Addresses
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 07:24:15 PM

Hey all!

Just a quick update to let you know that production of the books is underway.

I will be finalizing shipping addresses very soon. Once they are finalized, your shipping address will be locked down and no longer able to be changed.

Now is a good time to double check your shipping addresses in the BackerKit manager. If you've moved since the project ended (I know it's been a while!) you'll want to make sure your address is up to date.

So please double check your shipping addresses, everyone! Thanks!

July Update
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 12:50:26 AM

Greetings yokai lovers!

July is ending soon, and I'm excited to share the latest news on The Book of the Hakutaku!

The book is finished!

The editing is complete, the yokai have all been put in the book, the chapter artwork is done, the cover design is done, and the layout is complete. All that remains is to send the data off to the printer, which I will be doing this week!

I'm also sharing with you the final illustration: the map of Japan! I've included a map in both of my other books, one of the present-day Prefectures, and one of the pre-Meiji Provinces (since so many yokai stories take place in the Edo period and use the old names instead of contemporary ones). This time around I decided to show you the geography of Japan. It was difficult to get all of the detail in, but I think the result is a very interesting map. You may have heard that Japas is 73% mountains -- and these are not rolling hills like the Appalachians that I grew up near. These are tall mountains that are too steep to hold much, so the reality is that Japan is truly divided up into tiny, cramped inhabitable spaces separated by vast swaths of impassable wilderness. This was even more true before cars and trains covered the landscape, and all travel was done on foot. Looking at this map, I think you can get some of the sense of geographical isolation certain people must have felt, as well as a feeling for why certain yokai appear in certain areas. I've always been fascinated with how culture and civilization are reflected in art history, but equally fascinating is how geography can be responsible for their development! Anyway, here is the map, with yokai spots highlighted:

 It was extremely difficult to do the roads in this map, as I had to cross reference a number of poor quality Edo Period regional maps which were written long before accurate cartography. The roads above are by no means exhaustive, but they are some of the most important roads of the Edo Period. 

So now that the book is done, here's what's happening next: in August I will be sending the clothing designs out for printing and working on getting the ebook to you guys as soon as possible. Printing should be done in early September, after which books will be shipped to me for signing, then shipped again to the fulfillment company. Then everything will be sorted into packages, and sent off to all of you around the world!

For the majority of you, that means you'll have your ebooks in August, and your physical rewards (books, t-shirts, etc.) in October (earliest) or November (more likely).

Finally, there are still 30+ people who have not filled in the survey. This means it's already too late to put your names in the book credits. It also means I don't have your shipping address. So please, if you have not finished your survey, please do so! Otherwise I won't be able to send you your books! If you're not sure whether or not you finished your survey, please visit https://yokai.backerkit.com/ and make sure your survey status is completed!

June Update
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 01:26:14 AM

Greetings yokai fans!

First, there are still a number of people who haven't filled out their backerkit surveys. Please make sure you've done this! I can't send you your rewards if you don't fill out the survey!

It's been about a month since the last update, so I want to fill everyone in on the progress.

I received the text back from the editor (Zack Davisson of hyakumonogatari.com, translator of Mizuki Shigeru and other yokai-themed comics) and am currently going through the edits and updating the text in the book file. That will take a bit of time, but it's a good sign that we're nearing completion of the book!

The next few weeks are going to be quite busy! I've been in talks with Four Colour Print Group, who printed the books for me during the previous Kickstarter. In addition to working out the details with the printer and finishing up the books for printing, it's also time to put in the orders for t-shirts, jackets, and the other add-ons. Those will be printed locally here in Fukui at a shirt shop that does very nice work. I was able to visit their shop and see their prints so I'm confident you'll all be happy with the quality.

Once the book is off to the printers, I will begind working on the ebook, and that should be done and off to you before you have the paperback/hardcovers in your hands.

In the meantime, for your visual enjoyment, here's a new piece of art I can share with you, which makes up the final chapter header illustration:

 More soon!

- Matt

Two More Paintings
almost 6 years ago – Wed, May 30, 2018 at 12:55:10 AM

Greetings yokai fans!

I'm sharing two new paintings with you today, which will be chapter headings for two of the sections of the book: On the Land and In Your Body, featuring yokai from those respective places.

 We saw the line art for this drawing a little while back, so here is the final piece!

The "In Your Body" image features various types of traditional medicine, packages of herbs, and needles and their related tools. The imagery in the books comes from Chinese manuals on treatments which would have been used by Edo period Japanese doctors to treat symptoms caused by yokai, such as the disease yokai you'll see in the book. A contemporary doctor's desk might have looked something like this...

I'm hoping to get the text back from the editor in the next few weeks, so after that things will begin progressing rapidly.

More soon!